One Pan Lemon Pasta plus Sausage, Asparagus, and Dill

What stands out: This one pan lemon pasta is a cozy one pan pasta with bright spring flavors. It’s straightforward to mix and even easier to eat!

How long it takes: 30 minutes
Equipment you’ll need: large skillet with cover
Servings: 6

As we've shared one pan pasta recipes like from-scratch hamburger helper, one pan broccoli chicken alfredo, and taco pasta, we've discovered that you guys love one pan pasta recipes. And why wouldn’t you? We love them too. Who wants to make two pans and a strainer dirty just for a good pasta dinner?

This lemon pasta is one of our favorites. It’s far from a traditional meaty red sauce like a Bolognese but the bright flavors win our heart over.

One Pan Lemon Pasta

Flavorful and hearty. This pasta recipe tastes like spring with crisp green asparagus, lemon zest, and fresh dill. However, the sausage and pasta are hearty enough to warm you up on cold days (and we get plenty of those during a Michigan spring!).

Straightforward to mix. Lemon pasta with sausage and asparagus is straightforward to mix with minimal clean-up. Take-out dinners might be the first choice some nights but straightforward one pan pasta dinners are a close runner-up.

Flexible. If you want to use a different meat or vegetable, this recipe is easily adaptable. Read on for ideas!

Kristine Said:

“This dish is memorable! Our family loved it, and it was so speedy and straightforward!”

See More Reader Reviews

Ways to change it

Try a different protein. Usually we use ground turkey sausage, either breakfast sausage or Italian sausage. We sometimes prefer the milder flavor of breakfast sausage over the bold flavors of Italian sausage. You could easily substitute pork sausage, ground beef, or boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into small pieces. Shrimp would go well, too.

Use a different vegetable. If you don’t have asparagus or it’s not in season, this dish is also great with other vegetables. Fresh green beans will cook in a similar amount of time as the asparagus if you like them crisp (we do!) but if you like softer green beans, add them when you add the pasta so they have more cooking time.

Make it dairy-free. Simply omit the cheese.

Ways to serve it

• Bread: As with any pasta, this recipe goes great with bread! Try it with Dutch oven bread and bread dipping oil.
• Salad: Try a garden salad with whatever vegetables are in season, with one of our straightforward salad dressing recipes.
• Sweet finish: A sweet treat is always a welcome addition! Try snickerdoodle cookies or white chocolate macadamia nut cookies.

• Yield: 6
• Prep: 10 minutes
• Cook: 20 minutes
• Total: 30 minutes

Ingredients

• 16 ounces ground turkey sausage (pork sausage is fine, too)
• ½ cup finely diced yellow onion ( 1 small onion)
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 3 cups uncooked gemelli pasta
• 3 cups chicken broth (we prefer reduced sodium)
• 3 cups asparagus, cut into 1-inch pieces (approximately 1 bunch)
• ½ cup shredded Parmesan cheese
• ¼ cup minced fresh dill
• 1 pinch red pepper flakes (more to taste)
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (about ½ a lemon, juiced)

Method

1. Heat a large, deep skillet with a cover over medium-high heat. Add sausage and onion and cook, breaking up sausage until browned and cooked through, about 8 minutes.
2. Add garlic to the skillet and cook for 1 minute or until fragrant.
3. Add uncooked pasta and chicken broth, and turn heat to high to bring to a boil, stirring, making sure the pasta is pressed down into broth.
4. Reduce heat to medium-low to maintain simmer. Cook, covered, for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally so pasta cooks evenly and to check that it isn't sticking to the bottom. When pasta has about 4 minutes cook time remaining, stir in asparagus.
5. When pasta is cooked to your liking, add Parmesan cheese, dill, red pepper flakes, and lemon juice. Stir to combine and serve immediately.

Notes

Pasta: You can use other types of pasta. If the pasta is larger or smaller, it will affect the cooking time. Use the package instructions as a guide.