Recipe: Hidden Veggie Spaghetti with Crispy Kale and Sausage

A food freedom recipe from Jenn Leuke's new cookbook, Don't Think About Dinner (with Whole30 modifications and my suggestions)

This is the second recipe in my recipe series, and it’s been on repeat all winter. Jenn Leuke is the queen of healthy, easy, family-friendly dinners. I may have more of her recipes bookmarked than any other home chef. She is so generous with what she shares online, and her Substack offers even more recipes, cooking tips, and meal planning strategies.

This Hidden Veggie Spaghetti (page 273) was an immediate hit. It can be made gluten-free, grain-free, or vegan. It’s naturally dairy-free and nut-free, and can easily be free from added sugar. I’ve included Whole30 modifications below, too.

Let me know whether you want more recipes in the comments! I have so many talented friends, and I’d love to share their favorite meals with you here.

Hidden Veggie Spaghetti with Crispy Kale and Sausage

from Don’t Think About Dinner by Jenn Leuke

I call this recipe Hidden Veggie because the pasta sauce is loaded with different vegetables, and you would never know it once it’s blended up. With its multiple components, this one takes a bit more effort (which is why it landed in this chapter), but I promise it’s worth it. Skip the sausage to make it vegetarian/vegan, but don’t skip the crispy kale to top the pasta—that extra step is what “fancy” is all about! Bonus round: The sauce freezes beautifully. You’ll likely have extra sauce left over from this recipe (I like a lot of sauce), so be sure to save any extras in the freezer for another day.

Makes 4 servings • Prep time: 20 minutes Cook time: 45 minutes

FOR THE CRISPY KALE

• 3 cups shredded curly kale (about 4 1⁄2 ounces)

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• Kosher salt

FOR THE SPAGHETTI AND SAUCE

• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

• 1 teaspoon dried oregano

• Kosher salt

• 1⁄2 teaspoon ground black pepper

• 1⁄4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)

• 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more as needed

• 1⁄2 pound ground hot or sweet Italian sausage or chicken sausage, removed from links, casings discarded if necessary

• 2 large carrots, small-diced (about 1 cup)

• 1⁄2 large yellow onion, small-diced (about 3⁄4 cup)

• 1 celery rib, small-diced (about 1⁄2 cup)

• One 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes

• 3⁄4 cup canned full-fat coconut milk (about half a well-shaken 13.5-ounce can)

• 14 ounces brown rice spaghetti, rice-and-corn-based spaghetti, or regular

  spaghetti, cooked and kept warm

1. Make the crispy kale: Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

2. In a large bowl, combine the kale, oil, and a few pinches of salt and toss with tongs or your clean hands until the kale is evenly coated. Transfer the kale to the prepared sheet pan.

3. Bake until dry and crispy, 25 to 30 minutes. Set aside.

4. Meanwhile, make the spaghetti and sauce: In a small bowl, combine the garlic powder, oregano, 1 teaspoon salt, the black pepper, and red pepper flakes (if using) and set aside.

5. Line a plate with paper towels and set it near the stove. Heat the oil in a large, deep lidded skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add the sausage and cook, stirring occasionally to break up any large pieces, until browned, 5 to 6 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the sausage to the paper towels to drain. Set aside.

6. Heat the same skillet over medium heat, adding a drizzle of oil if the pan is too dry. Add the carrots, onion, and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, until very soft, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the spice mixture and cook, continuing to stir occasionally, until fragrant, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the crushed tomatoes. Bring to a simmer and cook until slightly reduced and warm, about 5 minutes. Stir in the coconut milk and cook until heated through, about 1 minute. Cover and set aside.

7. Transfer the cooked vegetables to a blender or food processor and, working in batches if needed, blend (with the steam vent open on the blender top) on high speed until completely smooth, about 1 minute.

8. Mix half of the sauce with the cooked pasta until fully coated. Add more sauce if desired. Stir in the cooked sausage until evenly combined.

9. Spoon the pasta into four bowls and top with the crispy kale.

MU’s notes

Here are my tips for making this meal:

• I always double the crispy kale, because kale chips are awesome to have on hand.

• I buy ground chicken sausage, and I double the protein to a pound. You could use any ground meat, however, including vegan offerings.

• You can sub heavy cream for the coconut milk in a 1:1 ratio, if you prefer.

• If you wanted to add even more veggies, you could use diced yellow bell pepper, mushrooms, or diced zucchini.

• If you add more veggies, you might want to increase the sauce, or even double it.

Whole30 modifications

It’s easy to make this delicious spaghetti dish Whole30-compatible! Here are the substitutions or omissions you’d make during elimination:

• Make sure your sausage or chicken sausage are Whole30-compatible, with no added sugar or dairy.

• Use veggie noodles (zucchini, butternut squash, spaghetti squash, sweet potato) in place of spaghetti.

If you wanted to use this recipe for your Whole30 reintroduction, here’s what you could add back in, keeping the other Whole30 modifications from above:

• Use chickpea noodles for Legume day.

• Use rice noodles for Non-Gluten Grain day.

• Use heavy cream instead of coconut milk on Dairy day.

• Top with parmesan, Pecorino Romano, or mozzarella cheese on Dairy day.

• Use whole wheat pasta for Gluten Grain day.

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Excerpted from Don’t Think About Dinner By Jenn Leuke. Copyright © 2026 by Jenneatsgood LLC. Used by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, New York, NY. All Right reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.