🍋🍤🧀 This Shrimp Scampi Pasta Recipe is an EASY Italian-inspired restaurant-worthy meal I rely on when I want to impress my guests but don’t want to spend all day cooking! Made with succulent shrimp, zesty lemon, savory Parmesan cheese, and al dente cooked pasta, it’s ready in 15 minutes and perfect for busy weeknights and special occasions, including holiday dinners, birthdays, anniversaries, or date nights.
Easy Shrimp Scampi Pasta Recipe
This quick shrimp scampi pasta is a flavorful twist on my Easy 10-Minute Shrimp Scampi Recipe! Everyone in my family devoured it, claiming it’s even better than restaurant variations. Not only is it delicious, but this scampi pasta is also:
- Made with 5 minutes of prep time and just 10 minutes of cooking time.
- Comes together using one pot and one large skillet for minimal dishes.
- Created with just a handful of simple, easy-to-find ingredients.
- Savory, garlicky, lemony, and cheesy. In other words, it’s pure comfort food at its best!
Delicious garlicky, lemony shrimp and pasta. I added lemon pepper seasoning with the lemon juice. Scrumptious
Evelyn
Ingredients You’ll Need
To make this easy recipe for shrimp linguine pasta, you’ll only need a handful of common, easy-to-find ingredients, which include:
- Dry linguine pasta: Angel hair pasta, spaghetti, or long-strand pasta may be substituted. Or, make my Lemon Butter Garlic Shrimp with Angel Hair Pasta instead. Substitute gluten-free pasta, if needed
- Unsalted butter and olive oil
- Garlic cloves and finely chopped yellow onion
- Shrimp: I highly recommend using fresh, raw medium-large to large shrimp. For me, that means 12 to 15-count shrimp, or 12 to 15 shrimp per pound. Smaller shrimp just don’t have the same flavor, and they will also cook much faster, often becoming rubbery. I kept the tails on in this recipe. However, for easier consumption and less mess when you’re eating, you can take the tails off. If you’re using frozen shrimp, make sure you know whether they’re previously cooked (and all you need to do is thaw and warm them) or if they were frozen raw (and you’ll need to thaw and then cook them), and act accordingly
- Salt and black pepper
- White Wine: I highly recommend using dry white wine in the shrimp scampi sauce. If you need to substitute using wine, I recommend using (in this order): a touch more lemon juice; chicken broth or vegetable broth; and finally, cooking sherry. Note that some sherry can taste cheap and could overpower the shrimp. So, use what you’re familiar with, and really just use wine if at all possible
- Fresh lemon juice
- Parmesan cheese
- Fresh parsley, optional
- Red pepper flakes, optional
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 Garlic Shrimp Scampi Pasta
Follow these basic and straightforward instructions, and you’ll be enjoying this restaurant-quality meal in minutes!
Step 1: Cook the pasta just to al dente according to the package instructions. Make sure to reserve some of the pasta water!
Step 2: Peel and devein the shrimp if they are not already. It’s easier to do this over a colander in the sink.
Don’t Want To Clean Your Own Shrimp?
Most well-stocked butcher counter areas (or combination butcher + seafood counter), have a selection of already cleaned shrimp. If so, buy these! Frankly, even if they’re a bit more expensive, this is where a few dollars extra is well worth it in my opinion.
But if there are no shrimp already cleaned, this is where you should take advantage of your butcher and make him do it!
I have found that this ‘service’ is included in the price per pound of shrimp you’re buying, so you may as well take full advantage!
Step 3: Add the butter and olive oil to a large skillet, and melt the butter over medium-high heat before adding the chopped onions and saute until golden. Next, add the minced garlic and stir until fragrant.
Step 4: Add the shrimp in a single layer, season with salt and black pepper, add the lemon juice (plus a teaspoon of lemon zest if you want a bolder lemon flavor), and white wine, and cook until the shrimp are done – they should be pale pink and opaque, and no longer grey.
Step 5: Turn off the heat and stir in the Parmesan cheese to combine. Add some of the pasta water with the cooked pasta to the skillet with the shrimp scampi and stir everything together, before serving warm with extra shaved Parmesan, and tossing with fresh parsley, red pepper flakes, and lemon wedges or as desired!
Recipe FAQs
Are you throwing a big dinner party or feeding a lot of people? You can easily make double the amount of this recipe. Just increase all the ingredients, making sure to keep the ratios the same.
You might need a bigger pan to fit more shrimp, so use a larger one if you have it. The important thing is to give it a taste to see if you need to add any extra lemon, garlic, cheese, or seasonings.
The recipe serves about 4 as written, but if you need dinner for two, then you can easily halve the recipe. Just halve the quantities of all ingredients.
I mention in the recipe to add 1/4 to 1/3 cup of pasta water when you’re tossing the lemon butter garlic shrimp together with the pasta. Perhaps your pasta could have used a bit more water. All pasta does vary, so if it’s seeming a bit on the dry side when you’re tossing it, don’t be afraid to add a few more tablespoons of pasta water.
If your shrimp are rubbery, tough, or chewy, it’s likely because the shrimp were cooked for too long. Shrimp can go from being raw to overcooked quite quickly – in just a minute or two! Keep an eye on them while cooking, as they only need about two minutes to be done.
You won’t have Shrimp Scampi Pasta, but if you want to make scallops as I do in my Garlic Butter Scallops recipe, and use them in place of the shrimp, it’s another option protein packed option with a similar flavor profile.
What to Serve with Shrimp Scampi Pasta
Shrimp Scampi Pasta Recipe
Equipment
- 1 Pot
Ingredients
- 1 pound dry linguine pasta, angel hair pasta, spaghetti, pappardelle, farfalle, or long-strand pasta may be substituted
- ¼ to ⅓ cup pasta water, reserved from cooking the pasta
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
- 2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 small yellow onion, finely diced
- 3 to 5 cloves garlic, finely minced or pressed
- 1 to to 1.25 pounds large fresh raw shrimp, cleaned and deveined, with tails on or off as desired*
- 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
- ¼ cup white wine, optional but recommended (sauvignon blanc or pinot grigio are my favorites, chardonnay is fine)
- 2 to 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- ½ cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
- Fresh Italian flat-leaf parsley, optional but recommended for garnishing
- Red pepper flakes, optional but recommended for garnishing
Instructions
- Pasta – Cook the pasta to al dente as directed on the packaging, drain, and set aside until it's needed. Reserve about 1/2 cup pasta water. While the pasta is boiling, begin cooking the shrimp.
- Shrimp – To a large, high-sided skillet, add 2 tablespoons butter, the olive oil, and heat over medium-high heat to melt the butter.
- Add the onions and cook for about 3-4 minutes, or until becoming soft and translucent; stir frequently.
- Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute, or until fragrant; stir nearly constantly.
- Add the shrimp* (see Notes), evenly season with the salt and pepper, cook for 1 minute on the first side, flip, and cook for 1 minute on the second side until shrimp are turning pink and are opaque; they should be about 90% cooked at this point. It's okay if they are not cooked completely because they will be simmering a couple minutes longer.
- Add the white wine, lemon juice, remaining butter, and allow the mixture to simmer for about 2 minutes, or until the shrimp are completely cooked through and the liquid volume has reduced a bit and smells aromatic. Please see Notes below re cooking with wine if you're concerned.
- Add the Parmesan and stir to combine.
- Add the cooked pasta to the shrimp, 1/4 to 1/3 cup pasta water, and toss very well to combine. Tips – If your skillet is large enough, you can do this in your skillet, otherwise do it in a large bowl. Depending on how saucy or dry your pasta looks, add a touch more pasta water, if needed.
- Optionally and to taste add the parsley, red pepper flakes, and toss to combine.
- Serve immediately.
- Adapted from my Easy 10-Minute Shrimp Scampi
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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More Easy Shrimp Recipes:
10-Minute Easy Shrimp Scampi — If you thought shrimp scampi was just a dish to order out at a fancier restaurant, think again. You can make mouth-watering shrimp scampi at home in less than 10 minutes!
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Garlic Shrimp Stir Fry – Made with juicy shrimp, crisp-tender veggies, and a homemade stir-fry sauce, this stir-fry is QUICK and EASY! It’s ready in just 25 minutes and tastes so much better than takeout! Serve the stir-fry with noodles or rice for a complete meal.
Easy Shrimp Cakes – Easy, ready in 10 minutes, and they taste better than from a fancy restaurant!
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I’m making this again for my BF … with recipes like this I can hang on to him ! Lol
Haha! Well whatever it takes! But seriously, thanks and I’m glad to hear this is a winner!
SOOOO delicious! I added some mushrooms, peppers, tomato and used 2 full lb of shrimp, but followed the core butter/EVOO/wine/lemon recipe. The flavors are so craveable! This is being added to rotation! Thank you for sharing.
Thanks for the 5 star review, Christine, and I’m glad this turned out so well for you and that you added veggies and this is going into your rotation now!
Delicious garlicky, lemony shrimp and pasta. I added lemon pepper seasoning with the lemon juice. Scrumptious +
Thanks for the 5 star review, Evelyn, and I am glad this was scrumptious for you!