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.

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.

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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