Our delicious butternut squash pasta sauce features sausage, parmesan cheese, fresh herbs, garlic, and extra virgin olive oil. The flavor of the creamy butternut sauce is enhanced with ginger and honey. It’s an easy dish highlighting the fall flavors we love.
This post is an updated version of a recipe posted in October 2020. New ingredients, new photos, and clearer recipe instructions now accompany the post.
If you love this Butternut Squash Pasta Sauce, you will also love this Eggplant pasta with Tomatoes and Sweet Italian Sausage, Quick Pumpkin Stew with Tortellini or Spicy Chicken Chipotle Pasta Recipe!
Why this recipe sings
- This lovely butternut squash pasta sauce makes a perfect quick dinner for the whole family.
- The recipe is versatile and easy to substitute and play with ingredients in the pantry. Swap the butternut with pumpkin and the sausages with thick-cut bacon or pancetta, add thyme for sage, or use goat cheese instead of parmesan.
- The sweetness of the butternut combined with ginger, honey, fresh herbs, savory sausages, and parmesan creates a flavor that ticks all the boxes.
Here is what you need
- Butternut squash cut into 1/2-inch cubes. On a weeknight when I have had a long day at work but still want a quick, homemade dinner, I get the pre-cut butternut squash from my local grocer. Frozen butternut cubes also work well. Substitute with pumpkin or sweet potatoes.
- A whole garlic head. It adds so much flavor when roasted with herbs and olive oil.
- Fresh herbs. Use herbs like thyme, sage and rosemary sprigs. Dried herbs will work just fine as well. I use whatever is available in my pantry if I can’t find fresh herbs. Dried sage, rosemary and thyme are great. If you have just one of these, use it with some dried oregano or Greek seasoning blend.
- Heavy cream. It adds more creaminess to the sauce.
- Extra virgin olive oil.
- Pasta. Use your favorite pasta. Here, I am using rigatoni pasta. But I have used linguine and orecchiette in the past.
- Sausages. My go-to is rustic Greek sausages with a little heat. You can use spicy Italian or sweet sausage, bratwurst or chorizo. Feel free to substitute with thick bacon or pancetta. Or use mushrooms saute in butter with lots of freshly ground pepper.
- Parmesan cheese. You can also use grated pecorino romano or creamy goat cheese.
- Ground ginger. I love the mildly spicy bite and sweetness of ground ginger. If you want a more intense flavor, use grated fresh ginger instead.
- Honey. It intensifies the sweetness of the butternut an pairs perfectly with the savory sausage.
- Sea salt and freshly ground pepper for seasoning, and chili flakes for serving.
Helpful tips
- Usually, when I add parmesan cheese to a sauce, it is grated to incorporate better in the sauce. In this recipe, it is ok to be more flexible and add shaved or grated parmesan. The shaved parmesan will partially melt and adhere to pasta pieces, resulting in a burst of flavor.
- For thinning out the sauce, use reserved pasta water. You can also use broth, more heavy cream or half and half.
- If you like to use goat cheese for serving, place it in the freezer for 15 minutes before serving. It will make it easy to grate it over the pasta.
Step by step
Detailed measurements and instructions can be found on the recipe card at the bottom of the page.
Preheat oven to 400 F.
Cut the top part of a garlic head. Place it in the middle of a small aluminum foil piece—season garlic with sea salt and freshly ground pepper. Add a couple of thyme sprigs, rosemary, and sage. Add a tablespoon of olive oil on top. Fold the aluminum foil snuggly and secure it around the garlic head.
In a bowl mix the butternut squash cubes with 2 tbsp olive oil, sea salt and a generous portion of freshly ground pepper.
Arrange the rest of thyme sprigs, rosemary and sage on a rimmed baking sheet.
Arrange the squash in one layer on top of the fresh herbs. Place the garlic head (wrapped in aluminum foil) on the baking sheet to roast with the squash. (Image 3)
Roast for 45 minutes until the squash is tender.
Wait a couple of minutes for the garlic head to cool down. Squeeze the soft garlic flesh out.
Transfer the squash and garlic flesh to a food processor.
Blend until smooth. Season with sea salt and freshly ground pepper.
Start preparing the pasta about 15 minutes before the squash is out of the oven.
Boil the pasta until al dente. Scoop out 1 cup of pasta water.
Chop the sausage into 1/3-inch pieces.
Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a medium sauté pan. Add 2-3 sage leaves and thyme sprigs. After half a minute, add the sausage. Cook until it is fully cooked with crispy edges. Remove the herb sprigs from the pan.
In the same skillet, mix the butternut pasta sauce with the sausage. Add the heavy cream, parmesan, ground ginger and honey. Stir well.
Bring the pasta pot close to the skillet (it should be finished cooking the pasta by now) and with the help of a slotted spoon or tongs, transfer the pasta to the butternut squash sauce. It is perfectly fine if some pasta water is transferred as well.
Stir gently to coat every single pasta in the sauce. Use some of the reserved pasta water until the sauce reaches your desired consistency.
Serve warm in bowls with generous amounts of parmesan and chili flakes.
Side dishes for butternut pasta sauce
Looking for some delicious side dishes to pair with butternut pasta? You could try a simple green salad with a vinaigrette dressing and warm bread to dip in olive oil.
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Check out my Greek pantry staples
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Butternut Squash Pasta Sauce with Sausage
Ingredients
- 2 lb butternut squash cut in 1/2 inch cubes
- 1 garlic head
- 10 fresh thyme sprigs or one tablespoon of dried thyme
- 10 fresh sage leaves or one tablespoon of dried sage
- 10 rosemary sprigs or one tablespoon of dried rosemary
- ⅓ cup heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 8 oz Greek sausage Cut into ⅓ inch pieces
- ¼ cup parmesan cheese shaved or grated
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 8 oz rigatoni pasta or your favorite pasta
- freshly ground pepper
- sea salt
For serving
- parmesan cheese shaved or grated
- chili flakes
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 F.
- Cut the top part of a garlic head. Place it in the middle of an aluminum foil piece—season garlic with sea salt, and freshly ground pepper. Add a couple of thyme, rosemary and sage sprigs. Drizzle one tablespoon of olive oil on top. Fold the aluminum foil snuggly and secure it around the garlic head.
- Mix the butternut squash cubes with two tablespoons of olive oil, one teaspoon of ground nutmeg, sea salt and a generous amount of freshly ground pepper.Arrange the rest of thyme sprigs, rosemary and sage on a rimmed baking sheet. Save some sage leaves for later.Arrange the squash in one layer on top of the fresh herbs. Place the wrapped garlic head on the baking sheet to roast with the squash.Roast for 45 minutes until the squash is tender.
- Wait for the garlic head to cool down. Squeeze the soft garlic flesh out of the garlic skins.Transfer the squash and garlic flesh to a food processor. Puree until smooth. Season with sea salt and freshly ground pepper.
- About 15 minutes before the squash is ready, prepare the pasta. Boil the pasta until al dente. Towards the end of cooking, scoop out one cup of pasta water and set aside.
- Heat two tablespoons olive oil in a medium sauté pan. Add 2-3 sage leaves and a couple of thyme sprigs. After half a minute, add the sausage pieces—season with freshly ground pepper. Cook until sausage is fully cooked with crispy edges, about 5 minutes. Remove any hard herb sprigs.
- In the same skillet, mix the butternut pasta sauce with the sausage. Add the heavy cream, parmesan cheese, one teaspoon of ground ginger, and one tablespoon of honey.Your pasta should be al dente by now. Carefully bring the pasta pot close to the skillet, and with the help of a slotted spoon or tongs, grab and transfer the pasta to the sauce. It is perfectly alright for some water to transfer as well. In medium-low heat, mix gently the pasta with the sauce. Season to taste with sea salt and freshly ground pepper. If you need to thin the sauce use the reserved pasta water until it reaches your desired consistency.
- Serve the pasta warm in bowls topped with generous amounts of shaved (or grated) parmesan cheese, and chili flakes.
Notes
Nutrition
What an absolutely delicious dish that was. I have never had such an unusual sauce with my pasta. I felt so adventurous and then it tasted wonderful on top of that.
Thank you so much, Ginny! x Jenny
Well you got me at past and goat cheese. Then you added this wonderful sauce too. I love squash, and I actually have some in the freezer. Perfect for this recipe.
Thank you so much, Gloria. I hope you like it! x Jenny
This recipe look absolutely delicious! I love the idea of making sauce with butternut squash. I bet it adds so much flavor!
Typically I’d save this type of recipe for fall and winter. But really, butternut squash and goat cheese? I couldn’t wait and I made it on Thursday night. OMG!! So good. This is now my favorite way to have butternut squash. We put it over homemade linguine. I could have eaten the sauce with a spoon. And the type about freezing the goat cheese first before grating was spot on.
Sounds divine with homemade linguine! Thank you so much, Marisa!
I eat pasta very often and I’m always excited to try new recipes. The next time I will be buying butternut squash this is something I want to make. Unfortunately I can’t get it already cleaned and diced (you’re so lucky!), so it’s always a minor chore to peel and prepare it. But from the looks of this pasta I can tell it will be worth the extra 15 minutes. Maybe I’ll reserve this pasta recipe for a day when I finish work early 🙂
They are a bit of a pain to dice, it is true! But, you can halve and bake the butternut first upside down on a baking sheet with olive oil and spices and cut it when it cools. Thank you so much, Eva!
Prosciutto is one of my favorite meats and I love the way it was used for this dish and paired with the butternut squash pasta sauce!
It is indeed delicious and comforting. Thank you so much, Moop!
I love using butternut to make sauces. In this recipe it pairs so well with pasta, adding color and taste.
Thank you so much!
Oh my sweet heavens does this look amazing! I love butternut in desserts but hadn’t thought to use it as a pasta sauce. I can’t wait to gobble this down! I’m crushing hard on this recipe!!!
Thank you so much, Lori
I love turning butternut squash into pasta sauce! We make this a lot in the fall, and I can’t wait to try your version. Saving for cooler temps, when warming, comforting butternut squash pasta is sure to become a household staple
I love cozying up with a bowl of this and Netflix! Thank you, Ksenia!
This butternut squash pasta sauce contributes a naturally sweet and nutty flavor to the whole dish. I enjoyed it and will definitely make it again! Thank you for sharing this recipe!
What a delightful combination! Everyone in my family was a little skeptical about the squash in the dish until they tasted it. There were no leftovers!
Butternut squash and sage is always my favorite combo for fall. I loved the added spiciness of ginger and the savory sausages balanced out the sweetness of the squash really nicely. We’ll definitely make it again soon, I might even try it with pumpkin!
I have some leftover butternut squash and this is what I am going to make with it!
I bought a butternut squash the other day and had no idea what to do with it. I am so glad that I stumbled across this recipe. Thank you so much for sharing! Pinned to make tomorrow 🙂
Butternut saush pasta is one of my favourite recipe during fall season. Loved the idea of adding sausages. Can’t wait to try it out.
Butternut squash with pasta is such a lovely combination. Makes for a delicious creamy sauce, and wonderful with the addition of sausage!