This Creamy Tomato Sausage Rigatoni is the perfect comfort food pasta dish to make for dinner!
We’re pretty big fans of pasta around here. If you’ve been following the RecipeBoy blog for a while, then you may have tried our One Pot Spaghetti, Lasagna Roll-Ups, White Chicken Lasagna or Spaghetti Carbonara. They’re all family friendly pasta recipes, and they’re all just as wonderful as this Creamy Tomato Sausage Rigatoni.
Ingredients needed:
- rigatoni pasta
- sweet Italian sausage
- garlic
- tomato paste
- canned crushed tomatoes
- Italian seasoning
- red pepper flakes
- heavy whipping cream
- mozzarella cheese
- Parmesan cheese
- salt
- fresh basil
How to make Creamy Tomato Sausage Rigatoni:
The full, printable recipe is at the end of this post. You will not need to turn on the oven for this recipe. It’s all done on the stovetop!
Cook the rigatoni according to the package instructions.
In a Dutch oven (or large pot), cook the sausage. Crumble it up along the way with a spatula. Spoon out and discard any accumulated fat.
Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Stir in the tomato paste. Stir in pureed tomatoes, Italian seasoning and red pepper flakes. Bring to a boil, and simmer 10 to 15 minutes, until slightly thickened.
Stir the cooked pasta into the sausage and tomato mixture. Stir in the heavy cream too. Heat a few minutes. Then stir in the cheeses and place the lid on top to give the cheeses a chance to melt for a couple minutes. That’s it. Dinner is done. How easy peasy is that?!
Serve topped with fresh basil and additional Parmesan as desired.
We like to eat this creamy tomato sausage rigatoni with a nice hunk of French bread for soaking up the remnants of that delicious sauce. Add a simple green salad to complete the meal. Enjoy!

Creamy Tomato Sausage Rigatoni
Ingredients
- 16 ounces rigatoni pasta
- 16 ounces sweet Italian sausage
- 4 medium garlic cloves, minced
- One 6-ounce can tomato paste
- One 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes (whirred in a blender to puree)
- ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- ½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- ¼ cup shredded Parmesan cheese
- salt, to taste
- chopped fresh basil, for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Prepare the pasta according to package instructions; drain.
- In a Dutch oven, cook the sausage over medium heat for 6 to 8 minutes, until no longer pink. Break into smaller pieces while cooking. Spoon out fat and discard. Add garlic and cook for one more minute. Stir in the tomato paste. Stir in pureed tomatoes, Italian seasoning and red pepper flakes. Bring to a boil, and simmer 10 to 15 minutes, until slightly thickened.
- Stir the cooked pasta into the sausage and tomato mixture. Stir in cream too. Heat a few minutes. Then stir in cheeses and place the lid on top to give the cheeses a chance to melt for a couple minutes.
- Serve topped with fresh basil and additional Parmesan as desired.