This one-pot sausage pasta, made with hot dogs, is the pasta kids love most. And between us? The grown-ups don’t stand a chance either.
Pasta, juicy hot dogs, and a deep red sauce, all cooked together in one pot. No separate pot for boiling, no colander, very few dishes.
I make it for a quick lunch or an easy weeknight dinner. It’s simple, fast, and pure comfort food.
The one tip that matters: brown the sliced hot dogs well before anything else goes in. That’s where the flavor comes from.
Then stir every few minutes while the pasta cooks, so nothing sticks to the bottom.
This one-pot sausage pasta is made from dry pasta, sliced hot dogs, onion, garlic, sweet paprika, and tomato paste. Sauté the onion and hot dogs in olive oil, stir in the spices and tomato paste, add the pasta, cover with hot water, and simmer covered, stirring often, until the pasta is tender. It takes about 30 minutes.
One-Pot Hot Dog Pasta in Tomato Sauce
Ingredients
Method
- Heat olive oil in a pot and sauté the onion until translucent.
- Add the hot dogs and keep frying until nicely golden.
- Add the garlic, paprika, red pepper flakes, salt, pepper, and tomato paste. Stir.
- Add the dry pasta and stir again.
- Pour in hot water until the pasta is covered. Put the lid on and cook.
- Stir every few minutes while it cooks, until the pasta is tender and ready to serve.
Notes
- Brown the hot dogs well in step 2. The golden edges add a lot of flavor to the sauce.
- Stir every few minutes. Pasta cooked in a small amount of liquid likes to stick to the bottom of the pot.
- If the pasta isn’t tender yet and the pot looks dry, add a splash more hot water.
- Hot dogs → any fully cooked sausage, such as beef or chicken sausage, sliced into rounds.
- Pasta → any short pasta shape works.
- Red pepper flakes → leave them out for kids.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. In this recipe the dry pasta cooks right in the tomato sauce with hot water, in one covered pot. Stir often so it cooks evenly.
Any hot dogs or franks you like. Beef franks are the closest to the Israeli version.
Short pasta is easiest to cook in one pot. Long pasta works too, but it’s harder to stir evenly.
Keep leftovers in a sealed container in the fridge for a few days. Add a splash of water when reheating, since the pasta keeps absorbing sauce.
Only if you add the red pepper flakes. Without them, the sweet paprika gives flavor and color but no heat.
