Today I'm bringing you my Easy Vegan Penne alla Vodka recipe. Just 20 minutes to prepare, and only 10 ingredients! This pasta is rich, creamy, and oh so delicious. It can be made fresh, or the sauce can be prepared ahead of time and frozen for later. It's the perfect simple pasta dish for a fancy night in.
Yes, there really is vodka in this dish, but this pasta won't make you tipsy as the alcohol gets cooked out. Vodka is added because it boosts the tomato flavours making for an extra rich and delicious sauce. Lastly, homemade cashew cream is stirred into the sauce to make it extra lush.
I love how this easy vegan penne alla vodka is so simple to prepare that it can be made any night of the week, but it's fancy enough to be restaurant quality. This is one of my favourite recipes to serve for a special occasion such as Valentine's Day, birthdays, or anniversaries.
How to make vegan penne alla vodka:
Bring a large pot of water to a boil and prepare the pasta according to package directions.
Melt the vegan butter over medium-high heat in a large saucepan. Add the onion and garlic and sauté for about 5 minutes until the onion turns translucent and just begins to brown.
Add the crushed tomatoes, vodka, salt, and red pepper flakes. (I like my penne to be spicy so I add ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes but feel free to reduce or omit them).
Partially cover the pan with a lid or use a splatter screen to help prevent tomato sauce from splattering everywhere. Bring to a simmer and cook on medium-low heat for 10 - 15 minutes until the sauce is cooked through.
To Make the Cashew Cream:
If you do not have a high-powered blender, you will need to first boil the cashews. If you do have a high-powered blender, skip to the next step.
To boil the cashews, cover the cashews with water and bring to a boil and cook for about 10 minutes until the cashews are very tender. Drain and rinse with cold water before using. Boiling the cashews ensure they blender smoothly.
Add the cashews (boiled or unboiled) and ½ cup water to a blender, and blend until completely smooth and creamy, stopping to scrape the sides as needed. Set aside.
To finish the pasta, when the tomato sauce is cooked, pour the cashew cream into the sauce and stir to combine. Add the cooked penne and toss well. Serve and garnish with basil.
Enjoy easy vegan penne alla vodka with a nice glass of wine, or a vodka cocktail and a side of vegan garlic bread. YUM!
Can I make Penne alla Vodka Oil-Free?
Yes, to make oil-free simply omit the vegan butter and do a water or broth sauté instead.
Can I Make-ahead and freeze Penne alla Vodka?
Yes, you can prepare the sauce ahead of time, allow to cool then store in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 4 days, or in the freezer. Warm the sauce and then toss with freshly cooked pasta.
Bon appetegan!
Sam Turnbull.
Easy Vegan Penne Alla Vodka
Ingredients
- 14 ounces penne (gluten-free if preferred)
- 2 tablespoons vegan butter (sub olive oil if preferred)
- 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
- 6 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
- 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
- ¼ cup vodka
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ¼ - ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, (optional)
- 1 handful fresh basil, sliced
For the cashew cream (see notes for substitutions)
- ½ cup raw cashews, softened if needed (see step 4)
- ½ cup water
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil and prepare the pasta according to package directions.
- Melt the vegan butter over medium-high heat in a large saucepan. Add the onion and garlic and sauté for about 5 minutes until the onion turns translucent and just begins to brown. Add the crushed tomatoes, vodka, salt, and red pepper flakes. (I like my penne to be spicy so I add ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes but feel free to reduce or omit them).
- Partially cover the pan with a lid or use a splatter screen to help prevent tomato sauce from splattering everywhere. Bring to a simmer and cook on medium-low heat for 10 - 15 minutes until the sauce is cooked through.
- To make the cashew cream: If you do not have a high-powered blender, you will need to first boil the cashews. If you do have a high-powered blender, skip to the next step. To boil the cashews, cover the cashews with water and bring to a boil and cook for about 10 minutes until the cashews are very tender. Drain and rinse with cold water before using. Boiling the cashews ensure they blender smoothly.
- Add the cashews (boiled or unboiled) and ½ cup water to a blender, and blend until completely smooth and creamy, stopping to scrape the sides as needed. Set aside.
- To finish the pasta, when the tomato sauce is cooked, pour the cashew cream into the sauce and stir to combine. Add the cooked penne and toss well. Serve and garnish with basil.
Notes
Nutrition
Tina says
We don’t have alcohol, will omitting it change the recipe? Any substitute?
Sam Turnbull says
Vodka enhances the tomato flavors. You can omit it and it will still be delicious. Enjoy!
Dee says
I was doubtful about this sauce, and thought it might be the first recipe by Sam that I didn’t love. The tomato sauce on its own wasn’t great, perhaps because I’m used to simmering tomato sauce for 2-3 hours and have lived in Italy. However the cashew cream completely transformed it (along with some extra salt!). Where real cream mutes flavors, this accentuated them.
That said, there are some small tweaks I would make. The onions became crunchy in the acidic sauce, I would cook them for more like 15min to completely soften them, or blend the sauce at the end (maybe add the cashews to the sauce in the blender?). I also found 15min wasn’t long enough to remove the tinny tomato can taste - I would do at least 30min if you have the time, and lid off to concentrate the flavors (a bit pot and low heat avoided too much splatter during the simmer). Still great for simplicity and will continue making with those tweaks
Sam Turnbull says
Happy you enjoyed it!
Beata says
This was sooo easy to make! I used shirataki penne pasta to cut down on carbs, but made the sauce as written. Bonus points, I had no idea that my el cheapo Oster blender can actually handle softened cashews (I did buy cashew pieces because they were cheaper than halves or whole cashews, and I am going to blend them into mush anyways, right? I don't care to eat whole cashews, so the pieces are perfect for me), so yay for the creamy cashew sauce made from cheap cashew pieces in a cheap blender, hahahaha.
I love tomato based dishes (vegan or not) but really had no idea how the addition of the creamy cashew mixture can transform the simple and plain sauce to this pure creamy goodness we enjoyed last night! Sprinkled my plate with some nutritional yeast to add a little bit of protein, too. Wish I tasted the sauce before and after the vodka addition to see how the vodka changes the flavor of the sauce, but oh well. I guess I will have to make this one again.
I love how easy it is to eat more vegan meals without much effort when you have recipes like this one. Thank you, Sam!!!
Sam Turnbull says
So happy you enjoyed Beata!! It's amazing what cashews can do. I too buy them in pieces 🙂
Tim says
My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed this. Perfect balance of flavour. We used fire roasted tomatoes YUM. Recently vegan, we didn't miss the cream at all. Another winner!!
Sam Turnbull says
Wonderful!! I hope you enjoy many more of my recipes, Tim. Congrats on your new veganism! 🙂
Mary says
If I could give this sauce more then five stars I would!! It was so easy to make and tasted delicious. Another fantastic recipe from Sam.
Sam Turnbull says
Amazing! Thrilled you loved it so much, Mary 🙂
Wendy Thorn says
Hi
If you boil the cashews could you not use the water from this in the blender instead of draining. I thought perhaps there would be a little extra cashew flavor in the water.
Thanks
Sam Turnbull says
The water is pretty slimy and not appetizing, but you can if you like 🙂
Melissa says
Fabulous. Easy, delicious, the entire family loved it. Thanks!
Sam Turnbull says
Yay! SO happy to hear that 🙂
Sandra says
This is the best tomato sauce I've ever made by myself! It really does taste like from a restaurant - probably because it uses more butter than I would usually use, but I love it. Will definitely make again! 🙂
Sam Turnbull says
No problem! Done! Feel free to re-comment if you like.
Sharon Zinser says
Made this today and the sauce is great. Adding some of the seitan meatballs since my husband like those too. Decided to let it sit on low/ slow cook to mix the flavors. So far think this is a winner!
Sam Turnbull says
Wonderful! Thrilled you enjoyed it so much Sharon 🙂
Michelle says
I made this yesterday, so easy and so delicious!
Sam Turnbull says
Yay! SO happy to hear that Michelle 🙂