I LOVE this pasta with Vodka Sauce Recipe so much! It takes less than 30 minutes to whip up, with just a handful of basic ingredients! It’s a favorite in my household and on regular dinner rotation! It’s the best dinner to whip up on busy weeknights, when you want to get a delicious dinner on the table with minimal effort.
What Does Vodka Sauce Taste Like?
Our homemade vodka sauce has a bright, creamy, slightly acidic and subtly peppery flavor.
Purpose of Vodka in Vodka Sauce
The vodka helps to balance out the tomato paste and heavy cream in the sauce. It creates a subtle, peppery heat and almost herbaceous brightness to the sauce.
How to Make Our Vodka Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
Process
- First cook pasta in a large pot of well salted water to al dente doneness.
- Drain pasta, reserving some of the pasta water. You’ll add this to the sauce.
- Place a skillet over medium heat and sauté shallots and garlic in some oil.
- Add tomato paste and stir together. You want the tomato paste to turn a deep red color.
- Deglaze pan with vodka and stir together for a few minutes.
- Stir in reserved pasta water and simmer sauce. Season with salt and pepper.
- Stir in cream and simmer for a few minutes.
- Stir in grated Parmesan and butter until sauce is smooth and slightly thickened.
- Add cooked pasta and toss together until well coated.
- Top with more Parmesan and serve!
Tools You Will Need
The Best Pasta to Pair with Our Vodka Sauce
Shaped Pasta
I like using a shaped pasta for this dish, specifically rotini, because I like how the small spirals pick up the sauce so well. Other great options are:
- penne
- bow tie
- cavatappi
- gemelli
- campanelle
- radiatori
Strand Pasta
If shaped pastas aren’t your favorite, I highly recommend fusilli col buco which is a great strand pasta that also picks up the sauce really well! Other great options are:
- bucatini
- mafalda
- tagliatelle
- capellini
- linguine
Make Ahead and Freezing Instructions
Make Ahead
The pasta can be cooked and stored in an airtight container up to 3 days ahead of time. The sauce can be made up to 5 days ahead of time and also stored in an airtight container (separate from the sauce) until ready to use.
When ready to serve, pour sauce into a large saucepan and simmer over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until heated through, about 10 minutes. Stir pasta into sauce and continue to simmer for an additional 5 minutes until pasta has heated through. Serve.
Freezing
The pasta can be made, stored in an airtight container and frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw completely in refrigerator and stir into heated sauce until completely heated through.
To freeze sauce ahead of time, make sauce until it’s time to add cream. Cool completely, then store partially made sauce in an airtight container for up to 3 months. When ready to serve, thaw sauce in refrigerator. Heat sauce in a saucepan until heated through, then stir in cream and simmer. Adjust seasonings before adding pasta and tossing together. Simmer until heated through and serve.
Variations for Our Vodka Sauce
- Get veggies into the sauce! Some of our favorites are spinach, kale, broccoli, and asparagus.
- Add protein! Precooked shredded or chopped chicken is one of our favorite things to add to the sauce.
- Garbanzo or white beans can also be added for a vegetarian friendly protein.
- Add herbs! I love adding some torn basil or thinly sliced chives to the sauce to change things up.
- Add heat by stirring some crushed red pepper flakes into the dish.
- Make a vodka free option! That’s right this sauce can be made sans alcohol. Water with a squeeze of lemon juice can replace the vodka. It won’t give you quite the same peppery flavor, but it will help to bring out the acidity in the tomato paste.
More Pasta Recipes You Will Love
- Capellini with Garlic, Lemon and Parmesan
- One Pot Fettuccine Alfredo
- Cacio e Pepe
- Cajun Shrimp Pasta
- Bolognese Sauce
Want a yummy salad to pair with our vodka sauce recipe? We’ve got you covered:
Check out our Vodka Sauce Google Web Story.
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The Best Vodka Sauce Recipe
INGREDIENTS
- 8 oz dry rotini (or pasta shape of choice)
vodka sauce
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 large shallot minced
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- ⅔ cup tomato paste
- 3 tbsp vodka
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- ½ cup freshly grated Parmesan
- salt and pepper to taste
INSTRUCTIONS
- Fill a large pot with water, place over high heat and bring to a boil. Add a small handful salt to water and add pasta.
- Cook pasta, stirring occasionally, until al dente, 6 to 8 minutes.
- Drain pasta, reserving 1/2 cup pasta water, and set both aside.
- Place a large skillet over medium heat. Once skillet is hot add oil and sauté shallots and garlic for 3 to 4 minutes, or until aromatics begin to slightly caramelize.
- Add tomato paste and stir together. Continue to stir until paste turns bright red,2 to 3 minutes.
- Deglaze skillet with vodka and stir together until vodka evaporates. Add reserved pasta water to skillet and stir together until smooth, about 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper.
- Stir cream into sauce until mixture is smooth. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer together, about 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in butter and Parmesan and continue to simmer until sauce is smooth, glossy and has thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 3 minutes.
- Add cooked pasta to sauce and toss together until fully coated. Season with salt and pepper.
- Serve with more grated Parmesan and black pepper.
NOTES
- The pasta can be cooked and stored in an airtight container up to 3 days. The sauce can be made up to 5 days ahead of time and also stored in an airtight container (separate from the sauce) until ready to use.
When ready to serve, pour sauce into a large saucepan and simmer over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until heated through, about 10 minutes. Stir pasta into sauce and continue to simmer for an additional 5 minutes until pasta has heated through. Serve.
- The pasta can be made, stored in an airtight container and frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw completely in refrigerator and stir into heated sauce until completely heated through.
To freeze sauce ahead of time, make sauce until it’s time to add cream. Cool completely, then store partially made sauce in an airtight container for up to 3 months. When ready to serve, thaw sauce in refrigerator. Heat sauce in a saucepan until heated through, then stir in cream and simmer. Adjust seasonings before adding pasta and tossing together. Simmer until heated through and serve.
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Thank you guys for posting this recipe. I’m looking forward to making it. I’m actually tripling the recipe because we’re having extended family over. In tripling it, do I need to triple the amount of pasta water I add in (in step three) or do I just need to go by consistency? Thanks!
Just by consistency! Hope you enjoy!
We made this for dinner last night with store bought lobster ravioli. The technique is spot on. We used Cento tomato paste and cooked the sauce in an enamel cast iron pot. I pulled half of the sauce after adding the pasta water since it is just two of us. The pasta water is needed even with ravioli being transferred with a slotted spoon. When I am draining pasta I set a heat proof measuring cup beside the colander and fill it as I start to pour the pasta into the colander. I can see some left over roisterer chicken and peas in with penne in vodka sauce in the next few days.
Can I use cooking cream instead of heavy cream for this recipe?
Yes, that will work here!
thanks so much for the homemade vodka sauce recipe–just what I was looking for! Since I had extra time, I added Sindoni sausage, ricotta, minced carrots (adds a bit of sweetness a la bolognese) and mozzarella and cooked the whole thing in a cast iron skillet which I baked in the oven for 30 minutes. The sauce makes the whole dish. I will be posting some pics tonight on instagram: @katskillny. Thank you for sharing!
I will definitely try this on the weekend, this looks soo yummy! Thank you for sharing!
How much water do you reserve? It just says some
Tim, in the actual recipe at the end of page it states in instruction #3 to reserve 1/2 cup.
Made this tonight to put on top of homemade gnocchi and it was perfect – i’ll never buy vodka sauce from a jar again in my life. easy directions to follow and simple ingredients to find as well.
My husband does not like cheese but I would like to make this sauce. What do you recommend subbing for the Parmesan to enhance the flavor?
You can use a little bit of nutritional yeast stirred into the sauce or just omit it. The sauce is still flavorful and delicious without it!
Incredible recipe!
Wow! I never knew vodka sauce was this fast and easy to make. I doubled the recipe for leftovers, but every single family member had seconds so we ended up eating it all for dinner! This is definitely going on our regular dinner rotation!
Made this the other night. It’s deceptively fast, easy and delicious. I didn’t have all the ingredients on hand, but it’s also substitute friendly, I feel. I had no vodka (criminal surely) but used white wine vinegar instead. Served with some garlic basil toasted bread crumbs and basil chiffonade. It will definitely be going into my rotation for at least once a year. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
I have tried this amazing vodka sauce recipe and i found this recipe really an amazing recipe. I really like this vodka sauce recipe. Even i have a special vodka sauce recipe as well.
Loved it! Going into rotation now!
Whoa, this is so easy! Who knew?? My picky teens scarfed this entire meal down! Thanks!!
This was delicious! No leftovers here! I added shrimp, baby spinach, and mushrooms to it. Family (2 teen boys and a husband) approved.
I have a question. Under your nutritional facts you have down 861 calories for a serving of 1 gram. 1 gram is 28.35 ounces. So does that mean that there is 861 calories for an ounce of this recipe? That doesn’t make sense. That has to be a typo.
Hi! Yes, that’s a typo for sure! The 861 calories is for 1 serving for the entire recipe (which is 3 servings). The info has been updated! Thanks for pointing that out!
Love this one!
Delicious and no fuss recipe
This is a great recipe. One to print and keep in the recipe box.
Great flavorful dish. My family enjoyed this easy to make dish for dinner.
I love vodka sauce so of course I made your’s and it is divine!
I love love love this recipe! It is the best vodka sauce!
I made this and love putting over chicken
thank you, have had a vodka sauce before, loved it but didn’t remember the recipe or even the sauce, so thank you for both! And for zucchini pasta for me if you don’t mind