Skillet Rigatoni with Sausage Beans and Spinach

Rigatoni with Sausage, Beans, and Spinach is an easy meal for any day of the week. Al dente rigatoni pasta is combined with zesty Italian sausage, Cannellini beans, spinach, onions, garlic and mushrooms in a light sauce then finished with shredded Parmesan cheese. It's perfect for those days when you are looking for a quick and easy light pasta dish. 

Each week, at the WW meeting I attend, we get a little booklet called, "Weight Watchers Weekly." It's filled with helpful tips and stories relevant to the week's meeting topic. It has coupons and one recipe. It's really a nice little read and you can only get it at the meetings. 

There was a pasta recipe in the Weight Watcher's Weekly a few weeks ago that caught my eye. It finally made it to the dinner table this past weekend. I found the original recipe a bit bland for our tastes, but with a few changes, it turned into a keeper. And that's how Skillet Rigatoni with Sausage Beans and Spinach came to be.

 

Pasta and beans are such a great combination. Although this is one of those super easy rigatoni recipes, the addition of cannellini beans elevates it and creates a sort of creaminess, without adding cream. It also adds extra fiber and bulk. 

How to make Skillet Rigatoni with Sausage Beans and Spinach

Grab all the ingredients you'll need for this recipe (see recipe card below) and get started. 

You'll need a good sized skillet with sides, at least a 12 inch skillet or bigger. You will also need a large pot to boil water for the pasta. Remember, whenever cooking pasta, it's essential to salt the water well. 

What does that mean?

It means enough salt to make the water taste salty. "Salty like the sea" as they say. 

Once you get the salted water going for the pasta, start browning the Italian sausage. Break it up into small bite sized pieces and cook it on medium-high heat until it gets a nice brown. 

Just let it sit in the pan undisturbed until the bottoms are a nice golden brown, then begin to move it around and break it up more if you want smaller pieces of sausage in your finished dish. 

Next, add the onion and garlic to the pan. Stir them in and let it cook until the onions begin to soften. 

Follow with the mushrooms and sauté for another 5 minutes. 

Add in the chicken broth, drained and rinsed cannellini beans, and the red pepper flakes. Let the "sauce" come to a boil, then turn it down to simmer. 

Add in the spinach and cover to let it wilt. 

Turn off the heat and stir in the drained pasta.

TIP: Keep back about a cup of the pasta water before draining it incase the pasta absorbs too much of the sauce. You can add a little to moisten it up. 

Add salt and pepper, to taste.

Top with Parmesan cheese and serve! 

Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. 

I like to serve this dish with some crusty bread or garlic toast. 

My family really enjoys this pasta dish and I find when the weather is warm, it's the perfect pasta dish to make because it isn't very heavy at all. Sometimes pasta dishes can be heavy. 

More pasta dishes to explore

Chicken Bacon Pasta

Smoked Sausage and Pepper Skillet

One Pan Chicken Broccoli Alfredo

Rigatoni with Sausage Beans and Spinach, pasta with white beans and sausage, sausage and mushroom rigatoni, pasta with sausage and cannellini beans

main dish, pasta, pork

Italian

Yield: 6 servings

Author: Renee Paj

Skillet Rigatoni with Sausage Beans and Spinach

Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 20 MinTotal time: 30 Min

Al dente rigatoni pasta is combined with zesty Italian sausage, Cannellini beans, spinach, onions, garlic and mushrooms in a light sauce then finished with shredded Parmesan cheese.

Ingredients

• 2 cups (8 oz) uncooked rigatoni
• 12 oz. raw Italian sausage, bulk
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 cups of fresh sliced mushrooms
• 15 oz. can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 cup of chicken broth or chicken stock
• 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes (or more to taste)
• kosher salt and fresh black pepper
• 10 oz. fresh baby spinach
• 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese, shredded

Instructions

1. Cook rigatoni according to package directions to al dente.
2. Brown the sausage for about 5 minutes, or until no longer pink.
3. Add the onion and garlic to the pan, sauté for another 3 minutes or until the onion is beginning to get soft.
4. Add mushrooms and sauté for another 5 minutes.
5. Add the rinsed and drained beans, the chicken broth, and the red pepper flakes. Let come to a boil and turn heat down to simmer.
6. Add the spinach and cover until it has wilted (about 2 minutes or so).
7. Once the spinach is wilted, take off heat and add the drained pasta and mix to combine all ingredients. Add Salt and pepper to taste.
8. Sprinkle cheese on top.

Nutrition Facts

Calories

416.51

Fat (grams)

20.82 g

Sat. Fat (grams)

7.94 g

Cholesterol (grams)

49.54 mg

Carbs (grams)

36.38 g

Fiber (grams)

5.9 g

Sugar (grams)

2.95 g

Net carbs

30.48 g

Protein (grams)

21.77 g

Sodium (milligrams)

771.86 mg

Nutritional Information provided is an estimate and does not include sauce.

https://www.reneeskitchenadventures.com/2010/10/rigatoni-with-sausage-spinach-and.html

Copyright © 2010 Renee's Kitchen Adventures

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This recipe was originally posted in October 2010 but has been updated with new photos and a printable recipe card.