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?
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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.
This was delicious! And I surprisingly had all of the ingredients for it. Today was my birthday and I wanted a simple stay at home meal I could make with my husband. This hit the spot. A bonus was that one of my gifts from him was a nifty gaget that makes butter so I used butter I had literally made less then 6 hours before. Thank you for a restaurant quality meal in my home.