Vodka Pasta with Sausage

This creamy vodka pasta with sausage is rich, comforting and packed with flavour. It looks fancy but is secretly so easy to make. Ready in just 30 minutes, it is the perfect cosy weeknight dinner that feels a little bit special.

Pasta tossed in a silky tomato-cream sauce with savoury sausage, this is a restaurant-worthy dish made with simple supermarket ingredients.

If you love comforting pasta dishes like my Creamy Chorizo Pasta or Sausage and Kale Pasta, this one needs to go straight onto your meal plan.

Recipe Summary

A rich and creamy vodka pasta with sausage that’s ready in 30 minutes. Perfect for an easy weeknight dinner that feels restaurant worthy.

Full Recipe

4 servings

Cuisine: Italian

Meal Type: Main Course, Pasta

Ingredient Highlights: passata, pasta, sausage, vodka

Why You’ll Love This Vodka Pasta

• ✔ Ready in 30 minutes
• ✔ One pan + one pot
• ✔ Creamy but not heavy
• ✔ Family friendly (easy to adjust)
• ✔ Feels like a date night dinner

This is one of those pasta dishes that tastes like it took hours but actually fits into real life.

Pasta alla Vodka

Pasta with vodka sauce is one of my all-time favourite meals. It’s super easy to throw together and so dangerously tasty. I have a few different variations including Vodka Pasta with Chicken and Gochujang Vodka Rigatoni.

For this recipe, I have added some crumbled pork sausage and swapped the tomato puree for some silky passata to take it up a notch. The result is a deliciously decadent meal, with a luscious sauce you’ll want to lick off the plate. Equally perfect for Date Night or a cosy weeknight dinner.

If you enjoy this recipe and want to try another sausage pasta, I think you will love my Sausage and Mushroom Ragu.

Ingredients

Full ingredients list with quantities is included in the recipe card below. These are some helpful notes about the main ingredients including some swaps and substitutes where applicable.

• Pasta (rigatoni or penne work best but you can use your favourite)
• Good quality pork sausages – Italian or fennel sausages if you can get them (M&S do a good Italian sausage if you are UK based)
• Shallot – or onion. I typically use banana/Echalion shallot
• Garlic
• Tomato passata – use the best quality within your budget, I like Mutti or Cirio.
• Vodka – Any good quality, non-flavoured vodka. You don’t need to go all out but I recommend using something which you would be happy to serve to guests.
• Double cream (heavy cream) – or a plant based alternative. I have had good results with oat cream or homemade cashew cream (soak ⅔ cup cashews in ⅔ cup warm water for 20 minutes then blend)
• Parmesan
• Olive oil
• Salt & black pepper
• Fresh herbs – optional, for garnish. I like basil, parsley or chives.
• Chilli flakes (optional, for added heat)

Penne alla vodka is a simple but flavourful sauce. The quality of ingredients you choose really make a difference here, especially since this recipe doesn’t use a lot of added herbs and spices for flavour. This is one recipe where I really recommend using fresh garlic and good quality passata, sausages and vodka. You don’t need to break the bank, but try and get the best quality within your budget.

Why add Vodka to Pasta Sauce?

If you’ve never tried it before, you might be wondering why on Earth you would add vodka to pasta sauce. But the vodka doesn’t actually make the sauce boozy.

Instead, it:

• Enhances the tomato flavour
• Balances the richness of the cream
• Helps emulsify the sauce so it turns silky and glossy

The alcohol cooks off, leaving depth rather than a strong flavour. You can definitely skip it and still have a delicious pasta dish, but it won’t have quite the same complexity (see substitutions below).

If you don’t want to use vodka you can either simply leave it out for a tasty tomato sauce, or try:

• Chicken or vegetable broth
• Fresh lemon juice mixed with chicken stock or water
• Red or white wine vinegar

Variations & Substitutions

No vodka?
Use chicken stock with a squeeze of lemon for balance.

Make it spicy
Add extra chilli flakes or use spicy Italian sausage.

Lighten it up
Use single cream instead of double (it won’t be quite as rich but still delicious).

Add greens
Stir through spinach or kale at the end for extra veg.

Swap the sausage
Use chicken or turkey sausage, or swap for a vegan mince for a plant-based alternative.

Is Vodka Pasta Family Friendly?

Yes Vodka Pasta is family friendly. The alcohol cooks off, and you can easily skip chilli flakes and use a non spicy sausage for a milder version. It is creamy, slightly sweet from the tomatoes, and in my experience very popular with kids.

Vodka Pasta with Sausage FAQs

Looking for more delicious pasta dishes? Try one of these:

• Bacon and Mushroom Carbonara
• Chilli Prawn Linguine
• Creamy Chicken and Broccoli Pasta
• Creamy Gochujang Pasta

The Recipe

Vodka Pasta with Sausage

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A rich and creamy vodka pasta with sausage that’s ready in 30 minutes. Perfect for an easy weeknight dinner that feels restaurant worthy.

Carrie Carvalho

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes minutes

Servings 4 servings

Equipment

• Large frying pan
• Pasta Pot

Ingredients

• 400 grams (0.88 lb) pork sausage Ideally Fennel or Italian Style*
• 250 grams (0.55 lb) your favourite pasta shapes I love Mezzi Rigatoni or Penne for this recipe
• 360 ml (1 ½ cups) tomato passata
• 80 ml (⅔ cup) double or heavy cream
• 2 banana shallots or small white onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic diced
• 3 tbsp vodka
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• ¼ cup freshly grated parmesan plus extra to serve
• salt and pepper
• chilli flakes or red pepper flakes optional
• chopped basil or parsley optional, to serve

Instructions

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

• Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Add the diced shallot plus a generous pinch of salt and cook for about 5 minutes until softened.
  2 banana shallots , 2 tbsp olive oil
• Slit and peel the skins from the sausages. Add the sausage meat to the pan and break it up with the back of a spoon to very small pieces. Stir occasionally until the meat is browned all over.
  400 grams pork sausage
• Add the garlic and cook for about 2 minutes until fragrant, then pour over the passata. Give it a stir then turn the heat to low and simmer for 2-3 minutes.
  2 cloves garlic, 360 ml tomato passata
• Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to packet instructions – you want it to be al dente, so aim for the lower end of the timing on the packet.
  250 grams your favourite pasta shapes
• Add the vodka. Allow to simmer for 3-4 minutes, then stir in the cream.
  3 tbsp vodka , 80 ml double or heavy cream
• Let it simmer very gently on the lowest heat for another 3-4minutes. The sauce should darken a little and you should no longer be able to smell the vodka.
• Drain the pasta (reserve a few tablespoons of the pasta water) and stir into the sauce. Add the grated parmesan and stir well. Use some of the reserved pasta water if you feel you need to loosen the sauce a little. Add salt and pepper to taste if desired.
  salt and pepper
• Serve with a sprinkling of chilli flakes, extra grated parmesan and some fresh chopped basil or parsley.
  chilli flakes or red pepper flakes , chopped basil or parsley, ¼ cup freshly grated parmesan

Notes

*If you can’t find fennel or Italian sausage then you can use any good-quality pork sausages. 

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