This easy shrimp scampi recipe is the perfect pasta dinner that comes together in just about 30 minutes. Perfectly cooked shrimp is smothered in a garlic and butter shrimp scampi sauce. This is restaurant quality food at home!
Sometimes simple recipes are the best. This isn’t an overly complicated recipe, but that doesn’t mean it is anything short of delicious.
Butter, lemon, wine, and pasta come together with shrimp pin this amazing dinner recipe to a perfect dish. This recipe is easy enough for a weeknight dinner, but delicious enough to serve guests.
OMG, what a great recipe. I made it with a good dry Chardonnay, my husband went bonkers. Thank you!
How to Make Shrimp Scampi
This is a brief overview of how easy it is to make this delicious garlic shrimp scampi. For the full recipe with all of the measurements, see the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
- Cook the pasta. Cook angel hair pasta in a large pot of boiling water, making sure to salt the water and reserve pasta water before draining.
- Start the sauce. Sauté garlic, shallots, and red pepper flakes in butter and oil.
- Cook the shrimp. Season raw shrimp with salt and pepper. Cook them in the butter and oil just until they turn pink. Remove them from the pan.
- Continue the sauce. Deglaze the pan with dry white wine, add in more butter and oil, and lemon juice.
- Add the pasta to the sauce. Toss the pasta in the garlic butter sauce then add in fresh parsley. Add some of the reserved pasta water if it is too dry.
- Finish it off. Top with the shrimp and grated fresh parmesan cheese.
Reserving Pasta Water
You will notice that a key in this recipe is reserving the pasta water. Pasta water is full of delicious salty starchy taste. It can often be the perfect backbone to a simple sauce like this one.
Without this reserved pasta water, it is very easy for this recipe to feel dry. Make sure you do this crucial step!
Thawing Shrimp
This recipe calls for a pound of raw shrimp. It is often easiest (unless you are lucky enough to live by a coast) to buy frozen shrimp and thaw it before cooking.
I usually thaw my shrimp under cold running water for about 10 minutes before cooking. Make sure you follow the directions on the package when thawing your shrimp. The safest way to thaw it is in the refrigerator overnight.
Cooking Shrimp
Shrimp cooks very quickly. I used large shrimp for this recipe, so they cooked in about 6 minutes total with 3 minutes on each side. Because the size of shrimp does vary quite a bit, when making shrimp recipes it is more important to look at the shrimp rather than the clock.
As shrimp cook, they turn from gray to pink. They also begin to curl inward. You want to flip them and then remove them from the pan once they have just turned pink. Overcooked shrimp will really ruin this dish.
Pasta for Shrimp Scampi
I think this recipe is best with angel hair pasta. That being said, you could also make it with fettuccine or spaghetti.
Cooking with Wine
Cooking with wine is such a simple way to elevate a dish. Here are a few tips for cooking with wine.
- Buy a wine that you would drink. If you aren’t a wine drinker, ask for help! Just be sure to use a drinking wine, not a cooking wine.
- Get a pack of four small bottles if you aren’t a drinker. You can buy small bottles of wine that are perfect for recipes like this. This way you don’t have to open a big bottle you won’t drink.
- Check the type you need. This recipe calls for a dry white wine like a Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, or Sauvignon Blanc. A sweet wine won’t work here.
Making this Recipe without Wine
If you are sober or if you are making this for someone who is, I encourage you to skip the wine. You can replace it with chicken broth and just a splash more lemon juice.
Fresh Parsley
I love the fresh parsley in this recipe. Be sure to follow the steps below to ensure that your parsley stays fresh.
- Cut off the ends (about an inch or two) of the parsley bunch when you get home.
- Place the parsley in a drinking glass with enough water to cover the ends by two inches.
- Cover with the plastic grocery bag you got it in.
- Store in the refrigerator for two to four weeks.
Spicness
This recipe has a kick to it! I love it and think it adds great flavor to this shrimp scampi dish. If your family can’t handle any heat then make these two changes:
- Reduce the amount of black pepper to a pinch.
- Reduce the red pepper flakes to 1/4 teaspoon.
Other Great Pasta Dishes
If you can’t get enough of carb loading, you are not alone. Pasta is my love language, and here are a few more of my favorites:
If you make my recipe for the best shrimp scampi or any of my other recipes, leave me a comment to let me know what you think.
Shrimp Scampi
Ingredients
- 16 ounces angel hair pasta (453.6 grams)
- 4 tablespoons butter (56.5 grams)
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (50 grams or 59.1 ml)
- 2 small shallots diced fine (about 1/2 a cup)
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 pound shirmp peeled and deveined, and patted dry (453.6 grams)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 cup dry white wine read above for how to make this without wine (118.3 ml)
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley for serving (12.8 gram)
- fresh parmesan for serving
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a roaring boil. Add in 2 teaspoons of kosher salt. Add the angel hair pasta and cook according to the package instructions. Just before draining the pasta, reserve 1/2 cup of the starchy pasta water.16 ounces angel hair pasta
- While the pasta is cooking, melt 2 tablespoons of butter with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the garlic, shallots, and red pepper flakes. Cook until the shallots are transluncent, about 3 to 4 minutes.4 tablespoons butter, 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, 2 small shallots, 2 garlic cloves, 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- Season the shrimp with salt and pepper and add to the pan. Cook until they have just turned pink, about 1 to 2 minutes, then flipped and 1 to 2 more minutes on the other side. Be careful not to over cook the shrimp. Transfer the shrimp to a plate and set aside.1 pound shirmp, 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- Add the wine to the pan and scrape up the brown bits. Bring to a boil. Add in the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil and butter. Once melted, remove the skillet from the heat and toss in the shrimp, pasta, and lemon juice. Add enough reserved pasta water to thin out the sauce.4 tablespoons butter, 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, 1/2 cup dry white wine, 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- Add in the fresh parsley and parmesan cheese, serve and enjoy!1/4 cup fresh parsley, fresh parmesan
Sunday says
I know nothing about wine, I have champagne work instead of the wine that you called for I have two small bottles I got in a gift basket and don’t know what to use them for.
It should work fine in this!
Maria says
This was a great light meal on a hot summer evening! I tweeked the recipe a bit adding more garlic, ginger, tad of soy and more lemon for an Asian flare to match our Asian salad. Thank you for all your great recipes!
Jill says
This is a delightfully delicious dish. I doubled the recipe and served it over Raos spaghetti pasta. The blend of flavors and textures were wonderful!
I’m glad that you liked it!