Baked Penne with Sausage

Baked Penne with Sausage is an easy-to-make pasta casserole that’s a dinner the whole family will probably like! And I make this tasty recipe with high-fiber pasta to keep it lower in carbs, for anyone who cares about that. But use the pasta you prefer for this recipe that’s a favorite for me. 

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Baked Penne with Sausage is a recipe I first made years ago. And when I taught school I bet I took it for my lunch at least 300 times! In those days I’d make it for Weekend Food Prep and eat it for lunch and dinner over and over until it was gone.

Back then I made it with a brand of pasta that claimed to be low in carbs. After they were taken to court and it was proven those claims were not quite accurate, I removed that old recipe from my blog. But now (big drumroll here) I am making it again with the Fiber Gourmet Light Penne (affiliate link) that’s high in fiber and much lower in carbs than regular pasta. You could also use Carbe Diem Penne (affiliate link) which is almost identical in nutritional info and is less expensive.

And in case it’s not obvious, I am quite obsessed with the new high fiber pastas! I’ve loved this pasta in every recipe I’ve used it in. Of course, I’ve made some delicious dishes through the years with Palmini Pasta, zucchini noodles, and spaghetti squash. But I love finding a product that’s fairly low in carbs AND tastes just like real pasta! If you’re craving pasta and like the idea of penne with sausage that’s not a huge splurge on carbs, I hope you try this recipe soon!

What ingredients do you need?

(This is only a list of ingredients; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe with ingredient amounts.)

• Fiber Gourmet Light Penne (affiliate link) or Carbe Diem Penne (affiliate link)
• salt (for pasta cooking water)
• hot (or mild) pork Italian Sausage
• Rao’s Pasta Sauce (affiliate link), I used Tomato Basil Sauce
• grated Mozzarella cheese
• grated Monterey Jack cheese
• coarsely grated Parmesan cheese

What helps make the baked penne sausage casserole lower in carbs?

There are two ingredients and a few tricks I use in this recipe that help make it lower in carbs:

• First, I use Fiber Gourmet Light Penne (affiliate link) or Carbe Diem Penne (affiliate link) and make 8 oz. of pasta into eight servings.
• Second I use Rao’s Pasta Sauce (affiliate link) which is a lot lower in carbs than most purchased sauce, and I use one jar to make 8 servings, which reduces the carbs even more.
• And third, I use a lot of low-carb sausage and cheese in proportion to the amount of pasta and sauce in this baked pasta casserole.

How many carbs are in Baked Penne with Sausage?

When I calculate the carbs for this recipe made with Fiber Gourmet Light Penne or Carbe Diem Penne it comes out to 14 net carbs per serving, with 32.5 grams of protein. That’s pretty low in carbs for a casserole with pasta! 

How expensive is the high-fiber lower-carb pasta?

The biggest drawback to the Fiber Gourmet Light Pasta for some people will be the price. I haven’t found it in stores near me, and the best deal for me is to buy Fiber Gourmet Light Penne (affiliate link) at Amazon. Sometimes it’s on sale for as low as $4.84 per box when you buy six boxes at once. The pasta is sold on The Fiber Gourmet site, but you have to buy $50 worth to get free shipping. For me it was such a treat to have “real” pasta without so many carbs that I happily bought the six-pack at Amazon!

I admit that I have a slight preference for the Fiber Gourmet Light Pasta. But Carbe Diem Pasta (affiliate link) is less expensive, it’s sold in many stores, and it comes in a larger box. And it’s also very good and the nutritional information is close to identical for the two high-fiber pastas.

How to make Fiber Gourmet Light Pasta more affordable and reduce the carbs:

Even though the Fiber Gourmet Light Pasta varieties are all much lower in carbs than other pastas made from wheat, I like to make the carbs even lower by using this pasta in recipes with lots of other low-carb ingredients. So for this recipe, an eight ounces of dried pasta makes eight servings of this casserole. That makes the carb count much lower.

Can you make Baked Penne with Sausage with regular pasta?

Of course you can make this recipe with regular penne pasta, although I haven’t tried it myself. If you’re not concerned about the carbs you could use slightly more pasta and have a larger serving size.

Can you use less cheese for this baked penne recipe?

The cheesy mix of Mozzarella, Monterey Jack, and Parmesan cheese combined with the pasta, sauce, and sauce is what makes this recipe so good (and keeps the carbs down). But if you prefer less cheese (or want to reduce the fat) go ahead and adjust it to your taste!

How to Make Baked Penne with Sausage:

(This is only a summary of the steps for the recipe; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)

1. The first photo shows the Rao’s Tomato Basil Sauce and the Fiber Gourmet Light Penne that I use to keep this relatively low in carbs!
2. Preheat oven to 375 F/190C.
3. Bring pot of salted water to a boil.
4. Add pasta and cook 17-18 minutes, or until al dente. (The Fiber Gourmet Light Pasta takes much longer to cook because of the fiber.)
5. While pasta cooks, cook sausage over medium-high heat until well done. 
6. Then add Rao’s Tomato Basil Sauce (or sauce of your choice), turn heat to medium, and let simmer about five minutes.
7. Drain pasta well when it’s done.
8. Spray a 9″ X 13″ casserole dish with non-stick spray.
9. Make a layer of pasta in the baking dish.
10. Then add sausage/sauce mixture.
11. Top with Mozzarella cheese.
12. Bake 20 minutes, then remove from oven and stir slightly to get melted cheese mixed through the pasta mixture.
13. Top with Monterey Jack cheese and grated Parmesan and bake 15-20 minutes more.
14. Serve Baked Penne with Sausage hot, with Parmesan cheese to add at the table if you like.
15. This will freeze very well in an airtight container or bag. I like to freeze individual serving size portions to eat later for lunch.

Make it a Low-Carb Meal:

I’d love this Baked Penne with Sausage served with an extra low-carb side dish like one of these:

• Stir-Fried Spinach with Garlic and Parmesan
• Lemon Parmesan Kale Salad
• Spinach Salad with Goat Cheese
• Kale and Arugula Salad
• Kalyn’s Favorite Baby Arugula Salad

Weekend Food Prep:

This recipe for a baked penne casserole with sausage has been added to a category called Weekend Food Prep where you’ll find recipes you can prep or cook on the weekend and eat during the week!

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4.6 Stars (8 Reviews)

Yield: 8 servings

Baked Penne with Sausage

Prep Time 25 minutes

Cook Time 35 minutes

Total Time 1 hour

This Baked Penne Pasta is made with lower-carb Fiber Gourmet Light Pasta or Carbe Diem Pasta for a pasta dish that tastes just like "real" pasta with a lot fewer carbs.

Ingredients

• one 8 oz. package Fiber Gourmet Light Penne (see notes)
• 1 tsp. salt (for pasta cooking water)
• 5 links hot (or sweet) pork Italian Sausage
• 24 oz. Rao's Tomato Basil Sauce
• 2 cups grated Mozzarella cheese
• 1 cup grated Monterey Jack cheese
• 1/2 cup coarsely grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 F/190C.
2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
3. Add Fiber Gourmet LIght Penne and cook 17-18 minutes, or until pasta is al dente. (The Fiber Gourmet Light Pasta takes much longer to cook because of the fiber. If you use another type of pasta, check the package for cooking time.)
4. While pasta cooks, squeeze sausage out of the casings and cook over medium-high heat in a large frying pan until well done. 
5. Then add Rao's Tomato Basil Sauce (or sauce of your choice), turn heat to medium, and let the sauce simmer with the sausage for about five minutes.
6. Drain pasta well as soon as it's done.
7. Spray a 9" X 13" glass or crockery casserole dish with non-stick spray.
8. Make a layer of pasta in the cassserole dish.
9. Then make a layer of sausage/sauce mixture.
10. Top with the Mozzarella cheese.
11. Bake 20 minutes, then remove from the oven and stir gently to get the cheese mixed all through the pasta mixture.
12. Top with Monterey Jack cheese and grated Parmesan and bake about 15-20 minutes more, until bubbly and slightly browned on top.
13. Serve hot, with Parmesan cheese to add at the table if you like.
14. Baked Penne with Sausage will freeze very well in an airtight container or bag. I like to freeze individual serving size portions to eat later for lunch.

Notes

You can also use 8 ounces of Carbe Diem Penne. Note that the Carbe Diem comes in a 12 oz. box but I am only using 8 ounces for the recipe.

This recipe originally created by Kalyn. The version in this post was tested with help from Kara.

Nutrition Information

Yield

8

Serving Size

1
Amount Per Serving Calories 443Total Fat 28.4gSaturated Fat 12gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 10gCholesterol 93mgSodium 896mgCarbohydrates 26.5gFiber 12.5gSugar 3.5gProtein 32.5g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.

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Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
Baked Penne with Sausage will be a good meal for a moderate low-carb diet if you use the Fiber Gourmet Light Penne that I used or Carbe Diem Penne. (That’s assuming you have a moderate serving size). I doubt the Fiber Gourmet Pasta is approved for South Beach, and this recipe is definitely high in fat for South Beach too.

Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Casseroles or Pasta to find more recipes like this one. Use the Diet Type Index to find more recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.

Historical Notes for this Recipe:
I originally made this Baked Penne with Sausage with a brand of pasta that was found to be deceptive in claiming to be low in carbs, and when that happened I removed the recipe from the website. In 2022 I learned about Fiber Gourmet Light Pasta, a wheat pasta with lots of fiber so lower net carbs. I reposted the recipe using Fiber Gourmet Light Penne that year. It was last updated with more information and to add an option for Carbe Diem Pasta in 2026.