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If you’re wondering what to do with leftover prime rib or steak, you’ve found the best recipe for it! Our Creamy Penne Pasta with Prime Rib is a restaurant-style dish that’s so flavorful and yet so easy to make in less than 30 minutes using leftovers.
I’m not sure what my family looks forward to more – the prime rib dinner or this delicious leftover pasta dish!
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What to Do with Leftover Prime Rib or Steak
In my house, we look forward to a prime rib at least once a year over the holidays. There is nothing I love more than juicy roast beef and a little au jus to dip it in.
But of course, what to do with prime rib leftovers? I like making hot roast beef sandwiches with remoulade sauce, or heating it up with a side of mashed potatoes, but one of my favorite leftover recipes of all time has got to be this Creamy Penne Pasta.
Best Prime Rib Leftover Recipe
It’s just like Applebee’s creamy penne pasta with sliced prime rib, but even better! Honestly, it’s so delicious, I make it year-round using leftover steak. It’s one of my favorite steak pasta recipes.
I know you’re going to love it. My family always asks me to make this dish when we have leftover steak or roast beef, and I’m happy to make it. It’s just so easy!
This was amazing!!! My family agrees that this recipe was even better than having the Prime Rib the first time around. My teenage son said it was one of his favorite top meals ever!!! Thank you very much! ❤️
Sarah on Pinterest
How to Make Leftover Prime Rib Penne Pasta
- Heat olive oil in a skillet. Add onion (chopped) and sauté until translucent.
- Add garlic (minced) and cook for about one more minute.
- Then, add ⅔ lb. sliced cremini mushrooms and the butter and cook until tender, about 5-6 minutes. Stir continuously to avoid burning.
- Pour in heavy cream and lower the heat. Let simmer for about 5 minutes until the liquid is reduced.
- Add chopped sun-dried tomatoes, salt, pepper, and parsley to taste. Stir and remove from heat.
- Slice the prime rib or rib eye steak into thin slices.
- Cook penne pasta in a large pot with boiling water and salt.
- Remove from heat about 2 minutes before the time indicated on the packaging so it is just slightly underdone (al dente). Drain the pasta in a colander.
- Add the penne to the skillet with the sauce and stir. Then add the sliced prime rib. Return to heat and stir for about 1 minute in order to incorporate all the flavors.
- Serve immediately with parmesan cheese, more fresh parsley and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Enjoy!
Steak Pasta FAQs
Tightly wrapped with saran wrap and stored in a plastic container in the refrigerator it will last 5 days.
I make this dish using a decadent sun-dried tomato and mushroom cream sauce. It is an amazing combination of flavors that is perfect for this rib roast or leftover steak! You can also try my Creamy Lemon Butter Sauce Recipe to mix things up. It is so delicious!
Leftover Prime Rib Pasta Tips
- For a real Italian experience, cook the pasta in boiling salted water and leave it a bit “al dente”, as it will cook additionally in the skillet. Once it is cooked, drain it immediately and add it to the sauce.
- Don’t let the pasta sit in the colander, or it might stick together, and will continue cooking in its own heat.
Substitutions
- Heavy cream can be substituted with half and half if you prefer your leftover prime rib pasta lighter.
- Grated Parmesan is optional for this recipe as the sauce is already creamy and buttery enough, but you can add it for extra richness!
- You can also use mixed mushrooms if you prefer.
- Leftover steak works perfectly in this recipe, too!
- Add Crispy Air Fryer Bacon for an even richer pasta!
- You can even use Leftover Ham
How to Reheat Prime Rib Pasta
You can reheat this dish easily in a skillet on the stove.
Just add a bit of olive oil or butter to the skillet and stir continuously while reheating for approximately 10 minutes. It reheats really nicely.
Best Prime Rib Recipes
- Slow Roasted Prime Rib
- Standing Rib Roast
- Boneless Prime Rib
- Instant Pot Prime Rib
- Sous Vide Prime Rib
- Grilled Prime Rib
- Smoked Prime Rib
My family loves a good rib roast any way they can get it!
Reviews
I will definitely be making this again. My family loved it. Thank you for the New Meal Planning Idea.
Mary
Yum. Super good and easy.
Kelley
Did you try our creamy penne pasta with prime rib? Let us know in the comments below! We love to hear from you. Try my Burrata Pasta next!
📋 Recipe
Best Prime Rib Leftover Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- ¾ lb leftover roasted prime rib or ribeye steak if cooking from scratch
- 2 Tbsp. olive oil extra virgin
- 2 Tbsp. butter
- 1 cup heavy cream
- ⅔ lb. penne pasta
- ½ onion finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- ⅔ lb. cremini mushrooms sliced
- 1 cup sun-dried tomatoes chopped
- sea salt and pepper to taste
- fresh parsley to taste
- grated parmesan optional
See our Cooking Conversions Chart for help converting measurements!
Instructions
Skip this step if you are using leftover prime rib
- Season the ribeye steak and cook it on a skillet in 1 Tbsp. olive oil between 3 and 7 minutes on each side, until it reaches your desired doneness (135°F for medium rare, 145 °F for medium). Use very simple ribeye seasoning: just sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
Creamy Penne Pasta
- Heat 1 Tbsp. olive oil in another skillet. Add ½ an onion (chopped) and sauté until translucent. Add 2 cloves garlic (minced) and cook for about one more minute.Then, add ⅔ lb. sliced cremini mushrooms and the remaining 1 Tbsp. butter and cook until tender, about 5-6 minutes. Stir continuously to avoid burning.
- Pour in 1 cup heavy cream and lower the heat. Let simmer for about 5 minutes until the liquid is reduced.
- Add 1 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes, salt, pepper, and parsley to taste. Stir and remove from heat.
- Slice the prime rib or rib eye steak into thin slices.
- Cook ⅔ lb. penne pasta in a large pot with boiling water and salt. Remove from heat about 2 minutes before the time indicated on the packaging so it is just slightly underdone (al dente). Drain the pasta in a colander.Add the penne to the skillet with the sauce and stir. Then add the sliced prime rib. Return to heat and stir for about 1 minute in order to incorporate all the flavors.
- Serve immediately with parmesan cheese, more fresh parsley and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Enjoy!
Notes
- Heavy cream can be substituted with half and half if you prefer your dish lighter.
- Grated parmesan is optional for this recipe as the sauce is already creamy and buttery enough even without it, but you can add it for extra richness.
- Cooking pasta: for a real Italian experience cook the pasta in boiling salted water and leave it a bit “al dente” as it will cook additionally in the skillet. Once it is cooked, drain it immediately and add it to the sauce. Don’t let it sit in the colander because it might stick together and will also continue cooking on its own heat.
Nutrition
Photography by Daniela Lambova
Sandi says
This is wonderful! Never before have I enjoyed my leftover rib roast. I was feeding five so I used the recipe for six and did not have a single scrap left. Since of us are big sun-dried tomato fans we did use a little less that the recipe asked for and did a fine chop. I actually think this made it better because instead of getting a big bite of tomato, you simply got this nice pop of flavor in almost every fork full. My daughter took the recipe home with her to use on her leftover tenderloin.
Isabel Laessig says
Thanks so much for sharing this with me, Sandi! This recipe is always a favorite at our house too. I am so happy your family enjoyed it.
Jane S says
Oh my! This is so very good! No onions or mushrooms for me (not a fan). And I only had cavatappi no. 87 pasta (no clue) on hand. This pasta was awesome. Next time, I’ll use it again.
Em Beitel says
Jane, we’re so glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for leaving us a comment! Cavatappi is delicious. What a great choice!
Gelcys Williams says
Just cooked it to use some of the steak leftovers we had. Great, this recipe is a keeper!!!
Em Beitel says
That is so awesome – we are so glad you enjoyed it! Thank you!
Mary M says
Made this with my leftover Prime Rib from New Years Day and was delicious. Will definitely be making again with Rib Eye Steak. Wish I could post a picture because it came out just like yours. Thank you for the new meal planner idea
Em Beitel says
That is awesome, Mary! Thank you so much for sharing and we would love to see a picture! Feel free to email it to us!
Karen says
Any ideas for a substitution for the sun dried tomatoes? I’d like to make this tonight and that’s the only ingredient I don’t have. Was considering adding a bit of red pepper, finely chopped, to add color/flavor?
Em Beitel says
Hi Karen! Thank you so much for your question. You can use grape tomatoes and saute them in a little bit of olive oil or you can omit the sundried tomatoes all together. A bit of red pepper sounds yummy! We hope you love it!
Emily says
If I had just saved pasta water to thin the sauce out with at the end, this would have been perfect and added just the right amount of salt.
Em Beitel says
Hi Emily! We hope you enjoyed it regardless – it sounds like it was still good! Thank you very much!
Patty says
I made this with leftover prime rib from New Years Day and it was absolutely fantastically delicious! My husband said make sure you save this recipe so you can make it again. I followed the recipe except, I used pappardelle pasta and I added about a 1/4 cup of white wine. Thank you for sharing a wonderful recipe that I will make over and over again.
Em Beitel says
Patty, that is awesome! Thank you so much! We’re so glad you and your husband enjoyed it, and those edits sound delicious.
Julie J says
I made this for lunch with leftover Tbone steak and since all of my family preference is medium rare and lower, I didn’t have any fresh mushrooms. It tasted good 👍 😋 I’ve added it my favorite recipes list. I will have to try this with leftover prime rib since I always make a larger one than necessary since I never know who will be showing up 😊
Em Beitel says
That is so awesome, Julie! It’s so delicious with steak. Thank you for sharing!
Karen says
Fabulous, fast and easy. I didn’t have mushrooms so I used cooked carrots and peas. We loved it. I think you could sub a lot of different left over meat but the prime rib in the cream sauce was decadent! Thanks.
Em Beitel says
That is awesome to hear, Karen. We’re so glad you enjoyed it – carrots and peas are a perfect combo for this dish! You could definitely use different cuts (it’s great with leftover steak, too). Thank you for your comment!