Name: Creamy Sausage And Mushroom Rigatoni from the Pot
Yield: 4

Creamy Sausage And Mushroom Rigatoni is a restaurant-quality meal that is straightforward to make and is prepared with everyday ingredients. This is comfort food at its finest — rigatoni pasta tossed in a creamy Italian-seasoned sausage and mushrooms sauce.

For a tomato-based rigatoni sauce, try our original Sausage Rigatoni! This Creamy Sausage Pasta is another fan-favorite recipe.

Creamy Sausage And Mushroom Rigatoni

When the weather gets cold, we pretty much live on soup recipes and hearty pasta dishes (both total comfort meals in my book). And this pasta dish is pure comfort food — it’s hearty, filling, rich, and indulgent.

The sauce has a wonderful dimension of flavor. We start by lightly caramelizing onions in the pan, which adds a hint of sweetness. Then, the sausage is browned with the onions, infusing it with loads of flavor. And finally, we sauté mushrooms to unlock a wonderful meaty texture and savory flavor. To the mushrooms, we add cream and a few other ingredients, which pull everything together. Toss in the reliable al dente rigatoni, a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese, and a touch of fresh herbs, and dinner is served!

Process shots-- browning the onion in oil; adding in the sausage and continuing to brown.

Let’s Chat Ingredients

A few ingredients in this Creamy Sausage And Mushroom Rigatoni worth mentioning:

Mushrooms. Really, any mushrooms work, and we like baby bella or crimini best. For easier prep, go with whatever you can find pre-sliced at your store!
Parmesan cheese. Grab a block/wedge of Parmesan cheese, not the jarred or canned type — the flavor will be overpowering and too salty.
Low-sodium chicken broth. There is a good deal of salt in the dish between the sausage, pasta, reserved pasta water, and Parmesan cheese so we want to limit it in the broth.
Italian-style ground sausage. Depending on personal preference, use mild or spicy sausage — either work. If using Italian sausages with casings, remove the casings before cooking.
Dijon mustard. This adds a tanginess to the sauce that we really enjoy. If you aren’t a Dijon fan, leave it out!
Heavy cream. We don’t recommend swapping out the heavy cream in this dish since we’re relying on its thickness for the right sauce texture. Additionally, it adds such an incredible richness to the sauce — it’s a key ingredient!

Process shots of creamy sausage and mushroom rigatoni--Cooking the mushrooms in butter; add butter, garlic and seasonings; continue to cook.

Shortcuts

Creamy Sausage And Mushroom Rigatoni Shortcuts

Choose pre-sliced produce. Most grocery stores sell diced yellow onions in the produce section of the store. Alternatively, frozen diced onions are often found by the other frozen veggies and can be used in this recipe. While you’re getting the pre-diced onions, look for sliced mushrooms — most stores offer whole or sliced mushrooms and the sliced ones will save you chopping time.
Use jarred garlic or a garlic press. Instead of mincing your own garlic, use jarred to save time. Or, a garlic press will get you fresh minced garlic in a fraction of the time that hand mincing takes.
Pick up a bag of pre-washed baby spinach. A bag of ready-to-use spinach is a huge time saver as opposed to washing, drying, removing stems, and cutting down a bundle of regular spinach. The chopping doesn’t need to take more than a minute; just pile the spinach on a cutting board and run a large chef’s knife through it a few times — straightforward and quick!

Process shots-- add chicken broth to the mushrooms; cook until evaporated; add cream, Parmesan and Dijon; simmer until thickened.

Creamy Sausage And Mushroom Rigatoni Tips

Salt the pasta water: Salt the pasta well as it cooks, since salting the water is how we season the actual pasta.
Don’t forget to reserve pasta water. When cooking pasta, it’s straightforward to go on auto-pilot and drain it all. Don’t forget to pull out some of the cooking water right before draining the pasta. The reserved water is available if needed to thin the sauce and make the dish ultra creamy.
Slightly undercook the pasta; it will finish cooking as it gets tossed with the sauce. If the pasta is fully cooked, it will lose texture when getting tossed with the sauce. We recommend cooking it one minute less than the package directs.

Quick Tip

Rigatoni is a reliable in Creamy Sausage And Mushroom Rigatoni (hence the name), but if you prefer, substitute it for another tubular pasta like ziti, penne, or mostaccioli. The key concept is to use a similar type: ridges and tubes will hold the sauce better than small, curvy pasta.

Process shots of the creamy sausage and mushroom rigatoni--add pasta to the pan and toss; add spinach and sausage; toss again.

Variations

Add some heat: For more heat (and flavor), use a spicy Italian sausage; if you’re sensitive to spice, use mild or sweet sausage instead. If some of your guests want more spice and others don’t, serve red pepper flakes on the side!
Add some white wine: Replace the low-sodium chicken broth with a Chardonnay or Sauvignon blanc for more of a restaurant feel. Be sure to cook it off just like the chicken broth is cooked off.