15-minute Vodka Sauce
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5.0
9 reviews
Excellent
15-minute Vodka Sauce
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Vodka sauce is a restaurant favorite that is so, so easy to make at home. You just need a handful of ingredients and 15 minutes to make this ultra rich and creamy pasta sauce.
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Ingredients
- 8 ounces penne or rigatoni pasta
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon (14g) butter
- 4 cloves garlic pressed or minced
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes optional
- ¼ cup (66g) tomato paste
- ¼ cup vodka
- 1 cup heavy cream
- salt
- grated parmesan optional for topping
- fresh basil optional for topping
Instructions
- Bring a medium pot of generously salted water to boil for the pasta. Once boiling, add pasta and cook until al dente.
- While your pasta is boiling, in a large pot, heat olive oil and butter over medium heat. Once the butter is melted, add garlic and red pepper flakes. Cook until the garlic begins to turn golden and aromatic, about 1 minutes.
- Add tomato paste and cook, stirring often, until paste darkens in color and begins to caramelize on the bottom of the pan, 3 to 5 minutes.
- Turn heat to low and switch to a heat resistant whisk. Carefully add the vodka (the sauce will sizzle and pop aggressively for a few seconds). Whisk, scraping any cooked-on bits from the bottom of the pan, until the vodka is incorporated into the sauce.
- Whisk in heavy cream. Bring the sauce up to just barely a simmer, and let it cook, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes. Do not allow it to come to a full boil.
- When the pasta is nearly done, use a heat-proof measuring cup to scoop out ¼ cup of the cooking water and whisk it into your sauce. Taste the sauce and add salt as needed.
- Once the pasta is al dente, scoop out and reserve another ¼ cup of the cooking water. Drain pasta or use a spider skimmer to scoop pasta out of the water and add pasta to the sauce. Stir to combine.
- The sauce will seem a little thin at first. Allow it to sit for about 5 minutes to thicken. If the sauce gets too thick, stir a bit more of the reserved pasta water into the sauce.
- Serve topped with grated Parmesan and basil if desired and enjoy!
Notes
- This recipe is written to make 2-ounce servings of pasta. If you want to make big restaurant-sized portions, you’ll want to double the recipe. To change the recipe yield, in the recipe card, hover over the servings or click if you’re on mobile and slide the slider.
- Recommended sides: With a sauce this rich, serve it with something simple like a green salad or roasted or steamed veggies. And don't forget a slice of garlic bread!
- Reheating: Vodka sauce does not reheat particularly well once it's been mixed with pasta. It tends to separate and become oily when reheated. If you know you're not going to eat a full pot of pasta, make only half of the pasta and mix it with half of the sauce.
- Store the remaining sauce in the refrigerator and reheat and toss with freshly made pasta when you're ready for leftovers.
- Reheating II: If you do happen to end up with leftover pasta that's been tossed with sauce, you can improve the texture of the reheated sauce by adding a generous splash of heavy cream while reheating.
- Freezing: I do not recommend freezing this sauce with or without pasta.
Nutrition Information
Show Details
Calories
567kcal
(28%)
Nutrition Facts
Serving: 3to 4 servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories 567 kcal
% Daily Value*
| Calories | 567kcal | 28% |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
Genuine Reviews
User Reviews
Overall Rating
5.0
9 reviews
Excellent
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