you guys, I’m obsessed with this pasta situation I made last Thursday when I was supposed to be meal prepping but got lazy and just wanted something fast that felt fancy.

So my boyfriend came home from work starving and complaining that we never have “real food” in the house (sir, we have food, you just don’t want to cook it) and I threw this together in like 30 minutes with stuff I already had. He thought I ordered takeout lol. The paprika gives it this smoky thing that makes it taste way more complicated than it actually is and the cream sauce is literally just heavy cream and some seasoning but it tastes like you spent hours on it.

why this recipe is a whole vibe

The steak cooks so fast if you cut it into strips. Like I’m talking 5 minutes tops and you’re done with the meat part, which means less time standing at the stove watching stuff.

Shells are the superior pasta shape for creamy sauces and I’ll die on this hill. The sauce gets trapped in the little shell pockets and every bite is saucy instead of having naked pasta with all the sauce at the bottom of the bowl.

Paprika is cheap and gives you that restaurant-quality smoky flavor without having to buy a million different spices. I just use the regular stuff from the grocery store, nothing fancy.

It’s a one-pan situation after you cook the pasta. Less dishes means less time cleaning which means more time watching TikToks so like, that’s important.

The leftovers don’t get weird and dry like some cream sauces do. Sometimes they’re even better the next day when everything has sat together overnight doing whatever food chemistry thing happens.

what you need to make it

you’ll also want salt, pepper, maybe some onion powder, red pepper flakes if you like heat, parmesan for topping

how I actually make this

First get your pasta water going because that takes forever to boil and I always forget to start it first. Salt it a lot, like more than you think. My grandma always said pasta water should taste like the ocean and she was right.

While that’s heating up, cut your steak into strips. Not huge chunks, like maybe half an inch wide? I’m terrible at measuring but basically bite-sized pieces that’ll cook fast. Pat them dry with paper towels because wet meat doesn’t brown right, I learned that from some cooking show I watched while scrolling Instagram.

 

Season the steak pieces with salt, pepper, and like a tablespoon of the paprika. Just dump it on there and mix it around with your hands.

Once your water is boiling, throw the pasta in and cook it according to the box. Usually like 9-11 minutes but I always taste it a minute early because I hate mushy pasta.

Meanwhile, heat a big skillet over medium-high heat. Add the butter and let it melt and get foamy. Then add your steak strips and cook them for like 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally. You want them browned but not grey and overcooked. Take them out and put them on a plate.

Don’t wash the pan because all that brown stuff on the bottom is flavor. Turn the heat down to medium and add a little olive oil if the pan looks dry. Throw in your garlic and cook it for like 30 seconds until it smells good but not burnt because burnt garlic is gross and bitter.

 

Now add the rest of your paprika to the pan and stir it around for a few seconds. This is where my kitchen gets all smoky and I have to open a window but it’s worth it.

 

Pour in the beef broth and scrape up all those brown bits from the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. This is called deglazing and it sounds fancy but it’s literally just scraping stuff off the pan.

 

Add the heavy cream and stir everything together. Let it simmer for like 3-5 minutes until it thickens up a bit. It should coat the back of a spoon or whatever but honestly I just eyeball it until it looks creamy enough.

Taste it and add more salt if it needs it. I always need to add more salt because I’m scared of over-salting and then it ends up bland.

 

Drain your pasta when it’s done but save like a cup of the pasta water just in case you need to thin out the sauce later.

 

Add the pasta and steak back to the pan with the sauce and toss everything together. If it looks too thick add some of that pasta water a little bit at a time.

The first time I made this I added all the pasta water at once and it got too soupy and I had to let it simmer for like 10 more minutes to thicken back up. So yeah, add it slowly.

Let it all hang out together for a minute so the pasta can soak up some sauce. Done.

random tips from my experiments

• If you want vegetables in this, mushrooms and spinach work really well. Just sauté the mushrooms after you cook the steak and wilt the spinach at the very end.
• I’ve used ground beef when I didn’t have steak and it was still good, just not as fancy-feeling. Brown it and drain some of the fat first.
• My friend makes this with chicken instead and she cuts it into chunks and it’s pretty much the same process. Takes maybe a minute longer to cook through.
• If your sauce breaks and looks grainy and weird (happened to me once when my heat was too high), just add a little more cream and whisk it like crazy and it usually comes back together.

the leftover container mystery

This keeps in the fridge for like 3-4 days in a sealed container. But seriously I have to tell you, I’m so bad at labeling my leftovers that I constantly play this game of “what’s in this container and when did I make it?”

Last week I found a container in the back of my fridge and genuinely could not remember if it was this pasta or something else entirely. Smelled fine though so I ate it. Probably was only two days old. Maybe three.

Label your stuff with dates. Use a sharpie. Be better than me.

Reheating this is best on the stove with a splash of cream or milk because it dries out a tiny bit in the fridge. Microwave works in a pinch but add a little liquid and don’t blast it on high power or the cream will separate and get weird.

I haven’t tried freezing it because we always eat it all but my coworker says she freezes pasta dishes like this all the time. Just thaw it overnight in the fridge and reheat gently.

nutrition facts (approximately)

(this is super rough math based on like 4 servings and I’m basically guessing, it varies depending on how much cream you use and what cut of steak)

questions I keep getting asked

 

Can I use a different pasta shape?

Yeah but shells are honestly the best for this. I’ve done penne and it was fine but not as good. Definitely don’t use spaghetti or linguine because the sauce just slides off. You want something that’ll hold onto that creamy paprika goodness.

 

What if I don’t eat beef?

Then use chicken, pork, or even shrimp. Shrimp cooks even faster than steak so watch it carefully. I’ve also made this completely meatless with just mushrooms and extra veggies when I was trying to eat less meat and it was actually pretty good.

 

Is this spicy?

Nah, paprika isn’t really spicy, it’s more smoky and slightly sweet. If you want heat add some red pepper flakes or cayenne. I usually add a pinch because I like a little kick but my boyfriend doesn’t so I just put hot sauce on mine after.

 

Can I make this ahead?

Sort of? You can prep all your ingredients ahead of time and then it comes together super fast when you’re ready to cook. But I wouldn’t make the whole thing ahead because the pasta gets mushy when it sits in the sauce too long. Better to just make it fresh, it’s only like 30 minutes anyway.

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