When you want restaurant-quality pasta at home, this is the recipe to pull out. This recipe is featured in our 30-Minute Meals Cookbook (p. 125), but we figured it was time to put it on our website.
Ready in 25 minutes, start to finish, it’s the perfect weeknight meal. With a creamy, somewhat lightened up sauce, it’s a great transition recipe from spring to summer, too.
Why you’ll love this recipe
We love a good shrimp pasta recipe (like our Copycat Shrimp Scampi), but sometimes you just need something basic that you can build on. This recipe is easy to spruce up with higher quality ingredients, or keep it simple and budget friendly.
Combining chicken broth and heavy cream adds layered flavor and lightens it up a bit instead of using straight butter. The zest of the lemon plus the lemon juice adds just the right amount of citrusy flavor. Top it off with some fresh basil, and you’ve got a top-tier dish made easy.
Key Ingredient Notes for Lemon Garlic Shrimp Pasta
- Shrimp: we use one pound of uncooked medium size shrimp in this recipe. Make sure they are peeled and deveined, too. Generally, there will be about 30-40 shrimp in a pound, so there will be around 5-7 shrimp in each serving.
- Parmesan cheese: we use grated parmesan cheese in this recipe. You need about ½ a cup. Pre-grated store bought will work here, but we prefer to use freshly grated for a smoother sauce.
- Heavy cream: this makes a very creamy sauce that doesn’t skimp on flavor. If you want a lighter sauce or less calories, you can swap this out for half and half (although you sauce will be thinner).
- Broth: We thin out the sauce (and heavy cream) with chicken broth, giving it a different flavor profile than your average cream sauce.
- Red Pepper flakes: if you want to pack on some heat, add extra red pepper flakes. We like to add them to each individual serving (because kids), so feel free to add as much or as little as you’d like.
How to Make Lemon Garlic Shrimp Pasta
- Cook the pasta. Cook your spaghetti (or pasta of choice) according to package directions for Al Dente, and set it aside.
- Make the sauce. In a skillet (that’s large enough to toss everything into at the end!), heat the butter and onion, then add your garlic until fragrant. Add in broth, lemon juice, cream, and salt and pepper until it starts to simmer. Throw in the uncooked shrimp, and let it continue to cook until your shrimp is done (see ingredient note above).
- Toss it all together. Stir in basil and Parmesan, then stir in the cooked pasta. If the sauce is too thick, add in reserved pasta to thin it slightly.
Tip: Don’t overcook your shrimp! You’ll know it’s done when it’s pink and slightly curled (like the letter c). If it starts curling in on itself to an “o” shape, that’s too long!
What to serve with Lemon Garlic Shrimp Pasta
This pasta holds up great on its own, but if you’re looking to make it a full meal type of experience, here’s what we recommend serving with shrimp pasta:
Storage & Reheating Instructions for Shrimp Pasta
The best method is low and slow on the stovetop with a splash of broth or cream. You can reheat it in the microwave, but turn the wattage down to avoid getting overcooked, rubbery shrimp.
FAQs for Garlic Shrimp Pasta
Yes! You’ll just need to thaw it first and then you can add it to the recipe as normal. Most packages share thawing instructions, and a quick-thaw underneath running water will only take a few minutes.
Any type of pasta will do! We love it with angel hair, fettuccine, and penne, too.
Overcooked shrimp can become really rubbery. Shrimp can cook in just 2-3 minutes per side, so keep this part of the recipe short as directed.
Yes, you can sub out the heavy cream for half and half for a lighter sauce.
Lemon Garlic Shrimp Pasta Recipe
Ingredients
- 8 ounces spaghetti pasta
- 2 Tablespoons butter
- 2 Tablespoons onion, finely chopped
- 4 cloves of garlic, minced
- ¼ cup chicken broth
- 1 lemon, for zest and juice
- ½ cup heavy cream
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 1 pound medium uncooked shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 4 large basil leaves, chopped
- ½ cup grated parmesan cheese
- Red pepper flakes, for serving
Equipment
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil, adding a generous amount of salt. Cook spaghetti al dente, as directed on the package. Then drain and set aside (reserve some of the pasta water if needed)
- In a separate large skillet, heat butter over medium heat, adding in the onion and cook for about 2 minutes.
- Add the garlic, and cook until fragrant (about 1 minute). Add the chicken broth, lemon juice, lemon zest, cream, salt, and pepper. Cook until it starts to simmer, then add shrimp to the skillet and cook until heated through and pink (about 5 minutes).
- Stir in basil and parmesan, then toss the cooked spaghetti with the sauce. Add in 1-2 Tablespoons of reserved pasta water, if needed. Serve immediately topped with a sprinkle of pepper flakes if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
Did You Make This Recipe?We’d love to hear your thoughts! Leave a review or a question in the comment section below the post.
