Making homemade creamy dairy free vodka pasta sauce (penne alla vodka) is much easier to make than you think! The sauce is super simple, quick to make, and dairy free. Made without heavy cream – substituting rich cashew cream instead – and ready in just 30 minutes! Vegan and gluten free.
The best dairy free vodka pasta
There’s just something about making a delicious homemade pasta sauce from scratch that makes you feel good no matter what else has happened during the day.
We love a classic marinara sauce but sometimes crave something a little more special for pasta night! That’s where this dairy free vodka sauce comes in – or penne alla vodka as many call it.
Typically vodka sauce is made with dairy, but this recipe is dairy free! I’ve swapped heavy cream for cashew cream for an equally luscious / creamy sauce that perfectly coats each and every noodle.
What is vodka sauce?
If you’ve never had vodka sauce before you might be wondering – what does it taste like? It is creamy, luscious, slightly peppery, herbaceous, and sometimes spicy.
As the base of the sauce simmers the tomatoes and onions caramelize and turn sweet and jammy. The vodka offsets the sweetness and adds the peppery finish. Long story short – it’s DELICIOUS!
If you’re worried about the alcohol content in the sauce, the alcohol in the vodka burns off as the sauce simmers, so all that’s left when you’re ready to dig in is a bright slightly sharp flavor.
That said, if you don’t want to add it or don’t have any on hand you can leave it out of the recipe. It will still be delicious!
Why you’ll love this vodka pasta sauce
This vegan pasta is:
- Savory
- Rich
- Creamy
- Satisfying
- Easy to make
- Gluten free and dairy free
- SO delicious!
Ingredients
I took my time testing this recipe and played around with the ingredients to make sure I got the most delicious and authentic tasting vodka sauce that I could.
The first time I tested it the recipe was good, but I knew I could make it taste better. So I went back to the drawing board and after a few more tries landed on this combination of mouth-watering ingredients.
- Raw cashews – Raw cashews are what you’ll use instead of cream or heavy cream in this recipe. When blended with water they transform into the most delicate, creamy sauce that is the perfect dairy free substitute! If you can’t have cashews you can substitute the cashews with a non dairy milk of choice.
- Onion and garlic – Onion and garlic are sautéed with olive oil as the base of the sauce.
- Vodka – What does the vodka do in vodka sauce? It adds a pleasant brightness and a bit of heat. You can absolutely skip it if you don’t have any vodka on hand or prefer not to use it.
- Diced tomatoes and tomato paste – The combination of diced tomatoes and tomato paste bring the best deep and jammy tomato flavor to this sauce. You’ll simmer them with the onions, garlic, and vodka until concentrated and sweet.
- Dried spices – To add a boost of flavor this recipe uses a pinch of chili flakes (leave out if you don’t like spicy food), garlic powder, onion powder, and salt. To make this vodka sauce even spicier, add an extra pinch or two of chili flakes.
- Lemon juice – Just a small squeeze of lemon juice brightens up the the vodka sauce and brings all the flavors together.
- Nutritional yeast – Since we’re making this recipe without parmesan cheese, nutritional yeast stands in for that same “cheesy” umami rich layer of flavor.
- Gluten free pasta – Any type of pasta will work but penne or rigatoni are the two most traditional pasta shapes for penne alla vodka.
- Fresh basil – Fresh basil is not at all necessary, but it does add a nice finishing touch to the final dish!
Can you make vodka sauce without vodka?
Yes you absolutely can.
If you prefer to not to use vodka just leave it out of the recipe. The flavor will be slightly different, but it will still be delicious!
How to make
Here’s the step-by-step
- Add cashews to a heat proof bowl and cover with just boiled water to soak.
- Meanwhile, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onions and garlic and cook until onions are quite soft and translucent.
- Add the vodka, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, garlic powder, onion powder, and chili flakes (if using) to the skillet. Bring the sauce to a simmer and cook on low, stirring occasionally, for about 10-12 minutes, until the vodka has burned off and the sauce has reduced.
- While the sauce is simmering, boil the pasta according to package instructions. Reserve 1 ½ cups of the pasta water for the next step.
- Drain the soaked cashews and add to a high speed blender with all of the simmered tomato base, nutritional yeast, salt, lemon juice, and ¾ cup reserved pasta water. Blend on high, until absolutely smooth and creamy with no pieces of cashew remaining.
- Add the sauce back to the skillet along with the cooked pasta. Toss together and warm on low heat, stirring occasionally until the sauce evenly coats the pasta. Season to taste with salt and thin the sauce with a little more pasta water if desired.
- Serve topped with fresh basil and chili flakes.
- In general sauces with cashew cream tend to thicken as they cool. But the nice thing about them is that they are easily thinned with a little water or nut milk.
How to make this recipe from a jarred marinara
This recipe for vodka sauce is pretty easy to make, but if you’d like a super short cut version you can skip the first handful of steps and use a good tasting jarred marinara sauce.
To do that skip directly to step 5 of this recipe and add a 25 ounce jar of marinara to the blender with soaked cashews, nutritional yeast, salt, lemon juice, and just 1/2 cup of reserved pasta water. Proceed with the recipe as written, thinning with a little more pasta water if needed!
A few extra tips
- Can you make this vodka sauce ahead of time? Yep absolutely! The vodka sauce can be prepped in advance. Just store it in an airtight container until your ready to re-heat it and toss with your cooked pasta. If you make it ahead of time but don’t plan on cooking the pasta until you’re ready to serve it, use regular water when blending the pasta sauce instead of pasta water.
- Can you freeze vodka sauce? Definitely. This pasta sauce can be frozen (without any pasta – sauce only) for up to several months. When ready to use defrost it in the refrigerator until mostly thawed and then gently warm on the stove, stirring frequently and adding a bit of water or milk to thin as needed. If the sauce has separated it can be re-blended before tossing with pasta. Microwaving cashew based sauces for long periods of time will change the texture and I don’t recommend trying that to defrost the sauce.
- How to re-heat vodka sauce: This vodka sauce can be re-heated gently on the stove or in the microwave. In general, sauces with cashew cream tend to thicken after being cooled / refrigerated. All you need to do to thin it is add a splash of water or nut milk until desired consistency is reached.
Serving suggestions
This creamy dairy free pasta would be absolutely delicious with a bright and punchy green salad, like this green apple and walnut salad, or a simple arugula salad.
If you’re looking to add more veggies to your plate a side of roasted broccoli or Brussels sprouts would also be delicious!
If you enjoyed this recipe, we’d love it if you would take 5 seconds to rate and review it below! It’s also super helpful for other readers if you share any modifications you made to the recipe.
Thank you for sharing your kitchen with NK. We’re so grateful you’re here!
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Creamy Dairy Free Vodka Pasta Sauce – Made with Cashews
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
Making homemade creamy dairy free vodka pasta sauce (penne alla vodka) is much easier to make than you think! The sauce is super simple, quick to make, and dairy free. Made without heavy cream – substituting rich cashew cream instead – and ready in just 30 minutes! Vegan and gluten free.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup raw cashews
- just boiled water
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 small onion, finely diced
- 4 cloves of garlic, chopped
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 cup vodka
- 1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes
- 1/4 cup tomato paste
- pinch of chili flakes (optional)
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 12 ounces gluten free pasta
- 1 1/2 cups reserved pasta water
- Salt, to taste
- Fresh basil, for serving
- Chili flakes, for serving
- Vegan Parmesan Cheese, for serving
Instructions
- Add cashews to a heat proof bowl and cover with just boiled water. Set aside.
- Meanwhile, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onions and garlic and sauté until onions are quite soft and translucent – about 5-6 minutes.
- Add the vodka, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, chili flakes (if using), garlic powder, and onion powder to the skillet. Bring the sauce to a simmer and cook on low, stirring occasionally, for about 10-12 minutes, until the alcohol in the vodka has evaporated and the sauce has reduced.
- While the sauce is simmering, boil the pasta according to package instructions. Reserve 1 1/2 cups of the pasta water for the next step.
- Drain the soaked cashews and add to a high speed blender with all of the simmered tomato base, nutritional yeast, salt, lemon juice, and 3/4 cup reserved pasta water. Blend on high, until absolutely smooth and creamy with no pieces of cashew remaining.
- Add the sauce back to the skillet along with the cooked pasta. Toss together and warm on low heat, stirring occasionally until the sauce evenly coats the pasta. Season to taste with salt and thin the sauce with a little more pasta water if desired.
- Serve topped with fresh basil and chili flakes!
- If the sauce on the pasta ever gets too thick all you have to do is thin with a little water or nut milk and re-season with salt to taste!
Notes
This vodka sauce can be prepped in advance. Just store it in an airtight container until your ready to re-heat it and toss with your cooked pasta. If you make it ahead of time but don’t plan on cooking the pasta until you’re ready to serve it, use regular water when blending the pasta sauce instead of pasta water.
This pasta sauce can be frozen (without any pasta – sauce only) for up to several months. When ready to use defrost it in the refrigerator until mostly thawed and then gently warm on the stove, stirring frequently and adding a bit of water or milk to thin as needed. If the sauce has separated it can be re-blended before tossing with pasta. Microwaving cashew based sauces for long periods of time will change the texture and I don’t recommend it.
This vodka sauce can be re-heated gently on the stove or in the microwave. In general, sauces with cashew cream tend to thicken after being cooled / refrigerated. All you need to do to thin it is add a splash of water or nut milk until desired consistency is reached.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Category: pasta
- Method: stove top
- Cuisine: italian
Nicole says
If I wanted to use a non-dairy heavy cream instead of the cashews how much would I add to this recipe please?
Nyssa Tanner says
I would suggest starting with 3/4 of a cup and blending in to the simmered tomato base, and then adding a little more if needed to the skillet once you’ve combined the sauce with the pasta. I hope that’s helpful, I’d love to hear how it turns out for you! Happy cooking 🙂 – Nyssa
Michelle Sower says
This is one of the best creamy vegan sauces ever! Easy and oh so creamy. My mdaughter lives out of town and every time she comes home for a visit, I make a triple batch for her to take with her when she leaves. It freezes perfectly and she has healthy, dairy free dinners for weeks!
Nyssa Tanner says
Oh I love that Michelle! What a wonderful way to treat her with some homemade meals 🙂 So glad to hear you love this recipe, happy cooking! – Nyssa
Julia says
This was incredible!!! I never leave reviews on recipes but WOW my boyfriend and I loved this. I made it without the vodka and it was still delicious. Only thing I didn’t like about it was that I didn’t have more! Next time I might double the sauce recipe and freeze half of it! Thanks so much for this great recipe.
Nyssa Tanner says
Ahh, yes! So glad that you loved this recipe so much :)) It’s one of our favorites as well! Doubling the sauce to freeze is an EXCELLENT idea. If it’s separated at all after thawing just give it another quick whirl in the blender before using and you’ll be good to go. Thank you for your thoughtful comment and happy cooking! – Nyssa
Lisa says
This was absolutely delicious!
Nyssa Tanner says
I’m so glad you loved this one!
Aimee says
This was delicious and so simple! I made it without oil and blended it with some silken tofu to up the protein. It came out great!
Nyssa Tanner says
Ohh yum! That sounds fabulous. What a good idea to blend some silken tofu into the sauce! I love it! Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment with your feedback!! xo, Nyssa
Marjorie says
One of my go to recipes!
Nyssa Tanner says
Hooray! So glad to hear you love it – thanks for the comment 🙂
Samantha says
Can I substitute the cashews for walnuts?
Nyssa Tanner says
I wouldn’t recommend it. I have experimented in the kitchen to see what other nut or seed could be used instead of cashews but haven’t had any luck thus far. Cashews blend into a smooth cream better than any other nut – the texture is just different. The best substitute I’ve found is using a dairy free creamer instead of cashews (Nutpods original is my favorite). If you want to try that for this recipe I would blend 3/4 – 1 cup of creamer with the tomato base and everything else that’s called for in Step 5 besides the pasta cooking water – you can leave that out. It might not be *quite* as creamy but will still be delicious! I’d love to know if you give it a try! Happy cooking!
Dakota says
How many servings is 1x the recipe?
Nyssa Tanner says
Hi Dakota! I just updated the recipe to include serving sizes and nutrition information. One recipe is equal to 4 generous servings.
Jordan says
Made this for the first time this evening and will be making again – no doubt about it! I had plenty of sauce for 16 ounces of pasta – this was great flavor and was able to easily customize for my preferred level of spice (lots!)
I’m excited to browse and find more recipes of yours now – thanks for sharing!
Nyssa Tanner says
I’m so glad you loved it and that you were able to make it nice and spicy (I like it spicy too!) Thanks for the comment + hope you find some other recipes you love on NK!
Beth says
I am adjusting to a gluten and dairy-free life and have felt discouraged at times, but this recipe helped me to realize there is so much I don’t know about cooking satisfying food! Not only did I love the recipe but my husband did as well, it is not lacking at all. I am now excited to try new recipes using cashews and other ingredients that I would have not tried if I was not placed on these dietary restrictions. Thank you!
Nyssa Tanner says
Beth! I’m so happy you enjoyed this recipe and that it reminded you that you’ll still be able to enjoy food that is satisfying and delicious – even without the gluten and dairy. I do what I do because I was literally in your exact shoes about 5 years ago.
I truly believe that enjoying your food matters (I mean duh, but also how often is that overlooked in conversations about health and well being?). Thank you for taking the time to leave this comment – it made my day! I usually share several GF and DF recipes each week so keep an eye on the blog for new inspiration! xo