This Under-$5 Aldi Find Doubles As A Perfect Soup Base

If you were to grab a jar in the store, you'd probably think that Aldi's Specially Selected Premium Vodka Pasta Sauce is just the kind of thing to keep in the pantry until a weeknight pasta calls for a shortcut. But actually, it has another, more unexpected, use. This under-$5 jar of rich sauce might just be your next shortcut to a warming tomato soup, thanks to the fact that it kind of already sits somewhere between a marinara and a cream-based sauce (and that creaminess plus acidity is the balance one should strive for in a good soup).

And this isn't just an opinion, there's some real food science to back this up — vodka and tomatoes are actually a perfect food pairing. Alcohol acts as a solvent for tomato's flavor compounds that water or fat alone can't release, so what that means is that adding vodka makes all those flavors pop out more. There's no reason to limit yourself to enjoying these flavors only as a pasta sauce and not as soup, too.

As a base, you only need to thin the sauce out with some vegetable broth and maybe add some extra added cream as well, and soon you could be looking at possibly the easiest and most delicious tomato soup you've ever had. Bonus points for no roasting or blending required which, on a wintery Tuesday night when pasta isn't calling your name, is kind of a win-win situation.

Using Aldi's vodka pasta sauce as a soup base works best when you lean into what it already is, rather than trying to force it into something else. It has a natural tomato-y richness which makes it ideal for creamy tomato-style soups; in fact, it's just calling to have a crispy grilled cheese dunked into its indulgent flavors. Think bread, cheese, vodka sauce... it's all the best parts of penne alla vodka but dippable and drinkable. Make it your own by topping it with a little basil oil, a swirl of yogurt, or even cook a handful of small pasta shapes directly in the pot to bulk it out a little and turn it into a pasta e fagioli or minestrone-style soup.

However, there are limits — if you dilute the vodka sauce too aggressively, you could lose the balance that makes it so appealing in the first place. So no, this is not the base for a more brothy or vegetable-forward soup, no beans and no lentils here. What could be interesting, however, is to use it as the base for a ramen. Tomato-based ramens may not be traditional, but they definitely work. It's up to you whether you want to stick to a classic or play around a little, but the appeal is the same: you're starting with a $4.29 jar that works double time as both a sauce and a soup base.