Vodka Sauce Recipe
Now you can make this popular creamy pink vodka sauce right at home! Incredibly easy lightened-up recipe with olive oil, tomatoes, half and half, and fresh basil.
Love vodka sauce? Try our Vegan Vodka Sauce recipe.
Cooking dinner together with my hubs is one of my all-time favorite things. Sunday night is normally our go to night…and my hubby is the opposite of me.
He cooks on a whim. Throws things together as he owns it and it always turns out delicious.
This past weekend he made a classic Russian dish…borscht while I made homemade vodka sauce. It felt like a mini date in the comfort of our cozy kitchen.
And since it is Valentine’s Day…I hope you guys are staying in and cooking together. Because of crowds, cold, and overpriced pre-fixed menus…I mean we can do better than that?! Right?
This homemade creamy pink vodka sauce is the perfect recipe for date night in! It’s really simple to make and I promise you’ll never go back to jarred sauce ever again.
It tastes like restaurant quality but without the heavy price tag. Pair it with hot buttery penne pasta and an Avocado Caesar Salad and you’ve got yourself effortless Valentine’s dinner.
There’s so many different versions of vodka sauce recipes but the base is tomatoes, vodka, and heavy cream. Some include butter, parmesan cheese, and fresh herbs. If you’re concerned about the taste of vodka…don’t be!
You can’t taste the harshness of the vodka, it is simply here to enhance the flavors. It adds a touch of heat to help balance out the sweetness of the tomatoes and the cream.
Is it necessary??…well no….but then it wouldn’t be a vodka sauce.
To make this recipe a little lighter, I used olive oil in place of butter, half and half in place of heavy cream, a fraction of the cheese, and also plenty of fresh basil.
Basil adds just the right amount of fresh flavor and half and half along with parmesan cheese all the creaminess.
This sauce is a combo of the sweet-spicy mixture and when you pair it with hot buttery penne pasta…it’s a match made in heaven! All you need is a simple salad, such as Tomato Mozzarella Salad and you’re set!
Ways To Serve Vodka Sauce
One of my personal favorite ways to serve vodka sauce is simply swapping it in some of our favorite recipes where it calls for a pasta sauce. It’s a great way to add flavor without compromising the overall recipe.
- Orecchiette with Baked Mini Chicken Meatballs in Tomato Cream Sauce
- Italian Zucchini Spaghetti Bake
- Zucchini Lasagna Roll-Ups with Spinach and Artichokes
- Sheet Pan Chicken Parmesan Meatballs
But of course, you can always simply toss the vodka sauce with hot buttery noodles, pair it with a salad and call it a day. Here are some of our favorite salads to pair with pasta:
Video: How to Make Vodka Sauce Recipe
Love vodka sauce? Try our Penne Vodka Sauce recipe, which is an easy and quick version of this popular pasta sauce.
More Favorites from Little Broken
PrintVodka Sauce Recipe
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 40 mins
- Total Time: 55 mins
- Yield: 8 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Blend
- Cuisine: Italian
Description
Now you can make this popular creamy pink vodka sauce right at home! Incredibly easy lightened-up recipe with olive oil, tomatoes, half and half, and fresh basil.
Ingredients
- 3 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 medium sweet onion, chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
- 28 oz. can whole peeled tomatoes
- 1/3 cup vodka
- 1 Tbsp. tomato paste
- 1 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
- 1 tsp. kosher salt
- 1/4 cup fresh chopped basil
- 1/2 – 3/4 cup half and half
- 2 Tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese
- 16 oz. penne pasta
- Fresh black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- In a large sauté pan, heat olive oil over medium heat; add onions and garlic and cook until soft, about 3-4 minutes. Add red pepper flakes and cook for 1 minute.
- Stir in tomatoes and vodka and continue cooking the mixture for 5-7 minutes until slightly reduced, stirring occasionally.
- Then stir in the tomato paste, balsamic vinegar, salt, and black pepper to taste. Reduce heat to low and simmer partially covered for 20 minutes until reduced by half, stirring occasionally.
- In the meantime, cook pasta in salted water according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
- Transfer tomato mixture to a food processor or blender, add basil, and purée until smooth. Return sauce to the pan and stir in half and half. You want creamy and slightly sweet consistency. Start with 1/2 cup of half and half, taste, and add more if needed. Cook until warmed through, about 2-3 minutes. Stir in parmesan cheese and then the cooked pasta. Toss to combine.
- Serve immediately with additional sprinkle of cheese and basil, if desired.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/2 cup sauce + 1 1/4 cup cooked pasta
- Calories: 316
- Sugar: 8.2 g
- Sodium: 609.7 mg
- Fat: 9.1 g
- Carbohydrates: 53 g
- Protein: 10.3 g
- Cholesterol: 6.2 mg
Spot on! The only change I made was to use balsamic glaze in place of vinegar. Every one of your recipes I have made has made me look a great cook!! Your hard work is much appreciated!
Thank you so much Connie! That means a lot.
Awesome Recipe, no leftovers!! Thank you
Thank you! So appreciate your feedback.
I made this tonight with the following changes: I used a large can of crushed tomatoes, doubled the red pepper flakes, and used close to 1 cup of half-and-half in place of the cream. By dicing the basil finely, I avoided having to use a blender. I used it over an Italian sausage stuffed ravioli and it was amazing.
Love your take on the recipe! Thanks for feedback Tara.
Saturday night dinner is always hectic. After a trip to Costco, your sauce made the five cheese tortellini restaurant quality. Thanks for a great easy to. Prepare sauce.
Thank you Pat! So happy to hear you loved this vodka sauce.
One of my best sauces todate ! Thanks! for the recipe !
Yeay! Thank you.
I made this recipe and it was definitely a hit. As any sauce I like to add my basil at the cooking stages and let it simmer for a good hour and I used my hand held Braun to purée the tomatoes since I like it a bit chunky. Overall an awesome recipe sauce
Thank you Gloria. So glad you enjoyed the recipe.
One of my best sauces todate ! Thanks! for the recipe ! wi
Looks great! Making this with mushroom ravioli this evening. Love the lighter ingredients and the brighter flavors. The traditional version is always a little too rich for my preference. This is my first time visiting your site.
Thank you Diane! I hope you enjoy it.
Question for you Katya.. what else can we use instead of vodka.. I know its small amount we are using but just would like to know can we replace it with something else.. TIA
You can completely leave it out. Vodka adds a touch of heat and a bit of a sharp bite that helps to balance out the sweetness of the tomatoes and the cream. Without the vodka…you’ll just have a creamy tomato sauce basically. Still delicious.
Best vodka recipe I have ever made! Love that it tends more acidic than most vodka sauce recipes (hence the significantly oranger color than most others. Again and again I come back to this recipe. I use the sauce with gnochhi, homemade spinach ricotta ravioli, and in simple pasta meatball dishes paired with beer bread. I do sub in 3 onions, and 12 cloves of garlic, rather than stated but I like things on the overwhelmingly flavorful side.
TLDR: Absolutely delicious
Thank you ! So glad you enjoyed it.
hi there. can i use heavy cream instead of half and half? or do u suggest mixing heavy cream and milk to “make” half and half? can’t wait to try this, this is my favorite dish!!
Hi Julia: you can definitely mix heavy cream with milk or simply use heavy cream in place. I hope you love this recipe!
How well does this sauce store? I’d like to either freeze or refrigerate some for later since it’s just me.
You can easily refrigerate the sauce for 4-5 days. I would be careful with freezing the sauce as the cream can separate when rewarmed. You can freeze the sauce without adding the cream. When reheating, simply add the cream to the sauce.
can this recipe work with fresh peeled tomatoes?
I haven’t tried it but I think it can work. You might just have to tweak the recipe accordingly.
Yes! My son gifted me 10 Roma tomatoes so I substituted them in place of the stewed tomatoes and it was delish!
Perfect better than any vodka sauce that I’ve had at restaurants. Only improvement I would suggest is to include nutritional information. My wife and I loved it.
Thank you so much!
My new favorite pasta sauce!! So easy to make but so good !! Thanks for sharing.
Thank you Luann! I appreciate your feedback.
Can you tell me what the balsamic vinegar does to it. Never put it in but I will if you cant taste the vinegar.
I thought to put my tomatoes and puree in blender before and proceed with recipe. Will that work?
It brings out the sweetness of the tomatoes and you really can’t taste it that much in the sauce. You want to puree the sauce not just the tomatoes in a blender. Hope that answers your question. Thanks!
This looked like a better recipe than most others I saw. thank you. Your star rating is not working on chrome. Literally cannot give it 5 stars
Thank you so much!
If I made this a day in advance would it get to thick? Any suggestions. Made it once and it was delicious!
Hi Ellen: it might thicken up a bit but not to a point where you can not serve it. I would warm it up on the stove-top over medium-low heat and you should be okay.
If I made if Friday night could I leave it on the stove with a lid on it and then reheat it should I refrigerate it!
I would refrigerate it and then reheat it
Any recommendations as to what tier vodka to buy?
I used Absolut vodka. I would just stick to plain, obviously, nothing flavored.
Hi Katya,
Great recipe! I made this for the first time tonight and my family loved it! It was very easy and not too creamy but had lots of flavor. I know we will be making this again sometime soon.
That’s awesome! Thanks so much Pam.
Hi Katya!
I really like your Vodka Sauce Recipe!I was looking for a good recipe and all of them lacked something to be as good as yours. Thank you very much for sharing it!
Thanks so much Elaine!
This is amazing!! We made it for dinner tonight and it was delicious. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you Lisa! So glad you enjoyed it.
This looks amazing! I totally agree, making dinner instead of going out for those pre-fixed menus in the cold is exponentially better. Although, I do love to dine out, but you know, my wallet doesn’t. Love vodka sauce. Thanks so much for sharing, your photos are gorgeous! I definitely will use your recipe as a base recipe for mine tomorrow.
Thanks so much for your sweet words Tiff!
chef ,FRANKIE C, SAYS YOUR SO NICE! HE MARRY YOU ,TICE! MI,AMOR GRAZIE,
Can the vodka sauce be canned?
Hi Rhonda: It’s hard for me to answer as I’ve never tried canning this sauce.
Thank you for responding to my question.
No because of the cream in the sauce. You can make it without the cream, can it and add the cream when reheated
Does the alcohol evaporate out of the sauce leave no alcohol content?
Thanks
Correct.