Inspired by bolognese, this pappardelle with meat sauce uses jarred marinara for ease, ready in just 25 minutes. It's what we've been making on weeknights when we need something cozy & simple!
I love a slow-simmered homemade bolognese, but when weeknights call for simplicity, I just doctor up a jar of marinara with some aromatics and ground meat. Lately I've been loving this budget-friendly version with ground chicken and pappardelle, which has lowkey become our new favorite pasta. Thick noodles with all that surface area for sauce to cling to? I'm in!
The beauty of this recipe is really in its simplicity-a doctored up jar of marinara with onions, garlic, sage, and fennel seed, clinging to thick pappardelle noodles. The fennel seed brings an Italian sausage flavor to the whole dish, which I love!
From there, you can add whatever's in season... or nothing at all! Totally flexible. I tend to add seasonal greens for a quick-cooking veg boost (turnip greens used in this batch that I photographed). I'll dive into adapting this with seasonal veg more below. This meal is great on its own with grated parm on top, but if you have time you can also serve with garlic bread and/or a simple green salad.
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Ingredients & Making This Seasonal
While I'd eat this pasta any time of year, I make it most during cozy season because it's the perfect time to use canned marinara sauce from your summer tomatoes, or use up any seasonal veg sitting in your fridge.
Seasonal Veg & When to Add
- Greens - The easiest! Just stir in a couple handfuls when you add the noodles to the sauce. Spinach is my favorite, but I also consider this recipe an opportunity to use my green tops (such as turnip & beet greens).
- Other seasonal veggies - For veg that requires more time to cook down, I'll add this with the aromatics (onions & garlic). Bell peppers, zucchini, eggplant, and winter squash are the ones I use the most.
Marinara & Pappardelle
If I don't have canned marinara from garden tomatoes (or anything gifted to me by a farmer friend), I'll usually buy whichever is at least one of the following: local, organic, affordable. Sometimes I make my own 5-ingredient marinara sauce from canned tomatoes I buy at the store. So good!
For pappardelle, I'm loving the egg pappardelle from Trader Joe's, but I also love all of the authentic imported pasta I can get at the Italian deli a few blocks from my house. Super lucky to have that! Whatever you have access to will work just fine, and if you want a different pasta shape, go for it (psst... rigatoni).
Step-by-Step Overview
- Step 1: Preheat olive oil in a dutch over or large skillet. Sauté onion and garlic over low-medium heat until soft, then add chopped fresh sage and whole fennel seeds and sauté until fragrant. Add the ground chicken and sauté until cooked through.
- Step 2: Pour in the marinara sauce and stir everything together. Turn up the heat to bring the sauce to a bubble, then reduce to a very gentle simmer. Cover while you cook the pasta.
- Step 3: Bring a medium-large pot of water to a boil and add salt. Once at a rolling boil, add the pappardelle. Boil, stirring occasionally, until al dente (about 6 minutes).
- Step 4: Drain the pappardelle, then transfer immediately to the meat sauce pot with the greens, which will wilt throughout this step. Start to incorporate the noodles into the sauce by stirring, using a spoon or tongs to twirl the noodles in. Serve immediately with parm and optional sides!
Using Meatballs Instead
Meatballs are also super good in this recipe, obviously! If you're using pre-cooked meatballs, you can add them in right after sautéing the aromatics, along with the sauce. They'll heat through as the sauce simmers, so there's no need to sauté them (unless you want them even more browned).
If you make homemade meatballs, like these herbed chicken meatballs or breadcrumb-free turkey meatballs, you can bake them first and add with the marinara. Or, you could sauté in the your skillet or pot in some olive oil before sautéing the aromatics in step one. So you'd cook the meatballs, transfer to a plate and set aside, then start with aromatics, adding the meatballs back in with the sauce.
Use of Pasta Water
In cooking my way through Joshua McFadden's Six Seasons of Pasta, I noticed he saves a bit of pasta water and splashes it in when combining the noodles and sauce. Sometimes I'll do this (if I remember the pasta water!), but I find that for this pasta with meat sauce, the sauce and noodles combine just fine without.
Sustainability Tip
When buying meat at the grocery store, I like to look for pasture-raised options when possible. Otherwise, I'll visit my local butcher for locally sourced meat from farms that prioritize animal welfare. It can cost a little more (though honestly, not always much more than grocery store prices these days!), but I've found that eating meat a little less often and investing in thoughtfully raised meat when I do feels like a good balance for me.
Serving Inspiration
If you have some extra time to make a bigger meal, these are some of my favorite things to make on the side or in the pasta! Simple salads, cozy roasted squash, or seasoned sourdough croutons crushed on top.
Did you try this easy pappardelle? Don't forget to leave a star rating 🌟 and comment below, and tag me on Instagram and Pinterest so I can see what you made!
Print📖 Recipe
Pappardelle with Meat Sauce (25 Minutes)
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Description
This weeknight pappardelle recipe uses a doctored up jarred marinara and ground chicken to make a flavorful meat sauce! Cozy, family-friendly comfort food that's ready in 25 minutes.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, diced small
- 1-2 cloves garlic, minced or grated
- 5-6 leaves fresh sage, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon whole fennel seeds
- 1 pound ground chicken
- 1 24-ounce jar marinara sauce
- 8 ounces pappardelle
- Water + salt, for boiling pasta
- A couple handfuls of greens
- Parmesan & black pepper for serving
Get Recipe Ingredients
Instructions
- Preheat the olive oil in a dutch oven or large skillet over medium heat. Reduce heat to low-medium and add onion and garlic. Sauté until soft, taking care not to brown or burn, 7ish minutes. Add the sage and fennel seed, and sauté for another couple minutes.
- Add the ground chicken and sauté until cooked through. Pour in the jar of marinara and stir to incorporate. Turn the heat up to bring the sauce just to a boil, then reduce the heat to a very gentle simmer. Cover while you make the pasta.
- Fill a medium-large pot at least halfway with water (enough to cover the noodles by a couple inches). Bring it to a boil, then add salt and pasta. Boil until the pasta is al dente, about 6 minutes. Use a ladle or measuring cup to scoop out at least ½ cup of the pasta water into a separate vessel, then drain your pasta.
- Immediately transfer the noodles to the meat sauce, using a tongs or spoon to incorporate. Stir in greens, if using. Serve warm with grated parm and freshly cracked black pepper.
Notes
Marinara. I love getting the last bit of marinara out of the jar by adding ¼ cup water or milk to the jar, covering, shaking, and then pouring that into the meat sauce.
Meat. You can also use ground turkey, lamb, beef, or Italian sausage.
Storage instructions. Store leftovers in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 5 days. Reheat in the microwave or gently in a pot on the stove with a splash of water to help loosen up the sauce and create some steam.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Boiling
- Cuisine: Italian
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 507
- Sugar: 11.4 g
- Sodium: 805.8 mg
- Fat: 16.3 g
- Carbohydrates: 59.8 g
- Fiber: 6.2 g
- Protein: 30.3 g
- Cholesterol: 99.6 mg
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