Baked Ravioli is a perfect weeknight meal. It’s easy, requires almost no ingredient prep, and is just so, so good. The ravioli are baked in a quick homemade red sauce with crumbled sausage and then smothered with lots of melty mozzarella. This is a weeknight winner that everyone will love.
I get so many requests for easy weeknight pasta dishes, so to everyone who has sent me this request, today’s recipe is for you.
This is everything you want from a weeknight recipe: easy, low prep, relatively quick. AND a cheesy, meaty crowd-pleaser.
We’re using fresh store-bought ravioli, a homemade red sauce with sausage, and topping it all with melty, gooey mozzarella. Give it a quick bake, and it looks beautiful coming out of the oven, and tastes even better.
Ingredient Notes
- Refrigerated cheese ravioli: Feel free to swap in other ravioli flavors if that sounds good. I prefer to use refrigerated ravioli, but you can use frozen or dried ravioli as long as you cook them according to package instructions before baking.
- Heavy cream: Heavy cream adds richness to the sauce, but you can omit it if you don’t have any on hand or replace it with half and half.
- Canned crushed tomatoes: Diced tomatoes can be substituted for a chunkier sauce. If you would like to use canned whole tomatoes, pulse them in a blender or food processor or with an immersion blender a couple of times before cooking.
How to Make Baked Ravioli
1. Cook the sausage in a large oven-safe skillet until well browned.
2. If there’s too much fat in the pan for your liking, you can use a paper towel and tongs to soak up some of the fat. Stir in garlic, red pepper flakes, and crushed tomatoes.
3. Bring to a simmer and cook covered for 15 minutes.
4. While simmering, cook your ravioli in a large pot until just shy of al dente, drain, and set them aside.
5. Add heavy cream, Parmesan, basil, salt, pepper, and the ravioli to the sauce.
6. Sprinkle with mozzarella and cook in the oven for 15 minutes or until bubbly and beautiful.
7. Then, serve and enjoy!
Variations
- Baked tortellini: Swap out the ravioli for tortellini.
- Vegetarian baked ravioli: Omit the sausage or replace it with your favorite meat replacement.
- Store-bought sauce: If you’d like to make this with store-bought sauce, replace all the sauce ingredients (from the garlic to the dried basil in the recipe) with a 24-ounce bottle of your favorite marinara sauce and simmer just long enough for the sausage to be cooked through.
FAQ
How do you store baked ravioli?
Store any leftover baked ravioli tightly covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Can you freeze baked ravioli?
Yes. Freeze individual portions in a freezer bag for up to 3 months. Defrost in the refrigerator and then reheat in the microwave.
More Weeknight Pasta Dishes
- American Goulash
- 20-Minute Spaghetti Bolognese
- Penne alla Vodka With Chicken
- Easy Creamy Chicken Pasta With Bell Peppers
Recipe Notes
- This recipe calls for a 12-inch oven-safe skillet. Do not use a smaller skillet (unless it is very deep) because it will be too full to easily mix and bake. If you don’t own a 12-inch oven-safe skillet, you can use any large skillet to make the sauce and then bake everything in a 9×13-inch casserole dish. Spoon roughly half the sauce into the dish, add the cooked ravioli and then add the remaining sauce and mix. Follow the rest of the recipe as written.
Baked Ravioli
Equipment
- 12-inch (or larger) oven-safe skillet with a lid*
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound Italian sausage mild or hot, casings removed
- 6 cloves garlic crushed with a garlic press or minced
- Pinch red pepper flakes
- 28 ounces crushed tomatoes 2 14-ounce cans
- Salt and pepper
- 18-20 ounces refrigerated cheese ravioli
- ⅓ cup heavy cream
- ½ cup (2oz) shredded Parmesan
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1½ cup (6oz) shredded mozzarella
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 450°F.
- In a 12-inch (or larger) oven-safe skillet with a lid, heat olive oil over medium heat and add sausage to the pan. Cook, using a spatula to break the sausage into crumbles, until it is well browned. If the sausage has released a significant amount of fat into the pan, you can drain it or use a paper towel to soak up the excess.
- Stir in garlic and red pepper flakes and continue to cook over medium heat until the garlic is lightly golden and aromatic, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Stir in crushed tomatoes and bring everything up to a simmer. Turn the heat down so the sauce remains at just a gentle simmer. Cover and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- While your sauce simmers, bring a large pot of lightly salted water to boil for your ravioli. Once boiling, add the ravioli and cook for 1 minute less than the package instructions recommend.* Drain and set aside.
- After the sauce has simmered for 15 minutes, add heavy cream, Parmesan, and basil. Stir and add salt and pepper to taste if needed. Gently stir in cooked and drained ravioli until they are completely coated in sauce and evenly distributed around the pan.
- Sprinkle the mozzarella over the top and bake for 15 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly.
- Serve and enjoy!
Notes
This post may contain affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission if you make a purchase using them. There is absolutely no additional cost to you.
Lonna says
Easy, simple, and delish!
I made 1 exactly as written and another using browned sausage and beef drippings but replaced the meat with sliced eggplant that was lightly coated in flour and browned in olive oil.
The eggplant version is very similar to one my mom made that my sister and I talked about just last week.
We all loved the recipe as written, and my sis & I loved the eggplant version along side it. It’s a hit!
Tracy says
I love that you added eggplant. That’s such a good idea!!