This Pappardelle Pasta recipe brings Arrabbiata Sauce to your plate for the perfect combo! And it’s 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?

Pappardelle Pronunciation

The true pronunciation is paa·paar·deh·lay.

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 more heft because it sticks to the noodles nicely, creating the perfect bite every time. This is why I use pappardelle with my pork ragu! But you could use other wider noodles like tagliatelle or fettuccine.
  • Crushed tomatoes.
  • Olive oil.
  • Yellow onion.
  • Garlic.
  • Seasoning. Crushed red pepper flakes for a kick, and of course some sea salt & fresh herbs like basil and parsley.
  • 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 could use pancetta.
  • Tomato paste.
  • Vegetable broth.
  • Burrata cheese. Optional, but I highly recommend in indulging! You could also use a scoop of ricotta.
  • Other things you could add. Spinach, grated squash or zucchini, or mushrooms would be great.
Nests of pappardelle pasta on a round wooden cutting board.

What Is Pappardelle Pasta?

Pappardelle are wide, flat tasty ribbons of pasta that make it very easy to pick up sauce when you twirl them up around your fork, promising you a mouthful of deliciousness every time. They’re especially great with heavier sauces, like a ground Italian sausage pasta sauce.

What Is Arrabbiata Sauce Made Of?

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. Fun fact: Arrabbiata translates to “angry” in Italian, which is so awesomely fitting for this sauce because it’s fiery.

Quick Tip

If you freeze your rinds from Parmigiano Reggiano or Romano cheeses, pop one into the sauce as it simmers. It adds so much flavor and richness to the sauce!

A Glance at How to Make This Pappardelle Recipe

More detailed instructions in the recipe card below.

Heat the olive oil in a medium-sized saucepan. Add the onions. Sauté them for about 5 minutes or and then hit them with a pinch of salt. Add the garlic, crushed chili flakes, and anchovies. Stir, and let everything simmer for another minute or so, until the garlic is fragrant.

Add the tomato paste and vegetable broth, and mix until the tomato paste has completely dissolved and the mixture is simmering. Finally, add the crushed tomatoes, fresh herbs, and some extra crushed chilis if you’d like.

Process shots of onions in saucepan with red pepper flakes, tomato paste added, and then finished sauce with fresh herbs.

Simmer on low for about 10 minutes. While the sauce is cooking, go ahead and cook your pappardelle pasta to al dente. Drain and set them aside in a large pot; toss with a smidgen of olive oil to keep them from sticking to one another.

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. 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. You could technically use a blender or food processor as well, but careful not to completely purée your sauce—you don’t want a soup.

Saucepan full of arrabbiata sauce getting blended with an immersion blender.

Spoon the sauce over the pappardelle noodles and gently toss to coat. 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.

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

What to Serve With Pappardelle

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

This Pappardelle Pasta recipe brings Arrabbiata Sauce to your plate for the perfect combo! And it's easy enough for a weeknight meal.
4.97 from 66 votes
Print Pin Rate
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 4 people
Calories: 419kcal
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.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 419kcal | Carbohydrates: 43g | Protein: 16g | Fat: 21g