Whole Wheat Pasta with Chicken Sausage, Kale & White Beans
This 30-minute garlicky whole wheat pasta with chicken sausage, kale & white beans is healthy, easy to make & requires minimal ingredients!
Pasta is one of my biggest cravings and is such a comfort food for me! Some people automatically make the assumption that pasta isn’t ‘healthy’. However, I make little modifications to make my pasta healthier such as using whole wheat pasta or brown rice pasta in place of white pasta. I opt for natural sauces such as olive oil (using Pompeian Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil) and garlic or marinara instead of a creamy alfredo or white sauce. If I’m using meat, I’ll opt for an organic chicken sausage instead of meatballs. I also try to pack in some greens or veggies to my pasta dishes.
Lately there’s this whole gluten-free craze and while I certainly enjoy gluten-free alternatives sometimes I just want the real deal. I made this dish using organic whole wheat pasta because my stomach tolerates wheat just fine. However, if you want to make this dish gluten-free I suggest using brown rice pasta, lentil pasta or chickpea pasta.
The best part about this recipe is you can make a huge batch and have leftovers throughout the week. I love making a big batch of this pasta on Sunday knowing I have dinner covered for the next few nights. Also, this is a great dish to pack up and bring to work to heat up for lunch. I also plan on sending my daughter to school with this for lunch, which will be a nice alternative to her usual sandwich.
This dish is high in protein thanks to the organic chicken sausage and you’re also getting in a nice dose of greens from the kale. Kale is packed with vitamins and nutrients such as calcium, folate and magnesium. The white beans also add protein and fiber, while the olive oil adds some healthy fat. Last but not least, the garlic is amazing for your stomach!
My favorite part about this recipe is that it’s SO simple to make and requires minimal, clean ingredients. The simple ingredients I used are whole wheat pasta, fresh garlic, kale, white beans, chicken sausage and olive oil. I opted for all organic products and produce so my entire dish was organic.
To make this dish I sauté the chicken sausage, kale and white beans in Pompeian Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil and garlic while I simultaneously cook the pasta in a large pot of lightly salted water. While those are cooking I make garlicky sauce, which is easy to make and is SOO delicious on the pasta. It pairs so well with the kale, white beans and chicken sausage. I lightly fry some fresh chopped garlic in Pompeian Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil for a few minutes and drizzle it over the finished pasta dish. Seriously heavenly!
I love Pompeian’s Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil for many reasons, the first being that their products are Non-GMO verified which is so important to me. Pompeian values quality above all else. I also love the taste and flavor of Pompeian Olive Oils because they’re produced in various regions rather than from a single locale or company-owned grove. Since each year’s olive crop varies, Pompeian can select the season’s best olive oils and then blend them to the same quality standards and consistent taste, year after year. Also, a little fun fact I wanted to share: Pompeian is the first olive oil brand to carry the USDA Quality Monitored seal on its Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
I highly recommend making a huge batch of this dish so you can have leftovers throughout the week – trust me you’ll want it again and again – it’s that good!
PrintGarlicky Whole Wheat Pasta with Chicken Sausage, Kale & White Beans
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp Pompeian Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 box whole wheat pasta (or brown rice pasta if gluten-free)
- 3 cups kale
- 1 can white beans
- 4 organic chicken sausages (removed from casing and crumbled up)
Instructions
- Heat a large pot of lightly salted water over the stovetop and bring to a boil. Once the water is boiling add the pasta to the water, stir and reduce the heat slightly to a low boil. Cook pasta according to package instructions.
- While the pasta is cooking add 1 tbsp of olive oil and 1 garlic clove to a large skillet over medium heat. Allow the garlic to lightly fry in the olive oil for about two minutes and then add in the chicken sausage, kale and white beans. Cook for about 5 – 10 minutes, or until the kale is wilted and the chicken sausage is lightly browned.
- Make the garlicky olive oil sauce simply by lightly frying 1 garlic clove in 2 tbsp of olive oil for about 3 minutes.
- Once the pasta is done cooking, drain almost all of the water, reserving about 1/8 a cup of the pasta water and pour into the skillet with the cooked chicken sausage, kale and white beans. Drizzle the garlicky olive oil sauce over the pasta, mix well and serve.
This post is in partnership with Pompeian. Thank you for supporting Leah’s Plate and the brands that help make this site possible!
This looks so delicious! I’ve had some organic chicken sausages in my freezer for a little bit now and have had no idea what to do with them. This recipe seems so simple and I think I can handle trying to make this!
YES I love chicken sausage with pasta 🙂 Let me know how it comes out!
This looks so yummy, I’m definitely going to have to try it! This might be a dumb question, but what kind of “white bean” did you use? There are so many varieties (Great Northern, Cannellini, Navy, etc.) and I never know which kind to buy!
Not a dumb question at all! I used Cannellini, but you can use any of the ones you mentioned! xo