Carmine’s Penne alla Vodka – hands down the BEST vodka sauce ever! A quick and easy at-home version of our favorite Italian restaurant pasta dish! Ready to eat in about 20 minutes. Penne pasta, Italian sausage, garlic, onion, red pepper flakes, basil, vodka, spaghetti sauce, heavy cream, and parmesan cheese. Serve with a salad and some garlic bread for a meal better than any restaurant!
Remember this recipe.
Pin this recipe to your favorite board now to remember it later!
Pin This RecipeEasy Pasta Dish with Italian Sausage
Carmine’s Penne alla Vodka is our all-time favorite pasta dish! We eat it every time we are in Las Vegas. Since we haven’t been traveling as much lately, I decided to buy their cookbook and make a big batch at home. O-M-YUM! This recipe is AMAZING! PLUS it is super easy to make. Get the pasta going, make the sauce and toss it all together. This is ready to eat in about 20 minutes! You can’t beat that! Whip up a salad and some garlic bread and prepared to be wowed!
How to Make Carmine’s Penne alla Vodka
As I said, this pasta is very easy to make. Start with cooking the pasta according to the package directions. While the pasta cooks, make the sauce. Brown Italian sausage in a skillet until no longer pink. Add minced onion, basil, red pepper flakes, and fresh garlic to the skillet and cook for 30 seconds until fragrant. Do NOT let the garlic brown! Remove the skillet from the heat and add vodka. Using a wand lighter, light the vodka. The vodka will flame up. Place the skillet on the stove and cook for 1 minute or until the flame dies down. Add spaghetti sauce and simmer for 3 minutes. Add heavy cream to the skillet. Bring to a boil and boil until the sauce has thickened. Add parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper. Toss the sauce and cooked pasta together. Garnish with fresh basil and parmesan cheese.
- If you prefer, you do not have to flame the vodka. Carmine’s recommends flaming the vodka to improve the flavor of the sauce.
- I took a shortcut and used a jar of Rao’s spaghetti sauce instead of making my own marinara. You can certainly make your own sauce, but I think Rao’s sauce tastes just as good as homemade.
- My favorite store-bought jarred spaghetti sauces are Trader Joe’s Roasted Garlic Marinara, Rao’s, and La Famiglia Del Grosso.
- What can I add to Penne alla Vodka? I like to add Italian sausage to the sauce. You can leave out the sausage if you aren’t a fan. This is also delicious with cooked chicken, bacon, shrimp, prosciutto, or pancetta. You can also add fresh onion, mushrooms, and green peas to the sauce.
- I used dried herbs in the sauce. Feel free to use fresh basil and parsley. You will need about 8 basil leaves and 3 Tbsp of chopped fresh parsley.
- For a creamier sauce, add more heavy cream.
What to Serve with the BEST Vodka Sauce
This pasta is just as good as the original at Carmine’s. We’ve been making this about every other week and absolutely LOVE it. I’ve actually quit ordering penne alla vodka out at restaurants because this at-home version is better than anything I normally get out. This is truly the BEST vodka sauce! We serve the pasta with a salad and some garlic bread. Add this to your menu ASAP! I promise that you won’t be disappointed.
Here are a few of our favorite recipes from the blog that go great with this easy pasta:
Creamy Italian Dressing
Creamy Italian Dressing Recipe – our favorite salad!!! Romaine, tomatoes, thinly sliced seedless cucumbers, sliced banana peppers, croutons, parmesan cheese,…
Garlic Roll Cupcakes
Garlic Roll Cupcakes – great with pasta! Super easy to make with only 4 ingredients! Refrigerated bread sticks, garlic seasoning,…
Italian Green Bean Salad
Italian Green Bean Salad – quick and delicious side dish! Green beans, tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, prosciutto, and mozzarella tossed…
Secret Ingredient Cheesy Garlic Bread
Secret Ingredient Cheesy Garlic Bread – 5 simple ingredients and ready in 10 minutes! Pizza crust, mozzarella, garlic, butter, and…
Carmine’s Penne alla Vodka
Ingredients:
- 12 – oz dried penne pasta
- 1 lb Italian sausage casings removed
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 Tbsp minced onion flakes
- 1 Tbsp minced garlic
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 1 Tbsp dried parsley
- ½ tsp red pepper flakes
- ¼ cup vodka
- 1 (24-oz) jar spaghetti sauce
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
- salt and pepper
Instructions:
- Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
- While the pasta is cooking, cook sausage in a large skillet until no longer pink. Add olive oil, garlic, basil, parsley, and red pepper flakes. Cook for 30 seconds. Do NOT let the garlic brown.
- Remove the skillet from the heat and add vodka. Using a wand lighter, light the vodka. The vodka will flame up. Place the skillet on the stove and cook for 1 minute or until the flame dies down.
- Add spaghetti sauce and simmer for 3 minutes. Add heavy cream to the skillet. Bring to a boil and boil until the sauce has thickened. Add parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper.
- Toss the sauce and cooked pasta together. Garnish with fresh basil and parmesan cheese.
Notes:
- If you prefer, you do not have to flame the vodka. Carmine’s recommends flaming the vodka to improve the flavor of the sauce.
- I took a shortcut and used a jar of Rao’s spaghetti sauce instead of making my own marinara. You can certainly make your own sauce, but I think Rao’s sauce tastes just as good as homemade.
- My favorite store-bought jarred spaghetti sauces are Trader Joe’s Roasted Garlic Marinara, Rao’s, and La Famiglia Del Grosso.
- What can I add to Penne alla Vodka? I like to add Italian sausage to the sauce. You can leave out the sausage if you aren’t a fan. This is also delicious with cooked chicken, bacon, shrimp, prosciutto, or pancetta. You can also add fresh onion, mushrooms, and green peas to the sauce.
- I used dried herbs in the sauce because that is what I prefer. Feel free to use fresh basil and parsley. You will need about 8 basil leaves and 3 Tbsp of chopped fresh parsley.
- For a creamier sauce, add more heavy cream.
Steph
Remember this recipe.
Pin this recipe to your favorite board now to remember it later!
Pin This Recipe
Can I make this dish the day before and refrigerate? And reheat for guests the next day?
Omg
I made alot of their recipes
Meatballs
Vodka sauce
Spidel al roma bread
They are all so perfectly delicious 🤤
I made this exactly as written and it was delicious. So rich! Tastes like something from an Italian restaurant.
SO glad you enjoyed it! It is one of our favorites!
Amazing taste! I used cubed chicken breast that I had cooked previously. Easily one of my tastiest meals ever!
OMG!! This recipe was over the top!! My husband said it was his number one!! I didn’t change a thing except just to add onion and mushrooms, because we like that.AMAZING!! Thank you, you are one of my faves!!! Keep doing what you’re doing!😊
SOOOO glad you both enjoyed it! It is definitely one of our favorite recipes!
This is the absolute best. I seriously am throwing out every other recipe that I have for Vodka Sauce…..this is the only one I will ever use…and I probably won’t even order it in a restaurant because you cannot get better than this. I used Rao’s Mariana(which I started using awhile back after you mentioned it). I did add a bit of pasta water to it because I used 16 Oz of pasta. Thank you Stephanie!!
SO glad you enjoyed it! We think it is absolutely the best too!! And yes, Rao’s jarred sauce makes all the difference.