The Cozy Cookbook is here! 
This easy ravioli sauce is so easy to make with refrigerated or frozen ravioli. It has a thick and flavorful cream sauce with a hint of tomato flavor, simple seasonings, and fresh or canned diced tomatoes. Your family will love this 30-minute meal.
Be sure to serve this with a side of my Garlic Bread with Cheese!
Easy Ravioli Sauce
Nothing beats a gourmet-style ravioli sauce that you can have on the dinner table in 30 minutes flat.
The 4-cheese ravioli that I use for this recipe is filled with a combination of ricotta, Romano, mozzarella, and gorgonzola. So I chose to use cream cheese and Parmesan cheese in the sauce- because that gives us a 6-cheese combination!
SIX! CHEESES! 🤯
Scroll down to see how to make it, read through my PRO tips, storage information, and more.
How to Make It
See recipe card below this post for ingredient quantities and full instructions.
Melt the butter in a large high-walled skillet and add minced garlic. Cook for 2 minutes. Whisk in the flour and cook for 2 more minutes. Add the tomato paste, onion powder, basil, oregano, and mustard powder. Stir to combine.
Add the chicken broth in splashes, stirring continuously. Slowly stir in the half and half. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer.
Stir in the softened cream cheese and drained diced tomatoes. (Optional, reserve some of the tomato juice in case you’d like to thin the sauce out at the end.) Cook the pasta according to package instructions, drain. Reduce heat to low and stir in the Parmesan cheese.
Add the ravioli and use a silicone spatula to gently stir until combined. Garnish with Parsley and red pepper flakes and serve!
Pro Tips
- Freshly diced Roma tomatoes or regular diced tomatoes can be used instead of Rotel if preferred.
- A teaspoon of hot sauce makes a nice addition to the sauce and won’t make it too spicy.
- Optional additions include: Fresh spinach or fresh basil.
- I use Rana refrigerated 4-cheese Ravioli with this recipe.
- To soften the cream cheese quickly: Heat 2 cups of water in the microwave. Place 3 Tbsp. cream cheese in the microwave and close the door. Let it soften for 5 minutes.
- Grate the Parmesan cheese from a block, it will melt and taste much better than packaged grated cheese.
- 20 oz. tortellini can be used in this recipe as well. (Or try my easy Tortellini Sauce recipe!)
- This recipe is in The Cozy Cookbook on page 144!
Storage
- Store in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days.
- While you can freeze leftovers, ravioli doesn’t hold up quite as well after being frozen and reheated.
Tools For This Recipe
(Amazon affiliate links)- Check out all of my kitchen essentials here.
- This is the Le Creuset skillet I used in this recipe, (and in 90% of my recipes). It’s pricey, but it conducts heat really well and is oven safe. The size is perfect and the quality is great.
- Pasta Strainer– This is the one I have and love.
- Box Cheese Grater– Always shred cheese from a block, it melts and tastes much better. Bagged shredded cheese contains cellulose which prevents it from melting as well.
- Silicone Spatula– I use these every time I cook. It makes it easy to carefully toss the ravioli into the sauce.
Try These Next
-
- Mushroom Chicken
-
- Chicken Parmesan
-
- Stuffed Shells
-
- Minestrone Soup
-
- Stromboli
-
- Mushroom Chicken Pasta
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Tried This Recipe?
Leave a review, I love hearing your feedback! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Easy Ravioli Sauce
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons salted butter, I use Land O' Lakes
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- ½ teaspoon EACH: onion powder, dried basil, dried oregano, mustard powder
- ¾ cup chicken broth
- 1 ½ cups half and half, half light cream/half milk
- 10 oz. Rotel tomatoes with green chilies, juices reserved
- 3 tablespoons cream cheese, softened
- 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
- 20 oz. refrigerated ravioli
- 1 pinch Red Pepper Flakes, optional
Instructions
- Prep Work: Measure out all ingredients prior to beginning.
- Melt the butter in a large high-walled skillet over medium-low heat. Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes, stirring continuously. Add the flour and cook for 2 more minutes. Add the tomato paste, onion powder, basil, oregano, and mustard powder. Stir to combine.
- Add the chicken broth in small splashes, stirring continuously. Add the half and half in the same manner. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer.
- Add the softened cream cheese and drained diced tomatoes. (Pro Tip: Reserve the tomato juice in case you’d like to thin the sauce out at the end.)
- Cook the ravioli according to package instructions, drain.
- Reduce heat of the sauce to low. Gradually sprinkle in the Parmesan cheese and stir until combined. Add the red pepper flakes, if using.
- Add the ravioli and use a silicone spatula to gently stir until combined. Add any of the reserved tomato juice if desired. Serve!
Notes
- Freshly diced Roma tomatoes or regular diced tomatoes can be used instead of Rotel if preferred.
- A teaspoon of hot sauce makes a nice addition to the sauce and won’t make it too spicy.
- Optional additions include: Fresh spinach or fresh basil.
- I use Rana refrigerated 4-cheese Ravioli with this recipe.
- To soften the cream cheese quickly: Heat 2 cups of water in the microwave. Place 3 Tbsp. cream cheese in the microwave and close the door. Let it soften for 5 minutes.
- Grate the Parmesan cheese from a block, it will melt and taste much better than packaged grated cheese.
- 20 oz. tortellini can be used in this recipe as well.
- This recipe is in The Cozy Cookbook on page 144!
Storage:
- Store in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days.
- While you can freeze leftovers, ravioli doesn't hold up quite as well after being frozen and reheated.
This was absolutely delicious! We added red pepper flakes for a little extra zip and served over homemade sourdough pasta. We will definitely be making this again.
My husband would definitely like that little extra zip, good call Carol! I’m so happy you liked it, thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review!🙌
Worried when I saw that Rotel going in but it turned out when following the recipe to be fine.
I’m so happy you went with it and enjoyed it John, nice work! Thanks so much for the great review!🩷
Another hit with the picky family! Definitely tasted like restaurant quality sauce! Way better than traditional red tomato sauce! Absolutely DELICIOUS! Thank you so much for your great recipes!
It’s my pleasure Sharon, I’m so happy it was such a hit with the picky eaters! Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review!💗
This was absolutely delicious! It honestly tasted like a dish you’d get at a restaurant. I didn’t have rotel on hand, so I used petite diced tomatoes. Other than that, I followed the recipe exactly. Thank you again! So gooooood!
I’m sooooo happy that you loved it Casey! I could go for some of this right now! 😍 Thank you so much for the review!! 🙌🏻❤️
This is the first time I have ever left a review for a recipe I found online, as usually I am not bothered or motivated to do so. Until now! As others have mentioned, this sauce is out of this world, bravo! My wife and I thank you for sharing your delicious recipe 😋
I am soooo happy that you felt compelled to leave a review for this recipe Chad! I’m soooo happy that the sauce was a HIT!! Thank you so so much!! 🙌🏻
This is a wonderful sauce, up scale quality. It has been added to my cook book.
I’m so happy that you loved it Trista!!
This sauce is amazing. I made it tonight for my mushroom raviolis. My husband loved it. Thanks 😊
I’m so happy that you loved this sauce Christine!! Thank you so much! You’ll have to try my Mushroom Ravioli Sauce recipe next! 🙂
I have been looking for a good ravioli sauce recipe and haven’t had luck. Then I saw this recipe and wanted to give it a try. It turned out perfect and tasted just like cooked at a 5* restaurant. This recipe is a keeper. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks so much for the great comments Melanie, I’m so happy you found this one!🩷
Add a 6th star to this recipe. This is a fancy restaurant high-quality sauce. The best I have ever tasted. I made this sauce for a fresh pasta ravioli dinner last night. I took my time. It is incredible. I didn’t have cream cheese so I substituted Boursin cheese, which has the same consistency with a great flavor built in. Today I found two new cans of diced tomatoes sitting on the counter as a hint from my husband that I must make it again. I do recommend using fresh pasta as the sauce stayed on the pasta. I did rinse the pasta after I cooked it because I didn’t want the extra starch to over-thicken the sauce. I added Ajika spice, which is my favorite but is a little hard to find. I ordered mine directly from Ukraine. That’s how much I love this spice. The rest of the spices were the recipe spices. Oddly, this sauce needs only a small amount of salt. I literally put only a pinch in.
Thank you so much Cozy Cook. The is a real find!
You’re the best Sharon, thanks so much for the wonderful comments and for taking the time to leave a review!🩷 That’s so cool you were able to get the Ajika spice from Ukraine, I love your commitment! Thanks again!
Will this sauce go with crab ravioli? I have some & trying to decide which sauce would taste better with the crab. This recipe sounds delicious. I like the idea of adding spinach.
Absolutely Gina! That would pair very well!