Garlic Shrimp Pasta Recipe

5 from 35 votes

Creamy garlic butter shrimp pasta is an elegant pasta dish with big flavors! It's so quick and easy, and perfect for a weeknight dinner as it's ready in just 15 minutes. Serve this for a Romantic date night, for a special occasion, or as a family meal. Either way, everyone will love it!

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 15 minutes

Servings servings

Calories 334kcal

Author Diana

Ingredients

8 oz (225g) linguine pasta
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound (450g) shrimp
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon Old bay seasoning optional - or smoked paprika or cajun
1 tablespoon butter
1 clove garlic
½ cup heavy cream
½ cup parmesan grated
¼ cup parsley chopped

Instructions

In a medium-sized saucepan, boil water and salt it. Add your pasta, and cook according to the package instructions until al dente. When the pasta is cooked, reserve 1 cup of the pasta water and drain the pasta.
In a skillet over medium heat, melt the butter, and add olive oil. Cook the shrimp for a minute, then season with salt, pepper, and Old Bay Seasoning or paprika if using.
Continue to cook the shrimp until it's pink. Do this in batches if you're worried that you may overcook the shrimp. Remove the shrimp onto a plate and set aside.
In the same pan, melt butter and add garlic, cook for 30 seconds or until it's fragrant. Add the heavy cream, and with the spatula deglaze the pan.
Add parmesan, let it melt then loosen the sauce with reserved pasta water and allow to simmer for a minute. Taste the sauce and see if more salt and pepper is needed.
Toss the pasta with the sauce until it's well coated. Add the shrimp back in to reheat it gently, garnish with freshly chopped parsley and serve.

Video

Notes

If you cook the shrimp from frozen, you will have liquid coming out and that's fine as it will take about a minute to simmer it down (not enough to overcook the shrimp). If possible, thaw the shrimp before cooking.
Don't forget to reserve about a cup of the pasta cooking water, it's quite starchy and great for loosening up the sauce. You will most probably need much less than a cup, but to stay on the safe side I always reserve 1 cup and drain the rest.
This pasta makes 4 normal servings, or 3 big ones.
Store in the fridge in a sealed container for up to 3 days.
Reheat the pasta in a skillet over low-medium heat, and add a splash of water to loosen the sauce. Do the same if using the microwave. I don’t recommend freezing this creamy shrimp pasta.

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