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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One of my fav recipes I do over and over again- A winner
Love this recipe! Came together quickly.
Will def cook again.
great except I cut way back on the butter. . .easy to do because you don’t need to do a lot of chopping
I’ve made this four or five times now since discovering this recipe. It’s hearty enough for cold weather days, light enough to keep on the rotation for summertime (subbing with margarine or 1/2 olive oil), yet quick enough to make in the middle of the week. Makes my fiancé’s think I spend a good couple of hours cooking when it really only takes about 30 minutes!
Amazing! Made for Valentines day and the wife and kiddo loved it! Super easy to make as well. I added mushrooms since I am such a fungi.
“since I am a fungi” haha. I feel that.
10/10 one of my all time favorite “Dad” jokes!
I use this recipe often now. Definitely added more seasoning and some times I add salmon bites to it. It’s amazing!
This recipe was absolutely delicious. The only thing that I added was one shallot that I sauteed with a the other items. Next time I’m gonna double the recipe so have more leftover
This recipe was delicious. Although this type of shrimp recipe is not complicated, not all shrimp recipes are created equal! This one has just the right touches of flavor. Truly enjoyable. Thank you.
Easy and simply delicious!
Delicious! I used frozen spinach because that’s what I had. So simple and so good. Thank you for sharing.
Amazing!!! Couldn’t stop eating. I did make some minor changes though:
– added 1/2 small shallot, and 6 cloves of garlic.
– Replaced two Tbsp of butter for ~1 Tbsp of EVOO
– added juice from 1/2 a lemon once I added the pasta to give a overall fresh flavor
– added more parsely, about 1/4 cup
– used angel hair pasta to soak up more of that delicious butter
– added peas for more plant-based protein and vegetables (fiber) to help keep me full
Thanks for a great recipe! I’ve made this several times now and the whole family loves it! You can substitute different greens and pasta, and reduce the amount of butter if desired.
Made this for my family and it was a hit! Just replaced the arugula with spinach.
Made this tonight, it was a hit with my husband. Used spinach that I had frozen in the fall and as an added bit of flavour, put a dollop of red pepper jelly on the side of the plate. MmmmMmm.
Made it tonight everyone loved it. I also used spinach & used linguine pasta so good! Thank you for recipe.
Just made this tonight for me and hubby he loves it I substituted spinach in place of arugula
I followed some of the suggestions and used baby spinach leaves. I also substituted half the butter for olive oil. I added a little bacon and goat cheese on the top at the end. This was an exceedingly good meal. Everyone came back for more and I received a ton of compliments. I put some scallops with it too.
Doubled the recipe but only used half a stick of butter for the whole recipe. I also added a tbsp or 2 (eyeballed it) of olive oil. It still had plenty of butter sauce to cover all of the pasta. I used baby spinach instead of arugula and it was AMAZING. Another great recipe! Thanks
This is absolutely delicious! My “Go To”
once a week! I use spinach instead of Arugula. Also, I use Angel Hair Pasta. Plus, I add an extra clove of garlic. When it’s all done. Everyone adds some more cheese on top.
I love using Angel Hair Pasta! It does have a tendency to “clump.”Therefore, I toss it with some Olive Oil in a bowl ahead of time. Works out very well!
Made this evening. WAs delicious! Followed to a T.
Made this tonight with Spaghettini and had arugula on hand as well as some fresh garden tomatoes, based on some earlier suggestions in the reviews.
This was just great, a very fresh, light tasting meal. We will make this one again for sure.
Thank you
Was really good! Replaced arugula with spinach and turned out amazing