Review: Olive Garden Has a New Spicy Steak & Shrimp Pasta—and You Need to Try It This Weekend

The dish includes grilled sirloin tips (cooked medium) and shrimp atop bucatini in a spicy Calabrian cream sauce with spinach and tomatoes. The sauce blends Calabrian chilis from Calabria, Italy with butter, garlic, white wine, cream and Olive Garden’s iconic marinara. You can head there before August 24 to try it before it’s gone.

Let’s start with the bucatini itself, which I tasted back in May when it first launched. (FYI, the chain hadn’t introduced a new pasta shape in nearly seven years before this.) Personally, I’m a *big* fan of this pasta shape; it’s probably my favorite of the long noodle varieties, since it’s famously thick and hollow, allowing for a hearty bite and expert sauce retention. Both times I had it, it was cooked flawlessly al dente and offered a doughy-yet-toothsome texture.

Now, for the Calabrian pasta. At first glance I thought it looked thin for a cream sauce, but once I tasted it, it ended up being the optimal consistency. No, it’s not Alfredo-level luxurious, but it lacquered the noodles beautifully and had a more refined, complex flavor than the cream sauces you’re likely used to. The chiles not only imparted spice, but also a roasty, vaguely fruity (in a red bell pepper way) quality to the dish. That said, the heat built in the best way as I ate with a tingly, sizzling vengeance. The tomatoes added moisture (perhaps they’re why the sauce looked thin), but mostly, they brought big summer vibes to the plate. The spinach was the perfect consistency as well, still somewhat crunchy yet elegantly wilted.

As for the surf-and-turf proteins, they were a home run. The shrimp were optimally cooked: succulent, lightly charred and not rubbery or chewy at all. The steak was mostly beautifully seasoned (some pieces were a touch over-salted) and boasted an Insta-worthy sear. The larger pieces still had some pink in them, while the smaller pieces didn’t; that said, the color mattered less to me than the texture, and all the pieces were consistently tender. Both the steak and shrimp were very simply seasoned, so the quality of the meat and seafood really shone through. I also appreciated the generous amount of steak and shrimp on the dish. As someone who’s often splitting dishes with someone, it’s nice that you wouldn’t have to limit yourself to like, two shrimp each just for the sake of fairness.

Real spice lovers will also want to make the most of their trip by trying the new-ish spicy three-meat sauce, too. It includes zesty pepperoni, cherry peppers, red bell peppers, chili flakes, red wine, garlic, herbs and Olive Garden’s signature meat sauce, made with ground beef and Italian sausage. Also available until August 24, the meat sauce is part of the chain’s Create Your Own Pasta (from $13) menu, which allows you to pair your favorite noodles and sauces for a customized dinner. (You can add veggies and proteins, like meatballs or chicken, to the plate too, if you’d like.)

I tried the sauce on bucatini back in May when it first hit menus. It was bright, acidic and robust. It had some unexpected, pleasantly surprising depth to it (courtesy of the chianti, I imagine), as well as a chunky texture that slicked every noodle like a charm. My favorite meat was the sausage, as it was equal parts tender, savory and herbaceous. As for the heat, it was tingly and inviting rather than bash-you-over-the-head spicy.

Need I say more? I’ll make a res.