I am so glad you’re here, because I’m going to show you how to make traditional vodka sauce, my all-time favorite pasta sauce, with any marinara sauce (but I’m also giving you the recipe for one of my favorite marinara sauces, so yay!)
Use this vodka sauce to make a classic penne alla vodka, use it as a pizza sauce like I do with my Grandma Pizza, or use it as a sauce for lasagna. It is so good!
You may also want to try my shortcut creamy vodka sauce recipe. For ease of browsing, here are all of my pasta recipes. Thanks for stopping by!
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Traditional Vodka Sauce, At a Glance
✅Skill Level: Beginner
✅Skills: Making Marinara, Reducing, Emulsifying
✅Type: Pasta Sauce
✅Number of Ingredients: 10
✅Prep Time: 10 minutes
✅Cook Time: 15 minutes (and about 30 minutes to make the marinara if you don’t already have some)
✅Yield: about 2 cups or 4 servings
Jump Straight to the Recipe
First things first
The most important step in making this traditional Italian pasta sauce is to start with a good marinara sauce.
I started with Fabio Viviani’s recipe, and you can watch him make make his tomato sauce here.
You can also use your favorite marinara recipe or use a good quality jarred marinara.
Ingredients
I did a bit of research on this classic sauce), and it contains these components:
- Marinara Sauce
- Vodka
- Heavy Cream
- Parmesan cheese
Here are the ingredients we’ll use when starting with Fabio Viviani’s sauce (which I love):
For the Marinara
- extra virgin olive oil: You’ll need a lot, so make it high quality
- garlic: whole cloves, smashed
- salt & pepper: Season sparingly because your sauce will reduce by quite a bit. Season again at the end of cooking if necessary
- dried Italian herbs: brings that “traditional Italian flavor” with a mix of dried thyme, oregano, rosemary, marjoram, and basil
- pepper flake: for a little bit of heat and backbone
- canned whole tomatoes: Any kind will do. They will cook down and the flavor will intensify
To Turn It Into Traditional Vodka Sauce
- The marinara (from above): The tomato base for the sauce
- vodka: brings peppery bite as well as releasing some alcohol-soluble flavor compounds in the tomatoes. Adding a neutral spirit like vodka makes tomato sauce more complex without imparting any off flavors.
- heavy cream: Enriches and helps to emulsify the sauce
- freshly grated Parmesan: Adds a salty, somewhat nutty dimension to your sauce
Remember, you can make any marinara sauce you like. Or you can use your favorite jarred sauce.
My favorite jarred marinara is Rao’s. Give it a try. It tastes very fresh with a minimal ingredient list.
And now, on to the recipe and technique for making restaurant-style pasta sauce.
Traditional Vodka Sauce Ratio
The basic ratios for making this classic are easy to remember:
- 8 parts marinara
- 2 parts vodka
- 1 part cream
- 1/2 part Parmesan
To make a huge amount, the measurements would look like this:
- 8 cups marinara
- 2 cups vodka
- 1 cup cream
- 1/2 cup Parmesan
My recipe makes about 1/4 of that amount, and you’ll see the ratios hold true.
Classic proportions:
In the collage below, you can see the proportions holding true. I have 2 cups of marinara, so it will need 1/2 cup vodka.
Cook the two together and reduce until you have the original volume (2 cups).
Then, you’ll add 1/4 cup of cream, puree, and last, add 2 Tablespoons of freshly microplaned Parmesan cheese.
To marry the sauce to the pasta, you’ll need 1/4 cup of the pasta cooking liquid, shown in the last collage image.
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Step by step instructions
- Cook marinara and vodka together until the volume is the same as the original amount of marinara (See image below)
- Add cream and pepper flakes. Puree with an immersion blender.
- Stir in Parmesan.
- Adjust seasonings if necessary.
How Do I Mix the Sauce Into My Pasta?
There is nothing sadder than naked pasta with sauce poured on top.
What you need to do is make sure that every noodle is coated with rich, creamy sauce. In order to do that, you have to know how to marry the sauce to the pasta.
It’s not hard to do, and it only takes an extra couple of minutes of cooking. The effort is more than worth it. After all, I didn’t show you how to make this restaurant classic only to have it poured haphazardly onto naked pasta.
To enjoy this the way they make it in restaurants, marry the sauce and pasta together.
In Short: To the pot of sauce:
- add some of your starchy pasta cooking water along with a bit of fat (oil, cream, or butter) to the cooked and drained pasta.
- Boil madly, stirring, to reduce the liquid.
- The starch lends a beautiful, creamy mouthfeel to your sauce.
Jenni Says: You will know the sauce and pasta are married when the sauce has reduced to the consistency it was before you added the pasta water.
Vodka Sauce Serving Suggestion
Looking for another way to enjoy your luscious velvety sauce?
Try it as a pizza sauce like I did in my Grandma Pizza Recipe. Nom. Use this grandma pizza dough recipe–it is seriously amazing!
Other classic pasta sauce recipes
Once you master this, here are some other classic pasta sauce recipes you will want to have in your back pocket:
- Primavera Sauce (Kid-Friendly with loads of vegetables)
- Try this creamy pasta sauce. It’s not necessarily an authentic Italian sauce, but it’s rich and creamy and tastes like garlic and Asiago cheese. It’s pretty excellent.
- Easy Puttanesca Sauce (A bold sauce with the huge flavors of anchovy, capers, olive, and pepper flake)
- Traditional Bolognese Sauce (Meaty comforting goodness)
Check out my how to make vodka sauce pin on Pinterest as well. Other folks have made it and have left photos!
Questions?
If you have any questions about this post or recipe, I am happy to help.
Simply leave a comment here and I will get back to you soon. I also invite you to ask question in my Facebook group, Fearless Kitchen Fun.
If your question is more pressing, please feel free to email me. I should be back in touch ASAP, as long as I’m not asleep.
Love This Traditional Vodka Sauce? Please Rate and Review!
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You can use the stars to rate 1-5 (5 is best), and leave a review in the comments. It helps me make adjustments if any are needed, and comments help others decide whether the recipe is worth making.
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Thank you so much for taking the time!
How to Make Vodka Sauce
Video
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Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 cups your favorite marinara sauce See Notes for Fabio’s Recipe
- ½ cup vodka (it does not need to be top shelf, or even middle shelf)
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- 2 Tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan Cheese
- a few hot pepper flakes (optional but lovely)
- salt and pepper to taste (only if necessary. Taste after you add the cheese and go from there.)
Instructions
- Bring marinara and vodka to a boil. Simmer and reduce until it is at the original volume of the marinara. So, starting with 2 cups of marinara and adding 1/2 cup of vodka, you’ll simmer until your total volume is back to 2 cups.
- Add the cream and pepper flake and puree until smooth. (I used an immersion blender, but you can certainly use a blender-blender).
- Stir in the Parmesan.
- Taste and adjust seasonings as necessary.
- To serve with penne or Whatever, cook the pasta for 2 fewer minutes than package directions. Drain, reserving a bit of pasta cooking water.
- Dump in enough vodka sauce to coat all the pasta along with about 1/4 cup of the cooking water. You don’t want the pasta swimming in sauce, so use your own judgement. This is pretty rich stuff. Each noodle should have a thin, sexy coating of sauce once you’re done cooking.
- Stir over high heat for two minutes. Plate and serve.
Did You Make Any Changes?
Notes
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 28 oz can excellent quality whole tomatoes
- salt and pepper to taste
- Italian seasoning to taste (optional)
- an additional Tablespoon or so of olive oil
- In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, heat the oil.
- Toast the garlic in the oil until it is “cappuccino brown.”
- Immediately add the canned tomatoes and all the juice along with a heavy pinch of salt, some freshly ground black pepper, and some Italian seasoning (if using).
- Cook over medium heat, smashing the tomatoes with the back of a spoon, until the mixture has reduced by quite a bit and the tomatoes are caramelizing (the color will be a richer, darker red). This will take about 15 minutes or so.
- Add the additional olive oil and cook over high heat until the oil that separates out from the sauce is red.
- Taste and adjust seasonings as necessary.
Nutrition
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Followed recipe exactly. Excellent!
I have always wanted to learn how to make a vodka sauce!! Thank you for the easy step by step directions!!
Once I found out how easy it is to make, I make it all the time now!
I am SO happy that the Vodka Sauce was the recipe you went for! This is great and you have turned something that sounded so intimidating, into something so very easy to make.
You are seriously going to love it! Off the charts flavor and sexy silkiness. <3
Thank you for this! I look forward to trying it some cold night when I have red wine in stock. So now what are you going to order at La Piazza?
Good question! But I’ve never had anything there that isn’t great! I love the Sicilian pizza and that Pasta La Piazza or something that has sundried tomatoes and sausage in it. Sooo good!