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This Easy Gluten Free Sausage and Fennel Pasta Recipe is a delicious, quick, and easy skillet meal. It is also dairy free, nut free, and soy free. Perfect for busy weeknights or entertaining a crowd!
What Makes This Recipe Great
This Sausage and Fennel Pasta is a delicious and flavorful Italian-inspired meal that combines savory sausage with the licorice-like flavors of fennel. I personally am not a licorice fan, but I happen to love fennel. The combination of flavors in this dish are incredible. The sausage and fennel are tossed with mushrooms, spinach, and gluten free pasta in a creamy dairy free sauce. This meal is perfect for busy weeknights, yet fancy enough to serve at a dinner party! It also comes together in 30 minutes or less.
Recipe Highlights
- Ready in 30 minutes or less
- Gluten free & dairy free
- Made with simple ingredients
- Cozy pasta recipe
- Homemade comfort food
- Easy to make
- Makes great leftovers
Ingredient Needed for Sausage Fennel Pasta
Pasta: I used gluten free Tagliatelle, but any long gluten free pasta will work. A small pasta shape is also ok, but long ones are better for saucy recipes. Fettuccine would also be a great option. Feel free to use regular pasta if you do not need to be gluten free.
Italian Sausage: I usually look for sugar free if possible. Roma makes a great Italian Sausage with relatively clean ingredients here locally. Any hot or sweet Italian Sausage will work, though! It is up to personal preference. You will just need to remove it from the casings if you can’t find ground sausage.
Fresh Fennel: This makes the dish in my opinion! Fennel is like a cross between and onion and celery and it has a slight licorice taste. If you don’t want to use fennel or you are having a hard time finding it, a yellow onion can be used instead.
Mushrooms: Any type of slices mushrooms will work.
Spinach: You can also sub lacinato kale or broccoli rabe!
Minced garlic
Chicken broth: I love Kettle & Fire brand or the Kirkland brand of chicken stock at Costco.
Coconut milk: This is a great dairy-free alternative to heavy cream for this pasta dish. Original Nutpods also works well. If you do not need to be dairy free, you can use half & half. When it comes to coconut milk, I like Native Forest and Thai Kitchen brands- they do not taste as coconutty as the Trader Joe’s brand.
How To Make This Fennel Sausage Pasta
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook pasta until al dente, then drain and set aside. Meanwhile, heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a large skillet or large dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add fennel, sausage, garlic and mushrooms. Saute with a wooden spoon until the sausage is golden brown and cooked through and the fennel and mushrooms have softened, approximately 7-8 minutes.
- Add in chicken broth, stir, and let it simmer until the pasta is done.
- Add in spinach and stir 1-2 minutes until wilted. Stir in the coconut milk.
- Add in drained pasta and toss to combine.
- Serve with fresh parsley or chopped fennel fronds and parmesan cheese, if desired. Enjoy!
Mary’s Tips & Tricks
Variations: Feel free to use ground turkey sausage or chicken sausage if you prefer. Regular pasta can be used if you do not need to be gluten free. Half and half can be used instead of coconut milk if you do not need to be dairy free. Omit mushrooms if you don’t like them.
Storage: Store leftover sausage fennel pasta in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. The pasta will not get hard – gluten free pasta typically stores well in any type of sauce.
Freezing: I do not recommend freezing this recipe, as it may change the texture of the pasta.
Recipe FAQ’s
Fennel bulb has the consistency of an onion mixed with celery, and it has a slight licorice taste. It pairs really well with sausage in this recipe.
This will depend on the type of sausage you use and if you add red pepper flakes. If you use a mild Italian sausage, it will not be hot or spicy. If you use Spicy Italian sausage, then it will be spicy.
Italian pork sausage is my favorite type of sausage to use in this recipe.
More Gluten Free Easy Pasta Dinners
Easy Gluten Free Sausage and Fennel Pasta Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 box Jovial Foods gluten free Tagliatelle, or pasta of choice
- 1 lb Italian Sausage, casings removed
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 fennel bulb, coarsely chopped, fronds removed
- 2 cups raw baby spinach
- 8 oz mushrooms, cremini or white
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- 1 cup chicken broth
- ½ cup full-fat coconut milk, original Nutpods, or half & half (not dairy free)
- ½ tsp sea salt, more or less to taste
Instructions
- Bring a pot of water to a boil and cook pasta according to package directions.
- Meanwhile, heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add fennel, sausage, garlic and mushrooms. Saute until the sausage is browned and cooked through and the fennel and mushrooms have softened, approximately 7-8 minutes. Add in chicken broth, stir, and let it simmer until the pasta is done.
- Add in spinach and stir 1-2 minutes until wilted. Stir in the coconut milk. Add in drained pasta and toss to combine.
- Serve with parsley if desired. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
All nutrition facts are an estimate and automatically calculated. While I fact check them using My Fitness Pal, please note that they may not always be 100% accurate and depend on ingredients used. Weigh your total and divide by the number of servings for the most accurate grams per serving size.
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This post was originally published on December 22, 2019 and updated with new photos and copy on January 9, 2024.
Super easy for how flavorful it is. This one is great for when you want pasta but are tired of a red sauce.
Like so many of her recipes it is easily modified to your preference. I subbed in pearl onions because I don’t like mushrooms and arugula for spinach. The cooking technique still worked perfectly.
Thanks Tracy! Glad it worked for you!
Yum! This recipe was quick, easy and satisfying with limited ingredients. Definitely will be repeating it!
Delicious, easy, quick and feels SOO fancy!! My husband rated this one 10/10 and he devoured it instantly!
So easy and SO good!!
Thank you! <3
This was sooo good and easy!! My husband, who rarely compliments meals, said it was “delicious!”
Will definitely be making again!
Woo hoo! I’d call that a win 🙂 Thanks so much, Molly!
Hi Mary – Could you make a sauce for this out of cashews and chicken stock instead of the coconut milk? I only have TJ coconut milk of course and I’m worried it will be too “coconutty” as you said. Thank you!
Hi! You could certainly try this! I haven’t tried it but I think it would work. maybe 1/2 cup cashews and 1 cup broth!