My family’s easy and budget-friendly chicken ragu is super simple to make and ready in under 30 minutes! This ground chicken spaghetti recipe is perfect for busy days!
You could call this my shortcut ragu. I use store-bought sauce but add a few smart ingredients to make it taste more homemade. I also use ground chicken for this recipe, which keeps the cooking time low.
I make this recipe once a month (the whole family loves it). For more easy dinner recipes with ground chicken, see these incredible chicken lettuce wraps or this easy white chicken chili!
Key Ingredients
- Pasta: I love serving this ragu with spaghetti, but feel free to use your favorite pasta.
- Ground Chicken: I use ground chicken in this recipe, but you can substitute ground turkey, lean ground beef, or ground lamb.
- Pasta Sauce: You can use your favorite store-bought spaghetti sauce (I like Rao’s). Or try this homemade marinara or this red pasta sauce.
- Wine: This is optional, but it adds a lot of extra flavor. Use a dry red or dry white wine. If you don’t have wine on hand, don’t worry! You can substitute it with chicken broth or veggie broth.
- Aromatics: To make this ragu taste more homemade, I cook the chicken with onion, carrots, celery, garlic, and fresh (or dried) chopped rosemary. I make a similar sauce for this easy weeknight spaghetti, but that recipe has a from-scratch sauce with basil instead of rosemary.
How to Make Chicken Ragu
To prepare the sauce, I cook the onions, carrots, and celery until tender and sweet. I then stir in the rosemary and garlic, letting their flavors become fragrant. Once the vegetables are ready, I add the ground chicken and cook it until it’s no longer pink.
I deglaze with wine (or broth) and stir in the pasta sauce. I let the sauce simmer for about 10 minutes or until the chicken is cooked. Then, it’s ready to serve over spaghetti. Easy!
Easy Chicken Ragu
- PREP
- COOK
- TOTAL
This delicious chicken ragu can be made in less than 30 minutes and is perfect served over spaghetti. While our recipe calls for ground chicken, you can substitute ground beef, turkey, pork, or fresh sausage. If you prefer not to include wine, you can easily substitute it with chicken, vegetable, or turkey broth.
You Will Need
8 ounces dry pasta, such as spaghetti or linguini
1 pound (450g) ground chicken
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 medium onion, chopped
2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
1 medium stalk celery, chopped
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary or 1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary leaves
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1/4 cup (60ml) dry red or white wine
3 cups (709ml) marinara sauce or use 1 (26oz) jar of store-bought sauce
Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
Directions
1Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook according to the package directions. Once cooked, drain the pasta.
2In the meantime, heat olive oil in a large skillet with high sides. Add onions, carrots, and celery, and cook until the onions become soft and smell sweet, about 5 minutes.
3Stir in the garlic and rosemary, then add the ground chicken. Cook the chicken until it is no longer pink, about 10 minutes.
4While cooking, use a wooden spoon to break the chicken into small pieces in the pan.
5Season with 1/4 teaspoon of salt and a few grinds of black pepper. Then, pour in the wine (or broth) and cook for 1 minute.
6Add the marinara sauce to the skillet and cook until it reduces slightly, around 10 minutes.
7Taste the sauce and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper. Serve the sauce over the cooked pasta.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- The nutrition facts provided below are estimates.
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Hubby loved it! Told me it’s a keeper. I made a few changes to your recipe. I used a (left over garlic and rosemary) dry rub, 3 tsp sprinkled over the raw ground chicken and cooked according to your directions. To the finished chicken ragu sauce I added a few handfuls of freshly grated Parmesan/reggiano cheese and Bon Appetite!
Hi Annie, That’s wonderful! So glad to hear your hubby loved the chicken ragu. It sounds like those additions of the garlic and rosemary rub and the Parmesan cheese at the end were a total win! I love it when people make a recipe their own. Thanks for sharing your tasty tweaks, and bon appétit to you too!
I made this recipe and used all of the ingredients listed to include RAO’s marinara. The only other ingredient I added was 1 tsp of fennel seeds. The ground chicken I added was Springer brand which is healther than most others. I let this simmer on very low heat ,stirring ocassionally, for a good 30 minutes to let it reduce and become thick. It was a surprise at how absolutely fabulous and tasty this was!
This is my go-to lazy but healthy meal. So many ways to accommodate what you have on hand or to get rid of the last bits of veggies & herbs. There’s no way you can go wrong.
Looks very good easy and tempting will definitely make it.
This is so tasty. We don’t eat much beef anymore so ground pork,chicken or turkey is our go to. I also use Rao’s sauce it’s so good. Thanks for all the work you both put into your recipes for us. I truly appreciate you.
I made this tonight for dinner. It was delicious. We both enjoyed it. I will definitely be preparing this dish again.
quick, easy and tasty! I used lean ground chicken, so the veggies really helped it not be too dry! will use this recipe again!
Can I add mozzarella and parm to this to make it a chicken parm ragu?
That sounds excellent, Miranda.
Made mostly as directed. Used Raos Marinara Sauce, a whole onion instead of half, probably double garlic & rosemary, added diced orange pepper & used 2 TBSP of lemon juice in lieu of red wine as per subs suggested online. DELICIOUS! Definite repeat!
This was more than what I thought it was going to be! It was fantastic and definitely a staple in my house now. Will definitely be making this again! It was even better reheated the next day, without pasta, I was able to eat just the sauce almost like a chili, thank you!
This was so good. I find the quality of pasta really takes it to the next level. Also, don’t leave the wine out if you can help it.. really adds some depth of flavour. Everyone in our family loved this dinner.
So excited to make this tonight!
Made it earlier this year and the kids loved it! Making it again tonight 🙂
Made this for luch today and my husband loved it. It was a quick and easy recipe to follow. Served it with some homemade Italian bread and a salad. I will definiteky make it again.
Haven’t made it yet. Chicken looks good. making it today. thanx
Very nice.