Olive Garden Sausage and Peppers Rigatoni Easy Copycat Recipe
Finding a restaurant dish you love only to learn it is a limited-time item is frustrating. This Olive Garden Sausage and Peppers Rigatoni copycat brings back that hearty pasta, with hot Italian sausage, red and green bell peppers, red onion, and spicy Calabrian peppers in a creamy tomato sauce over rigatoni. The sausage simmers right in the sauce, so it seasons every bite as it cooks. It is a satisfying pasta-night dinner you can serve any day of the year.
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This dish started as a limited-time menu item at Olive Garden, which is why so many people go looking for a way to make it themselves. It combines a mix of mild and spicy peppers with sweet red onion and hot Italian sausage, all served in a pink tomato cream sauce.
The method is simple. The vegetables soften in a heavy pot, the whole sausage links simmer in marinara with the Italian seasoning and Calabrian peppers, and the cream goes in at the end before the rigatoni.
What makes Rigatoni with Spicy Sausage and Peppers the perfect pasta night recipe?
Don’t you hate it when you think you’ve found a new favorite at a restaurant, only to learn it’s only available for a limited time? If you tried and loved the Spicy Sausage and Peppers Rigatoni on Olive Garden’s limited-time Calabari Summer menu, don’t worry, you can recreate the taste at home with this copycat recipe. If you missed it, you can now try this hearty pasta dish with mixed bell peppers, spicy Calabari peppers, sweet red onions, and hot Italian sauces, served over rigatoni in a creamy tomato sauce in your dining room.
Ingredients and their roles in the recipe
For a copycat version of Olive Garden Sausage and Peppers Rigatoni, you’ll need:
- Olive oil – sautés the vegetables and adds some richness.
- Red onion, sliced into quarter-inch strips – adds sweetness and a more complex flavor than white onions.
- Red bell pepper, sliced into quarter-inch strips – its slight sweetness helps balance the heat of the other peppers.
- Green bell pepper, sliced into quarter-inch strips – has a grassy, somewhat bitter taste which contrasts with the sweeter red peppers.
- Salt – enhances the flavor of the other ingredients.
- Red pepper flakes – give the sauce an initial, yet flat layer of heat.
- Hot Italian sausage links – provide protein and meatiness to the dish. The sausage seasonings also flavor the rest of the sauce.
- Marinara sauce, jarred or homemade – the sauce base strongly influences the final flavor, so choose one you love. See below for a tasty homemade marinara recipe.
- Water or pasta water – replaces the liquid lost while cooking.
- Italian seasoning – boosts the sauce’s flavor with dried herbs.
- Calabrian peppers packed in oil – bump up the sauce’s spiciness and add a slightly more complex taste.
- Rigatoni – the tubular shape gives the sauce plenty of area to cling to.
- Heavy cream – tames the heat and tang with its rich creaminess. Transforms the marinara into a pink sauce.
How to prepare this dish
To prepare Sausage and Peppers Rigatoni as they do at The Olive Garden:
- Heat the olive oil in a large, thick-bottomed pot over medium heat.
- When the oil is hot, add the red onion, red bell pepper, green bell pepper, the salt, and red pepper flakes. Stir well.
- Cook until the vegetables soften slightly but do not color, about 8 to 10 minutes. Stir occasionally to prevent burning.
- Add the whole hot Italian sausage links to the pot and pour the marinara sauce over. Pour the water into the jar of marinara and shake well to clean off all the stuck-on sauce. Add the water to the sauce.
- Stir in the Italian seasoning and Calabrian peppers.
- Cover the pot and reduce the heat to medium-low. Cook uncovered for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the sausages are completely cooked through.
- While the sauce cooks, prepare the rigatoni according to the package directions. Drain and reserve.
- When the sausages are cooked through, remove them from the pot and cut them into rounds. Return them, along with any liquid, to the sauce.
- Stir in the heavy cream and mix well.
- Add the drained pasta to the pot, stir to coat, and serve hot.
What to serve with this dish?
Complete your meal with a few of the following Italian favorites.
Olive Garden Marinara Sauce – Marinara works great as a stand-alone pasta sauce, but since it is basically tomato sauce with a touch of garlic oil and a sprinkle of red pepper flakes, you can use it in so many other ways. Whichever one you choose, after tasting this easy, flavorful sauce, you’ll want to skip the jarred stuff.
Authentic Italian Rice Balls with Cheese and Meat – The breading gives these rice balls a crunchy exterior, but what’s inside is what makes these snacks so delicious. Each rice ball hides a mix of ham, pepperoni, salami, mozzarella, and Romano for that perfect meaty cheese pull.
Olive Garden Tiramisu – This simplified version of the classic Italian dessert opts for sponge cake instead of traditional ladyfingers. This small substitution may streamline the process, but the recipe still delivers the same taste you love. And when you can get a restaurant-quality dessert on the table in less than 30 minutes, the change is worth it.
Storing and reheating instructions
Refrigerator Storage: Keeping the sauce and pasta in two separate airtight containers is ideal, but you can store them together, although the pasta may soak up some sauce. Try to use up the leftovers within three days.
Freezer Storage: Freezing isn’t ideal because the cream may separate, but if you need to freeze it, store it in a freezer-safe container for up to a month. Thaw in the fridge before reheating.
Reheating Instructions: Pour the leftover sauce or sauce and pasta into a saucepan and stir in a few tablespoons of water. Cover the saucepan and heat on low until hot. If you stored the pasta separately, boil water and dunk the rigatoni in the boiling water for about 30 seconds to heat.
Favorite copycat Olive Garden pasta recipes
- Olive Garden Capellini Pomodoro
- Olive Garden Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo
- Olive Garden Five Cheese Ziti al Forno
- Olive Garden Four Cheese Manicotti
- Olive Garden Spaghetti and Meatballs
Check out more of my famous copycat Olive Garden recipes to make at home.
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Olive Garden Spicy Sausage and Peppers Rigatoni
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup sliced red onion
- 1 red bell pepper sliced
- 1 green bell pepper sliced
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 pound hot Italian sausage links
- 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1/4 cup Calabrian chili peppers packed in oil
- 24 ounces marinara sauce
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 pound rigatoni
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
Instructions
- Place the olive oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Add the red onion, red bell pepper, and green bell pepper to the pot and season with salt and red pepper flakes. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender but not browned, about 8 to 10 minutes.
- Add the sausage links, Italian seasoning, Calabrian chili peppers, and marinara sauce to the pot. Pour the water into the empty marinara jar, replace the lid, and shake to loosen any remaining sauce. Pour the contents of the jar into the pot. Mix well. Cover the pot and simmer over medium-low heat for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the sausages reach an internal temperature of 160°F.
- While the sauce simmers, boil the rigatoni in salted water until al dente, according to the package directions. Drain.
- Remove the sausages from the sauce and transfer them to a cutting board. Slice the sausages into bite-sized pieces.
- Stir the heavy cream into the sauce until thoroughly combined.
- Return the sliced sausages to the pot. Add the cooked rigatoni and stir until the pasta is evenly coated with sauce. Serve hot.
Notes
- Keep the vegetables from browning in the first step. You want them soft and sweet, not caramelized.
- Rinse the marinara jar with the water so none of the sauce is wasted.
- Do not rush the covered simmer. Gentle heat cooks the whole links through without drying them out.
- Slice the sausage after it has cooked and return any juices from the cutting board to the pot.
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