Steak causes a higher insulin response than pasta

Steak does cause a higher insulin response than pasta, beef has an insulin index of 51 and pasta is 40.

But it's not the same total dose. On keto you might eat 25g carbs and 100 g protein for a total of 125 grams insulin promoting macronutrients, on the standard American diet people eat 300 gram carbs and 100 grams protein for a total of 400 grams of insulin promoting macronutrients.

But it's not really about insulin, it's just a red herring or straw man, the problem is processed carbs making people eat too much. I posted this in another thread:

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The real problem with carbs comes with food processing, high levels of processing removes the satiating/filling parts of carbs (water/fiber, longer discussion) and makes the carbs very quick to eat/absorb/store. The reason the body increases insulin levels is because there is more carbs coming in, high levels of blood glucose is detrimental, so your body is forced to raise insulin. Insulin is just how the body protects itself, it's not the core problem, the core problem is the food processing that makes carbs quick to eat/digest (longer post).

There's also some other factors that the BBC's "The Men Who Made Us Fat" cover, food processing/advertisements/culture/etc.

And here's a longer but interesting read on food processing:

What follows is a series of small case studies of a handful of characters whose work then, and perspective now, sheds light on how the foods are created and sold to people who, while not powerless, are extremely vulnerable to the intensity of these companies’ industrial formulations and selling campaigns.

Michael Moss, "The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food".

Stephan Guyenet's TEDx talk "The American Diet" covers some historical changes in our diets, he also has a more general video on why we're getting fat: "Obesity; Old Solutions for a New Problem".

Stephan Guyenet also has an interesting article series on eating, "Why Do We Eat? A Neurobiological Perspective. Part I", that covers some reasons why we eat too much.