Free Recipe · Slow Cooker
Rich, silky, pink vodka sauce with the pasta cooked right in it, so dinner and the washing up are both done before anyone sits down.
This saucy vodka pasta cooks entirely in the slow cooker, pasta and all, in 4 hours 40 minutes on high or 8 hours 40 minutes on low, with 20 minutes of hands-on work, and it serves 4.
Now this is one recipe that is perfect for entertaining. It will have everyone talking. Vodka pasta?! And we are not cooking off the alcohol, so it has even got a kick to it (roughly one standard drink per person, worth knowing if anyone is driving). The sauce is your typical Italian pink or rose sauce, rich and silky, and we are using my favourite hack: cooking the pasta right in with the sauce in the slow cooker. Not only does it cut down on washing up, but the starch released as the pasta cooks adds a subtle body to the sauce.
By the time you sit down for dinner, the chopping board, knife and frypan have long ago been washed, the kitchen is clean and the stage is set for a relaxing evening. This recipe is a teaser straight from my cookbook Modern Slow Cooker, which is 85 meat free recipes built around exactly this idea: put it in, walk away, come back to dinner.
Meet the cookbook
85 recipes that cook while you get on with your day
Modern Slow Cooker
Signed, 207 full colour pages, and every recipe meat free and freezer friendly.
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See the whole thing come together
Here is the vodka pasta from frypan to bowl, so you can see exactly how little there is to it.
Let's Cook
Saucy Vodka Pasta (for Slow Cooker)
Serves 4 · 20 minutes hands-on · 4 hours 40 minutes on high or 8 hours 40 minutes on low
Ingredients
The Tools
Pushes the pasta under the sauce and scrapes the pot clean. Heat safe to 260C.
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Method
First
Heat oil in a large frypan over medium heat. Once hot, add onion and sauté for 5 to 10 minutes or until soft. Add garlic and continue cooking for a couple of minutes. Transfer to slow cooker.
Add tomatoes, stock cubes or stock powder, salt and water. Cover and cook for 4 hours on high or 8 hours on low.
4 or 8 hours later
Give everything a really good stir. Add pasta, pushing down with the back of a Slow Cooker Spatula if necessary, ensuring that pasta is fully submerged. Cover and cook for 30 minutes on high (this is one of those times you need to be exact with the time or you will overcook the pasta).
Add cream and vodka and give the pasta another really good stir. Cover and cook for a further 10 minutes on high.
Test pasta for doneness. It should be cooked al dente, but if not, cover and cook for a further 10 minutes on high.
To finish
Serve straight away. It is delicious as is, but my favourite way to serve it is piled high with fresh rocket and a generous drizzle of my chilli and fennel seed infused oil (page 181, Modern Slow Cooker).
Notes and tips
Do not leave the pasta sitting in the slow cooker on the keep warm setting once it is done, or it will overcook. The 30 minute pasta stage is one of the few times in slow cooking where the timing really does need to be exact.
For a dairy free and vegan version, use plant-based butter in place of the double cream. And remember the alcohol is not cooked off here, so allow roughly one standard drink per person.
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More from the slow cooker
A few more short videos from our slow cooking series, in case you want to keep going.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you cook pasta in a slow cooker?
Yes. The pasta goes in dry, straight into the sauce, once the sauce has had its 4 or 8 hours. It needs 30 minutes on high, then a further 10 minutes after the cream and vodka go in. The starch it releases gives the sauce a lovely body, and there is no separate pot to wash.
Does the alcohol cook off in this vodka pasta?
No. We are not cooking off the alcohol in this one, which is part of the fun. Allow roughly one standard drink per person, and keep that in mind for anyone who is driving.
Can I make it dairy free or vegan?
Yes. Swap the double cream for plant-based butter and the recipe becomes dairy free and vegan. Everything else stays exactly the same.
How long does it take from start to finish?
About 20 minutes of hands-on work, then either 4 hours 40 minutes on high or 8 hours 40 minutes on low. Pick whichever setting suits your day.
Want more nights like this one?
If a set and forget dinner is your idea of a good evening, Modern Slow Cooker has 85 more of them, all meat free and all built for a 5 to 6.5 litre slow cooker.
