Chicken Sausage & Broccoli Pasta Skillet
with Toasted Garlic Panko & Parmesan
- Wheat
- Milk
Need a quick dinner with minimal cleanup (that doesn’t skimp on flavor)? Say hello to this pasta skillet! It's a one-pan wonder that has anticipated your every weeknight need. Tuscan-spiced chicken sausage, twisty cavatappi, and tender broccoli rice are swirled together in a skillet with a decadent Parmesan cream sauce. To top things off, herby toasted panko adds texture and a touch of heat, while extra Parm delivers pure umami. One pan, one dream!
Ingredients
¼ cup
Parmesan Cheese
9 ounce
Italian Chicken Sausage Mix
1 unit
Onion
6 ounce
Cavatappi Pasta
(Contains: Wheat)
4 tablespoon
Cream Cheese
(Contains: Milk)
1 unit
Chicken Stock Concentrate
4 ounce
Cream Sauce Base
(Contains: Milk)
1 clove
Garlic
¼ cup
Panko Breadcrumbs
(Contains: Wheat)
1 tablespoon
Tuscan Heat Spice
6 ounce
Broccoli Rice
Not included in your delivery
1 tablespoon (tbsp)
Butter
(Contains: Milk)
2 teaspoon (tsp)
Cooking Oil
teaspoon (tsp)
Salt
teaspoon (tsp)
Black Pepper
Nutrition Values
Utensils
Cooking Steps
• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Wash and dry produce. • Peel and mince garlic. Halve, peel, and finely dice onion.
• Once water is boiling, add pasta to pot. Cook, stirring occasionally, until al dente, 9-11 minutes. Reserve 1 1⁄2 cups pasta cooking water (2 1⁄2 cups for 4 servings), then drain. • While pasta cooks, melt 1 TBSP butter (2 TBSP for 4) in a large pan over medium heat. Stir in garlic, panko, and 1⁄4 tsp Tuscan Heat Spice (1⁄2 tsp for 4). Cook, stirring occasionally, until panko is golden brown and garlic is fragrant, 2-4 minutes. • Transfer to a small bowl. Wipe out pan.
• Heat a drizzle of oil in same pan over medium-high heat. Add sausage*, 1⁄2 TBSP Tuscan Heat Spice (1 TBSP for 4 servings; save the rest for another use), and a pinch of salt. Cook, breaking up meat into pieces, until sausage is browned and cooked through, 4-6 minutes. TIP: If there’s excess grease in your pan, carefully pour it out. • Transfer sausage to a plate. Reserve pan.
• Heat a drizzle of oil in same pan over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally until slightly browned and softened, 4-6 minutes. • Reduce heat to medium. Stir in cream cheese, stock concentrate, cream sauce base, broccoli rice, half the Parmesan (save the rest for serving), 1 cup reserved pasta cooking water (2 cups for 4 servings), and 1⁄2 tsp salt (1 tsp for 4). Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring, until thickened, 2-3 minutes.
• Reduce heat to low; stir drained pasta and sausage into pan with sauce. TIP: If needed, stir in more reserved pasta cooking water a splash at a time until pasta is coated in a creamy sauce. • Increase heat to medium high; simmer until sauce is slightly thickened, 1-3 minutes.
• Divide pasta between bowls. Top with garlic panko and remaining Parmesan and serve.
Customer reviews
Review summary
Updated on Dec 2025- Flavor: Many enjoyed the creamy sauce and chicken sausage, though some found it bland or overpowering; adjusting seasoning to taste is recommended.
- Ease of prep: Quick and easy one-pan meal for most, though some noted it took longer than expected or used multiple pots.
- Suggestions: Consider using broccoli florets instead of riced broccoli for better texture and flavor; reduce onion amount if desired.
- Portions: Generous servings that often provided leftovers; some found it too heavy or rich for a single meal.
- Texture: The panko topping added a nice crunch, but many disliked the grainy texture of the broccoli rice.
Reviews from our home cooks
LOVE how the spicy flavors combine with the flavorful chicken sausage. The cream subtly balances out the flavors lightly coating the pasta to tie it all together. The mashed broccoli is genius in this dish! It brings the perfect low-key crunch.
So yummy! I loved the creamy sauce with the broccoli rice. The chicken sausage gave the dish a nice flavor and the garlic panko crumbs were a nice crunch. I would definitely make this again!
This was a great pasta dish. The chicken sausage is one of my most favorite proteins to work with as it's so flavorful. The only thing I was surprised about was the broccoli was 'rice' and not fresh flowerets. Would make a great fall dish.
Really good! I like the broccoli rice in the skillet and garlic panko on top. Nice touches that added to the flavors.
This one missed the mark for me. The riced broccoli made the pasta kind of soupy and the chicken sausage was a little heavy, another protein and regular broccoli would have been nicer.
Overall this meal was good. But our family felt that the chicken Italian sausage was over seasoned and was too strong for the dish. We ordered 4 servings. We were sent 2 onions and only used half of one and two bags of broccoli rice and only used one. Another modification we made was to deglaze the pan with white wine before building the sauce.
The broccoli was a pleasant addition I wouldn't have thought of! These kinds of recipes are why I love getting Hello Fresh!
I feel like something was missing but otherwise it was really good. I could probably stretch this into 3 meals. I'm excited to see if it heats up well. The chicken sausage was delicious. UPDATE: heated up pretty good.
The taste is great! However, I did not care for the texture of the riced broccoli. I think it would have been better if heads of broccoli were roughly chopped and sauteed before adding to the pasta.
I have my reservations on using panko for many of the Hello Fresh meals. It takes away flavor, instead of adding. Or maybe, I am missing something when I'm prepping it. Nonetheless this dish is tasty. I'm glad I wasn't afraid to use the seasoning, as it brought the dish together with the chicken, pasta, and creamy veggies.
