Creamy Pumpkin Pasta with Sausage and Sage

By: The Real Food Dietitians Posted: 10/9/23

This Creamy Pumpkin Pasta with Sausage and Sage feels like something you’d order at a fancy restaurant. So you’ll be surprised to learn that it comes together in one skillet with minimal prep time and a total time of just 30 minutes.

In this easy pasta dish, tender linguine noodles and seasoned turkey sausage combine in a velvety pumpkin sauce. Infused with spices and fresh herbs, it offers comforting flavors perfect for fall. It’s a well-balanced weeknight dinner that contains protein, carbohydrates, healthy fats, and plenty of veggies.

A Fall Recipe Perfect For Busy Weeknights

Are you on team pumpkin? We love it and are more than happy to embrace the seasonal trend with pumpkin recipes like our Slow Cooker Pumpkin Chili, Instant Pot Pumpkin Oatmeal, and Mini Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars. Although pumpkin is just right for fall, we love to incorporate nutritious canned pumpkin into our meals all year long. It’s not hard to do when we have options like this Creamy Pumpkin Pasta recipe. Sweet, savory, and easy to make, it’s sure to become a fast favorite in your household, too. 

Ingredients To Make This Creamy Pumpkin Pasta Recipe

Here’s what you need to make this fall-inspired pasta recipe:

The Pasta Ingredients:

• Pasta – we use whole wheat linguine, but you can use any favorite pasta shape, such as penne or rigatoni. If needed, use a gluten-free pasta, such as Bionaturae, Banza, and Barilla
• Lean ground turkey – may also use ground chicken, pork sausage, or beef
• Fresh sage leaves – fresh is best in this dish, you can sub 1/4 teaspoon ground sage in a pinch
• Seasonings – you’ll need garlic powder, Italian seasoning, crushed fennel, fine salt, and black pepper. Feel free to include a dash of red pepper flakes if you prefer a bit of heat

The Sauce Ingredients:

• Butter – we recommend using unsalted butter. Melted coconut oil or plant-based (vegan) butter may be used to make this a dairy-free pasta dish 
• Olive oil – may sub avocado oil
• Garlic cloves
• Fresh sage leaves
• All-purpose flour – used to thicken the sauce. If you need this pasta to be gluten-free, we recommend using Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free 1:1 Flour, which is one of our go-to gluten-free flours

• Whole milk – whole milk creates the creamy texture and rich taste you get in this dish while adding a boost of calcium; for dairy-free, use an alternative such as unsweetened almond milk, oat milk, or coconut milk
• Pumpkin puree – make sure you use pure fresh or canned pumpkin puree and not pumpkin pie filling, which has added sugar and spices
• Tomato paste – adds extra depth and a savory flavor while helping to thicken the pumpkin pasta sauce
• Seasonings – you’ll need Italian seasoning, onion powder, salt, black pepper, and grated or ground nutmeg
• Spinach – you’ll use 2 lightly packed cups of fresh baby spinach
• Parmesan cheese

For the complete directions and ingredient amounts, scroll down to the recipe card below. All of our recipes include nutrition information, listing kcal, protein, carbohydrates, fiber, sugar, sodium, total fat, and more per serving.

How To Make One-Skillet Pumpkin Pasta With Sausage

This Creamy Pumpkin Pasta with Sage comes together with minimal steps in a single large skillet:

1. Prepare the pasta: Cook the pasta in a large pot just to al dente according to the package instructions, and reserve part of the pasta water for later. Drain the pasta, and set it aside.
2. Cook the turkey: While the pasta cooks, heat a large skillet over medium-high heat, and spray it generously with cooking oil spray. Add the turkey, sage, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, fennel, salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes, if using. Break the meat into small pieces using a spatula, and cook until no pink remains, stirring occasionally. Transfer the cooked sausage and any juices to a clean bowl.
3. Sauté the garlic: Add the oil, butter, garlic, and sage to the skillet, and cook until fragrant, stirring frequently to avoid burning.
4. Thicken the mixture: Add the flour to the skillet, and continue to cook for another few minutes, stirring constantly. Increase the heat to medium-high, and slowly whisk in the milk. Continue to whisk until the mixture thickens.
5. Add the remaining ingredients to the sauce: Whisk in the pumpkin puree, tomato paste, onion powder, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Then, add the spinach and reserved pasta water, stirring to combine. Allow the mixture to cook until the spinach begins to wilt.
6. Combine: Stir in the cooked turkey and Parmesan cheese. Adjust the seasonings as needed, and add the cooked pasta.
7. Serve: Divide the pasta into bowls, garnish with additional Parmesan cheese, sage, and/or grated nutmeg, and enjoy warm!

How To Store And Reheat

This Creamy Pumpkin Pasta is easy to prepare in advance. Once cooled, leftovers can be transferred to an airtight container and stored in the fridge for up to 3 days. When you’re ready to eat, heat individual portions in the microwave, or heat a large portion in a skillet on the stove over medium heat or low heat.

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The photos in this blog post were taken by Rachel Cook of Half Acre House.

For ultimate success, we highly recommend reading the tips in the full blog post above. All photos and content are copyright protected. Please do not use our photos without prior written permission. If you wish to republish a recipe, please rewrite the recipe in your own unique words. Link back to the source recipe here on The Real Food Dietitians. Thank you!