This Butternut Squash Pasta bake is loaded with crumbled Italian sausage, goat cheese, cubed butternut squash, garlic, heavy cream, and crispy sage leaves for the most decadent fall pasta dish ever. Plus, with the exception of the noodles, everything gets tossed into the oven together for an easy, hands-off meal!
Table of Contents
- This recipe is…
- Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Recipe Ingredients for Butternut Squash Pasta
- Recipe Variations and Modifications
- How to Make Butternut Squash and Goat Cheese Pasta
- Recipe Tips
- How to Serve
- How to Store and Reheat
- Frequently Asked Questions
- More Favorite Pasta Recipes
- Butternut Squash and Goat Cheese Pasta Recipe
This recipe is…
This dish is incredible, y’all. It’s similar to our baked feta pasta recipe, in that most of the ingredients (with the exception of the pasta, this time) get thrown into a casserole dish and baked until melty, crispy, and delicious. Then, the noodles get thrown in and everything is stirred to decadent perfection.
It’s a little bit spicy, it’s a lot creamy, it’s one million percent DELIGHTFUL! This pasta gives all of the fall vibes and is a total family-friendly situation.
If you’re looking for more pasta bake recipes, we’ve got a handful! This pasta bake with sausage and spinach is a classic, this no-boil chicken Alfredo bake is a delightful spin on the cheesy Italian restaurant favorite, and this pesto pasta bake is loaded with pesto and sun-dried tomatoes.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- It’s easy – this recipe is as easy as it gets! You’ll boil the noodles separately, but everything else will head into a casserole dish to bake until cooked.
- It’s family-friendly – the hint of spice in this recipe is easy to control, making it super family-friendly.
- It’s decadent and delicious – the combination of butternut squash, goat cheese, and heavy cream make for the most decadent pasta sauce ever.
Recipe Ingredients for Butternut Squash Pasta
This recipe is pretty simple and doesn’t call for a whole lot of ingredients. Find ingredient notes (including substitutions and swaps) below.
- Cubed butternut squash – you’ll need cubed butternut squash for this recipe. Frozen or fresh will work!
- Italian sausage – as for the Italian sausage, you can choose hot or mild! Either works great.
A full ingredient list with exact amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
Recipe Variations and Modifications
- Lighten it up – the heavy cream definitely adds to the decadence of this dish, so if you’re looking to lighten it up, you can either swap half of the heavy cream for chicken broth or nix the heavy cream altogether and use all chicken broth.
- Adjust the spice – there are a couple of ways to control the spice in this recipe. You can use more or less red pepper flakes, and/or you can choose between a mild or hot Italian sausage.
- Make it dairy-free – swap the goat cheese for a dairy-free version and the heavy cream for a dairy-free heavy cream or chicken broth.
- Make it grain-free – use a grain-free pasta (this Jovial Foods cassava pasta is a great choice) to make this recipe grain-free.
- Make it gluten-free – as for gluten-free, you can either use the cassava pasta linked above or use a gluten-free (still has grains) pasta. Barilla’s gluten-free pasta is our favorite!
How to Make Butternut Squash and Goat Cheese Pasta
This recipe is incredibly easy to make! Follow along below.
Step 1: Toss the butternut squash cubes and sage with half of the olive oil, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes in a 9×13 casserole dish. Then, stud the casserole dish with small pieces of the Italian sausage, place the goat cheese log in the center, and sprinkle the garlic cloves throughout. Pull the sage leaves up so they’re sitting on the top and then drizzle with more olive oil and a sprinkle of salt.
Step 2: Bake at 375°F for 45 minutes, or until the cheese looks bubbly and the sausage looks crispy. While the squash and sausage bake, cook the pasta according to package instructions. When the squash and sausage mixture are finished, pull the crispy sage out of the dish and add the heavy cream.
Step 3: Stir the cream into the sausage and butternut squash mixture to make an even sauce.
Step 4: Add the cooked pasta, stir to combine, and top with the crispy sage and additional red pepper flakes (optional). Serve and enjoy!
Recipe Tips
Cut the heavy cream – if you like the idea of this fall-inspired pasta bake, but you want to lighten it up (or just don’t do well with heavy cream), feel free to either swap half of the heavy cream for chicken broth, or omit the heavy cream altogether and use chicken broth in its place entirely.
How to Serve
This pasta bake is a delicious, complete meal all on its own, but if you want to serve it alongside a veggie, go for it! A simple arugula salad would be a great pick, as would roasted broccoli or simple sautéed green beans.
How to Store and Reheat
Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
To reheat the pasta bake, simply pop a serving in the microwave for 1-2 minutes or pop the entire casserole dish back into the oven for 10-15 minutes, until warmed through.
Frequently Asked Questions
You’ll want to stick with butternut squash for this recipe! Spaghetti squash has an entirely different texture and definitely won’t create the same creamy, decadent sauce when mixed with the heavy cream and goat cheese.
This recipe calls for Italian sausage, and it’s absolutely delicious! Any pork recipe would also be great (air fryer pork tenderloin, oven roasted pork tenderloin, and air fryer pork chops, to give you some ideas!).
Butternut squash has a sweet, almost nutty flavor. It’s similar to the flavor of a sweet potato!
More Favorite Pasta Recipes
If you tried this Butternut Squash and Goat Cheese Pasta or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below!
Butternut Squash and Goat Cheese Pasta
Ingredients
- 15 ounces cubed butternut squash, about 2 full cups or 1 small butternut squash-worth
- 1 bunch fresh sage leaves, about 3 tablespoons packed
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 pound Italian sausage, hot or mild
- 10½ ounces goat cheese
- 2 bulbs-worth garlic cloves
- 1 cup heavy cream, or another dairy-free milk
- 12 ounces fusilli pasta
Instructions
- Toss the butternut squash cubes and sage with half of the olive oil, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes in a 9×13 casserole dish.
- Stud the casserole dish with small pieces of the Italian sausage, place the goat cheese log in the center, and sprinkle the garlic cloves throughout. Pull the sage leaves up so they’re sitting on the top and then drizzle with more olive oil and a sprinkle of salt.
- Bake at 375°F for 45 minutes, or until the cheese looks bubbly and the sausage looks crispy.
- While the squash and sausage bake, cook the pasta according to package instructions.
- When the squash and sausage are finished, pull the (now crispy) sage out of the dish so you can sprinkle it on at the end.
- To assemble the pasta, add the cream and stir to make an even sauce.
- Add the cooked pasta, stir to combine and then top with the crispy sage and additional red pepper flakes (optional).
Recipe Notes
- Lighten it up – the heavy cream definitely adds to the decadence of this dish, so if you’re looking to lighten it up, you can either swap half of the heavy cream for chicken broth or nix the heavy cream altogether and use all chicken broth.
- Adjust the spice – there are a couple of ways to control the spice in this recipe. You can use more or less red pepper flakes, and/or you can choose between a mild or hot Italian sausage.
- Make it dairy-free – swap the goat cheese for a dairy-free version and the heavy cream for a dairy-free heavy cream or chicken broth.
- Make it grain-free – use a grain-free pasta (this Jovial Foods cassava pasta is a great choice) to make this recipe grain-free.
- Make it gluten-free – as for gluten-free, you can either use the cassava pasta linked above or use a gluten-free (still has grains) pasta. Barilla’s gluten-free pasta is our favorite!
Nutrition
Can you freeze this? It looks delicious and I would love to freeze for later. Thanks!
This recipe was easy to pull together and tasted great! Our garden was overflowing with butternut squash, so having something unique to do with it was great! I used extra butternut squash and enjoyed that. Next time, I’ll use chicken instead of sausage as it’ll be lighter and I think the flavors would marry better than the sausage chunks did.
That butternut squash had to have tasted amazing, fresh from the garden! Great tip on using chicken, Katie! We are really happy you enjoyed it!
So I made this but had to adjust to make it dairy free. I ended up using dairy free Boursin (2-170g containers) and oat milk. I added another cup of butternut squash as I had extra. It was delicious! I’m also gluten free so I used banza cavatappi pasta. I split it into 8 servings as that worked well for me.
We are so happy you enjoyed it and were able to adjust it to something perfect for you, Johanne! Thank you so much for taking the time to share!
I thought this looked delicious and then noticed the nutritional info. Calories: 835kcal | Carbohydrates: 53g! I came to this site because it said the meals were healthy!
I think “healthy” is a relative term, but there are many ways to lighten this meal up.
You could use ground chicken or turkey instead of the sausage (I would just season it a little more), and many gluten free pastas are full of extra protein and fiber which will offset the carbs a bit. You could also serve it with spaghetti squash instead!
As mentioned in the recipe notes, swapping the heavy cream will also lighten this meal up quite a bit.
I made this when it was on IG and it is absolutely delicious. I’d been thinking it was time to make it again!
Awwww that’s amazing, Rachel! We are so happy you enjoyed it!