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Learn how to make a creamy, hearty, flavor-packed vegan vodka sauce with simple ingredients and 30 minutes of your time! Serve it over your favorite penne, and you’ll have a perfect vegan penne alla vodka in no time.
This was one of my favorite dishes growing up, but I realized that I had never had it fresh while making it. We always had opted for a premade sauce from the grocery store, so it’s safe to say that this homemade vegan version truly knocked my socks off.
Penne Alla Vodka History
The exact origins of penne alla vodka are unclear and will vary depending on who you ask– two places that claim its origin are Italy and New York. But, regardless of its source, it is clear that the ingredients and cooking methods stemmed from traditional Italian cuisine.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Raw cashews: Instead of using heavy cream for our vodka sauce, we opted for an easy vegan swap, cashew cream! All you need to do is blend equal parts soaked raw cashews and liquid until smooth.
- Vegetable broth: Learn how to make your own at home here!
- Crushed Tomatoes: We prefer to use San Marzano tomatoes as they are sweeter, less acidic, and more flavorful than Roma tomatoes.
- Oil or Vegan Butter: For cooking down the aromatics.
- Shallots and Garlic: The simple yet essential aromatic flavor base to start this dish off right.
- Red Pepper Flakes: add a very minimal yet perfectly balanced amount of heat. Feel free to add more as you prefer!
- Vodka: Choose a neutral, smooth, and middle-of-the-road vodka.
- Tomato Paste: This helps deepen the flavor of the sauce.
- Basil: Used in the sauce and also for garnish.
- Dried Oregano: If you want to use fresh, opt for 3x the amount, or to taste.
- Vegan Parmesan Cheese: Brands we like are Violife and Follow Your Heart.
- Salt and Pepper: Season the sauce as needed.
- Pasta: For a traditional recipe, opt for penne. Rigatoni also works well, or you can use any pasta you choose.
Other things to consider adding:
- Vegan Italian Sausage
- Vegan Shrimp
- Vegan Bacon
- Vegan Chicken
- Fried Tofu Cubes
- Mushrooms
- Zucchini
- Bell Peppers
What does the vodka do? Can penne alla vodka get you drunk?
Don’t worry; the alcohol cooks off, and you won’t be getting drunk from eating this pasta sauce. Vodka adds to the recipe’s aroma and acts as an emulsifier for the sauce, allowing the cream to meld with the tomato base.
If you liked this penne alla vodka recipe, check these out:
- Vegan Baked Ziti
- One-Pot Taco Pasta
- Easy Avocado Pesto Pasta with Sun-Dried Tomatoes (Oil-Free Option)
- Instant Pot Pasta Fagioli (aka Pasta and Beans)
- One-Pot 5-Ingredient Hummus Pasta
- Vegan Street Corn Pasta Salad
- Simple Lemon Olive Oil Pasta (7-Ingredients)
If you make this recipe and snap a pic, tag us on Instagram @sweetsimplevegan and @consciouschris and hashtag #sweetsimplevegan; we love to see and repost your photos!
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Vegan Penne alla Vodka
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 8 small servings
Description
Learn how to make a creamy, hearty, flavor-packed vegan vodka sauce with simple ingredients and 30 minutes of your time! Serve it over your favorite penne, and you’ll have a perfect vegan penne alla vodka in no time.
Ingredients
Sauce
- 1/2 cup raw cashews
- 1/2 cup vegetable broth
- 1 28-ounce can of crushed San Marzano tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons oil or vegan butter
- 1 shallot, finely minced (or 1/3 cup diced onions)
- 10 cloves garlic, finely minced
- Pinch red pepper flakes
- 1/2 cup vodka
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1/2 cup fresh basil, finely chopped
- 1½ teaspoons dried oregano
- 1/2 cup vegan Parmesan cheese
- 1/2 to 1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
- Black pepper, as desired
Additional Ingredients
- 1 pound penne pasta (or any pasta of your choice)
- Finely chopped parsley or basil, for garnish
- Vegan parmesan cheese, to top
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
- Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Once it is boiling, remove the pot from heat and add the cashews. Soak for 20 minutes or until softened and drain.
- Transfer the cashews to a high-speed blender along with 1/2 cup water or vegetable broth and half of the 28-ounce can of tomatoes* (see notes). Blend on high until smooth and set aside.
- In a separate large pan over medium heat, add the olive oil. Once warmed, add the shallot and sauté for 2 minutes. Add in the garlic and red pepper flakes, and continue to cook until the shallots are translucent and the garlic is fragrant, about 2 more minutes.
- Next, add the vodka, the remaining crushed tomatoes, the blended cashew mixture, tomato paste, basil, and oregano. Bring the mixture to a low boil and lower it to a simmer. Cook, uncovered, for 15-20 minutes, or until the sauce thickens and the alcohol cooks off, stirring often.
- When the pot of water is boiling, cook the penne pasta until al dente, according to the package instructions. Reserve 1 cup of pasta water. Drain and set aside.
- Once the sauce has cooked down, mix in the vegan parmesan cheese—season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir in pasta water as needed to make the sauce smooth and silky.
- Serve the sauce over your favorite penne and top with additional herbs and vegan parmesan cheese.
Notes
- We only added 1/2 of the can of tomatoes to the blender as we wanted the sauce to have small chunks still. If you want the sauce to be completely smooth, blend all the tomatoes.
- The nutrition facts are only for the sauce and do not consider the additional ingredients.
- We prefer to use San Marzano tomatoes as they are sweeter, less acidic, and more flavorful than Roma tomatoes.
- Choose a neutral, smooth, and middle-of-the-road vodka.
- If you want to use fresh oregano, opt for 3x the amount, or to taste.
- For Vegan Parmesan Cheese, brands we like are Violife and Follow Your Heart.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Category: Entree, Pasta
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Vegan, Italian
Keywords: Entree, Pasta, Penne, Vodka, Vegan, Italian, dinner, entree
Nutrition facts label provided by Nutri Fox.
Disclaimer: The nutritional information shown is an estimate provided by an online calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional’s advice. This page may contain affiliate links, which means that we earn a commission if you purchase through those links, but your price remains the same. Thank you for supporting Sweet Simple Vegan!
Just made this for dinner. My husband has yet to delve into the goodness, but when he does, I’m sure he’ll be mad that I introduce heavy cream into our diet again…hehe. Not realizing the magic of cashews. He won’t believe its vegan…or that it has actual VODKA in it. Delicious. Recipe is better than most restaurant quality dishes. I bet dollars to donuts I’ll be asked to make this again, and again, and again. Yumminess!
Omg this was so good!! I made this for dinner tonight and packing some for my lunches this week. It has so much flavor packed in it!
★★★★★
I’ve been making this recipe every week ever since this was posted – perfect, easy dinner! 🙂
★★★★★
That makes us so happy to hear, thanks for sharing! 🙂