Make dinner time quick and easy with this One Pot Rigatoni Bolognese! Everything cooks in one pot – even the pasta cooks right in the sauce!
One pot pasta recipes are always my go-to on those absolutely crazy days, and dinner prep is incredibly quick and easy with this One Pot Rigatoni Bolognese, which is what I always go for when I don’t feel like hauling out the Instant Pot to make Instant Pot “Baked Ziti”.
Everything cooks in one pot for quick prep and easy clean up – even the pasta cooks right in the sauce. Some call me a lazy cook, but I like to call myself efficient.
Just a side note: I’m well aware that a real Bolognese sauce simmers for hours to get the perfect flavor. But calling this quick and easy weeknight dinner Bolognese makes it sound like so much more effort, and sometimes a haggard mother needs to feel special, too ?
Ingredients you’ll need
Here is a visual overview of the ingredients in the recipe. Scroll down to the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post for quantities!
Ingredient notes
- Ground beef: I always use lean ground beef for this, but you can use ground Italian sausage in place of the beef if you prefer. Ground turkey is also an option if you want to make a lighter meal.
- Pasta: This recipe works with most pasta shapes that cook in around 10 minutes (I do not recommend instant varieties, or very small or thin shapes, they usually need less liquid to cook and the pasta will stay soupy), though I do love rigatoni a lot with bolognese sauce.
- Broth: Feel free to use chicken broth if you don’t have beef on hand. The flavor will be a little different, but still delicious.
How to make One Pot Rigatoni Bolognese
Start by cooking the beef in a little olive oil with salt and pepper until it’s browned and crumbled. If you have a lot of grease emerging from the meat, feel free to drain it at this point (1).
Next, stir in the vegetables and sauté for a few minutes, until the onions have softened (2).
Now add the herbs, seasoning and tomato paste. Stir them in well until the tomato paste is fragrant (3).
Add the beef broth, scraping any browned bits off the bottom of the pot (4).
Finally, stir in the diced tomatoes and uncooked rigatoni (5).
Now, you’ll want to bring the liquids to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook the pasta until the rigatoni are done to your liking. Stir from time to time to make sure the pasta doesn’t stick and burn on the bottom of the pan.
Once the rigatoni are cooked, the liquids should have reduced to a saucy consistency. If you feel like it needs more broth, add more during the cooking – but don’t overdo it or you’ll end up with bolognese soup.
I recommend serving the pasta right away – the sauce thickens as it sits, and it’s really best eaten straight away.
Recipe tips
- No pre-cooking the pasta! I always get comments on my one pot pasta recipes turning out soupy, and usually it’s because the pasta was pre-cooked – do NOT pre-cook the pasta!
- Chopping the vegetables:
- When cooking with little kids around, I like to get all of the prep work done ahead of time. Sometimes I even chop veggies during nap time in the morning!
- Here, you need to chop onion,carrot and celery. These are relatively easy to clean and prep. Did you know that it’s easier to peel an onion after rinsing it? It kind of sticks the peel together so it doesn’t annoyingly flutter everywhere.
- Chop everything quite small so it softens quickly during cooking. And to be even more lazy, I usually throw it all in my food processor and pulse a few times until it’s chopped up. So easy!
- Make sure to sauté the tomato paste for a few minutes: Stir the tomato paste into the pot and seasoning and cook for another minute – it is important to roast the tomato paste before adding any liquids, to give it a richer flavor.
Freezer instructions
You can make this and freeze it in a casserole dish. Reheat in the oven at 360°F covered with foil for about an hour (no need to defrost). Sprinkle with cheese and bake uncovered for another 10-15 minutes, until the cheese is bubbly and the casserole is piping hot all the way through.
General freezer tips
- make sure to use containers or bags suitable for freezing
- label with the name and use-by date (freeze for up to 3 months)
- reheat until piping hot all the way through before serving
Tips for leftovers
Turning leftovers into a pasta casserole is the best way to reheat leftovers here. Refrigerate any leftovers in a casserole dish for up to 3 days. Sprinkle with cheese and bake for 15-20 minutes at 400°F, or until hot and bubbly.
If the pasta feels dry, stir in ½ cup – 1 cup of tomato sauce before sprinkling with cheese.
More one pot pasta dinners
PS If you try this recipe, please leave a review in the comment section and add a star rating in the recipe card – I appreciate your feedback! Follow along on Pinterest, Facebook or Instagram.
Printable recipe
One Pot Rigatoni Bolognese
Recipe details
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 medium onion finely chopped
- 1 carrot finely chopped
- 1 celery stalk finely chopped
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- salt & pepper to taste
- ¼ cup tomato paste
- 3 cups beef broth or more as needed
- 1 (28-oz) can diced tomatoes
- 1 (16-oz) box rigatoni pasta uncooked
- grated parmesan to serve (optional)
Instructions
- Brown the beef: Heat oil in a medium-large pan. Brown the beef, seasoning with a few pinches of salt and pepper as it cooks.
- Cook the vegetables: Add the finely chopped vegetables to the pot with the beef and cook over medium heat, stirring often, until softened (about 2-3 minutes).
- Season and deglaze: Add garlic powder, Italian seasoning, a pinch of salt, pepper and tomato paste to the pan. Stir until mixed in well. Pour in 3 cups broth, scratching the browned bits off the bottom of the pan.
- Cook the pasta: Add the diced tomatoes and uncooked pasta to the skillet, making sure to stir everything in until the pasta is covered with liquid. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook until the pasta is done, about 15 minutes. Add up to one more cup of broth during cooking, as needed. Serve with grated parmesan.
Notes
Ingredient Notes:
Ground beef: I always use lean ground beef for this, but you can use crumbled Italian sausage in place of the ground beef if you prefer. Pasta: This recipe works with most pasta shapes that cook in around 10 minutes (I do not recommend instant varieties, or very small or thin shapes, they usually need less liquid to cook and the pasta will stay soupy), though I do love rigatoni a lot with bolognese sauceCooking Tips:
No pre-cooking the pasta! I always get comments on my one pot pasta recipes turning out soupy, and usually it’s because the pasta was pre-cooked – do NOT pre-cook the pasta! Chopping the vegetables: When cooking with little kids around, I like to get all of the prep work done ahead of time. Sometimes I even chop veggies during nap time in the morning! Here, you need to chop onion, carrot and celery. These are relatively easy to clean and prep. Did you know that it’s easier to peel an onion after rinsing it? It kind of sticks the peel together so it doesn’t annoyingly flutter everywhere. Chop everything quite small so it softens quickly during cooking. And to be even more lazy, I usually throw it all in my food processor and pulse a few times until it’s chopped up. So easy! Make sure to sauté the tomato paste for a few minutes: Stir the tomato paste into the pot and seasoning and cook for another minute – it is important to roast the tomato paste before adding any liquids, to give it a richer flavor.Freezer tips
You can make this and freeze it in a casserole dish. Reheat in the oven at 360°F covered with foil for about an hour (no need to defrost). Sprinkle with cheese and bake uncovered for another 10-15 minutes, until the cheese is bubbly and the casserole is piping hot all the way through. Freezer tips- make sure to use containers or bags suitable for freezing
- label with the name and use-by date (freeze for up to 3 months)
- reheat until piping hot all the way through before serving
Rhonda says
this needed more liquid to full cook the pasta, add 2 more cups of beef broth. I used a orange bell pepper instead of celery since my family does not like celery.
Amanda says
Quick and easy, substituted crushed tomatoes instead of diced and added fresh rosemary sprigs to simmer. My husband isn’t a fan of celery or carrots but loved! Definitely will cook again and beats canned store bought sauce.
Rich G says
I reluctantly cooked this recipe tonight. I say reluctantly because the one pot not pre-cooked rigatoni was hard to wrap my head around, being that my culinary training occurred under the watchful eye of my mom and her traditional Italian homemade recipes.
Mom would be impressed as this dish was quick, easy, and delicious!
My vessel of choice for cooking was a Le Creuset enamel Dutch oven, making clean up a breeze, even with a generous amount of melted pecorino Romano tossed in at the end.
My little tweak was the addition of about a pound of portobello mushrooms, some fresh mozzarella to add some creaminess, and a handful of fresh basil/parsley at the end.
Either way this was a delicious and easy to follow recipe, so I’ll definitely add this to my regular rotation!
Echo says
This was terrific! I can screw up a glass of water but managed to make this and even I liked it ( I hate my own cooking. too critical, I guess?)
my husband has severe Celiac disease so I hesitate to make Noodle dishes. he has to have the gluten free noodles which cook differently, tend to get mushy and don’t absorb juices like regular does ( depends what you use. rice bases noodles are best; chickpeas or spinach don’t because they’re not porous. BUT I made this with gluten free Rigatoni. just yum! I am allergic to tomatoes so added 1/3cup of half and half and got a rich, smooth sauce. this was soneasy to make and will be “go-to,” since I got the hang of it. thank you for you wonderful step by steps, clear photos and speaking to those, like me, who don’t know what “brown bits” or “grab a spatula” means. you make it so easy and clear! can’t wait to find more to cook. thank for throwing simplicity!
Nora says
Your comment put a big smile on my face! I’m so glad you were able to easily follow the recipe, and enjoyed the meal so much!
Holly says
This was a great recipe! Only thing I changed was to put in rotel tomatoes to add some spice
Maddie says
Recipe turned out well for me!
I ended up needing to simmer the pasta for much longer than what was in the recipe. Maybe I could have turned up my heat a bit more, but I’m happy for a slightly longer cook of nothing burns.I basically cooked it without the lid on for 15 mins – pasta was still half raw. I put the lid on and checked every 10 mins until it was done. Once the pasta was actually cooked and had the chance to absorb what it needed to, it wasn’t “watery” at all.
Small recommendation to the recipe writer : some canned tomatoes come in tomato juice and some in water. Because I used 2 cans, I drained the can that just had water and did not drain the can that came in its own tomato juices.
Here’s a bunch of random stuff I changed to work with the ingredients I had on hand.
– didn’t have tomato paste, so I just added some extra pasta sauce to subliment
-didn’t add the Italian seasoning since the pasta sauce already had seasoning
– only diced tomatoes I had on hand was a can of fire roasted tomatoes and a can that also had habaneros mixed in. I used both cans for the correct amount listed in the recipe – I love a little spice so this was delicious to me.
Marianne says
Simply delish! I added more water and used crushed fire roasted tomatoes. I also stopped the cooking when the pasta was al-dente and it finished cooking the noodles with the remaining heat. Lid on. This is so easy to make. love it!
Alexandra says
Still turned out good, but I ran into 2 problems. Even though I did not precook the pasta, it still turned out a bit soupy and thin but the flavors were still fine. I also noticed the bottom of the pan burned some of it and am not sure why that happened either I only used 3 cups of broth, but maybe the pot I used was too deep? Any advice for these two hiccups? Would love to try again and get better results 🙂
Nora says
Alexandra, if your dish turned out a little soupy you can try using a different brand of pasta next time. If you can find a reasonably-priced Italian bronze-cut type at your grocery store, those work really well to thicken the liquids. And if it burned, it’s worth trying a wider but more shallow pot next time. Hope this helps!
Sonia says
My family loves this recipe, and the leftovers are great for work and school! I use a can of crushed tomatoes and 4 cups of broth and it’s perfect for us. I also simmer 20 minutes to get the pasta just right. thanks for a great recipe!
Nora says
Thanks for sharing your recipe tips, Sonia – I appreciate your time. Glad your family likes this recipe so much!
Babo Pam! says
Thanks for sharing! I added a chopped roasted red pepper and a pint of cherry tomatoes (cut into small pieces), but everything else was the same. They added a little extra flavor. Simmered it slowly, then put it all in a casserole dish, covered with Italian mixed grated cheeses and baked the whole thing. Worked great! Thanks! This is now a regular meal option!
Morgan says
Loved this recipe so much. I am an avid runner and I love easy pasta recipes for lunch. I love making this on Sunday to meal prep for the week. Thank you so much!
Nora says
I’m so glad, Morgan!
P says
I’m a college student and it can be difficult to find beginner recipes that taste great, but I loved this one! It’s super simple and the instructions are easy to follow.
Nora says
Glad to hear it!
Boolie says
Did not turn out like the picture. Probably worth letting it simmer for hours as the article states. I made the recipe to the letter and the presentation, as is, is…not good. Had to drain the broth and add canned tomato sauce.
Nora says
I’m sorry the recipe did not work out the way you hope it would. Did you make sure to add the UNCOOKED pasta to the sauce? The pasta really does not need to be boiled first. 3 cups broth and 16oz uncooked pasta should definitely not leave broth to be drained. It does take a little while longer for the pasta to cook vs just boiling it in water. But you would rather need to add a bit more broth vs having to drain it.
Martha says
Made it this evening, added a pound of mild italian sausage to the recipe. My family loved it, gave it a two thumbs up. Love the one pot method.
Nora says
I’m glad to hear it, Martha!
Sophie says
This was absolutely fantastic for a busy weeknight! Adding this to my rotation. Thanks so much for sharing this recipe!
Steph says
Only tip I’d make is to start with 4 cups beef broth and then add more if needed. After I initially used up my entire 4C and the broth had reduced, my shells weren’t cooked through yet… I needed more broth…
Meggie says
Really good. My husband even liked it, and to be honest he doesn’t really like my cooking haha! I omitted the celery because I don’t like cooked celery. Other than that, no changes. Froze half for our upcoming RV trip. If I make it again, I’ll bump up the spices a bit, but it was good as written. And so easy!
Nora says
Aww that’s so sweet, Meggie! Glad your husband enjoyed the rigatoni!
Kelly says
Followed the recipe exactly with the exception of adding a green pepper… Served it to my husband and 2 sons and they all went back for more (including my very picky 10 yr old). Will definitely be adding this recipe to our rotation! Thank you for sharing 🙂
Nora says
Kelly – I’m so happy to hear this! And I love the idea with the green pepper, I’ll have to give that a try.
Berkley C. says
I absolutely love this recipe. I make it at lest every other week, the family loves it as well! I like to “glaze” the tomato paste for about 3-4 minutes to really bring out the flavor. This is definitely a favorite in my house!
Megan says
LOVE this! Super easy, my family of 6 all eat it and my husband says it’s fabulous. Great for busy weeknight dinner, especially if made ahead of time. Also great for a meal train deliver!
Nora says
I’m so glad, Megan!