Cheese Tortellini with Sausage Ragu (2024)

This quick and easy 20 minute pasta bake is made with cheese tortellini in an Italian sausage ragu sauce and topped with cheesy melted mozzarella cheese. Everyone loves this easy pasta dinner made with only 5 ingredients!

Oh, how I love easy, 5-ingredient weeknight dinner recipes for busy nights. We love an easy, throw together meal that both kids and adults love!

One of the most popular soups that I make is my Creamy Sausage Tortellini Soup. Since it is so popular, I wanted to create a pasta dish using the same flavors and ingredients.

This cheesy tortellini is made with only five ingredients — Italian sausage, cheese tortellini, marinara sauce, cream cheese, and mozzarella cheese. That’s it! You can make it in 15-20 minutes and it makes the best leftovers too.

If you love flavorful pasta recipes, you can also find my TikTok Million Dollar Spaghetti Recipe which has been so popular!

Ingredients:

You only need a few simple ingredients to make this Tortellini Sausage Pasta. You only need 5 ingredients!

• Italian Sausage — I use the Johnsonville mild or hot ground Italian sausage. You can also pick it up from your local butcher.
• Marinara Sauce — you can make a homemade marinara sauce or my favorite jarred marinara sauce is Rao’s. You can find it at Costco for a discounted price.
• Cream Cheese — I suggest using full-fat cream cheese and cutting it into small cubes to make it easier to melt.
• Cheese Tortellini — this can be found in the refrigerated section at your local grocery store.
• Mozzarella Cheese — I suggest buying a block of mozzarella cheese instead of pre-shredded mozzarella cheese. The pre-shredded mozzarella cheese has a coating on it to keep it from clumping together which makes it not melt as well.

Optional Ingredients: Fresh Basil, Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese, Garlic

For extra freshness and brightness, add fresh basil ribbons on the top after it is broiled in the oven.

Instructions:

1. Start by filling a pot with water generously salting the water and put it over high heat.
2. While that is heating up, heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the Italian sausage, break it up with a wooden spoon into bite-size pieces, and let cook until no longer pink and fully cooked, about 8-10 minutes.
3. Add in cream cheese and let it melt into the sausage. Add in marinara sauce and reduce heat to medium-low.
4. Cook tortellini according to package instructions. Drain.
5. Once the cream cheese has melted, carefully fold in the cooked tortellini so that it is covered in the sausage ragu.
6. Sprinkle freshly grated mozzarella cheese over the tortellini. Place in the oven on the broil setting for 3-5 minutes, until melted.
7. Top with fresh basil and serve.

Substitutions and Variations:

Instead of Italian sausage, you can use ground beef. Since Italian sausage is pre-seasoned, you will need to add seasonings to the ground beef. I suggest adding salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder.

Instead of cheese tortellini, you can use cheese ravioli or any type of pasta.

Instead of cream cheese, you can use heavy cream. It will be a slightly thinner sauce, but it will still taste the same.

Storage:

This sausage cheese tortellini with cream cheese will refrigerated well in a covered container. You can also freeze this pasta for several weeks.

FAQ’s: