Penne alla Vodka with Chicken is made with a creamy rose sauce with vodka. For a little bit of spice to chicken penne alla vodka you can also add red pepper flakes.
This vodka sauce pasta can be made with boneless skinless chicken or just skinless chicken breasts. For more tender chicken pieces, use chicken thighs or chicken drumsticks.
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Is Penne all Vodka Sauce Halal?
In Muslim terms 'halal' means allowed and is generally associated with meat. Muslims do not drink alcohol because it is 'haram" or forbidden. Since penne alla vodka uses vodka, which is an alcohol, and is forbidden as a food option. Although the majority of the alcohol is cooked down and evaporates, it is likely safer to just omit the vodka in this recipe if you want to make it 'halal'.
This creamy penne alla vodka with chicken recipe can be made at any time of the year because the ingredients are available all year round and there isn't any time of the year that this chicken with vodka recipe couldn't be eaten.
The inspiration for penne alla vodka chicken came from another great recipe for Pasta alla Panna Sauce. If you like eggs, you will also want to try Pasta all Carbonara sauce.
Is there Bacon in Vodka Sauce?
Traditionally vodka sauce does not contain bacon. Normally vodka sauce is made with heavy cream, sauce and vodka. You can add chicken, bacon, pancetta, sausage or any other meat to personalize vodka sauce for your own liking.
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Ingredients Needed for Penne Vodka with Chicken
- Vodka
- Heavy Cream
- Chicken
- Pancetta or Bacon
- Penne Pasta
- Parmesan Cheese
- Tomato Sauce, link to it.
- Salt
- Water
- Basil
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions on How to Make Chicken Penne alla Vodka recipe
Season chicken and roast, grill or fry until cooked. Remove skin and shred or slice into small pieces. Set aside.
In a large fry pan sauté garlic, pancetta and onions in butter. Add tomato puree. Bring to boil and let simmer for 15 minutes.
Add cream and cheese, bring to a boil stirring constantly until thick. Pour vodka into skillet. Remove from heat and cover. Add chicken.
Cook pasta as per manufacturer's directions. Reserve a cup of pasta water, then drain pasta.
Pour pasta into fry pan/skillet with sauce and heat and mix to combine the pasta and sauce.
Serve in bowls, garnished with chopped basil, parmesan shavings and fresh ground pepper.
Top tip
TOP TIP: make the chicken in advance using a toaster oven or air fryer. Use thighs, drumsticks for tender cuts of meat. More fatty, more tender. Remove skin and shred and then set aside to add to sauce at the end.
Substitutions and Varitions
This penne alla vodka with chicken is good on its own, but it you want to try variations, here are some ideas:
- Hot Red Peppers - add chili flakes or red peppers to the sauce to heat things up
- Vegetarian - eliminate meat to make this a vegetarian meal
- Noodles - use spaghetti, linguini or any other type of pasta
- Tofu - add soy protein as a vegetarian option.
Of course, if you have other ideas on how to personalize this pasta dish, go for it.
I'd love to here about your ideas, drop a comment below to let me know how you made this your own.
Equipment
You don't need a lot of equipment to make this chicken vodka sauce. You will need some pots, preferably non stick, to make your pasta and the cream vodka sauce. You'll also need to cook your chicken using oven and baking sheet, stove and frypan a toaster oven or air fryer.
This page contains affiliate links, which means I may receive commissions if you choose to purchase through links I provide (at no extra cost to you). Thank you for supporting the work I put into this site! As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Storage
If you have leftovers for this chicken penne alla vodka it can be stored in an airtight container for a few days.
Freezing leftovers is not recommended because the chicken vodka recipe is made with heavy cream and freezing and thawing is unpredictable which can cause the cream to spoil.
Note that the storage guidelines provided on this page and site are estimates from personal experiences. We are all adults and as an adult you are responsible to ensure that the food you eat is safe to eat. Since, I'm not a food safety expert, you are responsible to review your local guidelines on food storage prior to storing any food left-overs.
For Canadian Guidelines check Government of Canada's Food and Safety Guidelines for further information and resources.
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Recipe Details
Penne alla Vodka with Chicken
Ingredients
Pasta:
- 250 grams of penne pasta
- 8 cups water for cooking pasta
Sauce:
- 2 tablespoons of butter
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 onion diced
- 1 cup tomato puree
- ½ cup parmesan cheese grated
- 250 g pancetta cubed (or bacon)
- 2 ounces vodka
Chicken:
- 6 chicken drumsticks or 2 chicken breasts
- salt pepper, onion powder and garlic to taste
Garnish:
- chopped basil
- Shaved Parmesan cheese
- ground pepper
Instructions
- Season chicken and roast, grill or fry until cooked. Remove skin and shred or slice into small pieces. Set aside.
- In a large fry pan sauté garlic, pancetta and onions butter. Add tomato puree. Bring to boil and let simmer for 15 minutes.
- Add cream and cheese, bring to a boil stirring constantly until thick. Add vodka and stir until alcohol has evaporated. Remove from heat and cover. Add chicken.
- Cook pasta as per manufacturer's directions. Reserve a cup of pasta water, then drain pasta.
- Pour pasta into fry pan/skillet with sauce and heat and mix to combine the pasta and sauce.
- Serve in bowls, garnished with parmesan shavings, chopped basil and fresh ground pepper.
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