Vodka sauce is a staple sauce in many Italian cookbooks for good reason: it’s delicious, flavorful, and endlessly versatile. Vodka sauce is a creamy and tasty combination of creamy and tomato-based sauces, used in a wide variety of recipes worldwide. Living somewhere between a marinara and an Alfredo sauce, the common ingredients in vodka sauce include tomatoes, heavy cream, parmesan cheese, fresh herbs, and a splash of vodka that cooks out of the sauce to balance the dish overall. Vodka sauce boasts a history as rich as its flavor, arguably around since the dawn of Italian cooking.
There is little debate surrounding the flavor profile of vodka sauce: it is a popular sauce because it's delicious. While vodka sauce is widely regarded as a tasty choice, the main problem becomes determining what goes with vodka sauce best. As an especially versatile sauce, the options are endless. In this article, Pirro's Sauce will explore what meats work best with vodka sauce, what pastas make the perfect pairings, as well as how choosing Pirro's Jarred Vodka Sauce is the perfect way to elevate any Italian dinner.
What Meat To Use With Vodka Sauce
For those looking to add a bit more to your vodka dishes, it is common to wonder what protein goes with vodka sauce best. Especially for those that are looking to make a larger meal for family or loved ones, adding protein to a vodka dish is a deliciously popular choice. Luckily, vodka sauce pairs well with virtually all proteins, but some of the most popular meat choices include:
Chicken
Chicken and Italian food are a match made in culinary heaven. The creaminess of the vodka sauce and the richness of the tomatoes is the perfect complement to any chicken dish.
Shrimp
Penne alla vodka with shrimp is a very popular choice on Italian restaurant menus worldwide. While shrimp is a delicious choice, other seafood proteins like scallops and lobster are also a tasty move.
Italian Sausage
If you're looking to make a creamy vodka spaghetti sauce, we highly recommend adding some Italian sausage or ground beef to the equation. The resulting dish is a deliciously meaty sauce perfect on its own or added to pasta of your choosing.
Best Pasta For Vodka Sauce
While choosing to pair vodka sauce with protein is delicious, the sauce is also great at speaking for itself. The complex flavors of vodka sauce make it a perfect addition to any pasta dish, regardless of which pasta you might have on hand at the time. While you can feel free to pair vodka sauce with any pasta of your choosing, the shape of the noodle can play a role in enjoying the sauce best. Here are a few kinds of pasta that pair best with vodka sauce.
Penne
By and far, the most popular noodle to pair with vodka sauce is penne pasta. Vodka sauce has the perfect ability to cling to penne noodles, making it that each bite is packed with delicious Italian flavors.
Rigatoni
Generally speaking, noodles with hollow tubes are the best for vodka sauce because the shape allows each noodle to gather the delicious sauce. That's why rigatoni is a very popular choice to pair with vodka sauce.
Orecchiette
If you're looking to venture into non-tube pasta territory, orecchiette is a great choice for vodka sauce. Also known as “little ear” pasta, orecchiette's shape acts as little boats for the sauce to pool and gather delicious flavor.
Common Vodka Sauce Dishes
Now that we've explored a few of the best proteins and pasta types that go best with vodka sauce, it's time to start thinking about which recipes you might want to try next. Vodka sauce is a versatile decadence, so the sky's the limit for culinary choices. Here are a few of our favorite vodka sauce dishes for you to consider for your next Italian night.
- Vodka Meatball Sandwich - Many meatball sandwiches will feature marinara and cheese, but combine the two by creating a mouth-watering meatball sub made with vodka sauce.
- Penne alla Vodka - Perhaps the most popular vodka dish seen on Italian menus is penne alla vodka sauce. Feel free to add the protein of your choosing to add even more flavor to this dish.
- Vodka Pizza - Traditional Italian pizza is made with a combination of tomato sauce, cheese, and Italian herbs. Up the cheesy ante by using vodka sauce as a pizza sauce instead.
Use Pirro’s Vodka Sauce For Your Next Dinner!
Vodka sauce is one of the most popular Italian sauces, so knowing what goes with vodka sauce best is the key to developing authentic Italian flavors. If you’re looking to make mealtime with loved ones an experience they'll never forget, Pirro’s Vodka Sauce is the way to go.
Bursting with delicious, authentic Italian flavor and tasting great in virtually any dish of your choosing, Pirro's Vodka Sauce is here to take any meal to the next level. The combination of fresh, US-sourced ingredients and time and dedication put into perfecting the Pirro’s family recipe, Pirro’s takes no shortcuts to genuine Italian flavor. Shop Pirro’s Vodka Sauce today to capture flavors reminiscent of the Italian riviera.
