5-Ingredient Cheesy Skillet Tortellini (Under 20 Minutes)
Five ingredients, one pan, zero decisions left to make tonight.
This is the recipe for nights when you've already made too many decisions and dinner needs to just happen. Grab a bag of refrigerator tortellini — the kind that cooks in three minutes — and a can of crushed tomatoes, and you're most of the way there. The sauce comes together in the same skillet while the pasta cooks, so cleanup is minimal and the whole thing is on the table in under 20 minutes. Don't expect a restaurant-level sauce; expect something hot, cheesy, and genuinely satisfying that required almost nothing from you.
Ingredients
- 20 oz refrigerated cheese tortellini — one standard package; three-cheese or ricotta both work
- 14 oz canned crushed tomatoes — one standard can
- 0.5 cup heavy cream — half-and-half works if that's what you have
- 3 unit garlic cloves — minced or pressed
- 0.5 cup grated Parmesan — plus more to serve; pre-grated from the bag is fine
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 0.5 tsp kosher salt — plus more to taste
- 0.25 tsp black pepper
Method
- 1 Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the minced garlic and cook, stirring, for about 60 seconds until fragrant — don't let it brown.
- 2 Pour in the crushed tomatoes. Stir to combine with the garlic, then let the sauce simmer for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- 3 Stir in the heavy cream and bring the sauce back to a gentle simmer.
- 4 Add the tortellini directly to the skillet. Stir to coat, then cover and cook for 4–5 minutes, stirring once halfway through, until the tortellini is tender and cooked through.
- 5 Remove from heat. Stir in the Parmesan until melted and the sauce looks glossy. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- 6 Serve straight from the skillet with extra Parmesan on top.
Variations
- Faster swap: jarred marinara — Skip the crushed tomatoes and use 1.5 cups of your favorite jarred marinara instead. The sauce is done in 2 minutes flat — just warm it, add cream, and proceed.
- Protein add-in: Italian sausage — Brown 0.5 lb of ground Italian sausage in the skillet before the garlic. Drain most of the fat, then continue with the recipe. No longer vegetarian, but very filling.
- Dairy-free swap — Use full-fat coconut cream in place of heavy cream and skip the Parmesan or use a dairy-free alternative. The sauce will be slightly sweeter but still works.
Notes
Refrigerator tortellini varies by brand — check the package cook time and adjust by a minute if needed. The sauce thickens as it sits, so if you're not eating immediately, add a splash of water when reheating. Leftovers reheat fine the next day but the tortellini will absorb more sauce overnight.
Equipment that helps
- large skillet with a lid — Covering the skillet traps steam so the tortellini cooks through in the sauce without needing a separate pot of boiling water.
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