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Crock Pot Italian Sausage Rigatoni Recipe is a one pot meal perfect for busy families and hungry kiddos. The Italian sausage give the pasta an amazing flavor for a dinner everyone will go crazy over.
Crock Pot Italian Sausage Rigatoni Recipe:
Everything you need for a delicious dinner is in the crock pot. You will love coming home to dinner ready to enjoy. This slow cooker pasta is one of our go to recipes during busy weeks. Simply toss and go and let the slow cooker do all the work.
Our family loves this Italian dish and each bite is so amazing. The diced tomatoes blend perfectly with the seasonings and make a meal you will want to make often! Italian pasta recipes are our favorite.
If you are looking for a one pot slow cooker meal that is hearty and flavorful, this is the meal for you. It is the perfect comfort food recipe all year long.
What is good to serve with Italian sausage rigatoni?
This recipe stays on our regular menu plan rotation because everyone just loves it and it is SO easy to put together.
- Add some bread – Make some Homemade Garlic Bread. It is so easy to make and the perfect side with this Italian Sausage Rigatoni.
- Serve is with a salad – This Easy Caesar Salad works great as a side with this meal. I always like to serve a salad or a green vegetable especially with hearty meal.
- Another tasty bread idea is Garlic Bread Cheese Sticks Recipe. Oh my those are so tasty if you have the extra time to make them.
Ingredients for Italian Sausage Rigatoni:
- Ground Italian Sausage
- Rigatoni
- Minced Garlic
- Onion
- Petite Diced Tomatoes
- Tomato Sauce
- Italian Seasoning
- Salt and Pepper
- Beef Broth
- Mozzarella Cheese
- Shredded Parmesan Cheese (optional)
How to make sausage rigatoni in the crock :
- In a skillet over medium heat, cook the ground Italian Sausage until brown.
- Add the ground sausage to the crock pot. You can add in a little olive oil to prevent your meal from sticking to the crock pot.
- Next, add in onion, seasonings, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce and broth. Stir to combine.
- Cover and cook.
- Last, add the pasta 30 minutes before serving. It will look very watery but don’t worry the pasta will soak it up. If you prefer you can cook your pasta separately in a large pot. Just cook rigatoni according to package.
- Cover and cook the rigatoni until the desired tenderness is reached with the pasta. We cook our pasta al dente.
- Stir in the mozzarella cheese until melted.
- Serve immediately and top with parmesan cheese if desired.
Variation Ideas:
- Try different types of Meat – Try ground turkey, turkey sausage or ground beef instead and your family will never notice the difference. You could even omit the meat all together and add a ricotta mixture to this recipe.
- Add in other vegetables – Add in mushrooms, eggplant or whole tomatoes. These vegetables blend perfectly with the Italian Sausage. Red peppers is also a favorite if I have some to toss in.
- Use different Pasta – Any type of medium size pasta will work perfectly. Penne or rotini is my personal favorite if I don’t have any rigatoni.
- Spicy Italian Sausage – You can add in some red pepper flakes. They add a little spice to this recipe.
Italian sausage slow cooker recipes are easy to prepare and budget friendly.
This is one of those recipes that once you try it, you will put into your regular meal plan rotation. We love it, because we often get the ingredients for really cheap thanks to sales and coupons.
The great thing about this recipe is you can change the recipe to adapt to what you have on hand. You can use ground beef instead of the ground Italian sausage or whatever is in your freezer.
How to store leftovers:
We love having this meal leftover. My family actually thinks it taste better the next day. We like to put it in individual containers for an easy lunch.
It will stay good in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days.
How to reheat:
If we have the leftovers in individual container, then we will reheat in the Microwave. I start off with heating it at 1 minute and then stir. Continue heating this way until thoroughly heated.
If you have a large portion that you are heating up, simply place in a saucepan on the stove. I prefer this method better as it seems to heat up better.
Italian sausage recipes are so delicious!
The slow cooker simmers everything together for such an amazing meal that is quick and easy. Feel free to try pasta sauce, spaghetti sauce or even marinara in this meal.
We have used lots of things instead of the tomato sauce in a pinch and it was still so amazing. We love a pepper onion mixture with the sauce and oh my it is so good!
You must give this delicious pasta dish recipe a try!
Print this crock pot Italian sausage rigatoni recipe below:
Crock Pot Italian Sausage Rigatoni Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground Italian Sausage
- 16 oz package of uncooked Rigatoni
- 2 tsp minced garlic
- ½ onion chopped
- 1 – 16 oz can petite diced tomatoes
- 1 – 8 oz can of tomato sauce
- 2 tsp Italian Seasoning
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 3 cups beef broth
- 8 oz shredded mozzarella cheese
- Shredded Parmesan Cheese optional
Instructions
- In a skillet over medium heat, cook the ground Italian sausage until it is brown. (Or use your Ninja)
- Add to a 6 quart slow cooker.
- Add in onion, seasonings, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce and broth. Stir to combine.
- Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 3-4.
- 30 minutes before serving stir in the pasta. It will look very watery but don’t worry the pasta will soak it up. Cover and cook for approximately 30 minutes until the desired tenderness is reached.
- Stir in the mozzarella cheese until melted.
- Serve immediately and top with parmesan cheese if desired.
- Enjoy!
Add 1/3 block cream cheese and take it to the next level! I used 24 ounces jar sauce as well (marinara)
Oh yum! I bet the cream cheese was amazing in this recipe! Thank you for sharing!
So easy and delicious! It’s a repeat recipe here at our house!
I’m so happy you love it!
This was an amazing dish! I made this for myself and 3 friends and all four of us totally enjoyed it. I managed to save a serving to eat later today or tomorrow and I’m willing to bet once the flavors marinate in it’s going to be that much better. I pretty much stuck to the recipe posted but instead of ground Italian sausage I used Hot Italian sausage links and I used the dry Penne pasta I had on hand.
Thank You!!!!!!
YAY! So glad you loved it.
If I use a jar of marinara sauce, how much and do I still add the broth?
Thank You
I would still add the broth.
Can I use Marinara sauce instead?
Yes you can.
Hi! This is currently in the crock pot, and we’re excited. When you put the pasta in for the last 30, is that 30 minutes on high or low?
Thanks!
I normally switch it to high.
This was delicious but if making for a pot luck I would double the meat. Also the pasta took an hour, not 30 minutes. Overall, good recipe.
Carrie do you drain the diced tomatoes?
No, I do not drain the diced tomatoes.
This was so yummy! Even the very picky fiancé went for seconds then said “oh good I’ve got leftovers for lunch.” I followed the recipe to a T except only 1tsp of Italian seasoning. Yummy we will make it again 🙂
How much is in a serving like a cup or more??
I’m not sure on the extra size of the serving as each batch is slightly different. 1 serving is approximately 1/6 of the entire batch. Thank you!
This is a recipe that I keep on hand in my house. I don’t put the cheese in it like it says because everyone doesn’t eat cheese. We put the cheese on top of each serving and mix it in. It’s a very flavorful dish and my family loves it!
This was a very easy but good supper. It was a little spicier for my mom, but she still liked it as well. All in all, I will make it again. Thanks for the recipe.
This recipe sounds so good and easy to make. I can NOT eat ANY diary product, so would have to eliminate the mozzarella cheese. Is there something else I could substitute? I would think that eliminating the cheese would just change the flavor somewhat. Any suggestions?