Remember 2020 and all of its trends? There was the obsession over Carol Baskin and Tiger King, too many cocktail happy hours over Zoom, everyone trying their hand at sourdough, and TikTok’s explosion in popularity. Then, there was Gigi Hadid’s spicy vodka recipe that was on every social media platform. The dish has onions, tomato paste, heavy cream, pasta, parmesan, red pepper flakes, and of course, vodka. It seemed like everyone gave it a try, and some influencers even added their own twist to the recipe.
Well, two brands are working together to try to bring the iconic sauce back. Absolut Vodka and Heinz are collaborating to create their own jarred version of the sauce that had a resurgence in the 2020 viral recipe created by Gigi Hadid — the Heinz Absolut Vodka Sauce.
Wait, what?
Surprised to see these two brands working together? Us too, and we can’t tell if it’s legit. Although Heinz has provided summer barbecues and crispy fries with the perfect accessory of ketchup for many years, I can’t imagine what the Heinz Absolut vodka sauce would taste like. And the Absolut website doesn’t mention what ingredients are in it or how it’s made. The collab makes a little sense thought, with tomato (a main ingredient in ketchup) and vodka (Absolut's iconic product) needed to make a vodka sauce, but the two brands call this vodka pasta sauce “as late as it is delicious,” in reference to the creation being made three years after the trend first arose.
How do I get the sauce?
The limited-edition Heinz Absolut Vodka sauce is set to debut on April 12, 2023, but is only available in the U.K. I have made the famous Gigi penne alla vodka dish enough times to say that I am a huge fan and am intrigued to try this new sauce. The question now is, will it live up to the hype and expectations that the recipe which inspired it does?