This steak pasta with spinach is a long-time favorite recipe and is an easy 30-minute dish. Tender steak is tossed with spinach, pasta and a tangy Dijon mustard and balsamic dressing. Serve it warm, at room temperature or cold for an easy pasta dinner.
Steak and pasta tossed together with pasta, spinach and a tangy balsamic-mustard dressing/no-cook sauce is my idea of summer eating. It’s easy to make, you can serve it warm, at room temperature or cold and it’s filling without being heavy.
I’ve been making this dish since about, oh I don’t know, circa the early 2000s after I watched Giada De Laurentis make it on her Food Network show.
I even remember the episode – in it, she wrapped up the beef and pasta in cute take-out boxes and surprised her now ex-husband at work with lunch. They ate it in his office with chopsticks. It was a simpler time.
Why I remember things like this I have no clue, but I remember I made it for dinner that night and it was simple and flavorful.
I don’t watch Food Network much these days but I still make this delicious steak pasta with spinach. I’ve put my own spin on it over the years and it never fails to disappoint. It’s simple, delicious, and perfect for any season.
Ingredients
- New York strip steak
- Italian seasoning
- Garlic powder
- Salt and pepper
- Penne
- Olive oil
- Balsamic vinegar
- Dijon mustard
- Spinach
- Parsley
- Crumbled feta cheese
Can I use another type of steak?
- The best steak for this pasta is one that cooks fairly quickly and is tender. Readers have made it with sirloin, tenderloin, filet mignon, and rib-eye.
- How thick your steak is will determine the cooking time. I like something quick so I usually go for the NY strip or sirloin.
- You can also use leftover steak – just skip the steak cooking part and toss it with the pasta and dressing.
How to Make Pasta with Steak and Spinach
- Season the steak with the Italian seasoning, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.
- Boil the penne according to package directions. While the pasta boils, cook the steak in a hot pan with the olive oil until it’s seared and cooked to about medium-rare (or your desired doneness).
- Mix the olive oil, vinegar, and mustard together in a large bowl. Slice the steak against the grain.
- Place the spinach, parsley, steak, and pasta in the bowl with the dressing and toss it all together. The spinach will wilt as you toss it with the hot pasta. Garnish with the crumbled feta cheese.
You can serve it warm or at room temperature, but it’s also delicious cold from the refrigerator. If it’s chilled, I like to give it a little toss before serving to freshen it up.
Happy cooking!
📩 Want more delicious recipe ideas? Sign up and get the free email series Gourmet Made Easy plus new recipes delivered to your inbox!
More Easy Pasta Recipes
I love easy pasta recipes ❤ Here are a few more of my favorite ones you might like, too.
- 5-Ingredient Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta
- One-Pan Spaghetti Bolognese
- 15-Minute Mediterranean Pasta
- Shrimp Penne with Vodka Sauce
📣 Do you love this recipe? I would love to know! Leave a comment below the recipe along with your recipe star rating.
Print
Pasta with Steak and Spinach
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 2 servings 1x
Description
This steak pasta with spinach is an easy dinner recipe that can be served warm, at room temperature or cold. Tender steak tossed with a mustard and balsamic dressing is a delicious dinner full of flavor.
Ingredients
- 8 ounce New York strip steak (see note)
- 1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 4 ounces of penne pasta
- 1/4 cup olive oil plus 1 tablespoon, divided
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 2 cups fresh spinach, roughly chopped
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
- 1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
Instructions
- In a small bowl combine the Italian seasoning, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Season the steak on all sides with the mixture and set aside.
- Bring a pot of water to a boil and cook the pasta according to package directions. Reserve one tablespoon of the starchy water before draining the pasta.
- While the pasta cooks heat one tablespoon of olive oil in a medium-sized pan over medium heat. Cook the steak for 5-7 minutes on each side (depends on how pink you like it – 7 minutes will be barely pink). Remove the steak from the pan and leave it on a plate to rest.
- In a large bowl, whisk together 1/4 cup of olive oil, the balsamic vinegar, and mustard until it’s thickened.
- Thinly slice the steak, against the grain and place it in the bowl with the dressing along with the pasta, reserved pasta water, spinach, and parsley. Toss it all together. As you toss it the spinach will wilt.
- Garnish with the feta cheese and serve the pasta warm, at room temperature or you can chill it before serving. If you chill it, hold off adding the cheese until serving and give the pasta and steak a toss before serving.
Notes
Any quick-cooking and tender steak will work well for this recipe. Readers have used sirloin, ribeye, filet mignon, and tenderloin instead of the New York strip. Depending on how thick the steak is you may need to adjust the cooking time.
Adapted from Food Network
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Sear
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/2 of recipe
- Calories: 672
- Sugar: 4.9g
- Sodium: 1046.8mg
- Fat: 36.1g
- Saturated Fat: 8.2g
- Unsaturated Fat: 25.7g
- Trans Fat: 0.1g
- Carbohydrates: 49.2g
- Fiber: 3.2g
- Protein: 37.7g
- Cholesterol: 79mg
Keywords: steak pasta, easy beef pasta recipe, pasta with steak and spinach
The nutrition information in this recipe is an estimate only and was calculated using Nutrifox, an online nutrition calculator.
Post and photos updated from the archives. First published in April 2015.
Eric says
Literally just made this and WOW! Amazing flavor and SUPER simple. I added butter sauteed mushrooms to mine. Next time I’ll add cherry tomatos that another commenter mentioned, which sounds amazing.
★★★★★
April Anderson says
So glad you liked it! Love that you added mushrooms – sounds delicious 🙂 Thanks for the rating, too!
Allondra says
Can you substitute the balsamic vinegar for another type?
April Anderson says
You could use red wine vinegar, too!
Laura Chappell says
Could you make it without the mustard do you think?
April Anderson says
The mustard helps emulsify the dressing and adds flavor, so it might have a different consistency if you leave it out. If you try it let me know how it went!
Jordan says
I added some mushrooms and halved cherry tomatoes! Great recipe! Thanks for sharing.
April says
I love the additions! I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Rich says
Thanks for the recipe. We enjoyed it but would recommend tenderloin instead of NY Strip. I unfortunately must have purchased fatty pieces. Also, we substituted Gorgonzola for the feta and liked the contrast in flavors. The spinach cooking in the heat of the finished pasta was great!
Brian says
I’m a real cooking novice. So the spinach is fresh but uncooked correct? It gets mixed with the pasta and will shrink and get warm?
April says
You are right! Yes, add the spinach raw – when you toss it with the hot pasta and steak it will wilt.
Bill says
What do you do with the reserved pasta water?
April says
You toss it with the pasta and dressing – I’ve updated the recipes, so thanks for pointing this out!
Caroline says
This is the quickest meal I’ve ever made and super delicious. Ive been trying to vary my pasta meals and this was a lovely break from the normal tomato or cream sauces. Thanks for sharing.
★★★★★
April says
Thanks for letting me know! I’m happy you liked it!
Sara says
I made this tonight and my husband and I loved it! I also added tomatoes and I used tenderloin steak (so good!). Definitely going to make this again. Thank you!
★★★★★
April says
So glad you liked it, Sara! Love the adjustments you made, too 🙂
Laurie says
I made this tonight with cubes of leftover rib-eye. Delicious! I added a diced tomato or two, since I had some fresh ones on hand, and that was a wonderful addition. Recommended!
★★★★★
April says
That’s great, Laurie! Thanks for letting me know – love that you added tomatoes, too!
Melissa says
I used leftover steak and had all but 3 ingredients on hand. The dinner was simple, easy, and delicious. Thank you!
★★★★★
April says
Oh, that’s great to hear! Thank you for letting me know, Melissa!
Atlas says
Great recipe. I am going to try it out! Do you recommend different cuts of steaks for this recipe or is strip steak simply the best? Atlas Steak has a post about the best cuts of steak that I would like to test out with great steak recipes!
Jen says
Hi! I really enjoyed your recipe 🙂 I seared filet mignon (cuz I am a steak snob) and served it on the side of the pasta. I used trottole as that is what I had, plus I added some snap peas to the pasta near the end of cooking since I am trying to add more green to my diet. The peas really complemented the sweetness of the balsamic! I’m looking forward to making this with the peas and minus the steak for summer potlucks.
https://www.facebook.com/AgentJinja/posts/10205965889607529
Nelson says
I love your food shots! Very inspiring. My wife and I are new bloggers and we love flipping through blogs with quality content like yours.Thank you.
★★★★★
April says
Thanks so much, Nelson!
Maureen | Orgasmic Chef says
What a wonderful idea! I’d like this a lot.
★★★★★