Rigatoni with Beef & Zucchini Ragù
plus Parmesan Cheese
- Wheat
- Milk
Trying to get in more veggies at dinner? We’ve got just the thing! In this quick-cooking pasta dish, you’ll grate zucchini and swirl the shreds into an Italian-seasoned tomato sauce. The mild veg merges into the beefy sauce without changing the flavor, making it the perfect way to sneak in some green! The creamy ragù is tossed with rigatoni and topped with Parmesan for a surprisingly produce-packed pasta dinner that's pretty darn delicious.
Ingredients
6 ounce
Rigatoni Pasta
(Contains: Wheat)
¼ cup
Parmesan Cheese
1 unit
Tomato Paste
1 unit
Zucchini
10 ounce
Ground Beef
4 tablespoon
Cream Cheese
(Contains: Milk)
1 clove
Garlic
1 tablespoon
Italian Seasoning
1 unit
Beef Stock Concentrate
1 unit
Shallot
Not included in your delivery
teaspoon (tsp)
Salt
1 teaspoon (tsp)
Cooking Oil
½ teaspoon (tsp)
Sugar
1 tablespoon (tbsp)
Butter
(Contains: Milk)
teaspoon (tsp)
Black Pepper
Nutrition Values
Utensils
Cooking Steps
• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Once boiling, add rigatoni to pot. Cook, stirring occasionally, until al dente, 9-11 minutes. Reserve 1 cup pasta cooking water (1 1⁄2 cups for 4 servings), then drain. • Meanwhile, wash and dry produce. • Halve, peel, and finely dice shallot. Peel and mince or grate garlic. Trim and grate zucchini on the largest holes of a box grater. • Place zucchini in the center of a clean kitchen towel. Gather into a tight bundle and squeeze over the sink to remove as much liquid as possible. TIP: Alternatively, place grated zucchini in a fine-mesh strainer and press down with a spatula.
• Heat a drizzle of oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add beef*, shallot, Italian Seasoning, a big pinch of salt, and pepper. Cook, breaking up meat into pieces, until browned and mostly cooked through, 3-5 minutes (it’ll finish cooking in the next step).
• Add tomato paste to pan with beef. Cook, stirring, until tomato paste is well combined and beef is cooked through, 1-2 minutes. • Stir in zucchini, garlic, and a big pinch of salt. Cook, stirring, until zucchini is tender, 2-3 minutes. • Stir in cream cheese, stock concentrate, 1⁄2 cup reserved pasta cooking water (ladle straight from the pot if pasta isn’t finished cooking yet), and 1⁄2 tsp sugar (for 4 servings, use 2⁄3 cup pasta cooking water and 1 tsp sugar). Simmer until sauce has slightly thickened, 1-2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. TIP: If you’ve got some on hand, add a pinch of chili flakes from your pantry for a spicy kick.
• Reduce heat to medium low. Stir drained rigatoni, half the Parmesan, and 1 TBSP butter (2 TBSP for 4 servings) into pan with sauce until combined. TIP: If needed, stir in more reserved cooking water a splash at a time until pasta is coated in a creamy sauce. • Divide pasta between plates. Top with remaining Parmesan and serve.
Customer reviews
Review summary
Updated on Feb 2026- Flavor: Many loved the creamy, savory taste; some found it bland and suggested adding extra herbs or spices for more depth 🍲.
- Ease of prep: Quick and simple to make, though a few found grating and squeezing the zucchini time-consuming.
- Suggestions: Consider adding more tomato paste or sauce for richness; try chili flakes or extra garlic for a flavor boost.
- Portions: Generous servings that often provided leftovers; some felt it could easily feed 3-4 people.
- Veggies: Shredded zucchini was a hit, sneaking extra vegetables into the dish without kids noticing.
Reviews from our home cooks
The 1st HF meal I ever made & it was so easy & tasty. I would never have thought to add zucchini to a meat based pasta dish, but it blended so well. & never in a million years would I think to add cream cheese to a tomato based sauce. Reminded me of a vodka sauce. Hearty & delicious. My only complaint is on me for not ordering more to have lunch the next day.
We loved this dish. The beef added the right flavoring to the rigatoni and sauce. The zucchini was a great addition. We will definitely order again.
We love Rigatoni. The beef is so tasty. The zucchini added a great twist on this dish. Will definitely get it again.
My husband, love the zucchini, shred it into the beef. It had a wonderful taste to it, and we enjoyed it. This meal will definitely be repeated.
Good combo with the Beef and Zucchini. Sauce is light, but tastes great.
We weren't too sure about zucchini when cooking but it actually very good. Instructions need to cook the pasta a little more. At 13 minutes it was still very al dente.
My family devoured it. They were hesitant about the zucchini but it paired well with the pasta and protein
The whole family loved this! The 7 & 8 year olds had no idea the zucchini was in it and ate it happily which made me soooo happy. Favoriting this!
This meal was incredibly tasty but the rigatoni were way too big. It took much longer to cook than the recipe indicated and was difficult to eat. I would make it again but with penne.
I love how much zucchini was packed in the sauce. Though I wasn't a fan of the cream cheese in the sauce, wish it came with milk/cream instead. It changed the whole dish into something more like Hamburger Helper than a ragù.
