Chicken Vodka Pasta
Chicken vodka pasta is a dynamic pasta dish, that’s just made for your next date night. Al denté penne pasta is coated in a velvety, vodka sauce and served with a pan seared chicken breast.
What we love about this chicken vodka pasta
- Pan searing the chicken breast makes all the difference in this recipe. It adds a flavor that can’t be added to the vodka sauce or the pasta.
- This vodka sauce is silky smooth. It’s made with tomato pureé that only becomes more luxurious as it simmers with vodka.
- This slightly, spicy pasta is the best recipe for an adults only dinner. Date night or dinner party, this recipe will be a hit.
Here’s what you’ll need to make it
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- Vodka – No need for anything fancy here, you can use whatever you have on hand or pick up an inexpensive bottle.
- Chicken
- Penne pasta
- Heavy cream
- Shallot
- Tomato puree – We chose this over crushed tomatoes to achieve a more velvety, smooth texture.
Making changes to a recipe can result in recipe failure. Any substitutions listed below are simple changes that I believe will work in this recipe, but results are not guaranteed.
How to make chicken pasta with vodka sauce
Make the sauce. In a large saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add garlic, shallots, herbs and crushed red peppers, sauté until fragrant.
Whisk in tomato pureé, heavy cream, and vodka. Simmer sauce for 15-20 minutes, or until sauce has thickened and coats the back of a spoon.
Cook the chicken. Heat a large cast iron skillet and sear chicken breast until golden brown and cooked through, flipping chicken halfway through cooking.
Remove chicken from heat and allow to rest while pasta is cooking. This will allow the juices to redistribute throughout the chicken, resulting in tender, juicy chicken. Slice into small pieces or strips for serving, when chicken is done resting (about 5 minutes).
Cook the pasta. Cook pasta according to package directions, to al denté. Reserve about ½ cup of pasta water and drain.
Combine pasta with sauce. Stir pasta into sauce, stirring until well coated with sauce.
Serve pasta with chicken.
Everything you need to know about this vodka pasta
The alcohol in vodka sauce is cooked off as it simmers. The amount of time spent simmering the sauce is an important element of making vodka sauce. Vodka sauce should be cooked for at least 15 minutes to allow for this to happen.
Vodka adds acidity to this creamy tomato sauce as it intensifies the flavors and balances the sweetness of the tomatoes. It adds an unmatchable zestiness to the sauce.
Half and half can be substituted for heavy cream in this recipe. Milk will not be a suitable substitute here, it just won’t be thick enough to get the velvety texture you want!
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Chicken Vodka Pasta
Chicken vodka pasta is a dynamic pasta dish, that’s just made for your next date night. Al denté penne pasta is coated in a velvety, vodka sauce and served with pan seared chicken breast.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 8 1x
- Category: Penne
- Method: Stovetop
Ingredients
- 1 chicken breasts, cooked
- ½ pound penne pasta, cooked
- ¼ cup butter
- 1 tbsp minced garlic
- ½ tsp crushed red pepper flakes
- ½ tsp dried basil
- ½ tsp dried parsley
- 1 tsp coarse salt
- 1 shallot, minced
- 1 cans tomato purée
- 1 cups heavy cream
- 1 cup vodka
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 317
- Sugar: 6.3 g
- Sodium: 328.3 mg
- Fat: 11.9 g
- Saturated Fat: 7.2 g
- Carbohydrates: 31.4 g
- Fiber: 3 g
- Protein: 6.8 g
- Cholesterol: 34.8 mg
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