Shrimp Scampi with Pasta
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Shrimp scampi with pasta — fast, flavorful, and irresistibly garlicky. The perfect weeknight dinner for seafood lovers.
Succulent shrimp bathed in a garlicky, white wine and lemon-infused butter sauce—shrimp scampi makes an excellent sauce for pasta. However, in many recipes, the pasta is more of an afterthought, left in need of more flavor and sauce. In this version, both the pasta and the shrimp share the spotlight equally. While you could certainly use any long pasta, my preference is for angel hair or capellini. The thin, delicate strands have a knack for soaking up the garlicky sauce, packing maximum flavor into every bite.
Making shrimp scampi with pasta is fairly simple, but it’s important to watch the shrimp’s cooking time. If you cook them for too long, they can become rubbery. The trick is to take the shrimp off the heat as soon as they turn opaque and pink. Pair shrimp scampi with an arugula salad and dinner is served!
Table of Contents
“Have made this delicious recipe a couple of times and am now training my hubby how to make it! We both love it!”
What You’ll Need To Make Shrimp Scampi with Pasta
- Angel hair, spaghetti, linguine, or fettuccini: While any long pasta will work, angel hair or capellini is ideal for soaking up the sauce. You’ll need to reserve some pasta water before draining, as the starchy, salty water serves as an excellent thickener for the sauce. To remember to save this water, place a measuring cup in your colander as a visual reminder.
- Extra-virgin olive oil: Used to sauté shallots, garlic, and shrimp, adding flavor and preventing sticking.
- Shallots and garlic: These aromatics form the fundamental flavor base for shrimp scampi. The recipe calls for six cloves of garlic, so if your garlic press has been gathering dust, now’s the time to break it out and put it to work!
- Red pepper flakes: Offer a hint of heat. Feel free to adjust to taste.
- Extra-large shrimp: The star of the dish. Unless you live near the coast, using thawed frozen shrimp is ideal as they are flash-frozen at peak freshness, and they can be quickly defrosted before cooking.
- Dry white wine: Adds depth and acidity to the sauce. When cooking with wine, always select an inexpensive bottle that’s still good enough to drink. Avoid “cooking wines” due to their salt and additives.
- Butter: Brings richness and flavor, creating a silky sauce texture.
- Lemon juice and zest: Add brightness and tanginess, balancing the buttery sauce.
- Fresh parsley: Provides a fresh, herby finish and looks pretty, too.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-by-Step Instructions
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook to al dente according to the package instructions.
Reserve 1 cup of the cooking water, then drain.
Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the shallots and cook, stirring frequently, for about 1 minute.
Stir in the garlic, red pepper flakes, and ¼ teaspoon each salt and pepper.
Add the shrimp and cook, stirring occasionally, until they are pink and just cooked through, about 3 minutes.
Transfer the shrimp to a plate.
Add the wine to the skillet and simmer until reduced by half, 3 to 4 minutes.
Add the butter, lemon juice, and lemon zest, ½ cup of the reserved cooking water, and ½ teaspoon salt. Stir until the butter is melted.
Add the drained pasta and continue to cook, tossing, until the pasta is warmed through, adding more of the reserved cooking water as needed if the pasta seems dry. Return the shrimp and any juices from the plate to the skillet and toss with the pasta.
Stir in the parsley, then taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary. Serve with lemon wedges.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, you can make shrimp scampi without wine. As an alternative, you can use chicken or vegetable broth with a squeeze of lemon, or just leave it out.
No, pre-cooked shrimp will not work for making shrimp scampi. They have already been cooked and will become tough and overcooked when heated again, which can ruin the texture and flavor of your dish. Use fresh or thawed frozen raw shrimp for best results.
To avoid rubbery shrimp, be careful not to overcook them. In this recipe, they take only a few minutes to cook. It important to take them off the heat as soon as they turn pink and opaque to prevent further cooking.
Video Tutorial
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Shrimp Scampi with Pasta
Shrimp scampi with pasta — fast, flavorful, and irresistibly garlicky. The perfect weeknight dinner for seafood lovers.
Ingredients
- Salt
- 1 pound (16 oz) angel hair, spaghetti, linguine, or fettuccini
- ⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- ¾ cup thinly sliced shallots, from 2 to 3 shallots
- 6 large cloves garlic, minced
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1¼ pounds extra-large shrimp, peeled and deveined, thawed if frozen
- Freshly ground black pepper
- ¾ cup dry white wine
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice plus 1 teaspoon lemon zest, from 1 to 2 lemons, plus wedges for serving
- ¼ cup finely chopped fresh parsley
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook to al dente according to the package instructions. Reserve 1 cup of the cooking water, then drain.
- Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the shallots and cook, stirring frequently, for about 1 minute. Add the garlic, red pepper flakes, shrimp, and ¼ teaspoon each salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the shrimp are pink and just cooked through, about 3 minutes. Transfer the shrimp to a plate. Add the wine to the skillet and simmer until reduced by half, 3 to 4 minutes.
- Add the butter, lemon juice and lemon zest, ½ cup of the reserved cooking water, and ½ teaspoon salt; stir until the butter is melted. Add the drained pasta and continue to cook, tossing, until the pasta is warmed through, adding more of the reserved cooking water as needed if the pasta seems dry. Return the shrimp and any juices from the plate to the skillet and toss with the pasta. Stir in the parsley, then taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary. Serve with lemon wedges.
Pair with
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (4 servings)
- Calories: 925
- Fat: 38 g
- Saturated fat: 14 g
- Carbohydrates: 94 g
- Sugar: 6 g
- Fiber: 5 g
- Protein: 45 g
- Sodium: 187 mg
- Cholesterol: 274 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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Hi Jenn! I love all of your recipes and you are the absolute best! I do have a strange question that might sound kinda sacrilegious- if it is possible to make this recipe in a crock pot?
Hi Kathy, Thanks for your kind words! Unfortunately, I don’t think this recipe would translate well to a crockpot — I’m sorry!
Good to know! Do you think red Argentinian shrimp would work for this recipe?
I don’t think I’ve ever used red Argentinian shrimp but any extra large shrimp should work nicely here.
Excellent and quick. I used vermouth, as I had no white wine. Do not skimp on butter!
I’ve been trying many scampi recipes, looking for the perfect one – this is it! Due to my MIL’s tastes and diet restrictions, I had to modify a bit (much less garlic & no red pepper), but it was still excellent. We all loved it! I am making sure I don’t lose this one. Thank you!
Best shrimp scampi ever. Tops any restaurant we have ever tried. Light not oily or heavy. Can taste the individual garlic and lemon flavors. Shrimp cooked perfectly. Will definitely be a repeat OFTEN!
I know a recipe is a winner, and go-to, when my husband requests a certain dish… and this week it happens to be scampi! I love that this recipe has ingredients that I typically have in the household, and can whip up in about 40 mins after coming home from work. It’s so flavorful! As it’s only the two of us, and I enjoy a saucy pasta, I lessen the amount of pasta cooked, but all else remains the same! Thank you for a wonderful recipe.
Made this dish last night and was fantastic!
Delicious! Made for a family dinner of 7. I used a large, deep skillet so I wouldn’t have to cook in batches. I sauteed the shallots and about 2 pounds of medium shrimp in 1/2 cup olive oil. Followed the rest of your directions, but only had to add about 4 T butter at the end. It came together very quickly and the wine and lemon juice/zest and parsley just made the dish! Thanks Jenn.
P.S. One pound of pasta was enough for our crew of hearty eaters (with bread and salad, of course!)
My daughter and I made this while she was visiting us in Florida. It turned out great! We also cooked streamed broccoli.
I think I made a mistake. I cooked the pasta then added olive to the pasta so that it wouldn’t stick together. It still stuck together while I was cooking the rest of the recipe. The pasta didn’t absorb the flavours of the sauce because of the olive oil. The pasta separated once it was in the sauce, so lesson learned.
The shrimp was great and I’ m sure next time the pasta will be have better flavour w ithout adding the olive oil.
Great recipe.
Thank you!
Best shrimp scampi we’ve ever eaten! The flavors are fantastic! Thank you, Jenn! With recipes this good, there are fewer selections to order from the menu at restaurants, because they won’t measure up to what we can make at home. Ahh, what a tasty dilemma!
💕