Celebrate fall in a savory way by whipping up a batch of ultra thick and creamy pumpkin pasta sauce. Made with easy canned pumpkin and without heavy cream (you'll prepare an easy roux), you can keep it vegetarian or add chicken sausage or bacon for a cozy fall pasta dinner that can be on the table in about 40 minutes.
For a long time I liked the concept of making a pasta sauce with pumpkin puree, but worried it would be bland (like plain pumpkin is) or even worse, lean unappealingly sweet in flavor. If, like me, you're NOT a marshmallows-on-your-sweet-potatoes kind of person, do not be afraid. There's no mistaking that this easy, creamy, hearty fall pasta is savory all the way.
This pumpkin pasta recipe is a lighter, simpler take on my pumpkin mac and cheese that pairs pumpkin with a supporting cast of savory flavors to yield a thick and delectably creamy sauce. I'll be stocking my pantry with cans of pumpkin to last the whole year through.
Note: I took new final photos (and some extra process shots) in September 2026 from this recipe's initial publish date in 2022. Over the years I became partial to really liking a little extra pasta water for a silkier, thinner sauce and wanted these photos to reflect that. Doing so creates more sauce volume, so I increased the amount of dry pasta used from 8 to 12 ounces. I also incorporated my favorite apple chicken sausage variation into the actual recipe card because I think it's just that good! Everything else about the recipe is the same.
Why You'll Love This Pumpkin Pasta Sauce
- No heavy cream: A simple roux (only two tablespoons of fat), milk, broth, and pumpkin puree combine to yield a super thick and creamy pumpkin pasta sauce. I take a similar approach in my gorgonzola gnocchi skillet to delicious results.
- A great use for leftover pumpkin: You'll need one cup of pumpkin, which is a little more than half of a 14.5-ounce can. See my list of other pumpkin puree recipes, organized by amount needed, if you're cracking into a new can for this one.
- It's fast: On the table in about 40 minutes. Looking to add more quick pastas to your menu? See also weeknight-perfect chicken sausage pasta.
- Delicious protein additions or vegetarian-friendly: Easy swaps ensure this creamy pumpkin pasta sauce is vegetarian, but if you'd like to bump up the protein, browning apple chicken sausage rounds or crumbling bacon over top are some of my personal favorites ways to incorporate meat where the flavors mesh just right.
What You'll Need
- Pumpkin puree: My forever refrain - be sure to use 100% pure pumpkin puree and not canned pumpkin pie mix. The cans are often next to one another on store shelves and can easily be mistaken for one another. I personally always buy Libby's brand as I've found it has a much better flavor than some other ones out there.
- Milk: Use whichever kind you like. This pumpkin pasta sauce thickens up from the roux and pumpkin puree so a higher milkfat percentage isn't necessary here. I've made this pasta with 1%, 2% and whole milk and find them all to be tasty.
- Broth: I prefer chicken broth for its flavor, but vegetable broth can be substituted.
- Pasta: For this creamy pumpkin pasta sauce I go for either wider long pasta (fettuccine, linguine) or mid-sized shapes with crevices or ridges to hold onto the sauce (penne, ziti, cavatappi).
- Pecorino: A grated hard Italian cheese, such as Pecorino Romano or Parmesan, goes surprisingly well with pumpkin for a decidedly savory flavor.
- Sage: Fresh sage ties the warm and cozy fall flavors together. Rubbed sage, found in the dry spice baking aisle, is a good substitute for a more convenient option - I don't recommend dried sage.
How to Make Pumpkin Pasta with Chicken Sausage
- Step 1: Brown chicken sausage rounds in a little oil in pan large enough to hold the whole dish at the end. Here I'm using a 12-inch skillet. Set aside for later.
- Step 2: Sauté onion in the now-empty skillet for 5 minutes, then add the garlic and dried seasonings for 1 minute more. Sprinkle in the flour and "cook" it for 2 minutes while moving it around the pan as everything thickens up.
- Step 3: Whisk in the broth and milk and adjust the heat to a low simmer. Whisk frequently as everything thickens, until it coats the back of a wooden utensil in a visibly thickened layer. Separately set a pot of water to boil for the pasta while the roux is thickening.
- Step 4: Remove the skillet from the heat and whisk in the cheese, pumpkin puree, sage, cayenne, and nutmeg. **When the pasta is al dente, reserve 2-3 ladlefuls of water before draining.**
- Step 5: Add the pasta and chicken sausage rounds to the pan of sauce and stir to combine.
- Step 6: Thin out the sauce, as needed, with the reserved pasta water until creamy and silky. Garnish with extra cheese and fresh sage for serving.
Want to Use Bacon Instead?
At the start, cook bacon in your preferred manner to your preferred crispness and set it aside until serving.
If you're using the same pan you'll prepare the sauce in, carefully discard all but two tablespoons of grease from the pan. You can use this in place of the tablespoon each of olive oil/butter used in the roux.
Tips and Tricks
- Spice timing: Adding paprika toward the beginning of this pumpkin pasta allows the flavors to bloom in the cooking fat and really permeate the flavor of its sauce. Cayenne is much spicier and added just at the end so its heat doesn't grow and overwhelm.
- Why you cook flour: While it looks clumpy and strange, cooking the flour for a few minutes along with the onion and garlic before pouring in liquid gets rid of an unpleasant raw flour taste and prevents the sauce as a whole from clumping up later on.
- Forget to reserve the pasta water? Been there, done that! If you drained all the water and still want a thinner sauce, drizzle in a little extra warm milk or heat up an extra amount of chicken broth and stir it in to thin.
- Optimal cheese options: Grating a wedge of Pecorino Romano yourself yields the freshest flavor, though the refrigerated deli cases at the supermarket will have the next best thing. I grew up with ever-present cartons of Locatelli in the fridge, so that's my store-bought favorite. Grate the cheese as finely as possible so it melts quickly into the pumpkin pasta sauce.
Making Vegetarian Pumpkin Pasta
You'll need to make three adjustments to ensure this recipe is vegetarian:
- Leave out the meat (obviously).
- Use a high-quality vegetable broth in place of the chicken broth.
- Choose a specially-labeled vegetarian Parmesan, which is made with vegetable- or microbial-based enzymes and not animal rennet. There are no vegetarian Pecorino Romanos.
More Savory Pumpkin Recipes
- If you open a new can of puree to make this pumpkin pasta, you can use the rest in a seriously delicious turkey chili made in the Instant Pot. Pumpkin blends right in and makes it so silky - it's one of my two secret chili ingredients.
- Pumpkin dinner rolls are flavored with garlic and herbs and look quite seasonally-appropriate on the dinner table.
- If your crowd is one who enjoys mac and cheese on Thanksgiving, consider pumpkin mac and cheese. It's festive with a blend of cheeses and a ton of warm and cozy flavor.
Did you enjoy this recipe? I’d love for you to leave a star rating and a comment review in the recipe card below!
Creamy Pumpkin Pasta
Celebrate fall in a savory way by whipping up a batch of ultra thick and creamy pumpkin pasta sauce. Made with easy canned pumpkin and without heavy cream (you'll prepare an easy roux), apple chicken sausage or bacon make perfect protein pairings, or simply leave them out for a cozy pasta dinner that can be on the table in about 40 minutes.
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Servings: 5
Calories: 565kcal
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons (30 ml) olive oil divided
- 12 ounces (340g) fully-cooked apple chicken sausage links sliced into rounds
- 1 Tablespoon (14g) unsalted butter
- Half of a medium onion diced
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- ¼ teaspoon sweet paprika
- Pinch of kosher salt
- Big pinch of ground black pepper
- 2 Tablespoons (16g) all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (240 ml) reduced-sodium chicken broth or vegetable broth
- 1 cup (240 ml) 2% milk
- 12 ounces dried pasta such as penne, cavatappi, etc.
- ½ cup (28g) finely-shredded Pecorino Romano or Parmesan, more for serving
- 1 cup (244g) pumpkin puree
- 2 Tablespoons finely-chopped fresh sage leaves
- Grating of fresh nutmeg (optional)
- Pinch of ground cayenne pepper (optional, or to taste)
Instructions
- Heat 1 Tablespoon of the olive oil in a large skillet (a 12-inch diameter is good) over medium heat. Add chicken sausage rounds and brown on both sides. Remove sausage rounds to a plate and set aside.
- Set a large pot of water on the stovetop to boil, then continue on with making the pumpkin pasta sauce as it heats up.
- Add the remaining tablespoon of olive oil and butter to the now-empty skillet set over medium-low heat. Once the butter is melted and everything is well heated, add the diced onion and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the minced garlic to the skillet and cook for 1 minute. Season with paprika, kosher salt, and black pepper and stir in.
- Sprinkle flour over the onion and garlic and stir in. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring often so it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan, then slowly whisk in the broth and milk. Adjust the heat as needed to maintain a simmer, and whisk often as the sauce thickens over the next 8-10 minutes, or until it's thick enough to moderately coat the back of a wooden spoon. (Keep in mind the sauce will thicken further once the cheese and pumpkin are added.)
- The water will reach a boil at some point while the sauce is thickening. Once that happens, lightly salt the water, then stir in your pasta. Cook according to package directions, reserving a 2-3 ladles of water at the end of cook time before draining it.
- When the sauce has thickened, remove the pan from the heat and scatter in the grated Pecorino and whisk as it melts to combine. Whisk in the pumpkin puree, chopped sage, and cayenne (if using), then add the browned chicken sausage rounds and drained pasta and toss. Add some of the reserved pasta water to thin the sauce to your liking, as desired.
- Taste for salt and pepper. Serve with extra grated Pecorino, sage, and/or a grating of fresh nutmeg.
Notes
Pasta: Varieties that work well for a thick sauce are long, flat noodles such as fettuccine or linguine, or shapes with nooks and crannies and ridges like ziti, cavatappi. Only lightly salt the water, given that the pasta sauce includes a salty ingredient (chicken broth).
Milk: A high milkfat percentage isn't needed here as the sauce thickens from the roux and pumpkin puree.
Sage: Rubbed sage, found by the dry spices, can be used in place of fresh sage. Start by adding 1 ½ teaspoons of rubbed sage, adding more to taste. Dried sage lacks in flavor so I would not substitute.
Tips and Tricks
- Forget to reserve pasta water? Heat up some milk or chicken broth and stir it into the sauce at the end if you'd like it thinner. Adjust seasonings accordingly.
- Interested in using bacon instead? Cook it in the skillet at the beginning, then crumble once safely cooled and stir it in at the end. Discard all but two tablespoons of the grease from the pan - you can use this in place of the olive oil/butter in the roux.
- Need it to be vegetarian? Omit the chicken sausage, swap for a high-quality vegetable broth, and choose a specially-labeled vegetarian Parmesan (one that calls out vegetable- or microbial-based enzymes on the ingredient list and not animal rennet).
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Nutrition
Calories: 565kcal | Carbohydrates: 68g | Protein: 25g | Fat: 22g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 64mg | Sodium: 807mg | Potassium: 409mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 7799IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 170mg | Iron: 3mg
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Nutritional information is provided as an estimate. As it can vary due to many factors (brands used, quantities, etc.), we cannot guarantee its accuracy.
Food Safety and Nutrition DisclaimerPsst - In case you're returning to this post from a pin or bookmark, you may recognize one of the original images below:
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