One Pot Cheesy Italian Sausage and Shells

a pot with cheesy sausage and shells and a wooden spoon

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One Pot Cheesy Italian Sausage and Shells

This one pot cheesy Italian sausage and shells recipe has a velvety cheese sauce that smothers every bite of the pasta! It's meaty, easy, and ultra comforting.

Prep Time10

Cook Time20

Total Time30

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Keyword: One Pot Italian Sausage and Shells

Servings:

Author: Natasha Bull

Ingredients

1 pound hot Italian sausage see note
1/2 medium onion chopped
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
2 cups beef broth
1 cup heavy/whipping cream
2 cups uncooked medium shells
8 ounces Velveeta cheese cubed
Salt & pepper to taste

Instructions

Add the sausage and onions to a Dutch oven/soup pot. Cook over medium-high heat until browned (about 7-10 minutes), breaking the meat up with your spoon as you go along. Discard excess fat.
Stir in the tomato paste, garlic powder, and oregano.
Add in the beef broth and cream. Increase the heat to high. Once it starts boiling, add in the shells.
Reduce the heat so it's not furiously boiling (rapidly simmering is good). I cook mine over medium heat. Let it cook, uncovered, until the pasta is tender and most of the liquid has been absorbed (about 12-13 minutes). Stir it every couple of minutes.
Stir in the Velveeta, then take the pot off the heat once it's melted in. Season with salt & pepper as needed. You can let it sit for a couple minutes prior to serving (it'll soak up the sauce the longer it sits), or serve it immediately.

Notes

Serves 4-6 depending on the portion size.
This recipe is great with hot Italian sausage. You can make it more kid-friendly by using mild, though. Use bulk ground sausage meat or buy whole sausages and take it out of the casings like I did.
You can use grated cheddar instead of Velveeta if you prefer.
For one pot meals, ingredients and stoves vary. If you're running out of liquid (like it's getting close to sticking and burning) when you still have a while to go before the pasta is done, add in more liquid, 1/2 cup or so at a time.

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