30-Minute Sausage Ragu Recipe

While Americans may associate the word ragú with the pasta sauce company, Italian ragú, or meat sauce, is a specific type of pasta sauce that has been around for ages. Typically made with some form of meat and tomato, variations of the sauce exist in many of Italy's individual provinces. Bolognese Ragú, from the province of Bologna, is perhaps the most famous, although there are plenty of local varieties to explore and enjoy.

If you want to get in on all the ragú fun, look no further! This dish, created by Susan Olayinka of The Flexible Fridge, uses jarred tomato sauce and pork sausages to create a traditional Italian meal in minutes. And if you don't eat pork, don't fret: Olayinka says you can make this with any sausage of your choosing, such as chicken, veggie, or "anything that you can crumble." This dish is easy, simple, and tasty, especially because "you don't have to season as much since sausage is lightly seasoned already," according to Olayinka. So, what are you waiting for? Read on to take part in tradition without spending your whole day at the stovetop.

Before you can begin cooking, you will need to gather the ingredients for your sausage ragú. For this recipe, you will need a yellow onion, a quarter of a cup of fresh parsley, a quarter of a cup of fresh basil, a pound of pork sausages (or any sausage!), one tablespoon of olive oil, a jar of garlic and herb marinara sauce, and a teaspoon of salt. If you can only find dried herbs, Olayinka says they will taste just as good — simply adjust to using a tablespoon each instead of a quarter-cup.

The next step in this process is doing all the slicing and dicing prep work. First, dice your onion and set it aside. Next, slice your parsley and basil into thin strips, and set them aside in a separate dish. 

Lastly, remove the casing from your sausages. To do this, Olayinka recommends gently slicing along the side of the sausage to create a hole in the casing, then either tearing it open with your fingers or continuing to carefully slice around the whole sausage. While you don't want to get too messy with it, don't stress too much about keeping the fillings whole because you'll break them into bits later in the pan. Once you've removed the casings, discard them and set the sausage fillings aside.

Now that you've done all your prep work, it is time to cook the onions and sausage down. To do this, take out a big pot and set the stovetop to medium-high heat. Once the pot is hot, add the olive oil and allow it to heat as well. Once the oil is shimmering, add the diced onion and cook until translucent, stirring often (this should take two or three minutes).

Add the sausage fillings to the pot once the onion has turned translucent. Make sure to break the sausages up into bits so that there are no large chunks left. Cook the sausage for three or four minutes so that it starts to brown a little.

Once you've cooked your onions and sausage, you can add the rest of the ingredients for your delicious ragú. For this step, turn the heat to low-medium and add the marinara sauce, basil, parsley, and salt. Give it a good stir until the sauce looks evenly combined, and let it cook down for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. We know waiting can be hard, but take the time to enjoy the herby, meaty scent that fills your home. Yum!

After your 20 minutes is up, you can finally remove your sauce from the heat and enjoy the fruits of your labor! Feel free to top the ragú with additional herbs, which will give it a little bite of freshness. Olayinka says this dish is best served over pasta with grated Parmesan cheese, but feel free to pair it with anything you'd enjoy a meat sauce with.