5-Minute Ravioli Sauce

Sauce up your homemade or store-bought ravioli with a delicious 5-minute ravioli sauce recipe! Perfect for a fast and easy weeknight dinner!

We all have nights when we are short on energy for cooking dinner, but we still want something delicious. Enter store-bought ravioli and a quick 5-minute sauce recipe and dinner is served. Frozen ravioli has long been a thing, but in the last few years, fresh, great quality ravioli and filled pasta has become widely and easily available and has quickly become a go-to option for me for those short on energy nights :)

These are my two favourite ways to sauce up store-bought ravioli or filled pasta. Both sauces take only 5-minutes, so you don’t even have to start them until the ravioli hits the boiling water. As soon as the ravioli are done, toss with the sauce and serve!

Brown Butter and Walnut Ravioli Sauce – quick pan toasted walnuts, combined with browned butter and some fresh or dried thyme. Top with a nice finishing salt, lots of freshly ground pepper and a bit of freshly grated Parmesan. Pairs beautifully with a nice cheese ravioli or try it with mushroom, pumpkin or butternut squash ravioli.

I have to admit, this is possibly my favourite ravioli sauce. It is restaurant-worthy, in my opinion, but made in 5 minutes at home! As the butter sauce is a bit richer, I like to pair this one with a big side salad.

Creamy Cherry Tomato and Garlic Ravioli Sauce – quick pan sautéed cherry tomatoes, with a healthy dose of garlic, a pinch of basil (fresh or dried) and a splash of cream. Perfect for cheese ravioli and especially nice with a ravioli that has some pesto or spinach in the filling (try it with the PC Burrata and Pesto filled pasta!).

If I have some on hand, I will often add some chopped spinach with this one, just to add some green to the mix. This sauce is also nice with a lobster or shrimp ravioli, perhaps adding a splash of wine to the mix (see Variations below for more details on both of these additions).

Despite the cream, the plentiful tomatoes keep this one from being too rich. It’s nice with a side salad and garlic bread.
 

Ingredient Notes

Ravioli – Of course, you can make either of these sauces with homemade ravioli, but with so many really nice store-bought options available, it’s great to bring these 5-minute sauces together with the ease of store-bought ravioli.

I am a huge fan of the President’s Choice Black Label Filled pasta. It’s available with a variety of fillings and they are all delicious! I love the Buffalo Mozzarella filled pasta with the walnut sauce and try the Pesto and Burrata filled pasta with the creamy cherry tomato sauce.

These are sold fresh (refrigerated), but unless I’m going to eat it the day I buy it, I will freeze them and boil from frozen. They don’t suffer at all from freezing and it gives me the flexibility to use them whenever. You’ll need to boil them just a touch longer from frozen.

Step-by-Step Photos

Brown Butter Walnut Sauce:

1. Toast walnuts in dry skillet.
2. Add butter and melt.
3. Add thyme leaves.
4. Add boiled pasta.
5. Toss together, season and serve.

 
Creamy Cherry Tomato and Garlic Sauce:

1. Saute halved cherry tomatoes in hot olive oil.
2. Add chopped garlic.
3. Add cream.
4. Add basil.
5. Add boiled ravioli, toss to combine, season and serve.

Variations

For the Brown Butter Walnut Sauce – I’ve use thyme here, but sage is a classic flavour with brown butter and walnut. You don’t need much though, so it doesn’t over-power. You can some chopped fresh or dried sage with the butter or crisp up whole sage leaves a bit in the dry pan, together with the walnuts. The sage is especially nice with butternut or pumpkin ravioli.

Also, garlic lovers might like to add a bit of garlic to the mix. Add a bit of chopped garlic to the melted butter. Again, I wouldn’t go too crazy with it, so it doesn’t over-power the subtle brown butter flavour. This one is all about balancing the flavours.

For the Creamy Cherry Tomato and Garlic Sauce – add some greens to the mix! This one is also awesome with a bit of chopped spinach or some baby arugula. Add either right at the end, after adding the cream, and stir in just until wilted. As the greens will suck up some of the liquid in the pan, you may need to loosen the sauce a bit with a splash of your pasta cooking water.

Also, if the idea appeals to you, add a pinch of red pepper flakes when heating the tomatoes in the olive oil or top with spoonful of pesto, at the end.

Finally, for a lobster or shrimp ravioli, add splash of white wine to the hot pan before adding the cream and allow it to cook off, then add the cream, to add another wonderful flavour to the sauce.

Recipe Tips

Both of these sauce recipes are written for two servings, but you can scale up, as needed. It’s worth noting that these are “a little goes a long way” ravioli. These probably aren’t dishes where you would serve an entire plate-full for a serving. I find just a few, with a salad, a perfect easy and delicious dinner.

Don’t forget the seasoning! First, be sure to salt the water well before boiling the ravioli. Secondly, both of these sauces benefit from a generous seasoning with salt and freshly ground pepper, so don’t forget to season well at the end, before serving.

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Get the Recipe: Two Delicious 5-Minute Ravioli Sauce Recipes

A delicious Brown Butter and Walnut Ravioli Sauce and a Creamy Cherry Tomato and Garlic Ravioli Sauce. Both are ready in just 5 minutes! Use with homemade or store-bought fresh or frozen ravioli.

5 stars from 7 ratings

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Prep Time: 1 minute min

Cook Time: 4 minutes mins

Total Time: 5 minutes mins

Yield: 2 servings

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Ingredients

• 5 oz Homemade or Store-bought Ravioli

Brown Butter and Walnut Ravioli Sauce:

• 1/4 cup walnuts, finely chopped
• 2 Tablespoons salted butter
• Fresh or dried thyme leaves
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• Freshly grated or shaved Parmesan, for serving

Creamy Cherry Tomato and Garlic Ravioli Sauce:

• 1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 10-12 cherry tomatoes, halved or diced whole tomato
• 2-3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
• 1/4-1/3 cup heavy whipping cream, 35% b.f or a lighter cream, if you prefer
• Fresh or dried basil
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• Freshly grated or shaved Parmesan, for serving

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Instructions

 

• Boil a large pot of water for the ravioli and salt well. Add fresh or frozen ravioli and cook according to package instructions.
• For the Brown Butter and Walnut Sauce: Heat a skillet over medium heat. Add the chopped walnuts to the dry skillet and cook, stirring, about 1-2 minutes, until fragrant. Add the butter and stir until melted. Add the thyme leaves then let it cook a bit further until it the butter turns golden. Remove skillet from heat until the ravioli is ready. When the ravioli is cooked, spoon out of the boiling water with a slotted spoon or spider strainer into the skillet and return the skillet to the heat. Cook, tossing the ravioli in the sauce, about 1 minute. Serve immediately topped with salt and freshly ground pepper and some freshly grated or shaved Parmesan cheese. You can also garnish with additional fresh or dried thyme.
• For the Creamy Cherry Tomato and Garlic Ravioli Sauce: Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the halved cherry tomatoes and cook, stirring, until the tomatoes soften. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, about 1 minute more or until the garlic has softened. Add the cream and stir to combine. Remove skillet from heat until the ravioli is cooked. When the ravioli is ready, spoon out of the boiling water with a slotted spoon or spider strainer into the skillet and return the skillet to the heat, reducing the heat to medium. Cook, tossing the ravioli in the sauce, about 1 minute. Serve immediately topped with salt and freshly ground pepper and some freshly grated or shaved Parmesan cheese. You can also garnish with additional fresh or dried basil.

Notes

Nutritional information listed is for the Brown Butter and Walnut Sauce. (The calculation for the Cherry Tomato sauce was very similar, with 417 kcal per serving).

Be sure to read the Ingredient Notes and Variations above the Recipe Card. You'll also find Step-by-Step photos there, as well.

Cuisine: American, Canadian

Course: Main Course

Author: Jennifer Maloney

Serving: 1serving, Calories: 432kcal, Carbohydrates: 31g, Protein: 13g, Fat: 29g, Saturated Fat: 11g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 68mg, Sodium: 538mg, Potassium: 68mg, Fiber: 3g, Sugar: 2g, Vitamin A: 353IU, Vitamin C: 1mg, Calcium: 32mg, Iron: 8mg

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