Maggiano's may not be the most authentic Italian food ever, but their rigatoni d is delicious and a total nostalgic comfort food that I have been eating since I was a kid and Maggiano's first came around. A creamy pasta dish with mushrooms, wine, caramelized onions and cream, rigatoni d is not only delicious, but with this copycat recipe, something you can totally make at home.
Growing up Italian I have plenty of family recipes, from our Italian tomato sauce recipe that we use in a million other recipes to the Italian Almond tart that I still make every Christmas.
But there is nothing like a good comforting pasta recipe...something my family could have every night of the week. Check out a few of our favorites:
- Lobster ravioli with lemon cream
- Chicken tetrazzini
- Sundried Tomato Pasta with Goat Cheese
- Crispy gnocchi with sausage and vegetables
Ingredients
The pasta dish is simple enough to throw together for a weekday meal, and easily adaptable for a large crowd. We make this often for parties and anybody who's ever had this at Maggiano's tells me it tastes exactly like their rigatoni d. Simple ingredients you'll need:
- Pasta. I mean, it's called a rigatoni d copycat recipe - so the obvs choice is to use rigatoni. BUT if you wanna make this say, right now, and don't have rigatoni, but have penne, that's totally fine. Only thing I recommend here is using a tube pasta of some kind
- Olive oil and butter. That's right you're gonna want to use both.
- Mushrooms. Nothing fancy, I use regular mushrooms or sometime cremini. When getting this at the restaurant, the mushrooms come quartered not sliced. I do either sliced or quartered or sometimes both.
- Onion. A thick dice, you want to see them in the dish.
- Balsamic vinegar. For deglazing the caramelized mushrooms and onions. This element, I think, is one of the secrets to making this dish a true copycat recipe.
- Garlic.
- Chicken. You can use leftover chicken, rotisserie chicken from the store or chicken breast, cooked and thinly sliced.
- Chicken stock. Just a little.
- Marsala. An Italian wine, that gives this it's unique flavor (making unlike it's relative, chicken tetrazzini).
- Cream.
- Parmesan.
- Basil. Fresh and roughly chopped, not just for some color, but adds a fresh, bright flavor.
Substitutions
So I do work really hard to make sure my recipes are adaptable to things you have on hand. And while substituting in the Maggiano's rigatoni d won't necessarily make this a copycat recipe, it will still be absolutely delicious.
- Use a different wine. Don't have marsala? Use a white wine instead, or better yet a sherry. Sherry will definitely make this more of a chicken tetrazzini, but still delicious. I have used vermouth in place of marsala, chardonnay and sherry, and while the flavor profile is a little different, it is still spectacular.
- Use different pasta shape. I said earlier, I think a tubular pasta works best for this, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't try it if you don't have tubular pasta like rigatoni. Use what you have! Shells or rotini would be totally fine.
- Make it vegetarian. Not a meat eater? No problem, use extra mushrooms, and a variety of mushrooms, sub chicken stock for vegetable stock and you're in for a treat.
Top tip
Really get some color on the mushrooms and onions. You want a good caramelization. To achieve this, saute over high heat, uncovered. If you cover, the mushrooms will steam in their own water...not what you want.
Equipment
- saute pan
- pasta pot
Ingredients
- 1 lb. rigatoni pasta cooked al dente
- 2 tbsp. olive oil
- 16 oz mushrooms
- 1 onion chopped
- 3 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 2 tsp. garlic smashed and minced
- 2 cups cooked chicken
- ½ cup chicken stock
- 1 bottle marsala wine
- 1 ½ cup heavy cream
- 3 tablespoon parmesan cheese use the good stuff NOT the Kraft green can
- 2 tablespoon butter
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tbsp. fresh basil chopped
Instructions
- Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. When the oil is glistening, add the onion to the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, about 2 minutes. Add the mushrooms to the pan and continue to cook mushrooms and onions are caramelized a bit. Then add the balsamic vinegar and cook until evaporated and the mushrooms and onions a deep color, about 6-8 minutes more. Add the garlic and cook until just fragrant.
- Add the whole bottle of wine, scraping the bottom of the pan to deglaze the browned bits. Add the chicken stock and bring to a rapid boil and cook until the liquid is reduced by at least half, this will take a bit of time, but trust me, is worth it. You will get a good concentrated marsala flavor. Add your cream and cook until heated through. Toss in the Parmesan and butter swirl the butter in until melted. Add the cooked chicken and cook just a few minutes until the chicken is heated through. Toss the cooked pasta and basil in the sauce.
- Serve with extra shaved parmesan if you like.
Jack says
Made this tonight as my mom let me pick dinner. Turned out great, tasted just like being at Maggiano's.
Katie Beck says
That's why I love it! Enjoying Maggiano's at home. Thank you for making it!
Hoyt says
A bottle of Marsala? Pretty vague. How many ounces?
Katie Beck says
Hi - yes a bottle; I only know of one standard size bottle for wine and it is 750 ml; this is the the bottle I use 🙂
Kasey says
Wish I had seen this note before making. The Marsala wine at the grocery store is 375 ml. I knew something was wrong when I poured the sauce over the noodles and there just wasn’t enough. Too bad.
Silviu says
A bottle of Marsala definitely a waste ! I am making it right now and it feels like forever to boil it down and I’m not sure what I’m achieving here! I have cooked with Marsala many times before and 1to 2 cups is more than enough! Not to mention that a bottle of some of the cheapest Marsala is bringing the price of my dish up by $10 ! More or less ..
Katie Beck says
Recipe does say it takes a while to reduce; if you don't want to reduce so much or use a whole bottle use less and just don't reduce as much.
Sam says
Made this for some neighbors coming for dinner last night. Was super easy and tasted great. My only recommendation - more parmesan cheese, extra cheese makes everything better! Thanks for the recipe.
Katie Beck says
I wouldn't say no to extra parm cheese either! Glad you enjoyed this!
Kasey Cox says
Made this last night and we really loved it. Used a mix of wild and baby bella mushrooms and it was great. Loved the suggestion of more cheese!
Katie Beck says
Love the use of wild mushrooms - great call! Thank you for making this!
Alex Lipowich says
Wow. This turned out really well. I don't cook as often as my wife does, so I thought I'd try something for the family and give her a night off. She did advise on the project in terms of "when" the onions and mushrooms were starting to caramelized. That took longer than expected. It sounds like you want to stop when just caramelized "a bit". Our Magiano's seems to serve it with the chicken having an almost shredded appearance, so after cubing it, I sort of tore it apart a bit, and I think it changes the texture and look. Preference for which cut of chicken? No fresh Basil in the winter, but found a Basil paste that served as a substitute. Used broth instead of Stock, but will definitely be doing this again. Huge hit. We paired it with a Caesar salad. I compared your recipe to others, and think the differences, mainly amount of Marsala as well as mushrooms probably make it better. In terms of "evaporate" on the balsamic... is that when it loses the pungent aroma? Thank you. Great recipe.
Katie Beck says
Hi ALex! I am so glad you and your family enjoyed this. As for the chicken, I most often cook a boneless breast and then thinly slice. I am not a fan of diced chunks of chicken in this recipe. I do sometimes use rotisserie chicken which I shred. These, I think are the two best ways for prepping the chicken in this pasta dish. The mushrooms and onions, for me, when caramelize them, don't take too ling, but I am likely cooking on a higher heat. The balsamic when evaporating and reducing becomes sweeter and clings to the onions and mushrooms which also helps speed up the caramelization process. Thanks again for making and hit me up for any cooking questions anytime 🙂
Helene Wallace says
The bottle of Marsala wine, do you mean those smallish bottles from Holland House? I think they’re 16 oz
Katie Beck says
Hi! No, I use regular marsala wine. Here is the links for the two bottles I have bought to use for cooking recipes.
https://wineanthology.com/product/6384/melillo-dry-marsala
https://www.jewelosco.com/shop/product-details.189150158.html?cmpid=organic_jwo_all_surf_goo_20220629
I do not recommend the Holland House cooking wines - they are not just wine, they are seasoned and can affect the saltiness of your dish. If you do use these because it is what is available to you, adjust your salt in the recipe and use less at first, and taste as you go.
Liam says
That seems like an absurd amount of Marsala? 1000ml?! That’s like the big bottles of wine.
Katie Beck says
Hi - the bottle I link in these comments (and is also the bottle I use) is not 1000ml, it is 750ml, which is a standard bottle of wine. Additionally is reduced (along with the stock) to reduce by half, which gives a greater depth of flavor. If you do not care to do this step, simply use half a standard (750ml) bottle of marsala wine and don't reduce the liquid down so much 🙂
Sandie says
You nailed this recipe, Kate! I made it this weekend for my daughter who is a hardcore Rigatoni “D” fan and she felt it was deliciously accurate! We’ll definitely make this again! Bravo!
Katie Beck says
Thank you so much Sandie! I am so glad you guys liked it 🙂
Kaden says
I loved this so much. I made it and substituted the wine with cranberry juice and it tasted just like Maggianos. Thank you so much.
Anonymous says
Can you specify how many ounces of Marsala. A bottle sounds like a lot!
Katie Beck says
Hi! I use a 750ml, which is a standard bottle of wine (i have linked the specific bottle I use in a prior comment). The wine is reduced (along with the stock) to reduce by half, which gives a greater depth of flavor. If you do not care to do this step, simply use half a standard (750ml) bottle of marsala wine and don't reduce the liquid down so much 🙂
Kristen says
What kind of balsamic vinegar do you use?
Katie Beck says
Hi Kristen, I use this Colavita balsamic vinegar
Anonymous says
What kind of basil?
Nathan Poole says
Absolutely perfect, and my wife is a hardcore foodie. Identical to the restaraunt, on its best day. Recommendations: follow the recipe to a “t”. And, it says cook the Marsala down *at least* 50%. The more the better. Cook it to 20% left, the longer the better. And, recipe doesn’t say how to cook the chicken. So when cooking the chicken, we made more garlic butter (doubled the recipe) and sautéed the chicken in it, then seasoned with some pepper and salt, and used the juice as additional stock, much more flavorful than “regular” stock. So we doubled the garlic, butter, and stock. Was different (slightly) when we did it this way the second time, it was an improvement on Maggiano’s because, well, what can go wrong with more butter, garlic, and chicken stock? Best recipe online for this for *sure*, and we now love Kate and can’t wait to try her other recipes! Thanks! 🔥🔥
Katie Beck says
This was such a nice comment, thank you so much! I am glad you guys enjoyed this!
Barbara says
I am not a cook. I don't even like to cook, but this recipe is delicious! My son are Maggiano fans. We're not big fans of onions so I substitutes onion salt and it still tasted good. I just made sure the salt was cooked into the olive oil.. I have prepared this about 3 or 4 times already. Great dish for quick dinner during the week! Thanks!
Katie Beck says
This makes me so happy! I am glad your family enjoys this!
Wendy says
I made this tonight and I’m not going to lie that I was very skeptical because I usually hate food cooked with wine. But this was absolutely amazing!!
Katie Beck says
I am so glad you enjoyed this! Thank you for trying it!
Adam Hauschild says
For the Marsala wine requirement....I found a bottle of "Marsala Cooking Wine" which is smaller than a typical 750ml bottle of wine. Would this work and if so would I still use a whole bottle or is it just better to buy a 750ml bottle of Marsala wine?
Katie Beck says
Hi Adam, so I would not recommend using the Marsala Cooking Wine. Cooking wines are enhanced with salt and sometimes herbs and will not give you the same result. If hover, you only have access to this and not regular Mardal, use two bottles, still reduce it by half and omit some of the salt in the recipe 🙂
Hope this helps!
Teresa says
The Maggiano's we visited often closed recently. So we were thrilled to see this recipe for my husband's favorite dish. We made it last night and it was very easy to follow the recipe. I found that the sauce was not thickened at all so I did add just a bit of cornstarch to the liquid and cooked it down some before serving. We will definitely be making this again.
Katie Beck says
Thank you! I am glad you liked it!
ZP says
Can this recipe be doubled or are modifications nevessary?
Katie Beck says
Hi! I double it all the time for parties 🙂
Carla says
Can this be made ahead of time and placed in the freezer?
What is the best way to reheat? Thanks
Katie Beck says
Yes, you can freeze and reheat, though it will be a bit drier. I usually thaw on the counter for about an hour and a half or so and reheat in a saucepan with a little extra cream, or I put in a baking dish and drizzle with a little extra cream, cover with foil and reheat in a 350 oven until heated through.
Anonymous says
Fantastic
Catherine says
Sounds great, can't wait to try it.
Amy says
This was absolutely delicious. My only snag was that it was pretty runny, not creamy. I reduced by a lot - well more than half way. But I added the cream and the cheese and just could not get it to thicken up. I did use a whole bottle and it was one you linked to. So I’m not sure what happened here. I may omit the chicken stock and reduce a lot more next time. But the flavor was amazing! My family loved it. Thanks for posting!
Angela Washington says
I read the comments concerning using Marsala Cooking Wine. It was what I had. I didn’t salt my pasta water like I normally would do, I also used balsamic glaze instead of balsamic vinegar and reduced the wine to more than half. Besides that I followed your recipe…this was FIRE!🔥 I may never go back to Maggiano’s! Thank you for this recipe!
Rob Eames says
I made this recipe with some friends not long ago and it was amazing! I would like to substitute the wine in the future, I noticed someone used cranberry juice. Would you recommend juice instead at the same amount (750mL)?
Thanks for the recipe!
Carla Bird says
Really good. Love it!!!
Veronica says
Hi Kate,
Thank you, thank you thank you! One of my favorite dishes! I've prepared this 3 times now. A couple of questions, when you say to reduce it by half and that it can take some time, roughly how long are you cooking it at that point? Also, I agree with Amy. I would like my sauce to be a thicker. Any suggestions? Would starch alter the taste?
Katie Beck says
Hi Veronica! When I reduce this - since it is so much liquid - I crank up the burner to high and it takes maybe 15 - 20 minutes, give or take. Most of the liquid will be gone and it will be dark in color. I do this before adding the cream. I do not care for a saucy pasta for this. I add the cream, reduce a bit more till the cream is good and thick, this way it clings to the pasta without so much sauce. If you'd like a saucier dish, I would recommend reducing slightly less, adding the cream and maybe doing a cornstarch slurry to thicken it...flour might add a raw floury taste to the dish so I would try cornstarch instead. Hope this helps!
Gisela says
Do you recommend dry or sweet Marsala?
Katie Beck says
Hi Gisela! Definitely dry!
Staci Wilson says
Great Recipe! I have made this many times now, and it is a family favorite. This is truly the best copy cat recipe I have ever tried. Tastes just like Maggiano's. Thanks for the recipe.