Creamy Sausage Rigatoni (One-Pot, 30-Minute Meal)

One-Pot Creamy Sausage Rigatoni is an easy-to-make weeknight dinner made in just 30 minutes! This rigatoni recipe features basic ingredients found in most grocery stores. Everything is cooked in one pan on the stove-top: Italian sausage, creamy tomato sauce, and pasta. It’s restaurant-quality comfort food made at home!

Creamy Sausage Rigatoni with Tomato Sauce and Spinach on a white plate.

One-Pan, 30-Minute Recipe
This creamy pasta dish is flavor-packed, easy to make, and looks like the main course from a fine Italian restaurant. The beauty of the creamy sausage rigatoni is that it can be made on a busy weeknight because it takes only 30 minutes. Everything is cooked in one pot on the stovetop. Not only is it easy to make, but it also makes a beautiful presentation! You can certainly make this fantastic Italian recipe for special occasions to treat your family, friends, and guests. Sausage Rigatoni has earned the spot of one of my family’s favorite pasta recipes! If you like more Italian sausage pasta inspiration, don’t miss creamy sausage gnocchi or a popular recipe on my site: Italian sausage pasta with spinach and mushrooms.

Creamy Sausage Rigatoni with Tomato Sauce and Spinach in a stainless steel pan.

Classic rigatoni recipe
Rigatoni is traditionally used with thick sauces, such as bolognese or a rich alfredo sauce. This recipe sticks to the tradition by using the rich creamy tomato-based sauce and crumbled Italian sausage. Rigatoni is pasta with ridges which makes a perfect surface for sauces to coat. Ridged tubular pasta like rigatoni is perfect for thick, creamy sauces as thick pasta sauces stick better to this kind of pasta thanks to the ridges on the pasta surface.

Why this recipe works
Bring Italy to your dinner table. Italian sausage is combined together with rigatoni pasta, garlic, Italian seasoning, cream, marinara sauce (or any other tomato pasta sauce), and a sprinkle of red pepper flakes and fresh herbs on top. The flavor combination is amazing.
This simple rigatoni dinner is made in 30 minutes and is perfect for busy weeknights or as a weekend meal.
Cleanup is a breeze. Everything is cooked in one pan on the stovetop, so the cleanup is minimal.
What is rigatoni?
Rigatoni is a tube-shaped short pasta with ridges down its length.
This type of pasta originated in Italy, and the word rigatoni comes from the Italian word rigate which means ridged or lined.
Rigatoni is one of the most favorite pasta dishes in Sicily, Italy, where it is often used in the traditional Sicilian dish Pasta Alla Norma (sautéed eggplant tossed with tomato sauce and topped with ricotta salata cheese and basil).
Rigatoni recipes usually involve thick sauces, such as bolognese or a rich alfredo sauce.
What is a good substitute for rigatoni?
Because both rigatoni and penne are tubular-shaped short pasta, penne is your next best choice. Do keep in mind that pasta with ridges, such as rigatoni, is better for thick sauces like the creamy tomato sauce in this recipe because the sauce will stick better to the outside surface with ridges. So if you are to use penne, make sure you use penne with ridges.

How long to cook rigatoni?

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