How To Make Shrimp Scampi Pasta
A Fast & Fancy Shrimp Dinner For Any Night Of The Week
Shrimp tossed in a rich garlic butter sauce is hard to compete with. This recipe is quick enough to pull off on a busy weeknight, but feels special enough for a Saturday night in, too. How you serve it is up to you. Toss it with pasta for a dish that very much resembles shrimp scampi serve it over rice, orzo, or creamy polenta or simply serve it straight-up in shallow bowls, with crusty bread close by to help soak up all the delicious sauce.
Ingredient Notes And Substitutions
- Large Shrimp Either fresh or frozen would be fine. Feel free to keep the tails on or off, but remove the rest of the shell. This is much easier to accomplish with fresh shrimp.
- Olive Oil You can use canola, sunflower, or vegetable oil as a substitute.
- Garlic Use fresh minced cloves, not powdered, to ensure a tangible taste of garlic throughout the dish.
- Salt & Pepper Baseline seasonings that you cant do without!
- Dry White Wine You have many options for a good, dry white cooking wine. Sauvignon blanc and pinot grigio are two popular choices.
- Red Pepper Flakes For a bit of heat. You can use more or less per your own spice tolerance. Some possible substitutes include cayenne, chipotle, or chili powder.
- Parsley This is a bitter herb that will brighten up once added to the shrimp scampi pasta. You can add oregano, cilantro, or basil.
- Lemon Juice Freshly squeezed is always preferred youll need a couple of lemons to get enough juice.
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Ingredients For Garlic Butter Shrimp Pasta
This quick recipe comes together so fast its worth getting all your ingredients lined up before you get started. Heres what youll need:
- Butter and extra-virgin olive oil
- Salt
- 1 pound peeled jumbo-sized shrimp , deveined
- Garlic, crushed red chili and cherry tomatoes
- 1 pound long pasta noodles like linguine, spaghetti, angel hair, bucatini or fettuccine
- Chopped herbs and grated Parmesan cheese
This recipe is basically a shrimp scampi without wine.
But if you like, you can pour in 1/4 cup of dry white wine in step 4 after the shrimp are cooked and before adding the butter and tomatoes.
I always keep a bag of shrimp in my freezer its one of the pantry staples on my essential list.
How To Cook The Best Garlic Butter Shrimp
- Choose raw jumbo or extra-large shrimp, usually 16 20 per pound.
- If theyre shell-on, peel the shrimp. Dry them well with a paper towel.
- Season lightly with salt on both sides.
- Use fresh garlic rather than pre-minced garlic out of a jar, if you can. This dish is a simple one with a few ingredients, and you want them to shine. If you have a rasp grater , you can grate the garlic into a fine paste in seconds.
- Start cooking the shrimp in olive oil first yes, this is a garlic butter sauce, but unless you typically use clarified butter for cooking, if you sauté the shrimp in butter alone the milk solids will quickly burn.
- Swirl the butter into the hot pan after the shrimp is cooked and let it melt into a foamy, creamy sauce with some of the pasta cooking water. That way you dont need to dilute the flavor with chicken stock, wine or any other liquid.
- Pour your saucy shrimp over hot pasta. Pure and simple!
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Shrimp Is A Healthy And Tasty Meal Addition
In addition to tasting great, shrimp has also been shown to be a good source of antioxidants, omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids, and the essential mineral iodine, which helps maintain brain health and aids in proper thyroid functioning, according to Healthline. Shrimp is also high in protein and contains a carotenoid called astaxanthin that may help strengthen arteries and prevent inflammation.
Garlic has been proven to boost immunity and help protect against sicknesses like the common cold, Healthline also reports. Garlic also contains compounds that have been shown to reduce blood pressure, lower cholesterol, improve bone health, and even prevent against other illnesses like Alzheimer’s, dementia, and heart disease.
Per WebMD, white wine which is featured in the garlic butter shrimp even has heart-healthy antioxidants, although the white wine and butter can certainly pack on some additional calories along with the extra flavor. Costco’s garlic butter shrimp clock in at around 270 calories per serving, so shoppers should be mindful of their portion sizes. Still, as Instagram user @so_fee_uh03 put it, garlic butter shrimp is a “love language.”
How Do You Thicken A Scampi Sauce
The sauce will thicken during the cooking process: it first reduces after adding the white wine to garlic and seasonings, and again after cooking the shrimps.
If you want a thicker sauce, you could always let it cook down a bit longer. Alternatively, you can add a small amount of cornstarch slurry until its as thick and creamy as youd like.
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How Do You Make Juicy Shrimp
The best way to get your shrimps as tender and juicy as possible is to be sure not to overcook them.As the recipe instructs, wait until the sauce boils and reduces before adding the shrimp. Dont cook them for longer than it takes for them to turn pink roughly 3 minutes. If you decide to reduce the sauce even further, remove the seafood first so that it doesnt overcook and dry out.
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This recipe post, originally published on Kevin Is Cooking November, 2020, has been updated with new content, photos and/or video in July, 2022.
Recipe Directions Save Recipe
Boil large pot of cold water and salt it generously. Add the pasta and cook, stirring occasionally until al dente, 4 to 5 minutes. Drain pasta reserving about 1 cup of the cooking water.
Prepare the shrimp in a large skillet according to package directions.
Stir the lemon zest and juice into the shrimp. Add the pasta, reserved pasta water, parsley and pine nuts, and toss in the skillet to coat the pasta evenly.
Divide shrimp and pasta among warm pasta bowls and serve.
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Seapak Shrimp Scampi Angel Hair Pasta
Recipe courtesy of the Food Network Kitchens
- 1 pkg. SeaPak® Shrimp Scampi Butter and Garlic or SeaPak® Wild American Shrimp Scampi
- 12-oz. angel hair pasta, dry
- 1/2 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, roughly chopped
- 1/3 cup pine nuts, toasted
- Finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Why You Will Love This Recipe
We love seafood at our house, and shrimp is a favorite. We especially like this shrimp, because it can be an appetizer for a family gathering, or we can toss it in with a favorite pasta for a full meal.
Because this shrimp is so yummy, there is no right or wrong way to serve it. Just writing this is making me drool thinking of the garlic smell that fills the kitchen as the shrimp cooks in the air fryer.
Looking for more easy recipes? Check out this great list of over 100 Air Fryer Recipes for Beginners.
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Fresh Or Frozen Shrimp Which Is Better
When it comes to seafood, always consider the quality of the product and its source. Of course, its ideal to buy from a coastal shop selling fresh catches of the day. But, if youre looking for something a bit cheaper and faster, dont overlook the freezer section at your local market.
Wild frozen shrimp is always preferred because they are frozen immediately upon coming into the port. So theyll maintain their freshness and flavor over time. And I always prioritize wild-caught North American shrimp over shrimp from Asia.
What about the fresh shrimp on ice in your supermarket? They may not be freshly caught and its hard to know how long the thawed shrimp have been sitting behind the counter. Just take the safe route and head to the freezer aisle to pick up a bag of shrimp.
Also, its better to buy wild white shrimp if you are pan searing shrimp on its own. This type of shrimp has a sweet, delicious flavor, is a bit larger and cooks firmly. Otherwise, smaller shrimp can be used for dishes such as my Shrimp Ceviche or Shrimp Salad.
How To Thaw Frozen Shrimp
If youve planned to cook shrimp the night before, simply pull your bag of frozen shrimp out of the freezer and into the fridge. They will gradually thaw overnight and be ready to cook by dinnertime.
But, say you are just getting home from work and suddenly decide to whip up some shrimp. Dont worry, you will still have plenty of time to thaw it! Heres how to do it:
- Place the frozen shrimp into a bowl or colander in the sink.
- Run it under cold water for about 5 minutes, occasionally tossing them around to make sure they are all thawed. Depending on the size of the shrimp, this process can take anywhere from 5-10 minutes.
- When the shrimp have thawed completely, place them on a sheet tray and gently blot the shrimp with a paper towel. You want to remove as much excess moisture from the shrimp so that they can brown nicely without overcooking in excess water.
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Garlic Butter Shrimp Pasta
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An easy, elegant, 20-minute garlic shrimp pasta recipe that will become a classic in your kitchen! Juicy quick-sauteed shrimp in a rich, tasty garlic butter sauce.
Shrimp and pasta. My old-school Italian-American family always refers to a plate of properly cooked pasta smothered with sautéed shrimp and garlic butter sauce as shrimp scampi.
Its a classic dish of plump, shrimp swimming in a zesty, buttery garlic sauce, and so easy to fall in love with.
Are you with me on this? Garlic shrimp spaghetti in butter sauce is one of my absolute favorite pasta dishes of all time.
How To Clean And Devein Shrimp
You can usually buy shrimp already peeled, deveined and ready to go.
Or, if you have a very friendly fishmonger you can ask them to do it for you
Otherwise, its pretty simple to do yourself.
See the video above for a quick demo
- Hold the peeled shrimp in one hand and a small, sharp knife in the other.
- Make a shallow slit along the center of the shrimp along the back.
- Lift out the black stringy-looking part with your knife, then wipe the knife on a towel. If theres no vein visible, move on to the next shrimp.
- Repeat until all your shrimp are clean.
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Air Fryer Garlic Butter Shrimp
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This air fryer garlic butter shrimp is so full of flavor and it is easy to make in the air fryer, done in just minutes!
The garlic and butter combination in this recipe, just makes this shrimp perfect in every juicy bite. Our family likes to eat this shrimp by itself, or as a topping to a favorite pasta.
How To Make Garlic Butter Shrimp
Because this shrimp is so easy to make, it will probably become your go-to back up meal. The first step is to prepare the shrimp. I try to find shrimp that are already de-veined, or I use a de-veining tool. Then, I just have to remove the shell and toss them into a large bowl.
Next, combine the butter and the minced or pressed garlic into a small bowl, and microwave them together for about thirty seconds, until the butter melts. Pour the butter and garlic mixture into the bowl with the shrimp, tossing together.
Now that the shrimp is prepared, place them in the air fryer basket, without having any pieces crowding or stacking. Place the basket in the air fryer, and cook at 370 degrees Fahrenheit for eight minutes. Shake the basket halfway through for even cooking.
The shrimp will be a nice golden orange color when they are done cooking. Now, sit back and watch as your family magically appears in the kitchen.
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