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
Want a yummy salad to pair with our vodka sauce recipe? We’ve got you covered:
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
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. Freeze Ahead: 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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very good
This was an amazing recipe. I used penne. I followed the recipe exactly except added crushed red pepper to the sauce my husband and I both loved it It’s a keeper for sure! Quick and easy too
Gosh, how I wanted to love this recipe. The vodka taste was way too strong for me and other than that, there wasn’t much flavor to the recipe as it was. I really had to doctor it up. I added more parm than asked for, added a little bit of smoked paprika, a lot of salt, a bit of anchovy paste for umami, red pepper flakes, and a heaping tablespoon of harissa. I also had to add a little bit of baking soda to take away the acid of so much tomato paste (I made this recipe for 15). I just couldn’t get it to taste right with the recipe written as it. I don’t know … maybe scaling it did something. But the vodka taste. Not enough time to cook off the alcohol.
I’ve tried to make vodka sauce before with no luck. Your recipe was *chef’s kiss* thank you! Paired with spooky Halloween pasta, sausage, bell peppers, and garlic knots for a Halloween week meal.
This recipe is so easy to follow and never misses! This is the best vodka sauce (even better than many restaurant quality ones I’ve tried). An absolute staple for when you’re craving a cozy home cooked meal. It pairs even better when you make it with homemade pasta.
Make it for my swimmer before all her big events. Making for her HS swim team tomorrow. About 30 hungry girls. Making sauce tonight. Read all your notes to just store in air tight containers and then heat and combine next day.
QUESTION: would I want to wait and do the butter and Parmesan the next day as I’m heating up the sauce?
Thank you
Hi! If you have a bit of time i recommend adding the butter and parm before serving (for best results), but if you’re short on time you can add them when making the sauce. Just make sure to heat the sauce back up at a simmer and to frequently stir to prevent the sauce from breaking and burning on the bottom. Enjoy!
How much pasta water should I use? All of it?
It was on this day, September 27th of 2025 that Jenny Park saved my life. I’ve never been a fan of red sauce and the first time I had vokda sauce, I realized why people like tomatoes. I’ve been craving a good vodka pasta but don’t have the time or energy to go out to eat. So, I was stuck craving a pasta that I knew I wasn’t going to get and I decided to look it up because how hard could it be? I’m not a cook by any means and I’m dang sure not a chef but this was simple to prep & make. And the taste? I was proud of myself. This isn’t my reciepe but I was enjoying it and calling myself amazing like I dreampt the entire thing. Truly the dinner of my dreams, thank you for making my evening better, Jenny <3
useless, no measurements hard to read, even if it made the best sauce in the world you wouldn’t be able to get it from this shoddy excuse for a recipe.
Oh Helen. It looks like you didn’t scroll down to the actual recipe or take advantage of the “jump to recipe” buttons we’ve laid out throughout the entire post, before calling this great and simple recipe “useless”
In freezing the sauce you indicate to freeze before adding the cream. Do you also omit the Parmesan and butter and add all three after defrosting. Plan to use with some potato gnocchi. Thanks!
Hi Fredric! Yes, i would add all three once you thaw the sauce. You technically could add the dairy and freeze with good results, but the sauce may break when reheating.
This recipe moved into my top 3 recipes. Creamy. Lovely. Make me so excited to eat. Culinary delight. We are already planning the next vodka sauce night.
After reading reviews I’m excited to try this out! Quick question tho… can I substitute the shallot with onion and the heavy cream with half n half or will it alter the consistency and taste too much?
I just canned 14 quarts of this for my pantry. I added red bell peppers and roasted all of the veggies before imulsifying them to add to the tomatoes. This will now be a forever recipe. Thank you.
I have to tell you that I’ve been looking for a vodka sauce recipe for a couple of years. I used to go to a restaurant that had excellent vodka sauce with another half dozen of my friends. We all ordered the vodka rigatoni with and without sausage crumbles I like it without. The restaurant was sold and they changed the recipe and we stopped going. After about 6 tries of online recipes I was ready to give up but decided to try yours. I need to thank you so much for recreating the great vodka sauce that I love. I make a triple batch and freeze portions. It’s fantastic! The only thing I added was the red pepper flakes that were in the restaurants vodka sauce. I researched online and found that some recipes call for it and some don’t. For me it’s an integral part of the sauce. Again, thank you for the best vodka sauce recipe I have found. Perfection! I’ve made about 6 batches so far. Thanks, Ken
Delicious. Absolute must try:
I have been using this recipe for a little bit. I’m going to add pancetta and peas today and instead of Parmesan I’m going to use pecorini Romano :-) this is the easiest and best vodka sauce recipe I have tried, compared to others
I don’t often write reviews but I had to make an exception for this one. Wow! I love vodka sauce and have had my fair share of great ones but this was easily the best recipe I’ve done. Thank you so much for sharing, highly recommend giving it a try!
Yep, this is it, no need to scroll around for other recipes. Perfect vodka sauce.
Excellent recipe! Simple to make with ingredients I usually have in the pantry. This is now my go-to pasta sauce recipe.
Hi. Having a crowd tomorrow. Making 20 servings. How can I make ahead so I can put on stern trays in the afternoon without cooking it again.
Hi Jerri! I recommend keeping the pasta + sauce separate until you’re ready to serve. I would also save extra pasta water. While reheating sauce (add sauce to stern trays first), stir in extra pasta water as needed if sauce is too thick. Once warm gently fold in pasta until fully coated and warmed.
Okay this is actually the very best vodka sauce. I’m so impressed!! Added pasta water when serving!!
Delicious and easy! Thank you!
I always go for the reviews when making something new in my home and this one was a home run hit!!! I mixed in crab meat, shrimp, and scallops. To say this was delicious would be a major understatement!!! This is definitely a keeper for us!
I’m going to make this for 12 people (instead of paying $100 for a full catering tray!) for a bday party I’m hosting. Do you think some finely diced pancetta would be good in this vodka sauce?
Hi! I think pancetta sounds delicious in the vodka sauce! I would just limit the amount of salt you add to the sauce, since pancetta itself is pretty salty.
Holy mother of pearl what did I just make??? This sauce is INSANE and so freaking simple. Can I give it 10 stars?? I can’t get over how incredible this is. I literally wanted to just dip crusty bread in it and go to town. I omitted the vodka and added mild Italian sausage. Thank you for this!