Easy Spaghetti with Shrimp Scampi (30 Minute Meal)
This easy spaghetti with shrimp scampi recipe is the perfect weeknight dinner: minimal effort, but maximum flavor. Sweet fresh shrimp are tossed with spaghetti and a lemon garlicky sauce.
It’s a simple dish that uses what you already have in your pantry (if you need a pantry list of what to stock for easy flavor dinners check out my list here), is ready in 30 minutes, and is guaranteed to be your new favorite go-to weeknight (or weekend) dinner!
Don’t forget to serve it with some crusty bread — the bread is the perfect vehicle for soaking up all the sauce!
If you’ve been here awhile you know how much I love adding a splash of wine to pretty much everything. I love the acidic flavor and the dimension it adds to a sauce. For this dish, a crisp white wine adds another layer to the sauce, and the lemon slices, in addition to the fresh lemon juice and lemon zest, add a punch of citrus that elevates the lemony sauce of the dish even more. This pasta dish is the perfect example that you don’t need a thousand ingredients to make a restaurant-worthy meal.
To elevate this dish even more:
Add a splash of dry white wine — pinot grigio, sauvignon blanc — be sure to use a wine you would also drink! It does make a difference in flavor, and, no, you don’t have to crack open an expensive bottle. If you have a favorite $10 bottle, use that…..and then pour a glass to enjoy while you eat.
Add some cracked black pepper to the finished dish.
Reserve some of the pasta water to add to the sauce at the end. The starch in the water will help the sauce coat every strand of the spaghetti.
What to do with leftovers:
If you’re lucky enough to have leftovers, this stores really well in the fridge. Because there’s fish, I would only store it for 1 day. When you’re ready for leftovers, gently reheat in a pan.
If you’re cooking for 1 or 2 people:
This recipe is easily cut in 1/2. If you don’t want a ton of leftovers, use 1/2 a package of pasta. I love a lot of shrimp and a very saucy pasta, so when I cook this for my husband and I, I don’t cut the sauce and shrimp ingredients in half. But, if you like a less “saucy” pasta and are cooking this for 1 or 2 people, then you can easily cut all of the ingredients in half.
What TV show goes well with this?
You may, or may not, know my husband and I are empty nesters. So, most nights, we eat dinner in front of our current favorite TV show. I thought it would be fun to pair some recipes with TV shows or movies. So if, like us, you love watching a show and eating dinner, I hope you find this fun and helpful!
Right now we’re watching The Tourist on Netflix and it’s off to an excellent start! It’s about a man (played by Jamie Dornan) who gets in a car accident in the Australian outback (not a spoiler…..this literally happens in the first 5 minutes) and wakes up with no clue who he is, and he needs to figure it out quickly before his mysterious past catches up with him.
And now for the FAQs:
What shrimp should I use?
The best shrimp to use is large shrimp or jumbo shrimp. Buy the freshest shrimp you can find — even better if it’s wild-caught shrimp, and check to be sure it’s raw and isn’t peeled (you want the shell on because you’ll be using it to add flavor to the sauce)
How to prepare the shrimp:
If frozen, you’ll need to defrost the shrimp first. Place the shrimp in a colander and place 2 bowls nearby. Once the shrimp is fully thawed, remove the shells and save them in one bowl, placing the peeled shrimp in the 2nd bowl. Pat the shrimp dry with a paper towel (you might need more than one). Check to see if the shrimp needs to be deveined — look on the back side of the shrimp (the side that curves out) and if there’s a small black vein, take a small paring knife to gently lift it out. If you’ve ever removed the green center from a garlic clove, deveining shrimp is similar. Don’t skip deveining — the vein you’re removing is their intestine, and you definitely don’t want to eat it.
What is shrimp scampi sauce made of?
The sauce is made using parsley, lemon zest, lemon juice, lemon slices, white wine, red pepper flakes and shrimp shells. Traditional scampi sauce is also loaded with garlic, but in this recipe, you’ll be tossing your garlic with the shrimp instead. When you add the shrimp back into the sauce and toss with the pasta, the garlic flavor will infuse throughout the whole dish. If you love garlic, you can also add a minced clove to the parsley lemon sauce. Another way I love to infuse even more flavor into the sauce is to add the shrimp shells (which is the reason you’ll be straining the sauce later). All of this will combine to make an insanely flavorful lemon butter sauce.
Can I use lobster instead?
Of course! You can use lobster meat or langoustines instead — either would be delicious! The cooking time would remain about the same for either one.
Can I leave out the wine?
Not a problem at all! Use fish stock or chicken broth or chicken stock instead. And if you don’t have either, vegetable broth will work, too.
Why are you using the shrimp shells?
Using the shrimp shells will create a ton more flavor in the dish. In essence you’re creating something similar to a shrimp stock….not exactly the same, but close. Because you’re using shrimp shells it’s incredibly important to remember to strain the sauce before tossing it with the pasta. This will ensure no little bits of shells get into the finished dish — you don’t want someone biting down on a shell!
Can I use a different pasta?
Absolutely! Use whatever’s in your pantry, or your favorite pasta. Angel hair pasta, linguine pasta, even penne pasta would all work!
Where’s the Parmesan cheese?
Traditionally, Parmesan cheese isn’t used in any pasta dishes with fish. The flavors tend not to mesh that well, but if you love to add it, then, by all means go for it! You should eat and cook what makes you happy!
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