Vodka Sauce Pizza.
We love this vodka sauce pizza! Flavorful crust topped with perfect vodka sauce and fresh mozzarella. Sprinkle with basil and parmesan. It’s absolutely incredible.
Is there anything better than pizza friday?!
I think not! We live for pizza friday… or any pizza day, really. The kids absolutely love making their own pizzas. We turn it into a whole fun assembly line thing – roll your own dough, add your toppings make your own pizza! It’s something we all look forward to.
Plus, the tend to eat more variety when they make the pizzas themselves!
Speaking of variety, these pizza photos don’t have much. I mean, it’s sauce and cheese for a reason. And let me tell you about that reason!
It’s all about the VODKA SAUCE.
Why is vodka sauce SO good? It’s so rich and thick and wonderful. When I first started making my vodka sauce pasta, we literally wanted to eat it every week. It is that incredible.
And somehow, it wasn’t until recently that I thought about putting the vodka sauce on pizza.
How on earth did I miss this?
A few months ago we got a vodka sauce pizza and it was unreal. We’re talking next-level wonderful. The entire pizza went that night between four adults. And it was incredibly simple. The vodka sauce pizza we had was an upside down pizza, with crust, then cheese, then sauce on top.
It didn’t even look that appetizing, that’s how minimal it was. Plus the top was just a layer of… sauce.
But then with one bite we just about lost it. Fantastic. And I knew I had to make it!
I switched things up a bit. I just use my regular dough, my vodka sauce and fresh mozzarella. Plus a little basil too!
Yes. It’s that easy.
Kind of like a margherita pizza feel, but with vodka sauce. It is a DREAM.
And now you know what to make for dinner tonight!
Vodka Sauce Pizza
Vodka Sauce Pizza
Ingredients
dough
- 1 cup warm water
- 3 teaspoons active dry yeast
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- flour and/or coarse cornmeal for dusting
pizza
- 1 cup reserved pasta water, or substitution, listed below
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 shallot, diced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- salt and pepper
- ½ cup tomato paste
- 3 tablespoons vodka (I like Tito’s)
- ⅓ cup heavy cream
- ⅓ cup finely grated parmesan cheese, plus more for topping
- 8 ounces fresh mozzarella, sliced
- fresh basil, for topping
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine water, yeast, honey and olive oil. Mix with a spoon, then let sit until foamy, about 10 minutes. Add the flour and salt, stirring with a spoon until the dough comes together but is still sticky. Using your hands, form the dough into a ball and work in the additional 1/2 cup flour, kneading it on a floured surface for a few minutes. Rub the same bowl with olive oil then place the dough inside, turning to coat. Cover with a towel and place in a warm place to rise for about 1 to 1.5 hours.
- After the dough has risen, punch it down and place it back on the floured surface. Divide it in half and use only one half for this pizza recipe. Save the other half - stick it in the fridge for a few days, or even freeze it!
- Using a rolling pin or your hands, form it loosely into your desired shape. Sprinkle a bit of flour or cornmeal on a 10x15 inch baking sheet. Place the dough on top. You can also use a pizza stone or cook this in your pizza oven if you wish!
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
- Make the vodka sauce. To make a starchy pasta water without cooking pasta, combine 1 cup of water with ½ teaspoon of cornstarch and ¼ teaspoon salt. Bring it to a boil in a saucepan, then turn off the heat!
- Heat the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Once melted, stir in the shallots and garlic with a big pinch of salt and pepper. Cook, stirring often, until the onions soften. Add in the tomato paste and stir, cooking for 5 minutes. The color will darken - this is where the flavor is!
- Stream in the vodka and stir, scraping the brown bits and flavor from the bottom. Stir in ½ cup of the reserved (or makeshift) pasta water. Stir in the heavy cream and parmesan, stirring until the cheese melts. Taste and season the sauce with more salt and pepper if needed. This will make more sauce than needed. Store it in the fridge for a few days or use it to make another pizza!
- To make the pizza, spread about ½ to ¾ cup of vodka sauce all over the pizza dough. Top with the fresh mozzarella. Sprinkle on some parmesan cheese.
- Place the pizza on the sheet in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes. Check on it after 15 minutes - if it’s not deeply golden and melty yet, give it another 5 minutes. Once golden and bubbly, remove it and let cool before slicing. Sprinkle with basil and extra parmesan and serve!
Did you make this recipe?
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I appreciate you so much!
Seriously the best ever.
12 Comments on “Vodka Sauce Pizza.”
The vodka sauce craze here in NJ is ridiculous. They call them Drunken Pies… Drunken Grandmas in particular 😂
Give me all the things vodka sauce… this looks de-licious!
ahhh love that!!! i wish it was more available here!
If I use all the dough to make 2 pizzas should I double the topping recipe?
no need to double the sauce!! i just added that into the instructions, thank you!
Made this on Friday and it was PERFECT, so delicious and elevated from a margarita pizza. Served the leftovers at a party on Saturday and everyone raved about it! This is going in the rotation, Jess.
If this recipe is not a “keeper”, than nothing should ever be labeled that. Insanely delicious….the sauce of course is just wonderful, but what it does to a thin crust pizza is incredible. I used half of the sauce recipe for my 10 inch pie, which is perhaps a little more sauce than I normally use, but I think herein lies the magic of this pie. Cheese fondue meets pizza….what a marriage. Just as there are so many types of pizzas, such as Grandma, Detroit, Thin crust, Chicago style, etc….Vodka Sauce pizza is unique. I suppose I would use fresh Mozzarella, but I had grated Fontina at hand, and used this cheese. All I know is that the remaining half portion of sauce is in our freezer, and I am treating it like gold.
I made this, just as printed here, for dinner last night. It was AMAZING. My husband took one bite, looked at me, and said, “OH MY GOSH! This is perfect.” Thanks for the home run. We’re already planning to make it again this weekend!
This was absolutely DELICIOUS. It was everything I hoped it could be and more. I won’t be looking any further for a pizza recipe. And I can’t wait to try the liquid gold—I mean vodka sauce—on pasta. Thank you for an amazing recipe!!
This was delicious! I’m pregnant and only had Ritual non-alcoholic gin, but it worked out great! I also used Greek yogurt instead of the heavy cream.
For the pizza dough it says to add the additional 1/2 cup of flour. Is this within the 2 1/2 cups or added to the 2 1/2 cups so 3 cups total now?
A new favorite! Due to health/mouth issues a traditional red sauce irritates my mouth. The cream cut the acidity and was great! My son loved the depth of flavor, I may have went a bit wild on the different parms. Fresh mozzarella is the key. BTW it works if you put the chopped basil in the sauce. 😁
One of the best pizzas I ever made! I did a little pecorrino amd swirl or olive oil prior to cooking. AMAZING!!!! Wish I could add a pic!