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There are so many times I am running around like crazy, but need a big meal my family will love – or when i need a dinner for a new mom or a neighbor – I love to make this amazingly easy Ravioli with Sausage Tuscan Cream Sauce.
We’re taking browned sausage, spinach, tomatoes, cheese, and lots of cream to make a dinner your whole family will love – without much effort or fussy cleanup.
Don’t want all the extras in a recipe post? We provide a skip to recipe button in the top left corner, as well as a clickable table of contents, just below, to help make this page easier to navigate.
At Sweet C’s, I add lots of tips in all of my recipes – because I am a home cook without any formal training, and I find I am more confident making dishes when I understand why it works, and what each ingredient means to the flavor of a recipe. My goal is for even the most beginner home cook to feel empowered in the kitchen.
Table of contents
How to Make ravioli in sausage, spinach, tomato cream sauce
This sausage skillet ravioli in a tomato spinach cream sauce is one of my favorite recipes of all time – it is bursting with cheesy, creamy flavor and is great for big families or groups. I often make a giant batch of this easy pasta for my friends when they have a newborn so they have an easy meal to pop in a pan and reheat.
This one-pot creamy sausage and ravioli pasta with spinach cream sauce is awesome because there is no taking stuff in and out of the pan- just brown the sausage and then dump everything in, stir, and enjoy.
Tuscan Cream Ravioli Ingredients
To make this recipe, we will need:
- Ravioli: If you are looking for the best type of ravioli to put in this dish, I suggest a super doughy egg-noodle based ravioli (typically in a Kosher section of your grocer’s freezer.)
- Note: I’m making this recipe with a simple cheese ravioli – but feel free to try all sorts of raviolis to find your favorite flavors! Roasted garlic, mushroom, spinach, chicken, and even lobster ravioli would all be great in this creamy ravioli dinner.
- Heavy Cream: Don’t skip or substitute this – you need the rich, full-fat cream for the best tomato spinach cream sauce!
- Sausage: While I love to make this recipe with classic breakfast sausage, it is delicious with mild or spicy Italian sausage, herbed German sausage, and even spicy chorizo! Get creative and add the meat you love, and try different flavor combinations.
- Canned tomatoes with garlic: While you can always add fresh garlic (sautee with sausage for extra fragrant and rich garlic flavor) I like to simplify this recipe even more by using diced tomatoes with garlic already in the can. You can change this up and go for all sorts of variations of diced tomatoes – including one with green chilies, or one with more oregano, basil, and thyme for more classic Italian red sauce flavor.
- Large Nonstick Pan: A nonstick pan is essential here – as your pasta cooks down and gives off starch, it can settle at the bottom of a pan and stick or worse – burn. Stir your pasta often to help prevent this – but a nonstick pan will be your best friend for this recipe!
Tuscan Sausage Cream Sauce Ravioli Steps
Once you’ve gathered your ingredients, we will use the following process:
Brown Sausage
In a large pan, crumble and brown sausage.
Soften Onion
Add diced onion, cook to lightly browned. Sausage wil start to get a bit crispy.
Add Cream, Tomato, and Spinach
Turn off heat, and add tomato, cream and spinach – fresh or frozen.
Stir to mix and combine well.
Add Stock or Water
If using frozen thawed or raw ravioli: add 1/2 cup stock.
If using cooked ravioli: add 1/4 cup stock or water.
Add Ravioli
Add ravioli and toss.
For cooked ravioli: toss in sauce and reduce 2 minutes.
For thawed/frozen ravioli: toss in sauce and reduce until ravioli is light and puffy, about 5 minutes.
For frozen ravioli: toss in sauce and cook, covered, until piping hot – about 8 minutes. Stir occasionally to keep ravioli from sticking to the pot.
Garnish
When ravioli is over 135 degrees, sauce has set, and ravioli looks light and puffy, remove from heat. Sauce will thicken as it cools, so do not over reduce.
Sprinkle fresh chopped basil over the dish, and parmesan if you’d like. Serve and enjoy!
Tips and Tricks for Perfect creamy Ravioli
Brown the sausage: I like crunchy, salty browned bits of sausage in this dish – don’t skimp on sausage browning time – not only will you be sure its properly cooked, the extra caramelization lends a deeper, richer flavor.
Don’t skip the cream: You might be tempted to swap the heavy cream in this dish for something a little lower calorie or lower fat, but trust me – you need to ignore this urge. We’re building a very basic but very delicious sauce that won’t properly emulsify with the ravioli if you don’t use a cream addition with enough fat.
Cook ravioli al dente if not slightly under: If you plan on reheating this dish at all – or you know it will sit out a bit before serving – cook the ravioli just under al dente so it still has a little bite and hasn’t fully released all it’s starches. The starch will continue to break down in the hot cream sauce, and can easily turn the ravioli into a mushy mess if overcooked.
Don’t pour off cooking liquid. It might seem tempting to pour out extra liquid, but the sauce is in part formed from emulsification thanks to the combination of thick starches the ravioli gives off into cooking liquid and the fat from the heavy cream coming together. If you find you have a little too much liquid, let it cook off a tiny bit more.
Don’t over-reduce the tomato cream sauce. This sauce will look thin while still in the pan when it is hot – while you should give the cream some time to emulsify with starch the pasta gives off, don’t over-reduce it or it will look like oily, sweaty pasta that has absorbed all of your rich spinach tomato cream sauce.
Using Frozen (vs Thawed/Fresh) Raviolis
If you’ve ever wondered if you can cook using frozen ravioli (or other frozen egg noodle pastas) – you definitely can, especially creamy dishes like this ravioli skillet!
There is a slightly different process in using still-frozen ravioli instead of thawed or fresh ravioli – follow these easy tips to a perfect easy fresh from the freezer pasta dinner with no thawing!
- Increase cook time: Since your ravioli will be frozen solid, you’ll need to increase your cooktime anywhere from 5-10 minutes, depending on the size and shape of your ravioli.
- Add 1/2 cup water or stock: You’ll need more liquid in your creamy ravioli skillet to allow it to cook longer without the ravioli completely absorbing it or completely cooking off – add 1/2 cup water, stock, wine – whatever thin (non cream) liquid you prefer.
- Add cream when ravioli is at temperature, not earlier: Wait to add the cream (and the spinach) until the ravioli is warmed all the way through (though not completely cooked) so you don’t over reduce as the ravioli cooks from frozen.
What to Serve With This Ravioli
FAQs
This recipe can be kept in the refrigerator for up to four days in an airtight container.
You can freeze this dish for up to four months.
While you can freeze this dish, the cream sauce may separate or become grainy once thawed. If you plan to freeze it, you might want to do so before adding the cream, and then add it when reheating.
A side salad with a light vinaigrette and a crusty piece of bread to soak up the sauce make great accompaniments.
To make a vegetarian version, omit the sausage and consider adding extra vegetables such as bell peppers, zucchini, or mushrooms.
Yes, you can finish the dish with a sprinkle of grated Parmesan or Romano cheese for added flavor. Some recipes also include mozzarella for a gooey, melted texture.
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Sausage Skillet Ravioli in Tomato Spinach Cream Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 lb breakfast sausage
- 25 oz frozen egg noodle ravioli, frozen or fresh
- 20 oz diced tomatoes with garlic
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 1 cup spinach or arugula
Instructions
- In a large pan, brown sausage on medium high heat and break up into crumbles- about 8 minutes.
- Toss in ravioli and stir to coat with sausage grease. Don't let ravioli stick to bottom of pan.
- Slowly stir in tomatoes and let liquid cook down, about four minutes.
- Add in cream and stir, reducing heat to medium low.
- Let sauce thicken and add spinach or arugula to let wilt.
- Check doneness of pasta- if soft and springy and hot to the touch, pasta is done!
- If pasta is still slightly frozen, add a little water to prevent overcooking sauce and keep tossing on medium high heat until it is done.
- Plate and enjoy!
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Maybe it was the brand of frozen ravioli I used, but I would not recommend cooking the ravioli in the sauce. I think it’s best to cook it alone and then add the sauce. I also think it could use more spinach. otherwise the sauce came out deliciously.
I had no groceries, but somehow most of the ingredients for this. I made a few substitutions with what I had on hand and it was delicious! I had been wondering what to make with my frozen gorgonzola ravioli from The Italian Store in Arlington and this was it!