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Rigatoni with Mushroom Sauce

September 4, 2024

You’re going to love the rich, classic flavors in this recipe for easy rigatoni with mushroom sauce, perfect for any weeknight dinner.

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homemade rigatoni with mushroom sauce in a pasta bowl with a fork made with cream, parmesan, chives, parsley and wine
Photography by Gayle McLeod

Mushroom Sauce + Rigatoni = Weeknight Dinner Dreams

Calling all mushroom lovers! We’ve got a delicious mushroom sauce and we’ve paired it with pasta for an easy rigatoni recipe, but it also goes great with vegetables, chicken, or sopped up with a hunk of bread. Any way you serve it, this mushroom sauce is a perfect choice for a quick and delicious weeknight dinner. Our recipe for rigatoni with creamy mushroom sauce has become an instant classic rigatoni recipe around our houses, and you'll understand why when you make it. We love this rigatoni with mushroom sauce recipe because it is a great way to add another meatless dish to the weeknight dinner repertoire. The white wine, cream, and mushrooms really shine through to make for a memorable meal. Throw in a few fresh herbs and some cream and voila! For even more simple pasta fun, check out our Fusilli with Spicy Tomato Sauce and Bow Tie Pasta.

ingredients to make homemade rigatoni with mushroom sauce in bowls on the counter r

What Else Goes Into This Irresistible Rigatoni With Mushroom Pasta Sauce?

  • First things first, Can I substitute rigatoni for penne? Yes! Rigatoni and penne are essentially the same shape (a tube). Rigatoni is cut straight, and penne is cut on the diagonal. Both noodle shapes are ideal for this mushroom pasta recipe.

  • Butter, because all good sauces start with butter

  • Mushrooms, of course

  • Garlic...we like a lot of garlic in our sauces

  • White wine (more on that in a moment)

  • Stock, we call for chicken stock, but this could easily made vegetarian by using vegetable stock

  • Heavy cream

  • Fresh herbs (we use chives and parsley, but thyme, rosemary, or tarragon would all be delicious additions individually or altogether)

  • Parmesan cheese

mushrooms being cooked in olive oil and butter in a skillet
mushrooms and garlic being cooked in olive oil and butter in a skillet to make mushroom sauce

How Do You Make White Wine and Mushroom Sauce?

Our recipe for mushroom sauce calls for white wine, not least because we enjoy a glass of wine with dinner, but also because mushrooms are classic companions to both red and white wine. For this recipe we use a full-bodied Sauvignon Blanc, and any dry white wine would work well. When cooking with wine, we prefer to buy a nice bottle, using a cup for the sauce and then finishing the bottle with guests during the meal. Our Chicken Dijon uses white wine in the cream sauce, if you’re looking for more white wine scented dishes. Not a single drop goes to waste!

chicken stock and wine being added to a pot with mushrooms and garlic that were cooked in butter and olive oil
cream and parmesan being added to a pot with mushrooms, garlic, butter, olive oil, wine and chicken stock

How Do I Make a Creamy Mushroom Sauce For Rigatoni?

The thing we love so much about this homemade mushroom sauce is how creamy and delicious it is, and how perfectly it sticks to a bowl full of rigatoni noodles. Let’s go!

  1. Heat the oil and butter in a skillet. We love the taste of both butter and olive oil for cooking the mushrooms.

  2. Add the mushrooms and garlic.

  3. Then add the wine and reduce it down. This will give your sauce so much flavor!

  4. Add the chicken stock and reduce it down, too.

  5. Next, add the cream and parmesan, along with the fresh herbs.

  6. Lastly, season your sauce with salt and pepper.

pasta, chives, parsley, salt and pepper being added to a pot with homemade mushroom sauce
homemade Rigatoni with Mushroom Sauce being stirred in a pot made with chives, parsley, cream, parmesan and wine

Tips for Making Mushroom Pasta:

Since this is a pretty straight-forward recipe to prepare, it’s a great opportunity to focus on ingredients. We used rigatoni for this recipe, but any pasta will do. We like that rigatoni is easy to pick up with a fork and makes a good carrier for the rich sauce, as well as all those tasty mushrooms. Also, be sure to season your pasta water with plenty of salt so that it is nice and flavorful. You can use any mushrooms available to you for this recipe. We go for the wild mushrooms when they are in our local stores, but will also grab cremini or baby bellas (those are the brown mushrooms that are common to most grocery stores). For the wine, you’ll want to use a dry white wine for this recipe. (we suggest a Sauvignon Blanc, but you can go with whatever you like best.) And cheese–our favorite ingredient–is important here! The parmesan cheese in this recipe not only gives the sauce extra flavor, but also acts as a thickening agent. We recommend freshly grating your cheese before adding it to the sauce, because the preservatives found in pre-shredded cheese prevent it from melting well.

homemade Rigatoni with Mushroom Sauce being stirred in a pot made with chives, parsley, cream, parmesan and wine

What To Serve With Mushroom Sauce

This easy rigatoni mushroom sauce is already a delicious pasta dinner, but you don’t have to be limited to this one dish, because this sauce is so versatile! Feel free to literally put it on ALL THE THINGS!

Tools You'll Need

homemade Rigatoni with Mushroom Sauce being pot made with chives, parsley, cream, parmesan, wine and chicken stock
homemade rigatoni with mushroom sauce in a pasta bowl with a fork made with cream, parmesan, chives, parsley and wine

Need More Mushroom Pasta Recipe Inspiration?

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Rigatoni with Mushroom Sauce

  • Serves:  6
  • Prep Time:  15 min
  • Cook Time:  20 min
  • Calories:  518

Ingredients

  • 4 tablespoons salted butter
  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 pound mushrooms, thinly sliced, such as crimini or baby bella
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 cup dry white wine, such as Sauvignon Blanc
  • 1 cup chicken or vegetable stock
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • ¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1 pound rigatoni pasta, cooked according to inctructions, drained
  • ¼ cup minced chives
  • 2 tablespoons minced flat leaf parsley
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  • ¼ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper

Method

  1. Heat the butter and olive oil in a large saucepan over medium high heat. Once the butter is bubbling, add the mushrooms and cook until golden brown, 5-7 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 2 minutes more.

  2. Add the wine and reduce heat to medium- low until the wine has reduced by more than half, about 3-4 minutes.

  3. Add the stock and continue cooking until reduced by half, about 4-5 minutes.

  4. Slowly stir in the cream and Parmesan until combined. Cook until the sauce comes together and thickens enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon, another 2-3 minutes.

  5. Stir in the pasta, chives, parsley, salt and pepper.

Nutrition Info

  • Per Serving
  • Amount
  • Calories 518
  • Protein 21 g
  • Carbohydrates 66 g
  • Total Fat 18 g
  • Dietary Fiber 7 g
  • Cholesterol 29 mg
  • sodium 374 mg
  • Total Sugars 6 g

Rigatoni with Mushroom Sauce

Questions & Reviews

Join the discussion below.

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  • Andie

    Im thinking of adding cooked Italian sausage Good idea? Have you tried this?

    It would be delicious!

  • Alex

    Can I use vegetable broth instead of stock?

    Sure! That'll work great.

  • Jeanine

    Can the sauce be frozen

    Sure!

  • Renee

    If I doubled the sauce to freeze some for use later, do you think it would freeze well?

    We haven't tested freezing it but it should be fine!

  • joyce

    can I prepare this ahead and reheat in microwave?

    Should work ok, microwaves can tend to dry out pastas/pasta sauce so reheat slowly stirring often.

  • Susan

    Tried this at least three times now and it is yummy. Once a side dish for chicken and twice adding prawns.
    My husband loves it and he is a picky eater!

    That is so great to hear. We are glad you both love it. Thanks Susan!

  • Aakers

    Wonderful dish! Definitely use the wine, stock and cream. Added julienned red peppers before adding the cream and 2 handfuls of spinach right before serving. This is rich, filling and good!

    Thanks Aakers, so happy you loved it!

  • Pauline

    Absolutely wonderful dish. I didn’t use the wine, but the chicken broth was perfect. This is now on our dinner rotation. Thank you.

    Thanks Pauline, we are so happy you loved it! It's so exciting to hear it made rotation!

  • Susy

    I loved it!!! Simple and delicious :)

    Glad to hear!

  • Jen

    This was delicious and so easy, looking forward to making it again!

    Thanks Jen, so happy you love it!