This penne alla vodka is tender penne pasta tossed in a rich and delicious tomato, vodka and cream sauce. Add a sprinkling of parmesan cheese and you’ll have a restaurant quality meal in the comfort of your own home.
I always order penne alla vodka at my local Italian restaurant. That creamy and flavorful sauce just can’t be beat! Luckily it’s super easy to make penne alla vodka – in 30 minutes you’ll have an amazing dinner on the table. Try this dish with some grilled chicken or grilled shrimp for added protein!
Penne alla vodka is one of those simple recipes that has minimal ingredients but is just so delicious and satisfying. My homemade version tastes just like the dish I get at our local Italian restaurant. The key to amazing penne alla vodka is to get the best quality ingredients that you can afford.
How do you make penne alla vodka?
The first step is to put your pasta up to boil, and while the pasta is cooking it’s time to make the sauce. I use penne pasta since that’s the traditional shape for this dish, but you can use other short pastas in a pinch such as rigatoni, rotini or cavatappi.
The vodka sauce starts with sauteed garlic, butter and tomato puree. I use canned San Marzano tomatoes in this recipe. They’re a type of Italian plum tomato and they have the best flavor of any type of canned tomato. If you can’t find a can of San Marzano tomatoes, use Italian style whole canned tomatoes instead. It’s definitely worth the extra money for the San Marzano variety.
Does vodka sauce have vodka in it?
Yes, vodka sauce does in fact contain vodka which is how it gets its name! The vodka adds a unique flavor to this dish, but it simmers for long enough that the alcohol boils off so there’s no danger of getting intoxicated from eating pasta!
Vodka sauce is enhanced with some heavy cream and plenty of parmesan cheese. Do not use the green can of parmesan cheese for this dish. Look for a high quality grated or shaved parmesan, or buy a block of it and grate it yourself.
The last step is to mix your pasta with the sauce, add some garnishes, then eat! I add more grated parmesan, crushed red pepper flakes and parsley to the top of my penne alla vodka. If you’re not a fan of spicy food, you can easily leave off the pepper flakes. The parsley adds great flavor and color, but fresh basil would also be a great choice.
Tips for penne alla vodka
- Make sure you let the sauce simmer for long enough so that the alcohol will cook off. If you don’t cook the sauce for long enough, you may end up with a harsh aftertaste from the alcohol.
- This dish is great as is, but you can add in other ingredients to make it your own such as Italian sausage, meatballs, zucchini, mushrooms or olives.
- You can make this sauce a day before you plan to use it. Simply reheat it on the stove while your pasta cooks, then toss everything together and serve.
This vodka sauce is so good that sometimes I skip the penne altogether and use ravioli or tortellini instead. You could even use this sauce in a lasagna but a fun twist on an old classic.
When you’re in the mood for Italian food, definitely give this penne alla vodka a try. You’ll be surprised at how authentic (and delicious) it is!
More great pasta recipes
- Cajun Chicken Pasta
- Chicken Pesto Pasta
- Cheeseburger Pasta
- Chicken Parmesan Pasta
- Sausage and Pepper Pasta
Penne alla Vodka
Ingredients
- 16 ounces penne pasta
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 teaspoons garlic
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes plus more for garnish if desired
- 28 ounce can Italian style or San Marzano whole tomatoes
- 1/4 cup vodka
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese plus more for serving
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
Instructions
- Cook the pasta in salted boiling water according to package directions.
- While the pasta is cooking, prepare the sauce.
- Melt the butter in a large pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook for 30 seconds.
- Place the tomatoes in a blender or food processor and puree until smooth. Pour the tomato puree into the pan.
- Add the vodka to the pan. Simmer the sauce for 10 minutes over medium low heat.
- Stir in the heavy cream and parmesan cheese and simmer for another 5 minutes or until thickened. Season the sauce with salt and pepper to taste.
- Pour the sauce over the pasta and toss to coat. Sprinkle with parsley, parmesan cheese and red pepper flakes (optional), then serve.
Samantha says
This was amazing. I added some Italian Chicken Sausage and it was so good. Thanks for sharing.
Sheryl Carll says
I would like to make this ahead of a dinner party and reheat when needed. Do I need to change anything when making it, i.e. cooking time for the pasta? What is the best way to reheat?
Sara says
I’d recommend making extra sauce, then stirring the extra sauce in when you reheat as the pasta will continue to absorb the sauce as it sits in the fridge and could end up dry otherwise.
Sarah says
Do you think this would work well with olive oil instead of the butter?
Sara says
I think it would work but I haven’t tested it that way myself!
Ana says
Thank you for sharing..family loved it and had ask that I make it from now on
Janet says
Easy recipe to make! My family loved it! I used 28 oz can of tomato sauce and it was perfect!
Carole says
This recipe worked out great for my family of 6, with a bit leftover! I also added 2 chicken breasts cubes into bite size pieces and cooked that in the sauce. It was delicious. I used plain whole plum tomatoes. This will be a staple, and as my husband said, “this is a legit sauce”.
Carol says
Can I freeze the sauce?
Sara says
That should be fine!
Yehudis says
This was absolutely delicious! I’m saving it to add to my regular rotation. Thank you!!
Nicole says
This turned out ridiculously good. I dont think the tomatoes I used were the italian ones. I put it over gluten free pasta. Thanks! I found a new favorite.
Lexi says
I couldn’t find Italian style or San maranzo tomatoes. Will plain crushed tomatoes work?
Sara says
Yes that’s fine!
Ruth says
What should I do if I made the recipe with tomato paste instead and the sauce is too bitter?
Sara says
You could try adding a little sugar to offset the flavors.
Dani says
This recipe was absolutely DELICIOUS! I must say I’m usually skeptical about trying recipes I find online but this one truly came out well. My family kept coming back for more! J only deviated a bit by letting the sauce simmer with the vodka for an extra 4 minutes so there wasn’t as strong of an after taste and I also added mushrooms and spinach. As soon as I was finished eating I forwarded this recipe to all my friends. Highly recommended!
Christine says
Can I use whole wheat pasta?
Sara says
Yes that’s fine!
Melanie says
This was so easy and so so delicious!!
Only thing i did different was adding chopped ham when i fried off the garlic etc (cos my husband whinges if theres no meat in a dish :/ ), and stirred through baby rocket leaves (arugula), at the end. Perfecto!
Vianna says
I have been craving a delicious penne a la vodka made by a local restaurant here, however everything is shut down at the moment due to the pandemic. On the bright side, this has left me with plenty of time to try my hand at cooking – and believe me I am no cook. I found this recipe and it looked simple yet promising. Though I did make quite a mess in my kitchen, it was totally worth it because this recipe was right on par with my local restaurant’s, if not better because I made it myself. I did add just a little bit of sugar to cut the acidity, but no more than maybe 1/2 teaspoon. Otherwise I followed the recipe to the T.
This recipe made a lot of sauce and since I don’t typically like a lot of sauce on my pasta, I put what I didn’t use in a container and froze it to reheat for another time. I look forward to all the leftovers I’ll be eating in the near future and will save this recipe for an easy delicious dinner to impress. Thanks!
Darlene says
This was a delicious, quick, easy meal! My family loved it and gave it a 9, which is good for my picky palates. I added prosciutto, but otherwise followed the recipe including freshly grating my own cheese. I will definitely make it again at the request of my son.
nitrous says
I went with parmigiano reggiano, freshly grated and immersion blended before adding the cream.
seemed to need a little garlic/onion powder….. Tasted delicious.
On thing that a nice touch…. a bit of freshly fried chicken breast. Seared quickly and then covered on low to make sure the center was perfectly cooked but moist!
Thanks for sharing
Doug
Jennifer says
I used tomato sauce because I wanted a very smooth sauce. I used fresh Romano cheese. I also added some basil puree. It was amazing! Followed everything else to the T. Highly recommend! Thank you for the recipe!
Sophia says
Pretty good and an easy recipe. I skipped the pureeing the tomatoes and just used tomato sauce instead and it turn out great. A fast and easy lunch.
Nurseshy says
It was delicious! I added a little bit of sugar and it balanced the flavor more. Thanks for the recipe!
Gates says
Wow!!!! I’m obsessed. Just made this recipe, and I added shallot before the garlic and probably more parmesean than the normal human. But I was so happy with the results! Oh, I also made it with tortellini instead of penne, and we paired it with a Sauvignon blanc. Just fabulous ❤️
Erica says
I have been wanting to make this for ages! I followed all the tips to try get the smoothest sauce, however, it was still a little grainy. I think I need to invest in a food mill to get the tomatoes smoother! It still tasted great. Never had this before in a restaurant, so granted, I’m unsure what it’s supposed to taste like, but I found it fabulous! I did add a little sugar just before taking off the heat, as I couldn’t get the San Marzano tomatoes. It did the trick to balance out the acidity! Thank you for sharing Sara! 😊
Doug says
get an immersion blender. puree the tomatoes first and put through a sieve after blending. Also, consider adding a little cooked bacon and a shallot. makes a difference.
this is surprisingly simple for what it gives you in taste. If your tomatoes are a bit acidic, add some sugar. If you are fat conscious, use 3.5% homogenized milk. I don’t think you’ll notice the difference.
Thanks for sharing this.
Doug
Ericka from TX says
I have yet to find anything that works as well as a Vitamix. if you cook a lot its a solid investment that you will find yourself using more and more. Its also has a lifetime guarantee if you even had an issue.
Elissa says
Made this for Christmas and it was delicious and simple. I did have the same graininess after I added the Parmesan like one of the other comments. I ended up straining it through mesh to remove the unmelted parm and it ended up perfect, but because the above commenter didn’t respond- I used Bel Gioso parm. I guess it was more shredded than grated but I thought it was better quality than my grated Kraft. Should I have just used the grated Kraft or something like that? Thanks for this great recipe.
Sara says
So glad you enjoyed it! I recommend buying a wedge of parmesan cheese and grating it yourself for this recipe, kraft would not be a good choice because it’s not very flavorful!
Ally says
It also helps to have the sauce at a higher temp before adding the cheese and then letting it sit at that temp until all of the cheese is melted. Otherwise, the sauce will cool as you add the cheese and leave you gritty.