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Creamy Sausage and Ricotta One-Pot Pasta

lasagna's easier, less Italian cousin.

BAILEY SISSOM

March 22, 2026

My grandma was 100% Italian. Born in Italy.

I would not have sent her this recipe.

She made lasagna the right way. Fresh pasta, slow sauce, hours in the kitchen. I started with good intentions and somewhere along the way lost almost every qualification for calling this lasagna.

The noodles went first. If you're not layering, lasagna noodles are just annoying. Rigatoni dumps straight in. Lasagna without lasagna noodles. Sure, why not.

When I make a real lasagna, I mix the ricotta with egg, parsley, and Parmesan. Didn’t do that here. Just dolloped it straight on top. Those little pockets of creamy ricotta melting into the sauce are the best part of the whole dish.

Spinach, zucchini, and onion cook right into the dish. I add them so I don't have to make a side salad to fit the vegetables in.

One pot, 30 minutes. Serve it with good bread and a small bowl of warmed marinara for dipping. I use Rao's. I think it's better than grandma's.

She would really hate this email.

Italian sausage and rigatoni cooked together in one pot with tomatoes, zucchini, and spinach. The pasta soaks up everything as it cooks and the sauce gets rich and thick around it. Dollops of ricotta melt into little creamy pockets throughout. Mozzarella on top, fresh basil, done.

It tastes like lasagna. Not quite grandma's, but closer than it has any right to. Block cheese melts better and if you have an extra two minutes it's worth it. If not, shredded in the bag is fine. Portion the leftovers into individual containers and you have lunch and easy dinners covered for the rest of the week.

Cruz is seven. Green anything in his food is a hard no.

If that's your house too, skip the spinach entirely. It's the hardest to pick around and honestly not worth the fight. The zucchini is easier, the chunks are big enough to fish out if you need to. Or leave that out too. The pasta, sausage, and ricotta are doing the heavy lifting anyway.

More easy weeknight dinners from the archive.

• ​Creamy Garlic and Lemon Sausage Pasta. one pot, 30 minutes, bright and fresh
• ​Crispy Air Fryer Gnocchi Skillet. sausage, spinach, creamy tomato sauce
• ​4-Ingredient Chicken and Pesto Bake. 5 minutes of work, looks like you tried

Serves: 4-6

Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

• Italian sausage (1 lb)
• olive oil (1 tablespoon)
• onion (1 small, diced)
• garlic cloves (3 cloves, minced)
• Italian seasoning (1 teaspoon)
• red pepper flakes (¼ teaspoon)
• diced tomatoes (1 can, 28 oz) and chicken broth (1½ cups)
• rigatoni (8 oz)
• zucchini (1 small, chopped)
• fresh spinach (2 large handfuls)
• ricotta cheese (¾ cup)
• shredded mozzarella cheese (1 cup)
• Parmesan cheese (½ cup, grated)
• balsamic vinegar (1 teaspoon)
• fresh basil (¼ cup, chopped)
• salt (½ teaspoon)
• black pepper (¼ teaspoon)

Instructions

Heat a large skillet over medium heat and cook Italian sausage (1 lb), breaking it into small pieces as it browns. Cook for about 5 to 6 minutes until fully cooked and lightly golden. Transfer to a plate and set aside.

Add olive oil (1 tablespoon) to the same skillet if needed, then cook onion (1 small) for about 3 to 4 minutes until softened. Stir in garlic (3 cloves), Italian seasoning (1 teaspoon), and red pepper flakes (¼ teaspoon) and cook for 30 seconds until fragrant.

Pour in diced tomatoes (28 oz) and chicken broth (1½ cups), then stir in rigatoni (8 oz). Season with salt (½ teaspoon) and black pepper (¼ teaspoon). Bring to a simmer, reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and cook for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the pasta is tender and the sauce has thickened.

Stir in zucchini (1 small) and cook for about 3 minutes until just tender. Add fresh spinach (2 large handfuls) and stir until wilted.

Return Italian sausage (1 lb) to the skillet and stir to combine.

Stir in balsamic vinegar (1 teaspoon) and mix well so it blends into the sauce.

Dollop ricotta cheese (¾ cup) across the surface of the pasta in several spoonfuls so it melts into creamy pockets.

Sprinkle shredded mozzarella cheese (1 cup) evenly over the skillet, followed by Parmesan cheese (½ cup).

Cover the skillet and cook for 2 to 3 minutes over low heat until the mozzarella melts and the pasta is hot and bubbly.

Finish by sprinkling fresh basil (¼ cup) over the top before serving.

What kind of sausage? Hot or mild, both work. I use mild because Cruz already has opinions about dinner and I don't need to add heat to the list of problems. Buy it ground. You could squeeze it out of links but that's effort and also kind of gross.

Do not stir in the ricotta. I know it's tempting. Dollop it across the top and leave it alone. Stirred in it gets gritty. Left alone it melts into creamy little pockets throughout the pasta and that is the whole point of this dish.

Any short pasta works. Rigatoni is ideal but ziti, penne, or whatever short pasta you have is fine. The sauce is thick and you want something that holds up in it and is easy to get on a fork. Skip anything long and thin.

The leftovers are the point. This keeps well in the fridge for up to 4 days and reheats beautifully. You could cover the pan and stick it in the fridge, but I portion it into individual glass containers and it disappears. People eat what they can see. Absurd but true.

Gluten free. Swap in your favorite gluten free short pasta. Everything else is already gluten free. Worth noting that gluten free pasta can get gummy and may not reheat as well, so if leftovers are the point for you this week, regular pasta is the better call.

Dairy free. Use dairy free ricotta, mozzarella, and Parmesan. Dairy free cheese doesn't melt the same way so the creamy pockets won't be quite what they are with the real thing. Still good, just different.