Rich, hearty, and spicy! This sausage ragu is packed with umami flavor and best served over creamy parmesan polenta! Use hot Italian sausage (pork or chicken is fine), then cook thinly sliced or chopped mushrooms in the drippings. We add a tiny bit of rehydrated porcinis for extra depth, but you can easily leave them out without sacrificing on flavor.
While this may seem like a typical Italian ragu pasta sauce, it’s so much more. The secret? Ground cinnamon. We love adding cinnamon to meat sauces (ground beef, pork, veal, or lamb). We even add it to meatballs on the regular! Try it once and see just how much flavor it adds.
The sauce takes about 20 minutes to make, but is best simmered for at least 30 minutes. You can absolutely make this recipe after work, but it is honestly better made in advance and enjoyed the next day. Making it perfect for group gatherings and entertaining. We just love make ahead dishes!!
While we often serve this over polenta, you could also easily enjoy this ragu sauce with pasta. Tagliatelle and pappardelle are our favorites! No matter how you serve it, we’re convinced that you need this sausage ragu in your life asap!
Ingredients For Sausage Ragu Sauce
- Dried porcini mushrooms: These have a rich earthy flavor that is deeply concentrated. Use a small mount of rehydrated porcinis to add another level of flavor to the ragu.
- Extra virgin olive oil: Fat needed to cook the Italian sausage and help it brown.
- Hot Italian sausage: You can of course substitute sweet Italian sausage, but we love the spicy kick from hot pork sausage.
- Shallots: The shallots add a subtle sweetness to the ragu sauce.
- Garlic: To flavor the ragu!
- Unsalted butter: Mushrooms are like little sponges — they’ll absorb any liquid in the pan! To make sure they don’t burn, add a little butter just before adding the mushrooms.
- Mushrooms: Shiitake mushrooms (or mixed mushrooms), stems removed, caps of the mushrooms thinly sliced or finely chopped
- Red wine: Use a dry red wine that is good enough to drink! The flavor will concentrate as it reduces and thickens. The acidity of the wine will also help to deglaze the pan and release those delicious browned bits of flavor stuck to the bottom of the pan. Fine to substitute white wine!
- Tomato paste: Gives a deep, rich tomato flavor to the sauce, as tomato paste is highly concentrated.
- Crushed tomatoes: The base of the sauce comes from canned crushed tomatoes.
- Thyme or rosemary: These herbs work well with the earthiness of mushrooms.
- Bay leaf: Adds a floral note to the ragu.
- Ground cinnamon: The secret to this sauce!! A little goes a long way and provides an abundance of underlying flavor in every bite.
- Kosher salt: To season all ingredients.
- Freshly ground black pepper: To season all ingredients.
- Water: The sauce on its own would be too thick without the addition of water. You can add vegetable broth or chicken stock, if preferred.
You’ll also need a large skillet with deep sides or a dutch oven to make the ragu in!
For serving, have lots of freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano on standby! We love to serve this over creamy polenta, but pasta is a great option too!
How To Make An Easy Sausage Ragu
- Soak the dried mushrooms. Place the porcinis in a small bowl, then cover with room temperature water. Allow to soak for 10 minutes, then drain and finely chop.
- Brown the sausage. Heat 2 Tbsp olive oil in a large pan with deep sides over medium-high heat. Add sausage and cook, breaking up with a wooden spoon, until browned on all sides, about 4-6 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the sausage to a small bowl, leaving the renderings in the pan.
- Cook the mushrooms. Add 2 thinly sliced shallots and 3 chopped garlic cloves, then cook until transluscent and fragrant, about 3 minutes. Add 3 Tbsp butter to the pan. When melted, add sliced or chopped mushrooms. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes, or until browned on all sides.
- Deglaze the pan. Pour in 1 cup red wine, then cook 1-2 minutes, or until wine has reduced by about half.
- Add remaining ingredients. Add 2 Tbsp tomato paste, the crushed tomatoes, 2 Tbsp thyme leaves, ½ tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp Kosher salt, ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper and the chopped rehydrated porcini mushrooms. Stir well, then return the browned sausage to the pan and add ½ cup water.
- Simmer the ragu. Bring the sauce to a boil, then lower the heat to a simmer. Cook for at least 30 minutes, though longer is okay. Stir occasionally and check to make sure the heat isn’t too high (otherwise the bottom will burn).
- Serve immediately. Remove the bay leaf, taste and adjust seasoning as needed, then serve immediately over polenta or pasta. Garnish with grated Parmesan cheese and extra thyme leaves.
Tips For The Best Ragu Sauce
- Use a wine that’s good enough to drink! When you cook with wine, the flavor concentrates as the alcohol reduces. What this means is that the wine flavor will become more pronounced as it cooks, so use something that you enjoy!
- Do not skip the cinnamon! It’s absolutely the secret ingredient that gives this ragu sauce its edge. It adds warmth and just a hint of spice.
- Fresh thyme will have more flavor than dried thyme!
- Best on the 2nd day! We know that’s counterintuitive to what you might expect, but most sauces are even more delicious the next day! Make and simmer the sauce, then allow to cool to room temperature completely before refrigerating. Letting the ragu sauce sit overnight will give all the flavors a chance to meld together. Reheat the next day and enjoy!
Variations on Sausage Ragu
- If you don’t have spicy Italian sausage, you can use ground pork with ½ tsp red pepper flakes in its place.
- Don’t have thyme? Use oregano or rosemary instead. Fresh parsley makes a great garnish, too!
- Like things creamy? Just before serving (and with the head turned off), stir in ¼ cup heavy cream. It’ll add a richness that is luscious!
- Out of shallots? Use diced onion instead!
- Instead of polenta, serve over your pasta of choice! Long and thing pastas or shapes that have wholes for catching pockets of sauce are great options.
Can Ragu Be Made Ahead?
Absolutely! As mentioned above, most pasta sauces are actually better the next day. Can be made up to 3 days in advance, then enjoyed throughout the week. Make sure the sauce has cooled completely to room temperature before storing in an airtight container and refrigerating.
How To Freeze Ragu Sauce
Allow the sausage ragu to cool completely, then transfer to either a freezer safe container or a large Ziploc bag. You can freeze the bag lying down flat (so it freezes in a solid layer), then neatly stack multiple Ziploc bags in the freezer.
To reheat ragu: thaw overnight in a refrigerator or place the frozen sauce in a medium saucepan. You can reheat it straight from frozen over medium heat, stirring occasionally to help break the ragu up a bit.
We recommend keeping the sausage ragu and the polenta separate if freezing. Serve the reheated sauce over fresh made polenta or pasta!
If you love spicy sausage and earthy mushrooms, this will quickly become one of your favorite dishes. It’s thick, rich, and absolutely packed with flavor. Try it this week and please, please let us know what you think!
For more sausage recipes, be sure to try our Sheet Pan Sausage And Veggies, Sausage Stuffed Peppers, Beer Brats In Oven, or our Easy Chorizo Cassoulet next!
If you make this Sausage Ragu Sauce recipe, let us know by leaving a review and rating below!
More meat sauces:
- Lamb Ragu with Mint and Ricotta
- Bolognese Sauce
- Pork Sugo (slow roasted pork)
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More Italian recipes to try!
Sausage Ragu Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp dried porcini mushrooms
- 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 lb spicy Italian sausage casings removed
- 2 large shallots thinly sliced into half moons
- 3 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 3 large garlic cloves finely chopped
- 8 oz shiitake mushrooms or other mixed mushrooms, stems discarded, mushrooms cleaned, and thinly sliced or finely chopped
- 1 cup dry red wine
- 2 Tbsp tomato paste
- 28 oz crushed tomatoes
- 2 Tbsp fresh thyme or rosemary, plus more for serving
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp Kosher salt
- ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1 bay leaf
- ½ cup water
- grated Parmigiano Reggiano for serving
- Polenta or pasta for serving
Instructions
- Soak the dried mushrooms. Place the porcinis in a small bowl, then cover with room temperature water. Allow to soak for 10 minutes, then drain and finely chop.
- Brown the sausage. Heat 2 Tbsp olive oil in a large pan with deep sides over medium-high heat. Add sausage and cook, breaking up with a wooden spoon, until browned on all sides, about 4-6 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the sausage to a small bowl, leaving the renderings in the pan.
- Cook the mushrooms. Add 2 thinly sliced shallots and 3 chopped garlic cloves, then cook until transluscent and fragrant, about 3 minutes. Add 3 Tbsp butter to the pan. When melted, add sliced or chopped mushrooms. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes, or until browned on all sides.
- Deglaze the pan. Pour in 1 cup red wine, then cook 1-2 minutes, or until wine has reduced by about half.
- Add remaining ingredients. Add 2 Tbsp tomato paste, the crushed tomatoes, 2 Tbsp thyme leaves, ½ tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp Kosher salt, ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper and the chopped rehydrated porcini mushrooms. Stir well, then return the browned sausage to the pan and add ½ cup water.
- Simmer the ragu. Bring the sauce to a boil, then lower the heat to a simmer. Cook for at least 30 minutes, though longer is okay. Stir occasionally and check to make sure the heat isn't too high (otherwise the bottom will burn).
- Serve immediately. Remove the bay leaf, taste and adjust seasoning as needed, then serve immediately over polenta or pasta. Garnish with grated Parmesan cheese and extra thyme leaves.
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