Creamy Paprika Steak Shells

Creamy paprika steak shellsis the ultimate comfort dish, blending tender bites of steak with pasta shells in a silky, paprika-kissed sauce. The creaminess balances the smoky spice perfectly, creating a hearty meal that feels both indulgent and satisfying. It’s quick to pull together with simple ingredients, making it a weeknight dinner that tastes like something special.

Love More Pasta Recipes? Try Creamy Pumpkin Pasta or this Crock Pot American Goulash next.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

This dish delivers the perfect balance of smoky paprika, tender steak, and creamy pasta shells in every bite. It feels indulgent and flavorful enough to serve to guests, yet it’s simple and quick enough for a busy weeknight. With just a handful of pantry ingredients, you’ll have a hearty, comforting meal that tastes like it took hours to make.

Print

Ingredient List

For the Perfect Pasta & Steak:

• 12 oz shell pasta (the medium ones, not tiny or huge)
• 1 lb steak (sirloin or ribeye), cut into bite-sized pieces
• Salt and black pepper, to taste
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon butter

For That Incredible Creamy Sauce:

• 3 cloves garlic, minced (jar garlic tastes like sadness, use fresh)
• 1½ teaspoons smoked paprika
• 1 cup heavy cream
• ½ cup beef broth
• ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese (the good stuff, not sawdust)

For the Finishing Touch:

• Chopped fresh parsley, for garnish

When Life Happens Substitutions:

• No sirloin? Strip steak works. So does flank if you slice it thin
• Heavy cream ran out? Half-and-half works but cook it longer
• No smoked paprika? Regular paprika plus smoked salt if you have it
• Broke and buying jar parmesan? I get it, do what you gotta do
• Beef broth? Chicken broth’s fine too

Why These Ingredients Work

Shell pasta isn’t just pretty – it actually does something. Those little cup shapes catch the sauce instead of letting it slide off like spaghetti does. I tried this with penne once and everyone was disappointed.

Smoked paprika is worth buying if you don’t have it. Regular paprika tastes flat next to it. When the smoky stuff hits the hot oil with the steak, something magic happens. Tastes like you’ve been cooking over a campfire all day.

The cream and broth thing took me forever to figure out. Just cream is too rich, makes you feel sick after half a bowl. Just broth is thin and sad. Together they make this sauce that coats everything but doesn’t weigh you down. The Parmesan melts in and makes it taste expensive.

Fresh garlic matters here because it’s doing heavy lifting flavor-wise. The butter blooms it so it gets sweet instead of sharp. Then all those brown bits from the steak dissolve into the sauce and that’s where the real flavor lives.

Essential Tools and Equipment

Big skillet. That’s the main thing. Cast iron if you have one because it gets hot and stays hot, which means better browning on the steak. My mom gave me hers and it’s probably the best gift I ever got.

Large pot for pasta. Sharp knife that won’t fight you when you’re cutting steak. Wooden spoon because metal scrapes up the good bits from the pan bottom. Colander for draining pasta but you knew that.

That’s honestly it. No fancy gadgets, no special equipment you’ll use once. Just regular kitchen stuff most people have shoved in drawers somewhere.

How To Make Creamy Paprika Steak Shells

Cook Your Pasta Like a Pro

Fill your biggest pot with water and salt it until it tastes like ocean water. My grandmother taught me that and she was right about everything food-related. Bring it to a hard boil, add the shells, and cook them one minute less than the box says. They’ll finish in the sauce and won’t get mushy.

Drain them but don’t rinse. You want that starchy coating to help the sauce stick. Set them aside and try not to eat them plain while you cook the steak. I have no willpower with plain pasta.

Season That Beautiful Steak

Cut the steak into chunks about thumb-sized. Pat them dry with paper towels first or they’ll steam instead of brown. This step is annoying but it matters. Season everything with salt, pepper, and paprika until every piece looks like it rolled in rust.

Let the seasoned steak sit on the counter for ten minutes while you get organized. Room temperature meat browns better than cold meat. I learned this from a cooking show and felt stupid for not knowing it already.

Sear to Perfection

Get your pan screaming hot over medium-high heat. Add oil when it shimmers like water. Drop in the steak pieces but don’t crowd them – work in batches if your pan’s small. Crowded steak steams and that’s gross.

Leave them alone for 2-3 minutes. I know it’s tempting to poke them but don’t. When you can lift a piece easily and it’s got a brown crust, flip it. Cook another 2-3 minutes until browned but still pink inside. They look underdone but they’re not – they’ll finish cooking in the sauce.

Take the steak out and put it on a plate. Your pan should have brown crusty bits stuck to the bottom. That’s flavor, don’t clean it off.

Build Those Aromatics

Turn heat down to medium and add butter to the same pan. It’ll foam up and smell like heaven. When the foaming stops, add garlic and stir it around for maybe a minute until it smells amazing and turns light brown.

Watch it like a hawk because garlic goes from perfect to burnt in about three seconds. Burnt garlic tastes like disappointment and there’s no fixing it. If you burn it, start over.

Create Sauce Magic

Pour in the cream and broth all at once. It’ll bubble up dramatically – this is normal and fun to watch. Use your wooden spoon to scrape up all those brown bits from the bottom. This is called deglazing and it’s where all the good flavor comes from.

Let it simmer for 3-4 minutes, stirring every now and then. It should thicken enough to coat the back of your spoon. If it’s not thickening, turn up the heat a little. If it gets too thick, add more broth.

Cheese Please!

Take the pan off the heat and stir in the Parmesan. It should melt smooth and creamy. If you add cheese to sauce that’s too hot, it gets lumpy and weird. Nobody wants lumpy cheese sauce.

The sauce should be pale orange now from the paprika and smooth as silk. If it’s not smooth, put it back on low heat and whisk like your life depends on it.

Bring It All Together

Add the pasta and steak back to the pan. Put it back on low heat and toss everything around until it’s all coated. The sauce should cling to everything instead of sitting in puddles at the bottom.

Taste it and add more salt if it needs it. Sprinkle parsley on top and serve it immediately while it’s hot. Cold creamy pasta is sad creamy pasta.

My Personal Secret: The steak should look slightly underdone when you take it out of the pan. I used to overcook it trying to make it “safe” and ended up with leather chunks in cream sauce. The residual heat finishes cooking it perfectly.

Critical Timing Tip: Do all your prep before you start cooking. Mince the garlic, grate the cheese, measure the liquids. Once you start searing steak, everything moves fast and you don’t want to be scrambling.

Heat Control: Don’t let the cream sauce boil hard or it might break. Gentle simmer is all you need. I learned this the hard way when I had to throw out a whole batch because it looked like cottage cheese soup.

Pro Tips & Cooking Hacks

Room temperature steak browns better. Take it out of the fridge 15 minutes before cooking. Cold steak hitting hot pan = uneven cooking and nobody wants that.

Save a cup of pasta water before you drain. It’s liquid gold for fixing broken sauces. The starch helps everything come back together. I keep a coffee mug by the stove for this.

Pat your steak dry. I said it before but I’m saying it again because it’s that important. Wet meat steams, dry meat browns. Brown is flavor, steam is sadness.

If your sauce breaks and looks curdled, take it off heat and whisk in cold cream one tablespoon at a time. Usually saves it. If not, order pizza and try again tomorrow.

Taste your food. I can’t tell you how much salt your steak needs or how much pepper you like. Cook, taste, adjust. That’s how you get good at this.

Flavor Variations & Suggestions

Want some heat? Add red pepper flakes with the paprika. Start with a pinch because you can add more but you can’t take it back. My daughter likes it spicy, my husband doesn’t, so I put hot sauce on the table and let people choose.

Mushrooms are amazing in this. Slice them up and cook them after the steak, before the garlic. They’ll soak up all the good flavors in the pan. Button mushrooms work but baby bellas taste better.

Try thyme instead of parsley sometime. Add it with the garlic so it has time to get fragrant. Or rosemary if you like that woody flavor, but go easy because it’s strong.

Cheese variations are fun too. Sharp cheddar mixed with the Parmesan adds tang. Gruyere makes it fancy. My neighbor uses cream cheese instead of heavy cream and says it works great but I haven’t tried it.

Make-Ahead Options

This is best fresh and hot, but you can prep some stuff ahead. Cut and season the steak in the morning, cover it, and leave it in the fridge. Take it out 15 minutes before cooking.

Cook pasta earlier in the day if you need to. Toss it with a little oil so it doesn’t stick and cover it. When you’re ready to eat, just warm it up in the sauce.

Don’t make the sauce ahead though. Cream sauces are temperamental and don’t reheat well. They get grainy and weird. Just do the whole thing fresh when you want to eat it.

Recipe Notes & Baker’s Tips

Shell pasta really is the best shape for this because of how it holds sauce. But if you can’t find it, rigatoni or penne work fine. Just make sure it’s a shape with ridges or holes for the sauce to grab onto.

Those brown bits in the pan are everything. Don’t skip the deglazing step. That’s where most of your flavor comes from. If you’re using a nonstick pan and not getting brown bits, your pan’s not hot enough.

Different cuts of steak need different timing. Tender stuff like filet needs less time, tougher cuts like flank need to be sliced really thin. When in doubt, undercook it a little – you can always put it back in the pan.

Serving Suggestions

This is rich enough to be the whole meal but I like to serve something fresh with it. Caesar salad cuts through the richness perfectly. Or just a simple green salad with lemon dressing.

Crusty bread is mandatory for sopping up sauce. I buy the fancy stuff from the bakery section and warm it in the oven. Makes it feel like a restaurant meal.

Wine-wise, this goes with red. Nothing too fancy – a decent Cabernet or Merlot works great. The steak can handle the tannins and the cream sauce smooths everything out.

How to Store Your Creamy Paprika Steak Shells

Fridge: Leftovers keep for three days max in a covered container. The sauce thickens up as it cools, which is normal.

Reheating: Best way is in a pan on low heat with a splash of cream or broth to thin it out. Stir constantly so it doesn’t stick. Microwave works but do it in 30-second bursts and stir between each one.

Freezing: Don’t do it. Cream sauces get grainy and gross when frozen. Just make smaller batches if you can’t eat it all fresh.

Safety stuff: Cool it down fast and get it in the fridge within two hours. When you reheat, make sure it gets hot all the way through before eating.

Allergy Information

Contains: Dairy (cream, butter, cheese) and gluten (pasta). Some pasta has eggs too, check the box if that matters.

Dairy-free: Coconut cream instead of heavy cream works okay. Different flavor but still good. Nutritional yeast instead of Parmesan gives it some cheesy taste. Vegan butter for the regular stuff.

Gluten-free: Just swap in GF pasta shells. Make sure your broth doesn’t have wheat in it – some brands do. Everything else is naturally gluten-free.

Nut allergies: This recipe doesn’t have nuts but check your pasta and broth labels if you’re super sensitive. Some facilities process multiple allergens.

Questions I Get Asked A Lot

Can I use different steak?

Yeah, most cuts work. Strip, tenderloin, even thin-sliced flank. Just adjust cooking time based on thickness. Cheaper cuts work fine if you don’t overcook them.

What about chicken?

Chicken thighs are great for this. More flavor than breasts and they don’t dry out. Cut them small and cook a minute longer to make sure they’re done.

My sauce turned into soup – what happened?

Probably didn’t cook it long enough to thicken. Put it back on medium heat and simmer until it coats a spoon. Or whisk in more cheese.

Can I use regular paprika?

You can but it won’t taste the same. Regular paprika is just red powder, smoked paprika actually tastes like something. Worth buying a container.

How do I know if the steak is done?

It should be browned outside, pink inside when you take it out. The warm sauce finishes cooking it gently. If you’re worried, cut a piece open and check.

My garlic burned, now what?

Start over with fresh garlic. I know it sucks but burned garlic makes everything bitter. There’s no fixing it once it’s burnt.

Can I make this healthier?

Use half-and-half instead of cream, add more vegetables like bell peppers or zucchini. Lean cuts of steak help too. But honestly, this is comfort food – don’t torture it too much.

The cream sauce separated and looks gross – help?

Take it off heat immediately and whisk in cold cream one tablespoon at a time. Sometimes it comes back together. If not, lesson learned for next time.

My family doesn’t like spicy food – is paprika hot?

Smoked paprika isn’t spicy at all, just smoky and sweet. Even my kids eat this and they think black pepper is too hot. You’re good.

💬 Made these yet?  Tell me how it went in the comments! I love hearing about kitchen disasters and victories equally.