Copycat Maggiano’s Rigatoni D

Maggiano’s Rigatoni D is one of those restaurant dishes that follows you home. Named after a loyal guest who inspired the recipe, it layers pan-seared chicken, earthy cremini mushrooms, tangy sun-dried tomatoes, and a blush-pink tomato cream sauce over perfectly cooked rigatoni — a combination so satisfying it became the signature dish of the entire Maggiano’s menu and a perennial bestseller at every location.

At around $21 per plate, ordering it regularly adds up quickly. The good news is that every component is straightforward to source at any grocery store, and the technique — a quick sear, a deglaze with white wine, and a short simmer to marry cream and tomatoes — is one any home cook can execute in under an hour. The results are indistinguishable from the restaurant version, and four generous portions come together for the price of two plates at the chain.

About Maggiano’s’s Rigatoni D

What makes Rigatoni D distinctive is the balance between richness and brightness. The sauce is built on a base of sautéed onion and garlic deglazed with white wine, then reinforced with crushed tomatoes and finished with heavy cream to create what Italian cooks call a rosa or blush sauce — one that carries the body and tang of a marinara alongside the silkiness of a cream sauce. Sun-dried tomatoes introduce concentrated sweetness and slight chew that keep the dish from feeling one-dimensional.

The pasta shape is not incidental. Rigatoni’s ridged exterior and wide hollow bore trap the sauce inside each tube, so every bite delivers the full flavor profile at once. The chicken is seasoned simply and seared at high heat to develop fond — the caramelized residue that, once lifted by white wine, becomes the flavor backbone of the entire sauce. Finishing with Parmesan off the heat allows the cheese to melt smoothly without breaking the cream or turning the sauce grainy.

How Much Does It Cost to Make Maggiano’s’s Rigatoni D at Home?

A full batch makes 4 servings for about $9.82 in ingredients — roughly $2.45 per serving. Ordering the equivalent at Maggiano’s runs around $84.00, so making it yourself saves about $74.18 (88%). Those numbers come from current US average grocery prices (US BLS Average Price Data, May 2026), not estimates — the per-ingredient breakdown is in the table above. The savings are this large because you’re buying staple ingredients in bulk instead of paying for a prepared, served dish, and a single batch stretches across many servings.

Why Make It at Home?

Making Rigatoni D at home lets you control the cream-to-tomato ratio to suit your palate, use a block Parmesan you grate yourself rather than the pre-shredded variety, and dial the heat exactly where you want it with red pepper flakes. Beyond the flavor control, the economics are difficult to argue with: four full restaurant-style servings cost roughly the same as one plate at Maggiano’s, and the whole dish comes together in about fifty minutes from a cold pan.

Ingredients for Copycat Maggiano’s Rigatoni D

Here’s the full ingredients list you’ll need to make Maggiano’s Rigatoni D at home:

• 1.5 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast
• 1 lb rigatoni pasta
• 8 oz cremini mushrooms, sliced
• 0.5 cup sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained and roughly chopped
• 14.5 oz crushed San Marzano tomatoes
• 1 each yellow onion, finely diced
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter
• 4 clove garlic cloves, minced
• 3 tbsp olive oil, divided
• 0.5 cup dry white wine such as Pinot Grigio
• 0.5 cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated, plus more for serving
• 0.25 cup fresh basil leaves, torn
• 1 tsp Italian seasoning
• 0.25 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp kosher salt and black pepper to taste

A few ingredient notes:

• Use cremini mushrooms rather than white button mushrooms — they have a deeper, more savory character that stands up to the richness of the cream sauce and does not disappear into the background.
• Sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil are strongly preferred; they are already pliant and seasoned. Drain them well and give them a rough chop so they distribute evenly through the sauce rather than clumping on one side of the pan.
• Heavy cream at 36 percent fat is essential for a sauce that holds together and tastes restaurant-quality. Half-and-half can work in a pinch but will yield a noticeably thinner result that separates more easily when reheated.

How to Make Maggiano’s Rigatoni D at Home

Prep: 15 min · Cook: 35 min · Makes: 4 servings

1. 1. Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil. Cook the rigatoni 2 minutes less than the package directions call for al dente. Before draining, scoop out 1 cup of starchy pasta water and set it aside, then drain and set the pasta aside.
2. 2. Pat the chicken breast dry with paper towels and season generously on both sides with salt, black pepper, and the Italian seasoning. Cut crosswise into 3/4-inch-thick medallions or leave whole if small.
3. 3. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large, deep skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Sear the chicken in a single layer without crowding for 3 to 4 minutes per side until deeply golden and cooked through. Transfer to a plate, tent loosely with foil, and let rest.
4. 4. Reduce the heat to medium. Add the remaining tablespoon of olive oil and the butter to the same pan. Sauté the diced onion for 3 minutes until softened and translucent, then add the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook 1 minute more until fragrant.
5. 5. Add the sliced cremini mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, for 4 to 5 minutes until they have released their moisture and begun to brown at the edges. Stir in the chopped sun-dried tomatoes and cook 1 minute more.
6. 6. Pour in the white wine and scrape up all the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Let the wine reduce by half, about 2 minutes. Add the crushed tomatoes, stir well to combine, and simmer over medium heat for 5 minutes.
7. 7. Reduce the heat to medium-low and stir in the heavy cream. Simmer gently for 5 minutes until the sauce has a smooth blush color and coats the back of a spoon. Slice the rested chicken into bite-size pieces and return it and any accumulated juices to the pan.
8. 8. Add the drained rigatoni and toss to coat, adding pasta water a splash at a time to reach a glossy, flowing consistency. Remove from heat, stir in the grated Parmesan, and scatter the torn basil over the top. Serve immediately with extra Parmesan at the table.

Tips for the Best Results

• Always save pasta water before draining — the starchy liquid is the single best tool for adjusting sauce consistency on the fly without diluting any flavor.
• Let the seared chicken rest for at least 3 minutes before slicing so the juices redistribute into the meat rather than running out onto the cutting board.
• Add the pasta to the sauce while the pan is still over low heat and toss for a full 1 to 2 minutes so the rigatoni absorbs some of the sauce and everything integrates.
• Grate Parmesan directly from a block; the cellulose anti-caking agents in pre-shredded bags prevent the cheese from melting cleanly and leave the sauce with a slightly gritty texture.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Crowding the chicken in the pan — the pieces will steam rather than sear, and you will lose the fond that gives the entire sauce its savory depth.
• Adding the cream while the sauce is still at a full boil — always drop to a gentle simmer first, otherwise the fat separates and the sauce looks broken rather than silky.
• Skipping the pasta water step — the sauce tightens considerably as it sits and pasta water is the cleanest way to bring it back without making it watery.
• Using pre-grated shelf-stable Parmesan from a shaker container — the starch coating prevents it from melting into the sauce and the flavor is a fraction of freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Variations to Try

• Swap the chicken for 1 pound of large shrimp, seasoned the same way and added directly to the finished sauce for the last 3 to 4 minutes of cooking until just pink through.
• For a vegetarian version, omit the chicken entirely, double the mushrooms to 1 pound, and stir in two large handfuls of baby spinach at the very end — it wilts in seconds and adds body and color.
• Add 2 ounces of diced pancetta to the pan after step 4 and let it render for 2 minutes before adding the mushrooms; the cured pork fat adds a smoky, salty undertone that deepens the whole sauce.

Storage & Reheating

Leftovers keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. The pasta will absorb additional sauce as it sits, so reheat gently in a skillet over medium-low heat with a splash of chicken broth or water to loosen things up, stirring frequently. Avoid blasting it in the microwave on high power, which causes the cream component to separate into an oily layer; a lower power level with a damp paper towel over the bowl works if the stovetop is not an option. This dish does not freeze well — the cream sauce breaks on thawing and the pasta turns soft.

What to Serve It With

Rigatoni D is a complete meal on its own, but a crisp Caesar salad and a basket of warm crusty bread to soak up the sauce round it into a proper sit-down dinner. A glass of the same dry Pinot Grigio used in the sauce is the natural pairing — the wine’s bright acidity cuts through the cream beautifully. If you want to recreate the full Maggiano’s experience, start the meal with a simple chopped salad dressed in house Italian and follow up with a slice of lemon cream cake.

The Bottom Line

Maggiano’s’s Rigatoni D is one of those dishes that feels like it should be hard to make and expensive to buy — but at home it’s neither. For about $9.82 in everyday ingredients you get 4 servings, fresh and warm, for roughly 88% less than ordering out. Make it once and it’ll join the short list of recipes you reach for without thinking. Bookmark this one, grab the ingredients, and keep an eye on CopyKitchen for more copycat favorites with the real cost to make them at home.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does the D in Rigatoni D stand for?

The D is widely believed to refer to a loyal longtime Maggiano’s guest whose devotion to a particular combination of ingredients inspired the kitchen to formalize the dish as a menu item. Maggiano’s has never officially confirmed the full story or the guest’s name, which has only added to the dish’s mystique and made it a frequent topic of speculation among regulars.

Can I use a different pasta shape if I cannot find rigatoni?

Penne rigate is the closest substitute and performs nearly as well because it also has ridges and hollow tubes that hold onto the thick sauce. Farfalle and fusilli are workable alternatives. Long pasta like spaghetti or fettuccine is not recommended — the sauce behaves differently on strands than on short tubular shapes and the dish loses its characteristic heartiness.

What can I substitute for the white wine?

Replace the white wine with an equal volume of low-sodium chicken broth plus one teaspoon of fresh lemon juice to approximate the acidity. A splash of white wine vinegar diluted in broth also works well. Avoid red wine entirely — it will tint the sauce an unappetizing brownish-purple and the tannins will clash with the cream.

How do I keep the cream sauce from breaking or curdling?

The two most reliable causes of a broken cream sauce are excessive heat and adding cold cream to a very hot pan. Keep the heat at medium-low once the cream goes in, give it a gentle stir, and let it come up to temperature gradually rather than cranking the burner. If the sauce does look greasy or grainy, whisk a tablespoon of warm pasta water into it vigorously over the lowest heat setting — this often brings it back together.

Is this dish spicy?

In its standard form Rigatoni D has only a faint warmth from a small amount of red pepper flakes and would not register as spicy to most palates. You can omit the flakes entirely for a dish suitable for very heat-sensitive guests, or increase the quantity to a half-teaspoon or more if you prefer a noticeable kick behind the richness of the cream sauce.

Can I make the sauce ahead of time for a dinner party?

Yes, the sauce without the pasta can be prepared up to two days in advance and refrigerated. Reheat it gently over medium-low heat, stirring in a splash of broth or cream to restore its original consistency, then cook fresh pasta and add it just before serving. This strategy reduces active cooking time on the day of the event to roughly twelve minutes and allows the sauce flavors to deepen slightly overnight.

Cost figures use US BLS Average Price Data (US city average) and are estimates for comparison; your local grocery prices and Maggiano’s’s current menu price will vary. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. CopyKitchen is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Maggiano’s or any brand mentioned; this is an independent, homemade copycat recipe, and all trademarks are the property of their respective owners.