Vegan Vodka Pasta Sauce
If you need a simple but insanely flavorful pasta recipe, look no further! This vegan vodka sauce with rigatoni is a creamy and delicious dinner recipe. It’s completely dairy free, ready in under 30 minutes.
Oops, I did it again. I made an insanely delicious and creamy and luscious and amazing pasta sauce. And did I mention it’s made with simple ingredients and ready in under 30 minutes?? Sounds like a total winner to me.
Smooth and creamy tomato based sauces are kind of my thing. So far we have a creamy pomodoro sauce, tomato basil cream sauce, and this vegan vodka sauce that will impress just about anyone.
Vodka sauce has always been one of my favorite kinds of sauces (tbh I’ll like any sauce if it’s put on pasta), and I missed it when I gave up dairy.
But thankfully we have cashews, so it’s incredibly easy to make a creamy pasta sauce without dairy.
This particular vodka sauce is rich, creamy, vegan and so easy to make. Try my cauliflower mac and cheese, pumpkin pasta or vegan pasta bake next!
How to make vegan vodka pasta
For this recipe, you’ll start by bringing a large pot of water to a boil and cooking your pasta according to package instructions. While the pasta is cooking, add the minced garlic and chopped onion to a saute pan with olive oil.
Cook down until the garlic browns slightly and the onion looks a bit translucent. This will take about 5 minutes. Add in the tomato paste and saute for a few minutes.
Pour in the vodka and let the flavors blend. The alcohol will cook off pretty quickly, so you only need to heat for about 5 minutes.
When you add the vodka in, you’ll get a strong alcohol scent, so keep your nose away if that bothers you!
Once all of the vodka has cooked off, add in both cans of tomatoes and stir everything together. Cover and let simmer for 10 minutes.
Next, you’ll add the contents of the pan to a food processor or blender and process with all of the remaining ingredients aside from the basil. Be sure to drain and rinse the cashews before adding to the blender.
Process until completely smooth and then transfer the contents to a pan and simmer over low heat. Stir in the cooked pasta and basil and top with fresh black pepper if desired.
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You can make this dish more protein rich by using chickpea pasta or having some grilled chicken on the side.
What does vodka sauce taste like?
Pasta alla vodka is a super creamy, tomatoey sauce that tastes similar to a tomato cream sauce, only with a deeper flavor thanks to the vodka.
The sauce itself won’t taste anything like vodka because all of the alcohol cooks off. BUT, when you add the vodka to the pan to simmer, you will get a strong wiff of alcohol, so beware!
However, as the vodka simmers with the onion and garlic, it brings out rich, almost nutty undertones that you’re going to love.
You can use any neutral flavored vodka for this recipe, just be sure it is plain, but an extremely cheap vodka is perfectly fine for this sauce. The alcohol will cook off, so it doesn’t need to be anything special. Same with the wine in my tuscan vegan gnocchi!
Ingredient swaps
NUTS. I recommend sticking with the recipe as written for best results, but you can try subbing the cashews for coconut milk or cream or tahini.
If using tahini, you’ll want about 1/4 cup, if using coconut cream, you’ll want about 1/2 cup. Let me know if you try either of these options!
PARMESAN. I suggest using my cashew parmesan cheese for this recipe, but you can also use just plain nutritional yeast for that cheesy flavor. If you aren’t vegan, regular parmesan is great!
TOASTED BREADCRUMB. The parmesan toasted breadcrumb is totally optional but adds a really nice flavor and texture to the pasta. You can swap it out for just a sprinkle of vegan parmesan instead.
Does it keep?
Once prepared, this recipe will store in the fridge for about 5 days. Store in an air tight container for best results. You can heat it up on the stove with a splash of milk to make it nice and creamy.
Try these next!
- White Wine Cream Sauce
- Vegan Mac and Cheese
- Creamy White Bean Pasta Sauce
- Sundried Tomato Tahini Pasta
- Roasted Carrot Pasta
- Spicy Vodka Pasta
- Red Pesto Pasta
- Sweet Potato Mac & Cheese
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Vegan Vodka Sauce with Pasta
by: claire cary
Ingredients
- 16 ounces uncooked pasta of choice
- 4 tablespoons olive oil or vegan butter
- 5 cloves garlic
- 1 ½ cup chopped white or yellow onion
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- ½ cup vodka
- ½ cup raw cashews
- 2 15 ounce cans diced tomatoes
- ¼ cup cashew parmesan
- 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
- Black pepper to taste
- ¼ cup chopped basil plus more for garnish
Toasted breadcrumb
- 2 tablespoons vegan butter or olive oil
- ⅓ cup gluten free breadcrumbs
- ¼ cup vegan parmesan click for recipe
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook pasta according to package instructions.
- Add the cashews to a bowl and cover with boiling water. If you ever have an issue with cashews not getting smooth in your blender, add them a a pot on the stove with water and boil for 20 minutes, then drain off the water.
- Mince the garlic, chop the onion, and add to a saute pan with the olive oil.
- Saute until lightly golden brown, about 5 minutes over medium/low heat.
- Add in the tomato paste and saute for 2-3 more minutes.
- Reduce heat to low, pour in the vodka and let simmer for about 5 minutes. Be sure all of the vodka is cooked off before moving on to the next step.
- Add the cans of tomatoes to the mixture, along with 1/2 of the salt and simmer for 10 minutes so the flavors can blend.
- Transfer to a blender. Add in the drained and rinsed cashews and all remaining ingredients, including the remaining salt but aside from the basil.
- Process until completely smooth, about 1 full minute.
- Taste and adjust seasonings as desired.
- Pour the sauce back into the saute pan. Stir in the basil. If using the vegan parmesan cheese, stir it in and let it cook for a couple of minutes.
- Combine with the cooked pasta and stir until well incorporated.
- Top with extra fresh basil and enjoy!
Notes
Comments
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I have made this a few times and it is delicious. I do find I need to saok the cashews longer or I have chunks. I can’t for the life of me figure out when I am supposed to add the breadcrumbs. I don’t see that anywhere. Can you let me know?
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The breadcrumbs are just for garnish when you serve!
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Wonderful!! So delicious and easy. Only note is that even at low heat, my pan (cast iron on a gas stove) has caught fire at the vodka stage every time I’ve made this. No big deal, it’s not huge and goes out if I blow on it a few times, but suggest turning heat off before adding the vodka if using a cast iron on gas 🙂
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Oh no! I haven’t made this in a cast iron pan, but will try it out and see if I have any tips I can give!
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Loved this recipe!! As someone who can’t eat dairy, I hadn’t had rose sauce in years, and this recipe is a game changer! Super creamy and filling, despite being totally plant-based.
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Thank you Grace! So happy you enjoyed this recipe!
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Wow! If you are looking to go vegan, or reduce “bad” cholesterol, this recipe will get you there deliciously. The cashews are a surprising replacement for cream in the vodka sauce and the recipe is easy to follow. I spiced this to my own taste, but the base is perfect. I will make this one again! Thank you!
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Thank you, Brooke! It’s one of my favorites 🙂
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This recipe was fairly easy and delicious! I think I might add a bit more basil next time, but otherwise, very good as is.
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Always good with extra basil!
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Clearly a winner!! This dish was a big hit with my family. Easy and fun to make. Delicious and a beautiful restaurant like presentation. Thank you @eatwithclarity.
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Love this recipe! Came out perfect and just what I remember vodka sauce tasting like before I went vegan! Thank you!!
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This sauce is so good! My stepson couldn’t believe it didn’t have cream in it. I refrigerated the leftover sauce for a couple of days and it was still great. I just added some fresh basil to it. Thank you for an awesome recipe!
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This sauce is delicious. I love it’s creaminess and taste .
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Is it okay to make this recipe without the Vodka? I don’t have any on hand 🙁
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Yes, should be fine!
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So delicious! Will definitely make again & again 🤤
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Hey I think your calorie calculation is a bit off. When I added it up it was more like 680 cal/serve, not 480.
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Nutrition is calculated automatically, you have to take it with a grain of salt!
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I make this all the time. My husband has a hard time with dairy but detests anything labeled “vegan”. However, he will request this sauce all the time. My kids love it too. I’ve made it for my husband’s family and they didn’t even notice it was dairy-free.
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Perfect! So glad you found something everyone likes!
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Didn’t check to see if anyone had done this, but I used coconut cream and it’s delicious. You can detect the coconut, barely, but the tomato overpowers it for the most part and it blended up beautifully.
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Oh perfect! Good to know the coconut cream worked well.
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Did you still do the steps with the water? Or go straight to the blender with the coconut cream?
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You would skip the steps with the soaking cashews in water if you use coconut cream instead!
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so so good!!
we added some lemon juice, nutritional yeast, and dried basil (since we didn’t have fresh).
and then after my partner helped me taste test , he poured a bunch of vodka into it while i wasn’t looking …still turned out awesome!! looking forward to making it again and playing around with it!
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