Shrimp Scampi
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You won’t believe how easy this comes together in just 15 minutes – perfect for those busy weeknights!
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reasons to make shrimp scampi
- Quick cook time. With a short ingredient list and a few easy steps, you’ll have this fancy meal on your dinner table in less than 30 minutes start to finish, perfect for busy weeknights and weekend company.
- Restaurant-quality. This is truly restaurant-quality, if not even better, with bigger, better-quality shrimp.
- Versatile. Shrimp scampi can be served over pasta or rice, or served alongside crusty bread and a light salad.
types of shrimp
Wild caught shrimp vs. farmed shrimp
Farmed shrimp are raised in controlled environments, whereas wild caught shrimp have been caught in their natural habitats by fishermen. Wild caught shrimp is generally preferred over farmed shrimp primarily due to taste.
Frozen vs. fresh shrimp
Unless you reside in a coastal area, the “fresh shrimp” on display at your local grocery store have already been previously frozen at sea. Frozen shrimp offers ultimate freshness (flash-frozen as soon as they are caught) and flexibility, using only what you need for dinner. Bottom line, frozen shrimp will taste better and cook better.
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.
tips and tricks for success
- Know your shrimp size. Shrimp size is calculated on number of shrimp per pound. The smaller the number, the larger your shrimp. There are about 40-50 medium shrimp per pound.
- Buy frozen shrimp. For superior quality and freshness, using frozen shrimp is ideal (but avoid the bags with freezer burn), opting for a quick thaw under cold running water.
- Choose a wine you will drink. A dry white wine (pinot grigio or sauvignon blanc) is great here – it does not have to be anything fancy or overpriced. Just something you don’t mind sipping on since you will have an open bottle.
- Serve with crusty bread. Serve with all the homemade crusty bread for dipping, sopping and dunking!
what to serve with shrimp scampi
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.
The lemon juice helps balance out the flavors and richness of the butter.
Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 1 day.
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
Equipment
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.
Video
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
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Like the look of a lot of those shrimp dishes. I don’t just think the
puppies cute, I want the puppy. Queen Elizabeth knows what she’s doing eh?
She loves Corgis.
I just made this. It was truly delicious and could not have been easier. It is definitely a keeper. Easy for a simple family meal, but tasty enough to serve for company. Asparagus made a really nice side with this. Thank you! I have enjoyed other recipes of yours as well.
I did Chungha. I doubled everything and put all ingredients that the recipe called for. I’m thinking I might have simmered it to long (was trying to get other ingredients together while it was simmering) I really didn’t have any liquid left….was I suppose too? Surprisingly though, the family loved it! It just didn’t look as pretty as yours 🙂
From what you’ve said, it seems like the prolonged simmering may be the issue here as the end result is certainly not supposed to be dry at all.
I thought that’s where I went wrong. Thank you so much. I will definitely give this recipe another try. 🙂
I just got done making this for the 1st time. I’m serving a family of 5 (3 teenage boys) so I thought I would double the recipe. Not sure what I did wrong, but it’s so dry.
Carrie, unfortunately, I cannot tell you what went wrong as I was not in the kitchen with you. But I must ask – did you double every single ingredient? Did you follow the recipe exactly as written without any substitutions?
My only regret was not making a double batch! This is amazing!
I’m not sure if I made the dish wrong, or if it’s just me, but the noodles and shrimp didn’t mesh well. The noodles were very lemony and the shrimp were very spicy.
I’m not sure if you did anything wrong but please note that these recipes are a base and can be adjusted to your personal preferences (ex. you can adjust the lemon juice to taste and/or omit the red pepper flakes).
love this ! and your puppy is delicious too !
Great quick dinner ! Entire family loved it. Thanks so much for sharing
Is this recipe, freezer friendly? Could I cook a bunch and freeze it for later?
Unfortunately, I cannot answer this with certainty as I have never tried freezing this myself – there were no leftovers left to freeze! Please use your best judgment for freezing and reheating.
I tried this receipe for our today lunch and it’s DELICIOUS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And really easy too…….. Tks for it !!!
I LOVE your puppy. Corgis rule.
Thank you for the yummy recipe! Making this for a Christmas dinner contribution. As for Butters, he looks alot like my dog, Puffer – A Pom / JRT mix — all of the Pom love and all of the terrier mischievousness! This is the first time I have landed on your blog. Looking forward to MOVING forward on the dates and seeing more of Butters!
I have made this with shrimp (muy delish!) and now I have made this with chicken and asparagus…I cut bite-sized chicken pieces and followed the recipe cooking the chicken first. After that I stir fried the asparagus with some cherry tomato slices and a handful of sliced mushrooms in some of the juices from the chicken plus some EVOO put it all together for a very scrumptious dinner ; ) Two large breasts (w bone) and a bunch of “A” and I doubled everything else. I like leftovers!
Great recipe, really easy to make. I used apple juice instead of white wine and it turned out great I also added some cream.
I tried this today, and it was WONDERFUL! such a simple recipe. I added mushrooms to it (just because I love mushrooms and have so many lying around) and used chicken stock because I don’t have white wine, which ended up making the pasta more flavorful and required far less to almost no salt. I love how all the flavors come together so easily. Added some more flakes and a dash of paprika for spiciness. Far better than restaurant style. 🙂
Tried this tonight and was delicious!! Was slightly spicy for my littles so will cut down the red pepper flakes next time IF I decided to feed it to my kids lol! For my Hubster and I it was the perfect amount of spice and was effortless to make. Thanks for sharing!
Came out excellent. Thank you for delicious recipe. I had to substitute the white wine with marsala wine because I had no white wine or chicken broth but came out great 😉
Just started following your blog. Recipe sounds delicious, will try. Your dog is oh so cute. Puppies can be a handful. I dog sit a couple of 6 mth old puppies, cross between Poodle and Jack Russell. They are so lovable as I am sure yours is. I myself have two older Shih Tzu, adopted from Humane Society 2.5 years ago when they were 10 years old. They are very well behaved and give so much love. Good luck with Butters, who will eventually outgrow this stage, hopefully.
tried out your recipe today! Had no idea it was so simple to make. Wish I had some wine but fortunately I had some fresh chicken stock cooking. Super delicious and easy to make for a working mama. Thanks for sharing
Smelled like a restaurant in my house and tasted delisch.