Italian Sausage Pasta

Our creamy Italian Sausage Pasta recipe has a mouth-watering meat sauce made with Italian sausage, onion, garlic, tomato, cream and Italian seasonings.  This Italian sausage rigatoni is a delicious meal that’s easy enough to pull together any night of the week!

This is an easy dish that comes together in about 30 minutes, and it’s one of those simple recipes you can pretty much commit to memory. I’ve been making this sausage rigatoni for years and I’ve taken it to my share of potlucks!

Italian sausage rigatoni is a great meal to make for potlucks, game day, and casual get-togethers with family and friends. I used to make this recipe a lot for my son and his friends when they were kids. So this dish is also kid approved!

Italian Sausage Rigatoni Recipe Ingredients

• Pasta. We use rigatoni, but you can use whatever tube shaped pasta you like.
• Extra-virgin olive oil. To cook the sausage and sauté the aromatics with.
• Aromatics. We use simple combination of onion and garlic.
• Italian Sausage. We use mild Italian chicken sausage for this recipe, but you can use hot sausage instead if you like. 
• Seasoning. Perfectly seasoned with dried oregano, Italian seasoning, fennel seeds, and red pepper flakes.
• Tomato. We use both canned diced and canned crushed tomatoes for this recipe. 
• Cream. A little cream adds a richness to the sauce.

Find printable recipe with the measurements below.

How To Make Creamy Italian Sausage Pasta

1. 1. Cook Pasta. Cook the rigatoni according to the directions on the package.
   2. Brown Sausage. Heat oil in a large Dutch oven. Add the sausage to the pan (be sure to remove the outer casing first) and break the links up into small pieces with a wooden spoon or a metal spatula. Cook over medium-low heat for 7-10 minutes or until no longer pink. Transfer the sausage to a bowl and set aside.
   3. Add Aromatics. Add more oil to the pot if needed, then stir in the onions into the same pot that you cooked the sausage in and sauté for approximately 5 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté for another 1-2 minutes.
   4. Add Seasoning. Stir in the seasoning.
   5. Add Tomatoes. Return the sausage to the pot (juice and all) and stir. Add the undrained crushed and chopped tomatoes and stir. 
   6. Simmer Sauce. Simmer the sauce for about 15-20 minutes.
   7. Add Cream. Stir in the cream.
   8. Add Pasta. Add the cooked pasta to the meat sauce and stir. Remove from heat.
   9. Serve. Garnish with grated parmesan cheese and finely chopped basil or parsley.

Tips For Making Rigatoni With Sausage

1. Don’t overcook the pasta because the noodles will continue to cook a bit when you add them to the sauce. 
2. No need to rinse the noodles after cooking them.
3. The more noodles you add to the sauce, the less sauce you will have. If you like a saucy pasta dish, then add fewer noodles.  We typically start off by adding about 1 cup of cooked pasta and then we’ll add a little more at a time until we have a good balance of sauce and pasta. 
4. Cook the onions until they are quite soft and translucent.
5. Simmer sauce slowly over low heat.

Serving Suggestions

• Garlic Bread. We usually serve this dish with plenty of bread. Either a warm and crusty baguette or our Italian Garlic Bread.
• Salad. We also like to balance this rich and decadent dish by serving it with a big salad like our Lemon Arugula Salad, Lemon Parmesan Lettuce Salad, Romaine Salad, Everyday Mediterranean Salad, or our Spring Mix Salad.

Storing Leftovers 

1. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator. If properly stored, the pasta can last 3-4 days, but it is best the day its made.
2. To reheat, add leftovers to a skillet and heat over medium-low heat. Add a little cream or water to moisten the sauce and noodles if needed.

More Pasta Recipes

• Baked Rigatoni with Ricotta
• Marry Me Chicken Pasta
• Chicken Broccoli Alfredo
• Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo

Continue to Content

Print

Yield: 4 Servings

Italian Sausage Pasta

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 20 minutes

Our creamy Italian Sausage Pasta recipe has a mouth-watering sauce made with Italian sausage, onion, garlic, tomato, cream and Italian seasonings.  This Italian sausage rigatoni is a delicious meal that's quick and easy to pull together any night of the week!

Ingredients

• 1-1/2 cups uncooked rigatoni
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 pound mild Italian chicken sausage
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 3-4 garlic cloves, finely minced or grated
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/8 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 14-ounce can crushed tomatoes
• 1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes
• 2 teaspoons granulated sugar (optional)
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
• Fresh basil for garnish

Instructions

1. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and add the rigatoni. Cook the rigatoni for about 12 minutes or according to the directions on the package. When the noodles are done, drain them and set aside. No need to rinse the noodles.
2. Heat oil in a large Dutch oven. Add the sausage to the pan (be sure to remove the outer casing first) and break the links up into small pieces (like hamburger) with a wooden spoon or spatula. Cook over medium-low heat for 7-10 minutes. Transfer the meat to a bowl and set aside.
3. Add more oil to the pot if needed, then stir in the onions to the same pot that you cooked the sausage in and sauté over low heat for about 5-7 minutes or until golden and soft. Add the garlic and sauté for another 2-3 minutes.
4. Stir in the seasoning.
5. Return the cooked meat back to the pot (juice and all) and stir. Add in the crushed tomatoes and chopped tomatoes including juice. Stir in the sugar.
6. Simmer the sauce for about 15-20 minutes. Add the cream the last few minutes of simmering.
7. Add 1 to 1-1/2 cups of the cooked pasta to the sauce and stir.
8. Garnish with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and fresh basil leaves.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

4

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 466Total Fat: 34gSaturated Fat: 11gUnsaturated Fat: 23gCholesterol: 138mgSodium: 861mgCarbohydrates: 11gFiber: 3gSugar: 7gProtein: 30g

theharvestkitchen.com attempts to provide accurate information, however, this nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. The nutritional information provided comes from online sources and calculations. See full disclaimer on About page.