Why you’ll love it: This one pan lemon pasta is a cozy one pan pasta with bright spring flavors. It’s easy to make and even easier to eat!
How long it takes: 30 minutes
Equipment you’ll need: large skillet with cover
Servings: 6
As I’ve shared one pan pasta recipes like homemade hamburger helper, one pan broccoli chicken alfredo, and taco pasta, I’ve discovered that you guys love one pan pasta recipes. And why wouldn’t you? I 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 my 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!).
Easy to make. Lemon pasta with sausage and asparagus is easy to make with minimal clean-up. Take-out dinners might be the first choice some nights but easy 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!
“This dish is amazing! Our family loved it, and it was so quick and easy!”
Recipe Variations
Try a different protein. Usually I use ground turkey sausage, either breakfast sausage or Italian sausage. I 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 (I 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.
Serving Suggestions
- 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 easy salad dressing recipes.
- Sweet finish: A sweet treat is always a welcome addition! Try snickerdoodle cookies or white chocolate macadamia nut cookies.
More One Pan Pasta Recipes
One Pan Lemon Pasta with Sausage, Asparagus, and Dill
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 (I 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)
Instructions
- 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.16 ounces ground turkey sausage, ½ cup finely diced yellow onion
- Add garlic to the skillet and cook for 1 minute or until fragrant.1 clove garlic, minced
- 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.3 cups uncooked gemelli pasta, 3 cups chicken broth
- 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.3 cups asparagus, cut into 1-inch pieces
- When pasta is cooked to your liking, add Parmesan cheese, dill, red pepper flakes, and lemon juice. Stir to combine and serve immediately.½ cup shredded Parmesan cheese, ¼ cup minced fresh dill, 1 pinch red pepper flakes, 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Notes
- More lemon flavor: If you like, zest the lemon before juicing it. Stir in the zest with the juice, or sprinkle it on top of each serving.
- 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.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Did You Make This?Share a comment and rating below! I love hearing what you think!
This dish was excellent! I was looking for a recipe that would use up some wonderful fresh dill and asparagus, and stumbled upon this recipe. I didn’t have short pasta, so I broke up 1 pound of spaghetti into bite-size pieces and increased the liquid. Also, we are vegetarian so I used one tube of ground Impossible sausage, and the results were fantastic! Everyone at the table had seconds, and this will definitely be one of our favorites going forward.
So glad you liked it! Thanks for taking the time to leave a review – I love your vegetarian adapartations!
Amazing bright spring dish! We wanted to use up some leftover Rotisserie chicken. Needed an extra 8oz. Chicken broth. Worked out fabulously. Love the flavors. Will definitely be making again!! Thanks so much for sharing.
So glad you liked it! Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment!
I made this last night, and it was fantastic.
Here is my ingredient list:
deep 14″ pan:
– 3 cups chicken broth
– spices in the broth: onion powder, garlic powder, dried vegetable spice
– 3 cups pasta
– handful of asparagus chunks (each stalk cut into 3)
– 1 orange bell pepper chunks
shallow 12″ pan:
– a bit of olive oil, avocado oil, and butter
– diced onion
– ground mild italian sausage meat
– deglazed with about 1 cup of dry Vermuth (basically white wine)
– cross-section cuts of shishito peppers (basically green peppers)
– small piece of very fine chopped ginger (about the size of 1 clove garlic)
– 3 cloves of coarse chopped garlic
– couple dashes of red chili flakes
After it was done, I zested a lemon onto a plate, and then added the juice of half lemon into the mixed dish. Then I topped the plate with a bit of lemon zest, just for extra citrus scent, and I recommend that.
I tragically didn’t have any dill, and I forgot to add parmesan cheese, but this recipe itself is a super winner. Make it if you come across this page.
So happy you liked it! Thanks for sharing your adaptations!
She forgot to mention that uncooked pasta burns black in the pan. Awful.
Hi Victoria,
That shouldn’t happen! Did you remember to add the broth? Could it be that your temperature was too high or you cooked it too long?
This dish is amazing! Our family loved it, and it was so quick and easy!
So glad to hear it! Thanks for taking the time to come back and leave a comment!
This looks so good. Thanks for sharing.
I hope your daughter gets well really soon :)
Thank you so much. She’s doing better today, I’m so relieved!
sounds perfect for a winter day
I’m so sorry your daughter is still ill.
Thanks, Denise. :) Hoping we see the end of this illness soon!
Seems points of instructions are missing?
This is what happens when you’ve been without power for a week, living in a hotel, and your daughter has had a fever for a week and a half and you try to type up a recipe at 9pm. Good grief! Thank you so much for letting me know. Should be fixed now. :)
HI Rachel,
am I missing something…I don’t see the rest of the recipe, I mean I can figure it out, but maybe for others?
Thank you!
This is what happens when you’ve been without power for a week, living in a hotel, and your daughter has had a fever for a week and a half and you try to type up a recipe at 9pm. Good grief! Thank you so much for letting me know. Should be fixed now. :)