Okay, I know that title is a little long, but there is SO much good to tell you about this shrimp and garlic pasta recipe, I couldn't narrow it down…
- It is truly a FAST homemade meal. (Click here for more fast-food at home meals.) I keep shrimp on hand, so this is often what I make when it's 5:00 pm and I realize I forgot (again) to get meat out for dinner. (Note: click here to check out my favorite pressure cooker — they're great for those moments, too. To avoid those moments all together, look into these affordable meal plans that you can use with your smart phone!)
- You can tailor this recipe so easily:
- Our son doesn't like lemon, so we put the lemon on after dishing up his.
- Got someone who eats gluten-free? It's okay, I've got THE most delicious no-grain version below that uses “zoodles” to replace the pasta. I know, you think there's no way this can be as good as pasta, but it really IS. It's so good that you can actually eat these with just some butter, sautéed garlic, and sea salt and pepper — yum!
- You could even make this with hunks of stir-fried chicken that you just stir-fry with a few spices and herbs in a big pan, but I like to use shrimp because it's FAST.
Speaking of big pans, that's one of my favorite topics you know, and the most wonderful gift for a foodie or cook in your life: my favorite pan! It's nice and BIG for our family (they have a smaller one too), and it cleans up really nicely. That's what we use to cook most of this recipe, but yes, the picture you see here is pancakes, not shrimp. 🙂
Shrimp and Garlic Pasta with Lemon
Ingredients
- Shrimp — I find preservative-free wild-caught shrimp at Trader Joe's — click here to see what else I buy at TJ's — I buy the uncooked shelled & deveined shrimp. (The pink pre-cooked kind is for serving raw. If you cook that kind it gets overdone and tough when you cook it.) We use 2 bags for our family of six. There are 20-30 shrimp in a 1-pound bag. (NOTE that when I was at TJ's last, they only had farm-raised shrimp instead of wild-caught!)
- Your favorite pasta about 1 1/2 pounds. We love Einkorn pasta — Read more here about the benefits of Einkorn.
- 4 Tablespoons butter pastured butter is best
- Fresh garlic chopped small, about 4-6 cloves
- Sea salt and pepper to taste
- 2 lemons juiced
- Handful of parsley chopped
- Parmesan for the top shredded or grated
Options:
- Splash of white wine
- Prosciutto chopped into pieces — you only need a little for a nice extra flavor (Don't have a local source for safe meat? Click here for an online source I trust.)
- Lemon zest for a more intense lemon flavor — yum!
- Zucchini about one small per person, spiralized into “zoodles” using your favorite spiralizer (instead of pasta or along with)
Instructions
- Pop the tails off the shrimp, rinse, and dry on a towel to get some of the moisture off. Start cooking the pasta according to directions, OR for a GF version, use your spiralizer to turn your zucchini into “zoodles” and set aside. Melt butter in a big pan, sauté garlic for a couple of minutes. Add shrimp and cook just 'til pink, add zoodles or pasta and stir around to get hot. Stir in sea salt and paper, the lemon juice, parsley, and any optional ingredients. Serve with generous amounts of parmesan on top.
Let me know if this becomes your favorite meal too!
Related posts, reminders, or other stuff you may like:
- Click here for more fast-food at home meals
- My favorite pan
- What I buy at TJ's
- Where to find Einkorn pasta
- Read more here about the benefits of Einkorn wheat
- Spiralizers
- Click here for pressure cooker info
Mary Pletzke says
This recipe is amAzing! It tastes fantastic. Yum!
Kevin N Lisa Campbell says
I’m going to make this with the fresh dill I was just gifted. Hubby and I Love lemon anything, and the lemon zest just puts it over the top. You always share such great recipes, Kel! Thanks again!
Robert J. Eaton says
I always cook with a full bulb.
Kristi Dykstra Celata says
I don’t believe u can ruin a recipe with ‘too much garlic!’
Katie Duncan Saunders says
Even if I’m halving a recipe I sometimes double the garlic!
TinaC says
Yum, can’t wait to try it. I find wild caught peeled de-veined shrimp at Costco for a good price. Sourced in Key West I believe, and it’s a great price.
Sarah says
I am making this for the shrimp lovers in our family on New Year’s Eve. The rest get either breakfast for dinner or leftovers!
Amy Davis says
Glad to know I’m not the only one that does this (go to cook and realize I forgot to get meat out, or it’s still frozen because I didn’t get it out soon enough!). I look forward to trying this!
Carrie Holz Etzel says
Look at all that delicious anaphylaxis!! Lol. How I wish I could eat that.
Amy Callaway says
Where do you buy shrimp? After reading about the Thai slavery ring and whether or not wild caught really is, I am not sure the best shrimp to buy.
Kelly the Kitchen Kop says
I buy preservative-free wild caught shrimp at Trader Joes.
Amy Callaway says
I’ll have to look for that now that there is a TJ’s in GR!
Kelsie Gray says
I found frozen, wild caught (in the USA) shrimp at Kroger. It wasn’t TOO expensive. I bought the “medium” shrimp, and a bag of 30ish shrimp was about $8. Man…I plowed through a lot of different bags of shrimp to find those!! Was really excited when I did, because I had read the article about Thai slavery and had pretty much resigned myself to never finding ethical shrimp in West Kentucky!