Creamy Ravioli
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This Creamy Ravioli takes store bought cheese ravioli and turns it into something that tastes like you tried much harder than you did. Sun dried tomatoes, spinach, and a Parmesan cream sauce, all in one skillet. Thirty minutes, and the only real skill is not letting the sauce get too hot.
Easy Creamy Ravioli Recipe
This is the dinner I make when it’s 6 o’clock and I’ve made no plan whatsoever.
A bag of ravioli from the fridge section, some sun dried tomatoes, a handful of spinach, cream and Parmesan. Nothing here requires thought and the whole thing is on the table in half an hour.
What makes it feel like more than the sum of its parts is the sun dried tomatoes. They’re intensely sweet and tart and slightly chewy, and they cut straight through all that cream. Without them it’s a perfectly nice bowl of pasta. With them it’s actually interesting.
I’ll be straight with you about one thing: this is not a light dinner and it isn’t a cheap one either. There’s a cup of cream and a cup of Parmesan in here, and good ravioli isn’t the bargain of the week. It’s a rich, indulgent, 30 minute dinner and that’s exactly what it’s for.
The one thing that can go wrong is the sauce splitting, and it’s entirely avoidable. More on that below.
How To Keep The Sauce From Breaking
Cream sauces split when they get too hot, and Parmesan clumps when it goes into liquid that’s boiling. Both are easy to avoid once you know what’s happening.
- Keep it at a simmer, never a boil. Boiling cream separates the fat from the liquid and you end up with a greasy, grainy sauce. You want lazy bubbles at the edge of the pan, nothing more.
- Turn the heat down before the cheese goes in. Parmesan melts smoothly at low temperature and seizes into strings at high temperature. Low heat, cheese in gradually, stirring the whole time.
- Grate your own Parmesan. Pre grated cheese is coated in cellulose and potato starch to stop it caking in the bag, and those same coatings make it clumpy in a sauce. It’s the single most common cause of a gritty result and almost nobody mentions it.
- Add it a handful at a time. Dumping a whole cup in at once drops the temperature and the cheese clumps before it can melt.
- If it does split, take it off the heat and whisk in a splash of cold cream or a little pasta water. It’ll usually come back together.
Ingredients in Creamy Ravioli
- Cheese ravioli (1 pound, fresh or frozen): The fresh ones from the refrigerated section cook in 3 to 4 minutes, frozen takes 4 to 6. Cheese is the classic here but spinach and ricotta or mushroom both work beautifully. Cheese tortellini is a good substitute.
- Unsalted butter (2 tablespoons): Unsalted, because there’s a cup of Parmesan coming and that brings plenty of salt on its own.
- Garlic (2 cloves, minced): One minute in the butter, no more. Burnt garlic is bitter and there’s nowhere for it to hide in a cream sauce.
- Sun dried tomatoes (½ cup, chopped): These are what make the dish. Intensely sweet, tart, and chewy, and they cut through all that richness. The oil packed ones have better flavor and texture than the dry ones, and a spoonful of the oil from the jar in place of some of the butter is a nice touch.
- Baby spinach (2 cups, roughly chopped): Wilts down to almost nothing, so 2 cups looks like a lot and isn’t. Freshness and color against the cream.
- Heavy cream (1 cup): Full fat, and this genuinely matters. Half and half and milk don’t have enough fat to thicken properly and they’re much more likely to split. This is not the place to lighten things up.
- Parmesan cheese (1 cup, grated): Grate it yourself. Pre grated is coated with anti caking agents that make cream sauces grainy. A cup is also a lot of salt, so taste before you season at the end.
- Salt and pepper (to taste): Salt the pasta water generously. Then taste the finished sauce before adding any more, because between the Parmesan and the sun dried tomatoes there may already be enough.
- Nutmeg (¼ teaspoon): Small amount, real job. Nutmeg is the traditional partner to cream sauces and it rounds out the richness in a way you’d notice if it were missing. Freshly grated is much better than the pre ground jar.
- Fresh basil (½ cup, chopped): Goes on at the end, off the heat. Basil in a hot pan turns black and loses everything.
How To Make Creamy Ravioli
Cook the ravioli, and save some water. Salted boiling water, 3 to 4 minutes for fresh or 4 to 6 for frozen. Before you drain it, scoop out about ½ cup of the pasta water and set it aside. That starchy water is what makes the sauce cling to the pasta later, and it takes 2 seconds to remember and 20 minutes to regret forgetting.
Butter and garlic. Large skillet, medium heat, butter melted, then the garlic for about a minute until it smells good. Watch it, because garlic goes from fragrant to bitter fast.
Sun dried tomatoes, 1 to 2 minutes, stirring. They soften slightly and their flavor gets into the butter.
Spinach, another 1 to 2 minutes until it’s wilted down. It’ll look like far too much and then collapse to nothing.
Cream in, and keep it at a simmer. Pour it in and bring it up to a gentle simmer, then cook 4 to 5 minutes until it’s thickened slightly. Lazy bubbles at the edge, not a rolling boil. Boiling cream splits.
Turn the heat to low, then add the Parmesan. Low, not medium. Add it a handful at a time, stirring constantly, letting each addition melt before the next goes in. This is where a sauce goes grainy if you rush it.
Season, and taste first. Salt, pepper, and the nutmeg. There’s a cup of Parmesan in there already, so taste before you reach for the salt.
Ravioli in, gently. Add the cooked ravioli and toss carefully to coat. Gently is the word, because they tear easily and nobody wants filling loose in the sauce.
Loosen it if it needs it. If the sauce has gone thicker than you want, add the reserved pasta water a splash at a time until it coats the ravioli properly.
Basil over the top, off the heat, and serve straight away. Cream sauces thicken as they sit and this is at its best right out of the pan.
Things Worth Knowing
- Save the pasta water. Half a cup, before you drain. It’s the difference between a sauce that clings and one that sits at the bottom of the bowl.
- Grate your own Parmesan. Pre grated is coated to stop it caking, and those coatings make cream sauces grainy.
- Simmer, never boil. Boiling cream separates and there’s no elegant fix.
- Heat down before the cheese. Parmesan melts smoothly on low and seizes on high.
- Taste before salting. A cup of Parmesan plus sun dried tomatoes is already a lot of salt.
- Toss the ravioli gently. They tear, and then you’ve got filling in the sauce instead of in the pasta.
- Serve it immediately. This thickens noticeably as it sits.
Variations
- With protein. Grilled chicken, baked shrimp, or crispy bacon, all cooked separately and added at the end. Shrimp is my favorite here.
- Different ravioli. Spinach and ricotta, mushroom, or butternut squash all work. Butternut with sun dried tomatoes is unexpectedly good in the fall.
- More vegetables. Sautéed mushrooms with the garlic, or a handful of peas at the end.
- Lighter, sort of. Swap half the cream for chicken broth. It won’t be as thick or as rich, and it’s still good. Don’t swap in milk, because it splits.
- A bit of heat. A pinch of red pepper flakes with the garlic. Cream sauces take chili well.
- Lemon. A squeeze at the very end brightens the whole thing and stops it feeling heavy.
What To Serve With It
This is rich, so everything beside it should be sharp and green. A simple salad with a proper acidic vinaigrette is really all it needs, and the contrast matters more than the side dish does.
Garlic bread is the obvious move, though between the pasta and the cream you may not need it. Roasted asparagus or broccolini with lemon does a better job of cutting through.
A glass of something crisp and white helps too.
Make Ahead And Storage
Make ahead: not really a make ahead dish, and I’d rather say so. Cream sauces are at their best fresh and this one thickens considerably as it cools. You can chop the sun dried tomatoes and grate the Parmesan in advance, but the cooking wants doing at the last minute.
Fridge: 3 days in an airtight container. The sauce will set thick and firm, which is normal.
Reheating: low heat in a skillet with a splash of cream, milk, or water, stirring gently until it loosens back up. Go slowly, because high heat will split what’s left of the sauce. The microwave works at medium power in short bursts with a splash of liquid, but the stovetop is noticeably better.
Freezing: I wouldn’t. Cream sauces separate on thawing and cooked ravioli goes soft and mushy. This is a make it and eat it dish.
Discover More Delicious Pasta Recipes
- Chicken Pot Pie Pasta
- Haluski (Cabbage and Noodles)
- Instant Pot Mac And Cheese
- Creamy Cajun Pastalaya
- Baked Mostaccioli
- Baked Ravioli
- Creamy Sun-Dried Tomato Chicken Ravioli
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Creamy Ravioli
Video
Ingredients
- 1 pound cheese ravioli (fresh or frozen)
- 2 tablespoons butter (unsalted)
- 2 cloves garlic (minced)
- ½ cup sun-dried tomatoes (chopped)
- 2 cup baby spinach (roughly chopped)
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup Parmesan cheese (grated)
- salt and pepper (to taste)
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ½ cup fresh basil (chopped)
Before You Begin! If you make this, please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes.
Instructions
- Cook the ravioli according to the package instructions. If using fresh ravioli, cook for 3-4 minutes, and if using frozen ravioli, cook for 4-6 minutes. Drain and set aside.
- While the ravioli is cooking, prepare the creamy sauce. In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the minced garlic and cook for about 1 minute, or until fragrant.
- Add the chopped sun-dried tomatoes to the skillet and cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the roughly chopped baby spinach to the skillet, and cook for another 1-2 minutes, or until the spinach has wilted.
- Pour in the heavy cream and bring the mixture to a simmer. Cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the cream has thickened slightly.
- Reduce the heat to low, and gradually add the grated Parmesan cheese, stirring constantly to prevent clumping. Continue to cook and stir until the cheese is completely melted and the sauce is smooth.
- Season the sauce with salt, black pepper, and nutmeg. Add the cooked ravioli to the skillet with the creamy sauce, gently stirring to coat each piece evenly.
- Garnish with fresh basil and serve immediately.
Equipment
Notes
- Save the pasta water. Reserve ½ cup before draining. It’s what makes the sauce cling to the ravioli.
- Grate your own Parmesan. Pre grated is coated with anti caking agents that make cream sauces grainy.
- Simmer, don’t boil. Boiling cream separates. Gentle bubbles at the edge of the pan.
- Heat down before the cheese. Add the Parmesan gradually on low heat, stirring constantly.
- Taste before salting. A cup of Parmesan plus sun dried tomatoes brings a lot of salt already.
- Nutmeg: freshly grated is much better than pre ground. And despite the name, nutmeg is a seed rather than a tree nut.
- Toss gently. Ravioli tear easily and the filling escapes.
- Serve immediately. The sauce thickens noticeably as it sits.
Nutrition Information
Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated for your convenience. Where relevant, we recommend using your own nutrition calculations.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did my cream sauce go grainy?
Almost always pre grated Parmesan. It’s coated with cellulose and starch to stop it clumping in the bag, and those coatings don’t melt smoothly. Grate your own and add it gradually over low heat.
Why did my sauce split?
It got too hot. Cream separates when it boils, so keep it at a gentle simmer and turn the heat right down before the cheese goes in. If it does split, take it off the heat and whisk in a splash of cold cream or pasta water.
Can I use milk or half and half instead of heavy cream?
I wouldn’t. There isn’t enough fat in either one to thicken properly, and they’re much more likely to split. If you want it lighter, replace half the cream with chicken broth rather than milk.
Do I need to add flour to thicken it?
No. The cream reduces and the Parmesan melts into it, and between them the sauce thickens on its own. Adding flour makes it pasty.
Is nutmeg a nut?
It isn’t, despite the name. It’s the seed of a fruit and it’s not classified as a tree nut for allergy purposes. Worth knowing if you’ve been avoiding it.
Can I make this ahead?
Not really. Cream sauces are best straight from the pan and this thickens a lot as it cools. You can prep the ingredients ahead, but cook it when you want to eat it.
What else can I add to it?
Grilled chicken, shrimp, or bacon all work well, cooked separately and added at the end. Mushrooms with the garlic, or peas at the end, are good vegetable additions.
