Baked spaghetti with vodka sauce is a fantastic meal to serve when you’re feeding a crowd. A creamy vodka sauce baked with thick bucatini pasta comes together for an easy comfort meal that you can prepare in twenty minutes.
A Baked Spaghetti Casserole alla Vodka
Everything you love about a Southern casserole but with an Italian spin. Ricotta cheese, vodka sauce and Italian sausage combined with spaghetti pasta and then baked with loads of cheese create a casserole that is one of our favorites.
Everyone needs a recipe that you can put together quickly, in advance, and that will feed a crowd. Of course it also needs to be out of this world delicious. This baked spaghetti with vodka recipe is going to be your new best friend.
The ricotta cheese mixed in creates a creamier sauce than a typical vodka sauce, without the need for heavy cream. If you like a traditional penne alla vodka, this is similar but more of a substantial meal.
I’ve made it several times for those nights when I either don’t have time to cook or I want to be able to just put dinner in the oven and talk with family or friends. I just made a double batch, one to have for dinner next week when family will be in town and one to give to a friend who’s having surgery.
This makes enough to feed twelve, so I put some of it in individual ramekins for later. You can half the recipe if you’re not serving twelve, but I suggest making the entire batch and dividing it into smaller baking dishes and freeze some for later.
This recipe is similar to my baked pasta alla vodka but with a few shortcuts that will save you a lot of time and you won’t give up too much flavor. If you want to make a lighter baked pasta dish, try chicken spaghetti which is made with a broth based sauce, but still plenty of cheese.
Why you’ll love this recipe
- Spaghetti casserole is the best
- This creamy pasta dish comes together in 20 minutes
- You can easily feed a crowd
- You can prep it in advance and just pop it in the oven
Why use a vodka sauce
While I can’t explain exactly why or how, but adding vodka to a tomato sauce helps release the acids from the tomatoes and brings out their flavor. It also adds a distinct taste to the sauce.
Vodka sauce also has some cream which helps with the acidity from the tomatoes.
The alcohol will not cook out completely, you would have to cook it for three hours for all of the alcohol to evaporate. If that is an issue for you, then you’ll need to use a different type of sauce. It won’t have the unique flavor of a vodka sauce, but the dish will still be delicious if you use a marinara sauce.
Just a Few Ingredients
- Italian sausage– half sweet and half spicy for lots of flavor and a little heat.
- Fresh basil – this will add so much flavor, but dried will work in a pinch.
- Prepared vodka cream sauce – like Rao’s or if you have an Italian market get theirs.
- Ricotta cheese – you can find this in the milk and cheese section of the grocery or if you have an Italian market ask if they will sell you some. Ours uses ricotta for their desserts but will sell it to me if I ask for it.
- Parmesan cheese – for the flavor.
- Mozzarella cheese – to make it cheesy.
- Bucatini – this thicker pasta is great when it’s coated with the sauce.
- Pantry staples – onion and garlic. If you want it a little spicy, add some crushed red pepper flakes.
How do you make Baked Spaghetti with Vodka Sauce
Step 1:
Brown the sausage then add onion and cook until soft. Next add garlic, fresh basil and prepared vodka cream sauce and let it simmer for 10 minutes.
Step 2:
Cook the pasta in a large pot of salted water to al dente and place in a large bowl with half of the ricotta and parmesan cheese. Since this has ricotta, you don’t need to save the pasta water.
Combine so that it melts and coats the spaghetti noodles then add the cooked sausage mixture along with the rest of the ricotta and parmesan and stir it all together. Top with mozzarella.
Step 3:
Bake immediately or refrigerate until ready to bake. It will save for 2-3 days in the refrigerator or you can cover with plastic wrap and aluminum foil and freeze it. Let it come to room temperature before baking.
This is a wonderful dish to eat for leftovers. I think the flavors get better as it sits overnight and since it freezes so well, I always make a large batch and freeze half for another meal.
If you loved this recipe, give it a star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating! Also, snap a picture of your finished dish and share it with me on Instagram using the hashtag #butterandbaggage and tagging me @butterandbaggage.
Baked Spaghetti with a Creamy Vodka Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 lb sweet Italian Sausage
- 1 lb hot Italian sausage
- 1 large onion chopped
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- ¼ cup fresh basil chopped
- 16 ounces prepared vodka cream sauce 2 cups
- 1 lb bucatini pasta
- 15 ounces ricotta cheese 1 ½ cups
- 1 cup parmesan cheese grated
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 ½ cups mozzarella cheese grated
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350º.
- Heat a large skillet over high. Remove casings from sausages and add to the pan breaking apart as they cook. Cook until browned, about 5 minutes. Add onions and salt and pepper and cook until the onions have softened, about 5 minutes. Add fresh basil and garlic and cook an additional minute. Add prepared vodka sauce and reduce heat to low. Let simmer for 10 minutes.
- While the sausage is cooking, cook pasta in salted water until it is al dente. Drain.
- In a large bowl, combine half of the ricotta and half of the parmesan along with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the hot pasta and toss to coat. Add the sausage mixture and mix well. Ad the remaining ricotta and parmesan and mix. Pour into a very large baking dish or 2 smaller ones and sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Bake until bubbly and golden, about 45 minutes.
- Can be refrigerated before baking for 2-3 days. When ready to bake, remove from the refrigerator and let warm to room temperature before baking.
Barbara’s Tips + Notes
- This can be refrigerated before baking, just bring to room temperature before placing in the oven.
- You can half the recipe
- You can freeze this prior to baking or after it has baked. Just let it come to room temperature before baking.
- You can substitute any shaped pasta for the bucatini.
- You can substitute marinara sauce for the vodka sauce.
Nutrition
Follow Me On SocialDid you make this recipe? Mention @ButterandBaggage or tag #ButterandBaggage
on Instagram!
Wendy Hartford says
Delicious! Happily surprised by this dish. We are not Vodka Sauce fans, but wanted to give it another try and with these ingredients was hopeful. The prep was slightly more than my spaghetti, but well worth it! I followed your recipe to the letter (well, I ended up with mild sausage in place of the sweet) and never had this pasta before, but see why you recommend it. We loved it! We will be adding this to our rotation of yumminess! Thank you!
Barbara Curry says
Thanks for such a thoughtful review. I’m glad I converted you to a vodka sauce fan!