Make an Italian restaurant-worthy pasta dish EASILY at home in 30 minutes! Pasta is tossed in a tomato-forward sauce that includes red pepper flakes, onions, garlic, spinach, heavy cream for RICHNESS and of course, vodka! A family FAVORITE comfort food classic recipe that's doable for busy weeknights, for entertaining, or for date night at home!
Prep Time15 minutesmins
Cook Time30 minutesmins
Total Time45 minutesmins
Course: Pasta
Cuisine: Italian
Keyword: creamy vodka sauce, easy vodka sauce, pasta with vodka sauce, vodka cream sauce, vodka pasta sauce, vodka sauce pa
Servings: 8
Calories: 233kcal
Author: Averie Sunshine
Ingredients
1poundfettuccine or another pastapenne, rigatoni, etc., cooked according to package directions for al dente
1teaspoonred pepper flakesor to taste (reduce for less spiciness)
1teaspoonfreshly ground black pepper
2tablespoonsolive oil
1small white oniondiced small
1small red chile pepperdiced finely; or to taste*
3 to 4clovesgarlicfinely minced
28ouncescanned petite diced fire-roasted tomatoes**optionally drained for a thicker sauce
¼cupvegetable brothI recommend reduced sodium
¼cuptomato juice or Bloody Mary mix
¼cupvoda
2cupsfresh spinachplus more to taste if desired
¼cupreserved pasta water
⅓cupheavy creamdo not substitute
Saltto taste; optional
Fresh parsleyoptional for serving
Fresh Parmesan cheese or pecorinooptional for serving
Diced fresh tomatoesoptional for serving
Instructions
To a large stockpot, add the water, salt the water according to package directions, and cook the pasta as directed for al dente pasta.
Reserve 1/4 cup pasta water; set aside.
Drain the pasta into a large colander, rinse under cold water to stop the cooking process; set pasta aside.
To a separate, large, dry skillet (Tip - make sure it's sufficiently large, you're making many pounds worth of food), add the red pepper flakes, black pepper, and toast them dry over medium-high heat for about 2 minutes to both release the flavor and temper the heat in the finished dish. Stir frequently.
Add the olive oil, onions, red chile peppers, and sauté over medium-high heat for about 3 to 4 minutes, or until vegetables are beginning to soften. Stir frequently.
Add the garlic and sauté for 1 minute, or until fragrant. Stir constantly.
Add the tomato juice or Bloody Mary mix, broth (water may be substituted), vodka, and cook simmer for about 5 minutes.
Add the spinach (I add more like 3 cups because it wilts down so much and I like the texture it adds), reserved pasta water, and cook for 2 minutes, or until spinach has wilted. Stir frequently, smashing the spinach down into the hot liquid to encourage wilting.
Turn the heat to low, add the heavy cream, and allow the sauce to simmer very gently for about 2 minutes. Tip - DO NOT allow the sauce to come to a fast boil because you risk the cream breaking (the dairy proteins will break, the sauce looks terrible, and you'll have to start over). Just let it simmer very gently. Stir frequently.
Taste the sauce and if you think it needs salt, add some now, to taste. Tips - Make any other necessary seasoning adjustments as well, such as additional black pepper, red pepper flakes, garlic powder, whatever you think it needs based on your preferences.
Add the cooked pasta into the sauce (this is why you need a big skillet) and toss well to coat it evenly.
Cover the skillet for 2 minutes to allow the flavors to meld and marry.
Uncover the skillet, and as desired optionally garnish with fresh parsley, freshly grated Parmesan or Percorino-Romano cheese (do not use a green can of cheese), and/or freshly diced tomatoes, and serve immediately.
Notes
*Remove the seeds and the placenta to reduce the heat. Most people think the heat is only in the seeds but this is false! Most heat is actually contained in the chile’s placenta, which is the white-ish or lighter colored sac at the top of the chile (after you halve it vertically) where the seeds attach. Google Images is great here if you need a visual. Alternatively, you can use half of the chile, a quarter of it, or none at all. **If you don’t want your sauce to be spicy, swap fire-roasted tomatoes for regular petite-diced tomatoes. Storage: Pasta with vodka sauce is best warm and fresh. Leftovers will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 5 days, noting that the pasta will have a tendency to absorb additional vodka sauce as it sits, so don't be surprised if there's less sauce than you remember with the leftovers and the noodles are softer too.