Garlic Butter Shrimp Pasta
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An easy peasy pasta dish that’s simple, flavorful and hearty. And all you need is 20 min to whip this up!
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Spring is here and it’s all about staying in, wearing your favorite sweatpants and cooking up some major comfort food. Specifically, 20 min quick comfort food with al dente pasta, quick pan-fried garlicky shrimp, and sneaked in greens, all topped with freshly grated Parmesan.
And let me share with you again – this comes together lightening fast. You can whip up the garlicky, buttery shrimp so quickly while your pasta cooks through. And with wide, long strand fettuccine noodles, we have just enough space to coat all that silky buttery heavenly goodness.
It’s the most perfect quick and easy dinner – for family, for friends, for company. All of the above. It’s all just so so good.
tips and tricks for success
- Fresh pasta goes a long way. We love using homemade pasta whenever possible as it is much smoother and silkier (and cooks much faster than store-bought!).
- Use high-quality shrimp. Medium or large wild-caught shrimp are much more meatier and juicier than farm-raised shrimp.
- Long strand-like pasta is ideal. Fettuccine is a great pasta to use because it holds up sauce very well. Linguine, spaghetti or angel hair pasta are also good options.
- Add in leafy greens. This is a great recipe to sneak in leafy greens for those picky eaters. Arugula, spinach, kale, collard greens or swiss chard are all great options.
what to serve with shrimp pasta
Tools For This Recipe
Large cast iron skillet
Garlic Butter Shrimp Pasta: 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).
Fresh or dried long strands of pasta such as fettuccine, linguine or spaghetti will all work very well.
Absolutely! You can substitute thyme or rosemary (dried or fresh!) or any other herb of your choosing. And because dried herbs are often more potent/concentrated than fresh herbs, you need less when using dry. The correct ratio is 1 tablespoon fresh herbs to 1 teaspoon dried herbs.
Baby spinach and kale are both nutrient-rich and great alternatives.
Garlic Butter Shrimp Pasta
Ingredients
- 8 ounces fettuccine, linguine, or spaghetti
- 1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 2 cups baby arugula or spinach
- ¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
Instructions
- In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions; drain well.
- Season shrimp with salt and pepper, to taste; set aside.
- Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Add garlic, oregano and red pepper flakes, and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes.
- Add shrimp and cook, stirring occasionally, until pink, about 2-3 minutes; set aside.
- Melt remaining 6 tablespoons butter in the skillet. Stir in pasta, arugula and Parmesan until arugula begins to wilt, about 2 minutes. Stir in shrimp.
- Serve immediately, garnished with parsley, if desired.
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This pasta looks amazing! My favorite combination ever is seafood and pasta, so I’m in heaven with this dish!
Garlic, shrimp and pasta are such a perfect combination. You’ve nailed how to blend them all together.
This looks mouth watering. Down south in Louisiana Spring has sprung, but I still want my comfort food. Hope Butters is on the mend. I love the little guys name.
Could the Arugula be left out or would you have to substitute for it? Anything else besides Spinach? Love your site, I’m new to it. Love that the recipes are easy to make & so tasty.
Kale would also work very well in this dish.
Do You think it would be good with Broccoli?, Cause I don’t like Arugala or Spinach.Well I like them but not in this recipe .I would make it the way I think sounds a lot better than the recipe here & My way I would I add Green,Orange,Yellow & Red Bell Peppers Juliened sliced in strips & Garlic in Extra Virgin Olive Oil in a sautee pan until tender & Then add the Shrimp with Butter Garlic Sauce.When that’s all done I’d put over Linguini Sounds good already & Making me hungary .I’ll have 2 Make it sometime this week when I have all the right ingredients 2 Make it. I have most of the ingredients .I have the Linguini ,Garlic Cloves ,Broccoli ,Shrimp ,Freshly Grounded Black Pepper ,Salt & Dried Oregano I’d rather use fresh Oregano & With all the different Bell Peppers would give it a very colorful dish.
Yes, broccoli and bell peppers sounds amazing!
Wow, you come to someone’s recipe to tell them it doesn’t sound good? Then proceed to give your version of it? How about create your own recipe so people can comment on it.
Totally agree with you Mike. Some people change so many things in a recipe that it’s a totally different dish. I think that this dish sounds super just the way Chungah posted it.
Mike, I do agree with you. Granted this a few years removed, but the recipe as is is what I was looking for. The first shrimp scampi I ever had was very much like this, feature the shrimp and pasta, not a lot of extras, that was over 20 years ago. Anytime recently, in the restaurant, disappointed. So hope Chungah is still sharing her recipes
Pasta and shrimp – two of my favorite things! I’ve been following your blog for several months now (lurking, I guess). I love how accessible and doable your recipes are.
Love how you mentioned “lurking”. I thought I was the only one..lol great word for all this online blogging and commenting. Lurking is the pre-cursor.
Oh, Chungah!
This sounds heavenly! You’re right. Shrimp and pasta. What a combination! I can almost taste that garlic buttery goodness topping my fettuccine. Thanks for sharing another winner!
This shrimp has my name all over it! I’ll be spoon feeding myself this today!
¡Esto se ve delicioso! A mi hijo le encantan los mariscos, ni bien consiga camarones se lo prepararé. Me encanta tu blog, Chungah. Lo he recomendado en mi página de facebook (Alamos ventosos), en mi nueva sección #RecomendadosDelSábado.
Lamento no poder escribir en inglés.
¡Buen fin de semana!
Hi! I’m living in Mexico where arugula is virtually non-existent. Can I use spinach or a local green called Chaya in place of it?
Thx.
Spinach would be a great substitute!
I used locaccino kale
Looks so delicious! Love all those juicy shrimp 🙂
Who could resist that garlic butter sauce? Gorgeous!