Pepper Beef Pasta
This is a simpler cousin of the vodka pasta — same idea of building a sauce around caramelised beef, but leaning into cracked black pepper and stock instead of tomato and vodka. It’s quicker too, done in 35 minutes start to finish.
Letting the beef properly caramelise before adding anything else is what carries the whole dish. From there it’s onion and garlic, tomato paste cooked down, beef stock, then cream and a generous hit of cracked pepper right at the end.
Five containers, and the pasta actually keeps absorbing the sauce over the next few days, so it tastes just as good, if not better, by day three.
Beef Pepper Pasta
PEPPER BEEF PASTA · BEEF · MEAL PREP · EASY
Simple ingredients, real depth of flavour
There's no long ingredient list hiding behind this one. The caramelised beef and cracked pepper are doing almost all the work, which means the technique matters more than anything you'd need to go hunting for at the shops.
Reducing the stock before the cream goes in keeps the sauce from turning thin and watery, so you end up with something that properly coats the pasta instead of pooling at the bottom of the container.
It's also one of the faster meal preps in the rotation — 35 minutes and you've got five servings of something that tastes like it took a lot more effort.
Pepper Beef Pasta Meal Prep
Ingredients
Beef
- 750 g Beef Mince 10% Fat
- 15 ml Olive Oil
- Salt & Pepper To Taste
Pasta
- 300 g Penne or Spiral Pasta
- Salted Water for Boiling
Sauce
- 1 Brown (Yellow) Onion Diced
- 3 Garlic Cloves Minced
- 15 g Tomato Paste
- 300 ml Beef Stock
- 180 ml Thickened Cream
- 2 g Smoked or Sweet Paprika
- 40 g Parmesan Cheese Grated
- Salt & Pepper To Taste
To Serve
- Flat Leaf Parsley Chopped
Method
- Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil and cook the pasta until just under al dente. Drain and set aside.
- Heat a large pan over medium-high heat with olive oil. Add the beef mince, season with salt and pepper and cook for 5-6 minutes, breaking it up as it browns. Continue cooking until moisture has evaporated, the mince starts to caramelise and it reaches an internal temperature of 71°C (160°F).
- Add the onion and garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes until softened and fragrant.
- Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 1-2 minutes to deepen the flavour.
- Pour in the beef stock and simmer for 3-4 minutes to reduce slightly.
- Lower the heat and add the cream, cracked black pepper and paprika. Stir to combine and simmer for 2-3 minutes until thickened.
- Add the cooked pasta and toss until the sauce coats everything evenly. Remove from the heat and stir through the parmesan until melted and glossy.
- Divide evenly across 5 containers and finish with chopped parsley.
Can I use a different pasta shape?⌄
Yes, rigatoni or fusilli both hold onto this sauce well. Anything with some texture or ridges works better here than a thin, smooth pasta.
Why add the parmesan off the heat?⌄
If the pan's still too hot, the cheese can clump and turn stringy instead of melting smoothly into the sauce. Pulling it off the heat first gives you a glossier, more even finish.
Can I make this without cream?⌄
You can use evaporated milk or a lighter cooking cream instead, though the sauce will be thinner and less rich. Simmer it a little longer to help it thicken back up.
What can I use instead of beef stock?⌄
Chicken stock works fine if that's what you've got on hand. You'll lose a little of the deeper, beefier flavour, but the rest of the dish carries it well enough.
