Shrimp Scampi
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You won’t believe how easy this comes together in just 15 minutes – perfect for those busy weeknights!
This may be hard to believe but this really comes together very quickly. The only time consuming part may be peeling the shrimp, but if you’re short on time, you can purchase the pre-peeled ones. Hey, I’m not one to judge – I’ve done that on several occasions, especially on those super busy weeknights.
Ingredients
Linguine
Linguine is always our go-to since it holds onto all that lovely saucy goodness but you can also substitute spaghetti or fettuccine.
Butter
For richness and creaminess, of course.
Shrimp
Peeled, deveined and thawed overnight (or a quick 5-10 min thaw under cold running water).
Garlic and red pepper flakes
For maximum flavor. You can increase the amount of red pepper flakes for extra heat and spiciness.
White wine
A dry white wine is great here (pinot grigio or sauvignon blanc).
Lemon juice/zest
A little bit of acid goes a long way to help balance out the flavors and richness of the butter. Freshly squeezed is always the way to go (over the bottled stuff).
Parmesan
Add your finishing touches with a healthy dusting of freshly grated Parm.
Once your shrimp is ready to go, you’ll cook your shrimp in a bit of butter, deglazing your pan with wine (or chicken stock) and freshly squeezed lemon juice, and then tossing in that cooked al dente linguine. You can garnish with some freshly grated Parmesan and serve right out of the pan.
It’s quick, it’s simple, it’s fast, and it is so so good. Serve with all the crusty bread and leftover white wine for a complete meal.
Tools For This Recipe
Large cast iron skillet
Shrimp Scampi: Frequently Asked Questions
You can thaw frozen shrimp overnight, transferring it from the freezer to the fridge the day before. For a quick thaw, you can run them under cold water until completely thawed, about 5-10 minutes. Pat them dry as thoroughly as possible to remove any excess moisture (so they can brown nicely and evenly).
Chicken stock can be used for white wine as a non-alcoholic substitute.
Shrimp Scampi
Ingredients
- 8 ounces linguine
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, or more, to taste
- ¼ cup white wine*
- ¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- ¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan
Instructions
- In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions; drain well.
- Melt butter in a large cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Add shrimp, garlic and red pepper flakes. Cook, stirring occasionally, until pink, about 2-3 minutes.
- Stir in wine and lemon juice. Cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly reduced, about 5 minutes; remove from heat.
- Stir in pasta, lemon zest and parsley; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Serve immediately, topped with Parmesan.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
Tag @damn_delicious on Instagram and hashtag it #damndelicious!
How many calories per serving?
Nutritional information is provided only for select and new recipes at this time. However, if it is not available for a specific recipe, I recommend using free online resources at your discretion (you can Google “nutritional calculator”) to obtain such information.
Love your blog. Found this recipe from Pinterest and it looked good but after trying it, my family and I felt it had way too much lemon juice. I literally made the scrinched up sour face with each bite. I tried watering it down with chicken broth but it still did not have the traditional scampi flavor I was hoping for. I hate to complain but just felt like a few of the measurements are off.
Thank you for your feedback. Perhaps you used an abnormally large lemon? The lemon taste should not be overpowering. And as always, you can add lemon juice, to taste, to suit your preferences a little better. Isn’t that the beauty of home cooking? 🙂
Love this! How would I go about using chicken over shrimp? I know shrimp cooks much faster than chicken but want to change it up a little
You may have to adjust cooking time as needed to ensure that the chicken is completely cooked through.
With a webpage of that name, my expectations were high. And my expectations were met!!! It was simple and simply delicious! Thank you. My search for a shrimp scampi recipe is now over!
Can the Shrimp Scampi be made ahead of time and reheated? if so, any suggestions?
Jdy, this is really best when served immediately.
I want to see an updated pic of Butters, TOO CUTE!!! Gonna try this scampi recipe 🙂
Helene, you can see updated pictures of Butters and Ollie on Instagram: https://instagram.com/butterscorgigram/. We are also on snapchat now at chungahrhee.
Hello! Found this recipe on yummly and made it for dinner tonight. I love the flavors! Tasted so delicious, however, I couldn’t get the juices to coat the pasta well resulting in a kind of bland noodle. The shrimp had tons of flavor though. Can you please help?! Also love the story you put in about your pet :)!
Thank you for trying my recipe! But I’m sorry to hear that the pasta was not well coated. Did you follow the recipe exactly as written without any substitutions?
Love the puppy!!!!!
I find the dish to be a little lemony. Will use less lemon juice next time. But tit was a great dish! My mouth is on fire, to much crushed pepper
VERY GOOD! Super easy to make and very a flavorful. I will say that when I made it, it did not make very much, just two servings, but perhaps I did something wrong. I really enjoyed this and will make again!
I am curious. Every Scampi recipe I have had includes Garlic, but yours doesn’t include this ingredient. Not sure if I could make it without garlic!
Sandy, 3 cloves garlic is actually included in the recipe.
I love your website! I was just wondering if you used raw shrimp in this recipe? Thank you so much!
Yes, raw shrimp should be used.
Would it be okay if they are already cooked?
I recommend tripling all ingredients if the entire recipe is tripled. It is also best to use uncooked shrimp – but as always, please use your best judgment.
Thank you, just came from the store, i thought that it would probably be the best idea to follow your recipe exactly.
cooked this for my husband tonight and he loved it, he had seconds, thanks for sharing.
I found this on pinterest and made it for dinner last night with a few substitutions. It was amazing! Check out my changes and additions at Thestepfordhomesteader.wordpress.com. Thanks for a great recipe!
Can anyone tell me what type of white wine is best? Does it have to be cooking wine? Or could it be like a basic moscato?
I recommend using dry white wine for this recipe. You can read more about The 5 Best White Wines for Cooking for further reference.
I made this for dinner tonight and it was absolutely delicious! I will be making it often! Thanks so much for sharing!
Simple ingredients, delicious result. Excellent recipe Chungah! You should also try this with a little ouzo instead of wine. You’ll love it!
Wonderful post!
Panos and Mirella
YUM!
Chungah,
Loved this. One night I did it with shrimp, another night I did some crab meat, both were terrific! I also did it with some dried parsley, worked just as good (after adjusting the amount needed). Your website has taken #1 for my go-to site, so far everything I’ve tried has been absolutely delicious!
I’m definitely not a good cook by any means, so I was nervous when searching for something to make for my boyfriend for our Sunday dinner date. I came across this, it looked easy and didn’t require a lot so I gave it a shot! And needless to say I he was a happy man!! It was great and so simple. The only suggestion I have is, if your not a spicy person go easy on the red pepper flakes.. Thankfully we both don’t mind a kick to our food. I did add a little more butter to the pasta once it was all in together. I highly recommend for a quick dinner! Thanks for the recipe:)
Made this tonight & yum!!! It was a hit!! Thank you!!