Marry Me Shrimp Pasta 🍤🍅 has juicy shrimp, tender pasta, sun-dried tomatoes, basil, spinach, Parmesan cheese and it’s all coated in the BEST creamy sauce! This restaurant-worthy meal is ready in 30 minutes and EASY enough for weeknights or impressive for entertaining! When you need a meatless dinner recipe, this is the one!
Easy Marry Me Shrimp Pasta Recipe
- Juicy shrimp and al dente rigatoni are tossed in a creamy, garlic-infused sundried tomato sauce with Parmesan, fresh spinach, and basil for a restaurant-worthy pasta dinner!
- It’s rich, savory, and wonderfully indulgent, but simple enough to make on weeknights because it’s ready in 30 minutes.
- So the next time you’re looking for a meatless recipe that whole family will love, try this irresistible pasta and shrimp that’s perfect for an easy yet impressive meal.
Flavors Almost Like “Marry Me”
If you can’t get enough of a creamy sauce with sun-dried tomatoes and basil or spinach, make sure to try these Tuscan-inspired recipes which are very similar to Marry Me-style recipes. This Slow Cooker Tuscan Chicken, Tuscan Chicken Pasta, as well as my Creamy Garlic Butter Tuscan Salmon are all excellent!
Ingredients in Shrimp Marry Me Pasta
Pasta: I chose rigatoni but you can choose another short-shape pasta such as ziti, penne, ditalini, small shells, elbow macaroni, or similar. You could also make it with long strand pasta but short is less messy to eat which is why I chose short.
Flavor: Oil from the jar of sun dried tomatoes is what I use to cook the garlic along with all-purpose flour which thickens the flavorful sauce later.
Liquids: Reduced sodium chicken broth and heavy cream add volume to the sauce.
Tomatoes: Tomato paste for flavor and sun dried tomatoes also boost the flavor of the dish and add an lightly chewy texture and are a key ‘marry me’ recipe component. I use oil-packed that I drain (use the oil to cook the garlic in) and blot.
Shrimp: I use 12 ounces fresh shrimp that are cleaned and deveined. Select shrimp that are large in size (about 16-18-count, or 16 to 18 to a pound) to make the dish feel more luxurious. You can use smaller shrimp if you want. Previously frozen raw shrimp that are thawed, drained, and cleaned are also fine.
Seasonings + Flavor: Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, optional red pepper flakes, and Parmesan cheese are perfection for the right seasoning balance.
Greens: Fresh spinach and fresh basil, with optional fresh parsley for garnishing.
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How To Make Marry Me Pasta with Shrimp
- To a large pot, boil the pasta in salted water according to package directions for al dente. Drain and set aside when done.
- While the pasta is cooking, to a separate large skillet add a tablespoon of oil from your sun dried tomatoes, add the garlic, flour, and saute for 1-2 minutes over medium heat. I don’t add onion to this sauce but I do in my Tuscan Chicken Pasta in case you’re wondering if you can – yes go for it.
- Slowly add the broth, cream, tomato paste, and whisk to combine.
- Using a paper towel, blot the sundried tomatoes, shrimp, seasonings, and cook for about 4 minutes, or just until shrimp are done. Make sure not to overcook them because they cook fast!
- Add the Parmesan, spinach, basil, cooked pasta, toss to combine to wilt the spinach and basil, garnish with additional basil, parsley, or Parm, and serve.
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for step-by-step photos and process shots of the cooking process.
Marry Me Shrimp Pasta
Equipment
Ingredients
- 8 ounces rigatoni pasta, or another short shaped pasta such as ziti, penne, ditali, small shells, elbow macaroni, etc.
- 1 tablespoon oil from the jar of sundried tomatoes, (olive oil may be substituted)
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 ½ teaspoons all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup reduced sodium chicken broth
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 ½ tablespoons tomato paste
- ¼ cup sundried tomatoes, oil blotted and roughly chopped
- 12 ounces large raw shrimp, (about 14-18 count; I use fresh raw shrimp that are peeled and deveined; you may use raw frozen shrimp that are thawed and cleaned)
- 1 ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes, optional and to taste (add more for a bit more kick)
- ½ cup parmesan cheese, freshly grated
- 1 cup fresh baby spinach
- ¼ cup finely minced fresh basil, or to taste; plus more for garnishing if desired
- Fresh parsley or additional basil, optional for garnishing
Instructions
- To a large stockpot, add water, salt it, add the pasta, and cook to package directions for al dente. When pasta is done, drain, and set aside. While pasta is cooking, continue on to the next step.Tip: Save and reserve 3/4 cup of the pasta cooking water just in case you want some later to thin out the sauce.* (see Notes about Storage and pasta water too)
- To a large skillet, add 1 tablespoon from the jar of sundried tomatoes. If for some reason you don't have it or your sundried tomatoes aren't packed in oil, simply sub with 1 tablespoon olive oil.
- Add the garlic, evenly sprinkle with flour, and cook over medium heat for 1-2 minutes; stir nearly continuously.
- While whisking, slowly add the chicken broth, then the heavy cream, tomato paste, and whisk to incorporate the tomato paste; about 1 minute.
- Add the sundried tomatoes, shrimp, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, optional red pepper flakes, stir to combine, bring mixture to a simmer over medium-high heat, and then reduce the heat to a lower simmer and cook the shrimp just until done, about 4 minutes once simmering, and perhaps even faster is your simmer is more rapid or your shrimp are smaller.Shrimp Cooking Tip – Shrimp cook very quickly in a hot liquid like this so as soon as they go from gray and translucent to white-pink and opaque, they're done. They'll continue cooking due to the carryover heat so make sure not to overcook them and turn the heat off when they're done.
- Add the Parmesan cheese, spinach (use more if desired because it wilts down to very little), basil, add the cooked pasta on top, and toss to combine the cheese and wilt the spinach which will happen quickly from the hot pasta and hot cream sauce.
- Taste mixture and make any necessary seasoning or flavor adjustments. If your sauce is thicker than you'd like, add a bit of pasta water* (see Notes), 1 tablespoon at a time, until desired sauce consistency is reached.
- Seasoning Tips – If it's at all boring or bland, it likely needs more salt so don't be afraid to add it. The same is true for pepper, but more so for salt. I absolutely recommend the red pepper flakes because they don't make the dish spicy (unless you add 1+ teaspoons), but rather just add flavor and depth. If the dish is a little sharp, you can add a pinch of granulated sugar which will tame and balance the acid from the tomato paste and sundried tomatoes, as well as balance the spinach.
- Garnish as desired with additional basil, parsley, or Parmesan, and serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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