Sausage Bolognese à la Vodka is an easy pasta recipe ready in around 30 minutes. This easy-to-assemble Italian-American classic gets dinner on the table in no time, and as a bonus won't have to travel to Italy to enjoy a real Bolognese.
Love Easy Pasta Dinners? You might also like Louisiana Chicken Pasta and Chicken Lazone Pasta.
Because if you are reading this, you can EASILY make a great pasta bolognese your own kitchen. It's perfect dinner idea, whether it's Sunday dinner, holiday celebration, Valentine's Day dinner, or just a dinner for two.
After making this vodka sauce from scratch, you won't believe how easy it is make and how much superior in taste it is to the one bought in store. You will never go back to a jarred sauce ever again.
Why you will love Sausage Bolognese
- So many flavors - And besides, I think you will appreciate all the layering of flavors (vodka, cream, garlic and Italian spices), the simplicity of ingredients (mushrooms, sausage and pasta), and the amazing smell in the kitchen!
- Perfectly seasoned - Nothing in this dish tastes overbearing or under seasoned. This is a fantastic and incredibly tasty bolognese meat sauce to go with your pasta.
- Save on your restaurant budget - You can confidently skip the restaurant and make the best vodka sauce and the best sausage bolognese at home!
What pasta works best ?
I chose Rigatoni for pasta here (it's tube-shaped and larger than penne - perfect for the thick meat sauce!) and added mushrooms and fresh basil.
You can also make Sausage Bolognese à la Vodka with penne or any other tubular pasta, such as cannelloni or ditali.
How to make Sausage Bolognese à la Vodka
1. Cook mushrooms first and then add sausage.
2. Make vodka sauce - add vodka to the pan, in a steady stream, VERY SLOWLY. Increase heat to medium high to reduce vodka by cooking for 2 or 3 minute, then add chicken broth and tomatoes.
Simmer the sauce - Bring sauce to a bubble and reduce heat to simmer. Stir cream into sauce and simmer on low heat. When the sauce cooks with sausage, mushrooms, garlic, onions and tomatoes and of course, vodka, in it (see details in the recipe box), it will look like A LOT OF SAUCE!
3. Add pasta - But wait, once you add pasta - you will think you didn't have enough. To finish sauce preparation, cream and basil is added to the mixture at the very end, right before mixing it with pasta.
Easy Vodka Sauce Pasta
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Ingredients
Pasta:
- 10 oz rigatoni or penne pasta
Meat:
- 1.5 pound pork sausage
Creamy Vodka Sauce:
- 2 tablespoon butter
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 onion chopped
- 1 10 oz package of mushrooms sliced
- ½ cup vodka
- 1 cup chicken broth unsalted (if using not sodium free broth, adjust salt to taste)
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 32 oz can crushed tomatoes
- 20 leaves fresh basil torn
- Parmesan optional
Instructions
- Heat a large skillet over moderate heat.
- Add olive oil, butter, cloves of minced garlic, and chopped onion. Gently saute onions and garlic for 3 to 5 minutes to develop their sweetness.
- Add sliced mushrooms, cook for 2-3 minutes until mushrooms release their moisture.
Cook sausage
- Next add pork sausage, breaking it down with a fork. Cook sausage for 3 minutes, until it's broken down in nice little chunks.
- It doesn't have to be cooked through. Add salt and Italian seasoning; and mix well into the skillet.
Make vodka sauce
- Reduce heat (or even remove pan from heat) and add ½ cup vodka to the pan, in a steady stream, VERY SLOWLY.
- Increase heat to medium high to reduce vodka by cooking for 2 or 3 minutes.
- Add chicken broth and 1 can of tomatoes.
- Bring sauce to a bubble and reduce heat to simmer. Stir cream into sauce and simmer on low heat, while pasta is cooking (next step).
Cook pasta
- While sauce simmers, cook pasta in salted boiling water until cooked to al dente.
- Drain pasta. Toss hot pasta with sauce. Taste and add more seasoning, if necessary.
Final assembly
- Now back to the skillet with sauce. Add about 20 fresh basil leaves and cook for an additional minute, then remove skillet from heat.
- Serve in bowls with a few leaves of basil sprinkled on top and more freshly grated Parmesan, to taste.
Variations to the recipe
- Add Pancetta - Adding pancetta brings a salty smokiness.
- Use chorizo - Adding chorizo results in the bold savory and often spicy flavor to pasta.
- Add heat - You can make this dish spicy by using a blend of chili peppers, paprika, garlic, and herbs. This seasoning will give sausage bolognese a zesty, spicy kick!
Tips for Success
Don't rinse cooked pasta - I highly recommend to not rinse your pasta before adding it to your sauce. Pasta water is starchy, which helps the sauce cling to the noodle.
Can I Taste Vodka in the Sauce?
Don't be concerned about the taste of vodka. You can't taste the harshness of the vodka, it is simply there to enhance the flavors, just like the wine does.
My father hoped to taste vodka in this recipe after I told him that it contained it, but in vain. His main comment after finishing the dish was: "It has a nice spice to it, but why can't I taste vodka in this? Did you put it in?" Vodka here just adds a touch of heat to help balance out the sweetness of the tomatoes and the cream.
More delicious pasta recipes
If you are in a mood to make more pasta dishes with alcohol, this time with wine instead of vodka, I have a variety of recipes on this site for you to enjoy:
- Chicken Pasta in Creamy White Wine Parmesan Cheese Sauce
- Pasta Da Vinci (Cheesecake Factory's copycat recipe)
- Chicken in Mustard and Wine Sauce
Follow me on PINTEREST and FACEBOOK to get more recipe ideas!
Sam says
So good! Any recommendations on how to make the sauce thicker? Pretty soupy…
Olya says
I like to use 1/2 to 1 tablespoon of rice flower (due to its starch content). Regular flour will do as well. You can also use cheese (Parmesan for example).
Alice says
I loved this sauce and received many compliments on it. I did make a enough to freeze some and used it later and it tasted great. Now I am ready to make another batch.
Olya says
Wow!!! I am so happy you are ready to make this again!
Kerry Ferguson says
Would this work with ground chicken?
Olya says
Absolutely!
Amy says
Would this sauce be good made the day ahead of time? Reheat and add pasta at time of eating?
Olya says
Yes! Absolutely!
Troy says
I believe the stuff that gets missed here is that the sausage probably should be cooked separately and then added. The grease that comes from your sausage cook is overwhelming. We ended up putting our sauce in the refrigerator overnight soaking the grease off of the top with multiple paper towel changes and then reheated the sauce and out of the basil the next night. It’s still slightly greasy but next time I’ll drain it. That should be a step it’s in this recipe that’s not.
Olya says
Fair comment, sausage tends to be excessively fatty. I am highly aware of it every time I cook it for breakfast. I will update it.
Carol says
Excellent sauce...have shared with many
Friends who also love it!
I double the recipe and it always is perfect.
Olya says
Great to hear about doubling!!! Just had this same sauce tonight.
Ted says
Flavor is good but diced tomatoes would have been better than crushed tomatoes. My sauce is extremely soupy and needs more texture.
David Charyn says
Do you add the tomato juice as well? Or just the crushed tomatoes?
My sauce is VERY "wet". I will simmer it down until its more like a stew.
Olga says
My crushed tomatoes were pretty thick. I just used another can recently in the chili recipe and chili came through thick as well. Was your can mostly liquid?
Tim Nacrelli says
I like the way you put your recipes together. The vodka sauce will be tried tonight.
Cheers, Tim
Olga says
Thank you! I hope you enjoyed the vodka sauce.