30 Minute Magical Cheesy Sausage Noodle Dinner

Cheesy Sausage Noodle Dinner is A Quick N Easy 30 minute weeknight skillet dinner. The whole family will love this cheesy tasty comfort food meal.

This is one of Kayti and Brian’s favorite scrumptious casseroles.  She was talking it up, so I had to try it out. Yep! It’s good. Full of delicious flavor and very easy to make.

For me, food usually has to be healthy easy, quick and cheap. Most times fancy ingredients that cost a lot are never in my cupboard and I won’t go out and buy them.  I have always been a lazy cook and I’m normally in a hurry. Or tired from being in a hurry.

Thinking and planning food ahead…not so much a part of my life. So one skillet dinners like this one that require stuff I usually have on hand, about 30 minutes to make and 10 minutes of clean up make my day. And fortunately my hubby loves to eat them. Win Win!

Twisted Tuna Casserole, Cheesy nacho Pie, Cheesy Hamburger Pie, and many other easy weeknight dinner recipes you’ll find in our Main Dishes section are all quick and easy weeknight dinners. Perfect comfort food for the cold hibernation months. Winter is NOT my favorite season. Cold dreary and bleak. Cheesy Sausage Noodle Casserole makes me feel all warm and cozy with a full tummy of yumminess.

This is a filling dinner. Lots of cheese and sausage to sustain you too. Perfect weeknight meal.

Cheesy Sausage Noodle Substitutions: 

Like most quick skillet dinners it’s nice to have some options so you can avoid running to the store for odds and ends. And for those of us that bake or have a ton of ingredients in the pantry, it’s fun to change up recipes like this to suit your taste.

Toppings:

Any bread crumb will work as a topping for the casserole.

• The recipe calls for Panko Bread crumbs (Italian flavor will work well in this recipe) which are delicious and very easy. Just pour them over straight from the container. One and done.
• OR crush up some Focaccia Croutons. We like the crunchier bread texture and rich Italian flavor.
• Finely chopped green onions, peppers, or tomatoes evenly distributed over the bread crumbs add even more flavor and a pop of color.
• What you’re seeing pictured here is crushed up breadcrumbs from stale odds and ends of My Beginner Artisan Sourdough bread for the topping. Since I had some in the freezer all ready to go.

The Sausage:

I normally use a link sausage, like Adell’s Chicken Apple sausage. But any flavorful sausage can be used in this recipe. But be careful here or it may change the flavor profile quite a bit. For example, Chorizo sausage is way off the mark for what this meal is compatible with. A good bulk Italian sausage will work great though, or any sausage that works with Italian seasonings.

The Cheeses:

We call for sharp cheddar and freshly grated parmesan. I DON’T recommend the containers of parmesan on the grocery store shelf for this recipe. But if you are short a block of parmesan, here are some options.

Pecorino Romano, Grana Padano, or Asiago will all work well in this recipe. Pecorino Romano, made from sheep’s milk, is sharper and saltier than Parmesan. Grana Padano and Asiago, both made from cow’s milk, offer a similar nutty flavor to Parmesan. 

Other options include aged Gouda or Manchego cheese. let us know if you have more ideas on cheeses for this skillet dinner.

More Options:

Another home hack for this recipe is our Instant pot bone broth. I had a jar handy in the fridge, so that delicious, flavorful and amazingly healthy bone broth went into this casserole. Tons of flavor and nourishing gelatin in that broth.

You won’t find that gelatinous high quality broth in a store. Make it easily in your Instant Pot from leftover bones and save yourself some money. Or just buy a quart of store bought broth if it works best for you.

 Cheesy Sausage Noodle Dinner Recipe:

This is perfect winter time comfort food. When I’m in hibernation mode, like now, I bake bread, make broth, make filling simple meals like this and drink a lot of coffee. Enjoy!