Chicken penne alla vodka sounds like a very sophisticated, bougie dish that is very hard to make. Actually, it’s very easy to make. Impress your significant other or guests at your next get-together with this creamy, rosy pasta.

Chicken penne alla vodka on a white plate

Ingredients

Penne pasta – Even though it’s in the name of this dish, you can use other types of pasta besides penne, such as bow ties or rotini.
Passata – Marinara sauce could work as well, but you may not need to add as much seasonings into the sauce. To be safe, add salt to taste instead of what’s recommended in the recipe.
Chicken Breast – You can substitute this with chicken thigh. I find that the high-protein and low-fat content of chicken breast goes well with this recipe as it’s a great contrast to the other high-fat ingredients like parmigiano reggiano and heavy cream.
Kosher salt – Halve the amount for kosher salt, if using table salt, and adjust salt based on your tastes.
Black pepper – If possible, use freshly ground black pepper. It has a more peppery flavour than the pre-ground stuff and will make your pasta taste amazing!
Frozen peas and carrots – You can substitute this with other types of frozen vegetables.
Parmigiano reggiano – parmesan may be used as a substitute
Vodka – Other types of alcohol could serve as a substitute, but the flavour may be slightly different.
Italian seasoning – This is responsible for much of the flavours in this dish since it contains a mix of different herbs.
Parsley – Fresh parsley has better flavour than dried parsley. If using dried parsley, use half of the amount for fresh.
Sugar – This brings out the tomato flavours and balances out the acidity.
Crushed red pepper flakes – This is optional.
Aromatics (Onion & Garlic) – These add umami and toasted flavours, respectively.
Olive oil – Other oils can serve as a substitute.
Heavy cream – This helps to mellow out the acidity of the tomato sauce and adds richness to the pasta.
Butter – This also adds richness to the pasta.

How to Make Chicken Penne Alla Vodka

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. (During this time, I like to chop ingredients and measure things out).

When the pot of water is boiling, add salt to the water. Adding the salt during the boiling step will help enhance the flavour of the pasta.

Add the pasta to the pot and stir occasionally. Cook the pasta until it’s al dente.

I cooked my penne pasta for about 8 – 9 minutes, which was the minimum recommended cooking time according to the manufacturer. After we are done cooking the pasta, drain the pasta with a colander and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process.

I find rinsing the pasta with cold water also helps the pieces of pasta from sticking to each other too much. Set the pasta aside.

Season the chicken breast with salt and black pepper. On medium heat, pan-fry the chicken breast in olive oil, stirring occasionally, until cooked through and browned.

We want to bring out the flavours of the chicken breast by browning them at this step, since we won’t get a chance to brown them later on. After about 10 minutes of cooking, set the chicken breast aside.

Next, we’ll be making the pasta sauce. In the same pan, keeping the browned bits from cooking the chicken breast, melt some butter and fry the garlic and onions until fragrant and browned. We want to develop and elevate the flavours of the aromatics.

Pour the passata into the pan and stir in all of the seasonings (Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes, sugar, black pepper and salt). Then, mix the vodka into the sauce and let the sauce simmer for 15 minutes.

Tomato sauce on diced onions with spices on top

Stir in the frozen peas and carrots when there are 4 minutes on the timer left.

Stirring in frozen peas and carrots into tomato sauce

While stirring, pour the heavy cream into the pasta sauce.

Bring the sauce back to a simmer and then add the chicken breast and pasta back to the pan. Heat to warm the pasta and chicken back up.

Mixing creamy pasta sauce with penne pasta

Stir in the parmigiano reggiano and parsley into the pasta until well-combined.

Serve the pasta with extra parmigiano reggiano and parsley on the side in case you or your guests want extra on top for more flavour and visual appeal.