Pappardelle Pasta with Arrabbiata Sauce is the perfect combo! Delicious enough for Sunday’s dinner, and easy enough for a weeknight meal.

Black speckled bowl full of pappardelle and a scoop of burrata.

Why You’ll Love This Pappardelle Recipe

Fat and chewy pappardelle pasta noodles get tossed in an easy from-scratch arrabbiata sauce. Sounds fancy, and it can be! But it’s also hasty enough for a quick weeknight dinner, which is part of what makes it so darn awesome.

We love indulging in this dish with a nice dollop of pillowy burrata to cut the heat and bring on some creamy richness.

Simple ingredients, little prep, and a short cooking time that still results in a ton of flavor. What’s not to love?

What to Serve With Pappardelle

Pappardelle Pronunciation

I’ve always called it paa·par·delle, but the true pronunciation is actually paa·paar·deh·lay.

Quick Tips

  1. A good pappardelle substitute, in the event you can’t find it, is tagliatelle or fettuccine. These are also flat pastas on the wide and chewy side.
  2. The arrabbiata has a little kick. You can easily adjust the heat by adding more or less crushed red chili peppers to better suit your preference and tolerance.
  3. Burrata can be replaced with a small scoop of ricotta, or you can sprinkle some grated fresh Parmesan or Pecorino Romano over your pasta.
  4. If you want a smoother consistency with your sauce but don’t have an immersion blender, you could transfer your sauce to a blender and blend until you reach your desired consistency.
  5. In the event that you have a seafood allergy or are just completely repelled by anchovies, you could omit them. You may just need to add a smidgen more salt.

Ingredients

*Exact measurements can be found in the recipe card below.

Ingredients to make arrabiata sauce on a white background.
  • Pappardelle noodles. I love this pasta for a sauce that has heft because it sticks to the noodles nicely, creating the perfect bite every time. This is why I use pappardelle with my pork ragu!
  • Crushed tomatoes. If I can get my hands on D.O.P San Marzano, I’ll get that. But any high-quality brand will do.
  • Olive oil.
  • Yellow onion. I like using a yellow onion in this because it offers a little sweetness to balance out the heat. You could use white or red if you prefer.
  • Garlic.
  • Crushed red pepper flakes. As written, this recipe has a kick to it. Add more or less depending on your preference.
  • Anchovy fillets. These little gems add a wonderful layer of umami flavor to the sauce, just as they do in a puttanesca sauce. I highly recommend adding them in (they won’t make the sauce fishy at all), but if you can’t get passed the idea, you can omit them.
  • Tomato paste. This good stuff adds so much to a sauce. It’s savory, a little sweet, and the right amount of acidic to balance everything out. It also thickens things up a bit.
  • Fresh basil and parsley. Fresh herbs are a must in a homemade sauce. These two add a nice bright and refreshing flavor to this one.
  • Vegetable broth. Just a bit, to add flavor and volume.
  • Sea salt.
  • Burrata cheese. Optional, but I highly recommend in indulging! See other options in my Quick Tips section.

What Is Pappardelle Pasta?

Nests of pappardelle pasta on a round wooden cutting board.

Pappardelle pasta: wide, flat tasty ribbons of pasta that make it very easy to pick up sauce when you twirl them up and around your fork, promising you a mouthful of deliciousness every time.

It’s fitting that pappare is the verb “to gobble up”, because YOU WILL. It’s similar to fettuccini, but with more oumph.

You can usually find it in the refrigerated section of your grocery store along with the fresh pastas, or you can find dried varieties in specialty packs with your usual boxed pastas.

What Is Arrabbiata Sauce?

Close up of saucepan with smoothed arrabbiata sauce.

Arrabbiata translates to “angry” in Italian, which is so awesomely fitting for this sauce because it’s fiery. Traditionally it’s made up of tomatoes, garlic, and crushed red pepper flakes in olive oil. It’s really unfussy! But still incredibly flavorful. Think of it as an amped up marinara of sorts.

How to Make This Pappardelle Recipe

  1. Heat the olive oil in a medium-sized saucepan.
  2. Once the olive oil is shimmering, add the onions. Sauté them, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes or until they’re sweating and translucent and then hit them with a pinch of salt.
  3. Add the garlic, crushed chili flakes, and anchovies. Stir, and let everything simmer for another minute or so, until the garlic is fragrant.
  4. Add the tomato paste and vegetable broth and mix until the tomato paste has completely dissolved and the mixture is simmering.
  5. Finally, add the crushed tomatoes, fresh herbs, and some extra crushed chilis if you’d like.
  6. Bring the sauce to a simmer, and let it simmer on low for about 10 minutes.
  7. While the sauce is cooking, go ahead and cook your pappardelle pasta. Drain and set them aside in a large pot.
  8. Taste the sauce and add more salt if necessary. The anchovies will add some saltiness, so you don’t have to be as heavy with the salt in this recipe.
  9. Once the sauce is seasoned to your liking, you can serve it as it if you like a chunkier sauce, or you can blend it into a smooth sauce, which is what I do out of preference. With an immersion blender, carefully blend the sauce until it reaches your desired consistency.
  10. Spoon the sauce over the pappardelle noodles and gently toss to coat.
  11. Transfer the pappardelle to bowls, pop some burrata on top, and finish with an extra sprinkle of crushed chili peppers, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, and a few sprigs of fresh basil.
Process shots of onions in saucepan with red pepper flakes, tomato paste added, and then finished sauce with fresh herbs.
Saucepan full of arrabbiata sauce getting blended with an immersion blender.
Black speckled bowl full of pappardelle and a scoop of burrata.

Storage, Freezing, & Reheating

  • Store leftover pappardelle and arrabbiata sauce separately in airtight containers. Both will last in the fridge for 3-4 days.
  • To freeze, put the sauce in a freezer-friendly airtight container or gallon zip-top bag, then pop in the freezer. It will keep for about 3 months.
  • To reheat the sauce, simply place it into a small saucepan and heat it over medium heat until it’s warmed through. For the cooked noodles, you have two options. The quick and convenient option, which is to heat them up in the microwave for 15-25 seconds, or until warmed, or to dunk them into a pot of salted boiling water for 20-30 seconds.

Have You Made This Recipe?

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More Weeknight-Friendly Pasta Dishes

Black speckled bowl full of pappardelle and a scoop of burrata.

Simple Pappardelle with Arrabbiata Sauce

Pappardelle with Arrabbiata Sauce is the perfect combo! Delicious enough for Sunday's dinner, and easy enough for a weeknight meal.
4.99 from 59 votes
Print Pin Rate
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 4 people
Author: Dana Sandonato

Ingredients

  • 8 oz pappardelle pasta
  • 1-2 TBSP olive oil
  • 1 small yellow onion, diced (about 1.5 cups)
  • 3 cloves of garlic, smashed, peeled, and thinly sliced
  • 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (more or less depending on your heat preference)
  • 3 anchovy fillets, minced
  • 2 TBSP tomato paste
  • 1/2 cup vegetable broth
  • 1 14.5 oz can of crushed tomatoes (preferably San Marzano, or another high quality variety)
  • 1 TBSP chopped fresh basil
  • 1 TBSP chopped fresh parsley
  • Pinch of sea salt, more to taste if necessary
  • 8 oz burrata, drained

Instructions

  • Heat up the olive oil in a medium-sized saucepan. When the olive oil is hot enough, add the onions and sauté them, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes—or until they're sweating and translucent. Add a pinch of salt.
  • Then, add the garlic, crushed chili flakes, and anchovies to the saucepan. Stir everything well and let it all simmer for another minute or so, until the garlic is fragrant.
  • Add the tomato paste and vegetable broth, and stir until the tomato paste has dissolved and everything is simmering.
  • Bring the crushed tomatoes to the saucepan along with the fresh herbs and some more crushed red pepper if you'd like.
  • Bring the sauce to a simmer and let it simmer on low for about 10 minutes. While the sauce is cooking, cook the noodles. Drain and set them aside in a large pot.
  • Taste the sauce and, if necessary, add more salt. Once the sauce is seasoned to your preference, you can serve it as is if you like a chunkier sauce. If you like a smoother sauce like I do, blend it with an immersion blender, until it reaches your desired consistency.
  • Spoon the sauce over the pappardelle noodles and gently toss them around to coat them. Transfer the pappardelle to bowls, place about a tablespoon or so of burrata on top, and finish things off with an extra sprinkle of crushed red peppers, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, and a few sprigs of fresh basil.