Recipe Overview
Why you’ll love it: This pasta recipe is a weeknight dinner dream come true: a complete meal in one pan. This one pan rigatoni is filling, comforting, and full of flavor.
How long it takes: less than a half hour
Equipment you’ll need: large pot with cover or Dutch oven
Servings: 6
One pan pasta, people. This method of cooking pasta is a game changer. I may never go back to the traditional way of cooking pasta in boiling water.
Spaghetti with meat sauce is always a go-to easy weeknight meal but it makes so many dishes dirty. One pan for sauce, one big pot for pasta, a colander to drain the pasta, and that’s without any side dishes. The sink is starting to fill up with dirty dishes and all of a sudden your easy weeknight meal became kind of a pain in the you-know-what.
Easy & Delicious Rigatoni
Only one pan! This pasta gets ONE PAN dirty. Only one! Brown the Italian sausage in the pan, add the sauce, and the uncooked pasta. It all cooks in the same pan. It’s so easy.
Done in 30 minutes. I mean, this recipe is basically a dream come true.
Perfect for weeknight dinners or entertaining. This is a quick weeknight meal and it also translates smoothly into entertaining. Try serving it with Dutch oven bread and bread dipping oil. A beautiful arugula salad will round out the meal nicely.
Ingredient Notes
Italian sausage: I use Italian sausage in this recipe, either pork or turkey. It’s a nice switch up from plain ground beef or turkey because it packs a lot of really great flavor into this one pan rigatoni before you even add any other ingredients. We like to use sweet Italian sausage but if your family likes things a little spicier, get the spicy version of Italian sausage. Buy bulk sausage or links, and remove the sausage from the casings.
Onions, bell peppers, oregano and garlic: This array of savory vegetables and herbs adds so much flavor and nutrition.
Canned crushed tomatoes: A big can of crushed tomatoes is the backbone of the sauce. Crushed tomatoes are a better choice for this pasta recipe than diced tomatoes because they have more of saucy consistency. Cooking the rigatoni right in the tomato mixture along with chicken broth gives this pasta dish an extra punch of flavor.
Red wine: I give the sauce an additional layer of flavor with red wine. The flavor of the wine is perfect with the tomatoes, sausage and vegetable. Choose a dry red wine such as cabernet Franc, zinfandel (not white zinfandel!), pinot noir, and so on. Avoid sweet wines.
Cream cheese: Last but not least, stir a few ounces of cream cheese into this pasta right before serving it. I usually use reduced fat cream cheese but you can use regular full-fat cream cheese, if you prefer. This is one of my favorite tricks to enhance a traditional tomato pasta sauce. Adding cream cheese is easy to do and it adds richness and creaminess to the pasta.
Free Meal Plan
Interested in a weekly meal plan that includes this recipe? Take a look at Meal Plan #91. You’ll find a wholesome recipe for each weekday plus a categorized grocery list. We add a new meal plan weekly.
One Pot Pasta Recipes
One Pan Rigatoni with Creamy Red Wine Tomato Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
- 19.5 ounces Italian sausages, casing removed (pork or turkey)
- ¾ cup diced onion (1 medium onion)
- 1 cup diced red bell pepper (1 bell pepper)
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 can (28 oz.) crushed tomatoes
- ½ cup dry red wine
- 1 cup reduced sodium chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 16 oz. uncooked rigatoni (or another pasta of your choice)
- 4 ounces reduced fat cream cheese (or regular cream cheese, if you prefer)
- fresh chopped parsley or basil to garnish, optional
Instructions
- In a large, deep pot, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add Italian sausage, onion, bell pepper and cook, breaking up sausage, until onions are translucent and sausage is cooked through. Add garlic and cook for one minute or until fragrant.2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil, 19.5 ounces Italian sausages, casing removed, ¾ cup diced onion, 1 cup diced red bell pepper, 1 clove garlic, minced
- Add crushed tomatoes, wine, chicken broth, and oregano. Increase heat to high and bring to a boil.1 can (28 oz.) crushed tomatoes, ½ cup dry red wine, 1 cup reduced sodium chicken broth, 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- Reduce heat to a high simmer (medium/medium-low) and add pasta. Stir to combine and push pasta down into sauce. Cover and cook for 15 minutes, stirring frequently, or until pasta is al dente.16 oz. uncooked rigatoni
- Reduce heat to low and add cream cheese. Stir until cream cheese is melted and combined. Serve topped with fresh parsley or basil, if desired.4 ounces reduced fat cream cheese
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Did You Make This?Share a comment and rating below! I love hearing what you think!
When I asked my son what he wanted for dinner when he is home from college this weekend, this is what he asked for. This dish is SO delicious and SO very easy to make. I have made this several times and it has become a family favorite. I don’t make any changes to the recipe because none are needed!
This review made my day! So happy your family likes this recipe!
Arguably the worst recipe I’ve ever made.
Wow, that’s quite a statement! Any particular reason you didn’t like it?
This is absolutely amazing! I received done free red lentil noodles to try out so I wanted to give a new recipe a go too. My husband had asked for salad for dinner tonight but I asked if he wanted this along side. He said no but to go ahead and make it for myself if I wanted to try it. While cooking it however he commented on how amazing it smelled and that he couldn’t pass up trying it! Lol needles to say we both love it and yes already been added to our name again list!
I used chicken stock because it’s what I had and omit the peppers because I didn’t have that. I added 2 Tbs minced garlic but by the time I was finished I didn’t think it was enough and added garlic powder. I also used ground pork sausage and added italian seasoning to it along with salt and pepper.
Absolutely delicious, thank you for sharing!
So, so happy you liked it! Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment, it means so much to me!
My girlfriend and I made this for a quick Friday dinner – so yummy! We made it vegetarian by leaving out the sausage and added mushrooms, and it was great. Would be careful about how much cream cheese you use so it does’t overpower it. We used two garlic cloves, but would use more when we make it again. A few red pepper flakes while cooking too. And more wine! Overall, a success!
Glad you liked this recipe, Isobel! Thanks for taking the time to come back and leave your feedback!
Tonights dinner! Definitely a keeper recipe. Will be making again! Delicious!
So happy to hear you liked it!!!
I am anxious to try this recipe. Love pasta dinners but hate all the cleanup. I always seem to have a partial package of cream cheese in the fridge too that usually ends up getting tossed.