Butternut squash ravioli are delicious and perfect any time of year, but they are especially great as winter or fall comfort food. We love to pair them with a cream sauce and this rosemary-kissed sauce is perfect for the silky squash filling in the ravioli. We know you will make this recipe for Rosemary Cream Sauce for Butternut Squash Ravioli over and over again!

The butternut squash pasta sauce has a layered approach to building tremendous flavors that are refined and a perfect accompaniment to the ravioli. Butternut squash ravioli are generally easy to find in stores, so this recipe is all about this incredibly delicious Rosemary Cream Sauce. The sauce is great in this application with butternut squash ravioli, but is also fantastic with a variety of other ravioli and pasta recipes.
Looking for more dishes like this? Try out our Pumpkin Ravioli with Parmesan Sage Cream Sauce or Mushroom Prosciutto Ravioli with Garlic Rosemary Brown Butter.
Jump to:
- Why You’ll Love this Recipe
- The Perfect Creamy Sauce for Butternut Squash Ravioli
- Ingredients
- Substitutions
- How to Make Butternut Squash Ravioli with Rosemary Cream Sauce
- Equipment
- Step-by-Step Instructions
- Variations
- Storage
- Top Tip
- Troubleshooting
- What to serve with Butternut Squash Ravioli
- What Wines To Drink with Butternut Squash Ravioli with Rosemary Cream Sauce
- Mangiamo Cookbook
- FAQ
- Related
- Pairing
- 📖 Recipe
Why You’ll Love this Recipe
- Great to use on a variety of pasta dishes!
- Creamy rosemary sauce is incredibly delicious!
- Easy recipe to make
- Great recipe for autumn or winter
- Not super heavy
The Perfect Creamy Sauce for Butternut Squash Ravioli
Butternut squash ravioli have become popular enough that you should be able to find pre-made butternut squash ravioli locally in your grocery stores (such as Trader Joe's butternut squash ravioli). They are a delicious alternative to meat-stuffed ravioli or the common cheese-stuffed ravioli and can be enjoyed all year long.
Butternut squash ravioli can range widely as to what is in them, but butternut squash is always the star. The mildly sweet and nutty flavor can easily take on a variety of spices and herbs to make delicious ravioli.
The Rosemary Cream Sauce here is a perfect match for these ravioli as the rosemary subtly shines through in this unforgettable, rich yet light sauce. This might just be the best butternut squash ravioli sauce recipe!

Ingredients
Here is what you need to make this recipe:
- White wine: The first liquid building block to the sauce, we like a dry, but flavorful white wine such as a pinot grigio.
- Shallot: The delicate onion-y flavor works perfectly in a cream sauce
- Black Peppercorns: Quality whole black peppercorns are used at the beginning of the sauce to infuse flavor
- Rosemary: Fresh rosemary is used twice, as a whole sprig in the beginning of the sauce and finely chopped at the end.
- Vegetable Stock: Use a good quality vegetable stock with as little salt added as possible. We like to make our own, but store bough works well too.
- Heavy Cream: We use a good quality heavy cream as this is the base of the sauce.
- Parmesan Cheese: A little freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano is added to the sauce for flavor and helps to thicken the sauce. We highly encourage you to buy the real deal parmigiano-reggiano and grate it fresh into the sauce.
- Black Pepper: Just a touch for flavor.
- Kosher Salt: The last ingredient added to the sauce to taste.
- Butternut Squash Ravioli: These are widely available or you can make your own homemade butternut squash ravioli from scratch if you wish! We always encourage making fresh pasta over store-bought versions.
- Butter: Unsalted butter is used to toast the panko breadcrumbs to top the finished dish.
- Panko Breadcrumbs: We use these for a nice texture and flavor addition on top of the final plated dish. Panko breadcrumbs add the perfect crunch!
See recipe card below for quantities.
Substitutions
Here are a couple of common substitutions for the ingredients in this recipe:
- Shallot: Onion can be subbed in place of shallot. We prefer the more delicate flavor of shallot in a sauce like this, but onion works too.
- Rosemary: A good substitute for rosemary that keeps the fall and winter flavors going is fresh sage leaves. You can also try this with fresh thyme for a less assertive herb flavor.
- Vegetable Stock: Although we prefer vegetable stock, a lighter chicken stock also can be used here.
- Butternut Squash Ravioli: This sauce is fantastic on a variety of ravioli flavors. Give it a try with your favorites!

How to Make Butternut Squash Ravioli with Rosemary Cream Sauce
This sauce requires a few more steps than just throwing everything into a pan and cooking it, but the steps make the flavor and texture perfect without taking too much time.
The wine, shallot, peppercorns, and whole rosemary are reduced before adding the vegetable stock. The sauce is strained, reduced again, and the cream is added. The cream is reduced somewhat and finished with the rest of the ingredients, creating a delightful sauce for these ravioli gems!
Equipment
Here is what you need to make this dish
- Large pot to boil the ravioli
- Small pan for the breadcrumbs
- Large saute pan for the sauce
- Mesh strainer
Step-by-Step Instructions
Reduce the wine with flavorings
- In a large pan over medium heat, add the wine, shallot, rosemary sprig and peppercorns. Reduce until there is about 1 Tablespoon of liquid remaining in the pan. This should take about 3-5 minutes.
Add the stock, reduce, strain, and reduce more
- Add the vegetable stock and reduce by half. Once reduced, strain out the solids from the sauce and discard them. Return the liquid to the pan and reduce until there are about 2-3 Tablespoons of liquid remaining. This step should take about 15 minutes.
Add the cream and reduce
- Add the cream to the pan, stir well and continue to cook over medium-low heat. Reduce the cream for a few minutes stirring occasionally while the pasta cooks.
Cook the Ravioli
- In a large pot of boiling, salted water (about 2-3 tablespoon of salt), add the ravioli and cook until they the pasta floats. Depending on the size and if they are fresh homemade ravioli, or frozen pre-made ravioli, this can take between 2 and 5 minutes for al dente pasta, but follow the cooking instructions on the package if using store-bought ravioli.
Toast the breadcrumbs
- In a small pan, add 1 tablespoon butter over medium-high heat until the butter melts. Add the breadcrumbs and, stirring often, cook until lightly browned. Remove to a paper towel lined plate and set aside to cool and drain off excess butter.
Finish the sauce and complete the dish
- Add the finely chopped rosemary, Parmesan, and white pepper to the cream sauce. When it is the desired thickness, taste and add kosher salt if needed. Transfer the cooked ravioli from the pot of boiling water and put them in the pan with the sauce. Gently coat the ravioli then transfer to serving plates or bowls. Top with the toasted panko and serve!

Variations
Here are a couple ways to change up this recipe:
- Although this cream sauce is especially good with this ravioli recipe, it is also great on any pasta!
- You can add an 8-ounce can of tomato sauce with the cream if you want a bit of tomato flavor added into the sauce. This will take away from some of the other flavors, but will still be delicious and beautiful.
Storage
How to store leftover butternut squash ravioli and cream sauce:
- Store leftovers in the refrigerator in a covered container for up to 4 days
How to reheat leftover butternut squash ravioli and cream sauce:
- Very gently heat the leftovers on low heat in a pan. Reheat the ravioli until warmed through.
Can you freeze leftover butternut squash ravioli with the sauce?
- This can be done, but freezing cream sauces will generally result in an inferior result when thawing and reheating.

Top Tip
Don’t rush the sauce by doing all of the reductions on high heat. You will achieve the same consistency of the sauce at the end if you do, but you will undoubtedly sacrifice the flavor and could reduce too far.
Troubleshooting
Sauce too thick: If you over-reduce your cream sauce and it ends up being too thick, the best way to thin it out is to simply add some of the pasta water. Remember that the pasta cooking water is salted, so if you need to add pasta water to thin out your sauce, do it before you add any additional salt to taste.
Sauce too thin: If your cream sauce seems too thin, continue to reduce over medium-low heat until the desired thickness is reached.
What to serve with Butternut Squash Ravioli
This is fantastic all on its own. But a nice salad is a good compliment as is some crusty bread to soak up the extra sauce! If you like a green vegetable, peas, asparagus or green beans are nice simple vegetables to serve.
What Wines To Drink with Butternut Squash Ravioli with Rosemary Cream Sauce
Pinot Grigio or chardonnay are our first choices. If you like bubbles, champagne or any sparkling wine will work as well. We really don’t recommend a red wine with this dish.

Mangiamo Cookbook
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FAQ
Generally there is a touch of sweetness from the butternut squash, but this depends largely on what’s in the ravioli. There are many variations of butternut squash ravioli, but they will all work well with this sauce.
Cream sauces work beautifully with butternut squash ravioli. Second place would be an herbed brown butter sauce or simply very good extra virgin olive oil and sea salt.
Related
Looking for other ravioli recipes like this? Try these:
Pairing
These are our favorite main dishes to serve with ravioli:
📖 Recipe

Butternut Squash Ravioli with Rosemary Cream Sauce
Equipment
- 1 small sauté pan
- 1 Large sauté pan
Ingredients
- ⅔ cup dry white wine such as pinot grigio
- 1 small shallot finely chopped
- 10 whole black peppercorns
- 1 rosemary sprig
- 2 cups vegetable stock
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon fresh rosemary finely chopped
- ¼ cup Parmesan cheese freshly grated
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- Kosher salt to taste
- 1 pound butternut squash ravioli
- 1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
- ¼ cup panko breadcrumbs
Instructions
- In a large pan over medium heat, add the wine, shallot, rosemary sprig and peppercorns. Reduce until there is about 1 Tablespoon of liquid remaining in the pan. This should take about 3-5 minutes.⅔ cup dry white wine, 1 small shallot, 10 whole black peppercorns, 1 rosemary sprig
- Add the vegetable stock and reduce by half. Once reduced, strain out the solids from the sauce and discard them. Return the liquid to the pan and reduce until there are about 2-3 Tablespoons of liquid remaining. This step should take about 15 minutes.2 cups vegetable stock
- Add the cream to the pan, stir well and continue to cook over medium-low heat. Reduce the cream for a few minutes stirring occasionally while the pasta cooks.2 cups heavy cream
- In a large pot of boiling, salted water (about 2-3 tablespoon of salt), add the ravioli and cook until they the pasta floats. Depending on the size and if they are fresh homemade ravioli, or frozen pre-made ravioli, this can take between 2 and 5 minutes for al dente pasta, but follow the cooking instructions on the package if using store-bought ravioli.1 pound butternut squash ravioli
- In a small pan, add 1 tablespoon butter over medium-high heat until the butter melts. Add the breadcrumbs and, stirring often, cook until lightly browned. Remove to a paper towel lined plate and set aside to cool and drain off excess butter.1 Tablespoon unsalted butter, ¼ cup panko breadcrumbs
- Add the finely chopped rosemary, Parmesan, and pepper to the cream sauce. When it is the desired thickness, taste and add kosher salt if needed. Transfer the cooked ravioli from the pot of boiling water and put them in the pan with the sauce. Gently coat the ravioli then transfer to serving plates or bowls. Top with the toasted panko and serve!1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, ¼ cup Parmesan cheese, ½ teaspoon black pepper, Kosher salt
Nutrition

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