Sausage Ragù Recipe • 5★

Recipe from Sara Jenkins and Nancy Harmon Jenkins

Adapted by Julia Moskin

Updated October 27, 2025

Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.

Meat sauce is one of the recipes many American home cooks start with. It seems so easy; brown some hamburger, pour in a jar of marinara, and presto! Meat sauce. Not so fast, friends. Made that way, your sauce may be thin-tasting, sour, sweet, or — worst of all — dry and chewy. Meat sauce with deep flavor and succulent texture isn’t harder to make; it just needs more time and a low flame. This recipe from the New York chef Sara Jenkins, who grew up in Tuscany and has cooked all over Italy, shows how it’s done. Caramelization is involved; dried pasta and canned tomatoes are best practice; and pork, not beef, is the meat of choice. If your sausage meat seems timidly flavored, feel free to add chopped garlic, chile flakes, fennel seed and/or dried herbs like oregano and sage to the meat as it browns. —Julia Moskin

Featured in: Ragù, a Meat Sauce Done Right

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1 pound sweet Italian sausage or bulk sausage

1 celery stalk, minced

¼ cup minced flat-leaf parsley, plus extra for garnish

1 28-ounce can whole tomatoes, preferably San Marzano, with its juice

1 large sprig fresh thyme

1 large sprig fresh rosemary

3 tablespoons tomato paste

1 pound tubular dried pasta such as mezzi rigatoni, paccheri or penne

Freshly grated Parmesan cheese, for garnish, optional

Step 1With the tip of a small, sharp knife, slit open the sausage casings. Crumble the meat into a wide, heavy skillet or Dutch oven and set over medium-low heat. If the meat is not rendering enough fat to coat the bottom of the pan as it begins to cook, add olive oil one tablespoon at a time until the meat is frying gently, not steaming. Sauté, breaking up any large chunks, until all the meat has turned opaque (do not let it brown), about 5 minutes.

With the tip of a small, sharp knife, slit open the sausage casings. Crumble the meat into a wide, heavy skillet or Dutch oven and set over medium-low heat. If the meat is not rendering enough fat to coat the bottom of the pan as it begins to cook, add olive oil one tablespoon at a time until the meat is frying gently, not steaming. Sauté, breaking up any large chunks, until all the meat has turned opaque (do not let it brown), about 5 minutes.

Step 2Add onion, carrot, celery and parsley and stir. Drizzle in more oil if the pan seems dry. Cook over very low heat, stirring often, until the vegetables have melted in the fat and are beginning to caramelize, and the meat is toasty brown. This may take as long as 40 minutes, but be patient: It is essential to the final flavors.

Add onion, carrot, celery and parsley and stir. Drizzle in more oil if the pan seems dry. Cook over very low heat, stirring often, until the vegetables have melted in the fat and are beginning to caramelize, and the meat is toasty brown. This may take as long as 40 minutes, but be patient: It is essential to the final flavors.

Step 3Add tomatoes and their juice, breaking up the tomatoes with your hands or with the side of a spoon. Bring to a simmer, then add thyme and rosemary and let simmer, uncovered, until thickened and pan is almost dry, 20 to 25 minutes.

Add tomatoes and their juice, breaking up the tomatoes with your hands or with the side of a spoon. Bring to a simmer, then add thyme and rosemary and let simmer, uncovered, until thickened and pan is almost dry, 20 to 25 minutes.

Step 4Mix tomato paste with 1 cup hot water. Add to pan, reduce heat to very low, and continue cooking until the ragù is velvety and dark red, and the top glistens with oil, about 10 minutes more. Remove herb sprigs. Sprinkle black pepper over, stir and taste.

Mix tomato paste with 1 cup hot water. Add to pan, reduce heat to very low, and continue cooking until the ragù is velvety and dark red, and the top glistens with oil, about 10 minutes more. Remove herb sprigs. Sprinkle black pepper over, stir and taste.

Step 5Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Boil pasta until just tender. Scoop out 2 cups cooking water, drain pasta and return to pot over low heat. Quickly add a ladleful of ragù, a splash of cooking water, stir well and let cook 1 minute. Taste for doneness. Repeat, adding more cooking water or ragù, or both, until pasta is cooked through and seasoned to your liking.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Boil pasta until just tender. Scoop out 2 cups cooking water, drain pasta and return to pot over low heat. Quickly add a ladleful of ragù, a splash of cooking water, stir well and let cook 1 minute. Taste for doneness. Repeat, adding more cooking water or ragù, or both, until pasta is cooked through and seasoned to your liking.

Step 6Pour hot pasta water into a large serving bowl to heat it. Pour out the water and pour in the pasta. Top with remaining ragù, sprinkle with parsley and serve immediately. Pass grated cheese at the table, if desired.

Pour hot pasta water into a large serving bowl to heat it. Pour out the water and pour in the pasta. Top with remaining ragù, sprinkle with parsley and serve immediately. Pass grated cheese at the table, if desired.

In fairness to Ms. Moskin, this recipe does not purport to be a classic ragu. I am an experienced cook (read: old). I am also an Italian-American and an admitted garlic-aholic and I didn't miss it. The flavor is very rich yet subtle and delicate. But in her intro, Moskin mentions that you may add garlic and other herbs if you so choose. I would encourage cooks to ignore self-fashioned, snarky experts and give this recipe a chance. It is really very good.

This is incredible. As other here have noted here in comments, mixing hot and sweet sausage will help the complexity of this sauce. Add garlic to taste when cooking the onions, carrots, and celery, and some hot red pepper flakes if you want a bit of a kick. Lastly, the cooking times noted are way off for a gas range at sea level. The 40 minutes mentioned in step one took 1 hour and 30 minutes for me but it was worth it. The 20-25 minutes step three about an hour. So be patient!

You should never buy diced or crushed anything, such as pineapples or tomatoes - always buy cored pineapple slices and whole tomatoes. That way you know exactly what you're getting, which means no diced tomato stems or crushed pineapple cores. Just a tip I received from an exec chef a long time ago.

Made this today, added black garlic and a splash of red wine vinegar (diluted with a touch of water). Delicious!

I suspect that the quality of the sausage makes or breaks the dish.

This was delicious! I started at 5:40 one evening and we ate at 9! It takes longer than suggested to caramelise the carrots, onions and celery on very low heat but it’s completely worth it! It added a depth and complexity… was an awesome dinner!

Adapted from "The Four Seasons of Pasta" by Sara Jenkins and Nancy Harmon Jenkins (Avery, 2015)