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5-minute ravioli sauce is dreamy blend of sun-dried tomato pesto and luxurious cream yielding a restaurant worthy pasta dish in, yep, just 5 minutes! Pour over your favourite filled pasta parcels for a filling, family-friendly midweek meal.
All sounding a little too easy? Up the challenge by making your own fresh homemade pasta for this versatile sauce.
Pasta is a go-to meal; it’s quick to cook, satisfyingly filling, and inexpensive. But how do you keep it interesting? By switching up stuffed pasta for plain pasta, swapping meat or cream or tomato sauces, or adding protein like chicken, prawns or meatballs. The combinations are virtually endless. You could eat pasta every day of the week and not get bored!
When my kids were growing up and I was a full-time teacher, I needed food on the table fast! Quick and convenient store-bought filled pasta parcels featured heavily on our menu rotation.
And while spinach and ricotta ravioli (my son’s fave) with a patch of butter melted over it was adequate in elementary school, by the time they were in high school I knew I had to up my game.
Which is how this easy 5-minute ravioli sauce came about.
How to make 5-minute ravioli sauce
This super simple and speedy recipe requires just 4 easily accessible ingredients and is ready in the time it will take for your ravioli to cook. Dinner prayers, answered.
So, what’s in it?
Sun-dried tomato pesto: sweet with sun-ripened tomatoes and tangy with parmesan cheese, using pesto gives a deeper more intensified flavour than tomato purée or canned tomatoes- which can be acidic and sour.
Garlic: I used just one clove and minced it so it cooks seamlessly into the sauce. Is it even a pasta sauce if you don’t use garlic?
Basil leaves: fresh is best when it comes to herbs. Basil has a distinct flavour, slightly anise-y, that is well-known for complimenting tomato. Reserve some leaves for a profesh-looking garnish.
Light cream (single cream UK): I’ve chosen light cream for its easy pour-factor and velvety texture. Heavy cream is an option if you like a thicker sauce and don’t count calories!
Combine the sauce ingredients and when the pasta is cooked, drain it reserving half the hot pasta water. Add the ravioli to the sauce and stir very gently to cover every square of pasta, being careful not to damage them. If needed, add a little of the reserved water to loosen up the sauce.
What kind of sauce goes with ravioli?
If the t-word (tomato) doesn’t go down well in your house, make the same 5-minute ravioli sauce with a homemade green pesto. This lemony spinach pesto (contains walnuts) is zesty and fresh, or Tuscan kale pesto (with almonds) is a nutritional powerhouse, or go traditional with classic basil pesto.
As we are coming into pumpkin season right now, this silky, autumnal butternut squash ravioli sauce deserves a shoutout too! It’s gorgeously golden and rich with cream, sage and garlic.
Depending on your filling, although there are no strict rules here, you can mix and match any ravioli or filled pasta with whichever pasta sauce you please. The aim is to keep it interesting, remember?
There’s even a vodka sauce for pasta which I think goes especially well with an eggplant (aubergine) pasta filling. But that ones for the grownups.
Recipe Tips and Notes
- Use the best quality store-bought pesto you can as this is the central sauce ingredient.
- Feel free to use a green pesto if tomato is not a favourite at your table.
- I find adding the pasta to the sauce, rather than the sauce over the pasta, ensures a more even coating and a mouthful of perfection at each bite.
- This sauce is not restricted only to ravioli, any filled pasta shape will work; tortellini, tortelloni, cannelloni, mezzaluna, cappelletti…
- Or even just plain pasta like orzo or spaghetti.
- I’ve used light cream (single UK), but heavy cream (double UK), crème fraîche or even yoghurt will work too.
- Crème fraîche and yoghurt need to be heated gently to prevent splitting.
- If needs be, dried basil will do in place of fresh- but that would be a real shame imo!
- The same goes for parmesan. I beg you to invest in a block of the hard cheese! The pre-grated kind is a shameful excuse for the real deal.
Serving Suggestions
One of the reasons I love this quick ravioli sauce recipe is it comes together faster than you can say “Mamma Mia!” so I tend to keep sides simple, and balanced, too. I go for a light garden salad, or a theme-keeping Caprese salad.
Or for colder nights lemon butter green beans or tenderstem broccoli.
Finish the dish with some restaurant-style flair by adding a flurry of extra parmesan, a twist of black pepper and a sprig of basil on top. And if you’re really showing off, sprinkle over an Italian pangrattato (crispy herby breadcrumbs) for bonus crunch-factor.
Storage and leftovers
Leftover 5-minute ravioli sauce is good in the fridge for up to 4 days. Ravioli itself is not so good! If it’s possible, keep the ravioli sauce separate and discard any leftover ravioli. Sadly, these puffed up pasta pillows will go flabby in the fridge.
Store the remaining creamy tomato sauce in an This is an affiliate link.airtight container and reuse it over chicken or plain pasta in another meal. Reheat gently on the stove adding a splash of water if the sauce needs loosening.
More quick pasta recipes
- Pasta with smoked salmon
- Creamy pasta with pancetta and peas
- Creamy tagliatelle with bacon, mushrooms and truffle oil
- Tagliatelle with pancetta, basil and mozzarella
5 Minute Ravioli Sauce
Equipment
- This is an affiliate link.Non-stick frying pan
- This is an affiliate link.Saucepan
- This is an affiliate link.Enamel colander
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp This is an affiliate link.sun-dried tomato pesto , I used Scala brand or Delallo in the US
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 3-4 fresh basil leaves, sliced
- 125ml / 1/2 cup light/single cream, 20% fat content for US readers
- 125ml / 1/2cup reserved pasta water
- salt to taste
- pepper to taste
- Parmesan cheese to serve
Instructions
- Cook the ravioli according to package directions.
- Start the sauce immediately after you add the ravioli to the boiling water. Add sun-dried tomato pesto and garlic to a frying pan over low heat, stir, then add sliced basil leaves and cream, let it simmer for 1-2 minutes.
- When the ravioli is cooked, drain but reserve 1/2 cup of water. Add the ravioli with half of the water directly to the pan with the sauce. Toss to combine and season with salt and pepper to taste. Add the rest of the water only if the sauce is too dry. Serve with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.
Video
Notes
- Tomato paste or sun-dried tomato paste can be used instead of sun-dried tomato pesto, or go even more radical in experimenting with pesto flavours. My favourites are basil pesto, Tuscan kale pesto or fiery red chilli pesto.
- Dried basil can be used in place of fresh basil.
- I wanted to make a lighter sauce so used light/single cream. You can also successfully add heavy cream, creme fraîche or even Greek yogurt. If you do use creme fraîche or Greek yogurt, be sure to add them over very low heat to prevent the dairy from splitting.
- If find that the best way to evenly coat the ravioli is to add the pasta to the sauce, rather than the other way around.
- Although I made this sauce to pair with ravioli, it also works great when served with chicken and pasta.
- You can sprinkle herb and garlic breadcrumbs over ravioli to add more flavour and texture.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Made this last night, was very tasty
This was absolutely fantastic!!!! I think I added a slight bit more cream but otherwise I copied it exactly! My bf loved it so much he wants me to make it again in the one week. So much flavour!
I am so glad you both loved it, Sarah!
Delicious! We love fresh ravioli but it is hard to find a sauce that doesn’t overwhelm. I Have never used sun dried tomato pesto in a cream sauce- loved it!
Easy and so delicious! Used over sweet sausage w/4 cheese raviolli from TJs. Such a great dinner. Thanks
Thanks so much for your review, Shawn!
Hello,
What ravioli are you using for this? It looks like mushroom or meat.
Thank you
I can’t remember if I am honest but I did write about what type of sauces go well with various fillings in the post.
This tastes like restaurant quality! Yum…… I used white wine instead of the pasta water. So easy and delicious. Thanks for a great recipe!
My pleasure, Peg!
Going to make this! I have a 10 ounce bag of ravioli. Is this sauce enough for the whole bag? Thanks!
Yes! At least I think so but I don’t like my pasta swimming in sauce.
Looking forward to trying this.
Do you think it would taste as great if the sauce is made earlier?
2 days before and kept in the fridge until used?
I am not sure it will taste as great if I am honest. It will take you nearly as much time warming it up as making it from scratch. It does take only 5 minutes to make. It’s not an exaggeration.
Loved it !! Very easy to make and I followed the exact recipe.
Excellent!! 🙂
This is perfect for a single momma quick to table no meat dinner! Yay x a million!!! So good!!!
What a great review, Kelly! Thank you!
Hello, I haven’t made this dish yet but def pinning it for my grocery list.. Do you have a special brand of pasta rav u like. I have sun-dried and few of the items.. this dish looks amazing simple but burst with flavor..
Hi Bev, I am located in the UK, so our brands might be different but it looks like Rana is sold in the US and the UK, which I do like quite a bit. I usually buy whatever is the best price for quality ingredients. I prefer my ravioli fresh over frozen.
So tasty while being simple and fast! I used half and half. I think I might add toasted pine nuts as a garnish next time
Toasted pine nuts are such a great addition, Christine! I am going to try that as well!
This is amazing! Quick and delicious. Its new favorite! Thank you, thank you
My pleasure, Sandy!!
Thank you for sharing! It’s very delicious and easy to make.
my husband insists on having meat with all meals. What meat would you suggest pairing with this? I would like to avoid ravioli stuffed with meat.
The easiest one would be Italian sausages. If you are in the mood to make something else, you can try or my Chicken Marsala or Chicken Paillard.
Fantastic, easy, and super fast to make!! Highly recommend🥰
Amazing!! Thank you for sharing that with me!
It’s a keeper! Turned out most delicious for us!
Yes!! That’s what I like to hear. Thank you for a great review, Christa.
Loved this recipe. I didn’t have any cream or yoghurt but I had an almond milk yoghurt that was “greek sytle” can’t believe how great it turned out! Used less pasta water. I found I couldnt’ really toss it all together if the ravioli and pasta water went in together. Next time i’ll do the water first and the ravioli last. Will definitely make again.
So great to hear, Michelle!!
This was absolutely wonderful – couldn’t believe something so tasty could be made so quickly! I shall make this often! Many thanks 🙂
regarding your 5 min. Ravioli Sauce, what is ‘light cream’? The same as 1/2 and 1/2? a half-fat free cream [shudder if this is possible] Is this an English or European thing? My results using .5+.5 were tasty. I eventually tweaked it adding some pine nuts, some drops of Meyer lemon on serving with a sprinkle of grated Parmesan to guild this lily.
Hi John, we have single and double cream in the UK. Single cream that the recipe calls for is 18% fat content, which I believe is higher than half and half. I hope this helps! So glad you enjoyed this recipe!
OMG this is so easy and delicious. I added some julienned sun dried tomatoes for fun but my son kept raving about how yummy it was!
I sometimes add extra sun-dried tomatoes as well! So pleased you and your son loved it, Debbie!
Recipe appears easy and quick,however I am lactose can I substitute cream with any other ingredient
Hi Connie, you can use soy single cream. I am not sure where you are located by in the UK soy and oat single creams are available.
I could not find the tomato Pesto could I use basil pesto l and add Sun dried tomatoes to it would that work?
Ho Colleen, you can use basil pesto but the taste will be quite different.
I got my sun-dried tomato pesto from Amazon.
Best pasta I made!!! I skipped the reserved water and used half and half tho. I will make this next time with linguine and shrimp!!
Julia this sauce is devine, thank you for sharing it.
My pleasure! I am so glad to hear it, Christine!
I made this for my 1 year old grandson and he loved it. Over cheese ravioli
I made your recipe exactly how it was written. It had amazing flavor, but was extremely runny. It was more of soup than a sauce. Did I miss something? I really loved dipping my garlic bread in it, the flavor just explodes!!!
Hi Lainey, the consistency of the sauce depends on the fat content in the cream you used. Single cream in the UK contains 19g of fat. If you used cream with lower fat than that, it will result in a thinner sauce. That being said the sun-dried pesto should help to thicken it out. You can also reduce it a bit. I also want to mention that authentic Italian sauces are lighter than American ones as they add no thickeners like flour or corn starch.
Probably not enough parmesan cheese to pasta water ratio. I would use less water and more cheese or vice versa <3.
OMG, I love pasta a la vodka, but this seemed easy and fast, so I tried it. I am not a huge fan of basil, so I cut it back. I am a huge fan of garlic, but I wanted to stay truer to the original; I am very glad that I followed the directions on that. Meanwhile, I read what some folks said about the consistency and opted to omit the pasta water. What I did do was add a half cup of Chardonnay while cooking the pesto and garlic… OMG! This is fabulous! So easy and extraordinarily delicious!, Thank you, V!
I have been disappointed in some cream sauce recipes, but WOW, this was delicious! I am definitely planning on making this for my family when they come to visit!
Thrilled to hear that, Steffanie. This sauce is one of my go to as well for a variety of pasta dishes.
This was delicious and so easy! I have an artichoke pesto that would work great here too! Such a fast dinner, definitely will make again! Thanks for the recipe!
Thank you for trying our this recipe, Crissy and an artichoke pesto sounds like it could be an amazing option as well!
An this be frozen successfully after adding cooked ravioli to the sauce
Theoretically yes but not without sacrifice to the taste, Deb. I am very fussy about my pasta. It has to be al dente for me and I find it impossible to maintain after freezing and defrosting it. If you do decide to freeze it, I would put it in individual portions and also be prepared to add some water to the sauce when you are bring it back to life, otherwise it will be too stodgy.
Can you pre-make and freeze the sauce to add to fresh pasta at a later date?
Hi Todd, since it literally takes 5 minutes to make this sauce and I mean this without an exaggeration, it seems a bit counterproductive. It will take you longer to defrost it and make it the right consistency again than making it from scratch. No sauces freeze brilliantly as they need to be slowly reheated in a pan, not microwave to preserve the texture. In my opinion, it makes sense to freeze a labour intensive sauce but not this one. You can easily half the recipe if this one makes too much.
Thanks, I’m just preparing for a relatively big party and was keen to do as much prior as possible. I’ll probably make this earlier in the day and then gently reheat. Thanks again.
Sounds like a great idea, Todd. I love being able to relax when people arrive instead of running around!
Anxious to try your sauces!
Let me know how you like it, Sandy!
This looks devine, can’t wait to try it!
I love adding a dollop of cream sauce ( such as Alfredo) on top of pasta w/red sauce…the combo is wonderful! This sounds like a great combo!
I already call it a winner!
I need to look for the tomato pesto, never noticed it in my store!
Let me know how you like it!
What size package of ravioli did you use?
Hi Maria, this recipe is for the sauce that serves 4 and usually covers about a pound of any pasta.
Thank you for asking, I w curious about this as well. I can’t wait to try this.
Would it work with mushroom ravioli? It sounds so good but I’m used to Marsala cream sauce.
I would say this ravioli sauce is pretty versatile and goes with almost any filling, Susan. Try it and see if you like it, the only way to find out.
This was so good and so easy! Will definitely be on rotation now 🙂
So happy to hear that, Christine! It’s on a regular rotation at our house! A quick dinner that tastes amazing.
I always try to have ravioli on hand whether in the fridge or freezer for quick meals, mostly for my kids. But I never thought of adding a sauce. I so need to try this next time. I mean 5 minutes and all those flavors?! Yum!
I love the use of sundried tomato pesto in this ravioli sauce. Such an easy and delicious recipe!
Darling, you bring me back to Italy with your food. I love the creamy ravioli sauce, my mouth is watering right now! I am so excited to pair this sauce with our favorite local lobster ravioli we get at the store.
Julia,
I have no words! Not only was this dish super easy to make it is the absolute best pasta dish I’ve ever made! That sauce is to die for! And then adding cheese ravioli, I’m truly in awe! Thank you for such an amazing recipe that I’ll more than likely be making every week xx
So glad you thought so, Ashlee!
This is a 5 star! I browned 1/2 pound of sweet and a 1/2 pound of hot Italian sausage before completing the sauce. I used dried basil too. It was a big hit at my house!
Sounds delicious, Laura!! 🙂
Delicious! I bought the ravioli at Venda Ravioli. Very easy to make and oh so good! Thanks for sharing!
I am so happy to hear that, Michelle! Thank you for your lovely feedback.