Creamy Lemon Garlic Shrimp Pasta
This Creamy Lemon Garlic Shrimp Pasta is a bright and flavorful dish. That uses only simple ingredients and comes together in just 30 minutes.
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Shrimp dishes are always a huge hit in our house. Lemon, garlic, and butter are three bright flavors that blend so well. Whether it is an appetizer like my Sweet and Spicy Bacon Wrapped Shrimp. Or a quick and easy weeknight meal or date night, this one does not disappoint! Not a fan of shrimp? My Creamy Cheesy Chicken Tetrazzini also makes a quick and easy meal for entertaining.
Why this recipe works
Shrimp is a fast-cooking protein that makes a quick and easy weeknight meal the whole family will love, like my Easy Chicken with Cream Sauce. This lemon shrimp pasta has the perfect balance of citrus, butter, and parmesan, like my Shrimp Pasta Primavera!
Ingredients for this recipe
- Shrimp-Both frozen or fresh shrimp will work fine. Frozen will of course have to be thawed.
- Pasta-I use thin spaghetti but Linguine also works great here.
- Butter- Your choice of salted or unsalted butter.
- Garlic- Fresh minced garlic works best here.
- Parmesan cheese- Fresh grated parmesan works best, not the stuff in the green can.
- White wine—Any dry white wine will work; I use Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, or Pinot Grigio.
- Lemon- Fresh lemon juice is always preferred.
How to make this recipe
- Step 1: Saute shrimp in a large skillet with olive oil on medium-high heat until pink, remove.
- Step 2: Melt butter, add garlic, add cornstarch and whisk in wine and let simmer.
- Step 3: Pour in cream and lemon, and whisk in parmesan cheese.
- Step 4: Add the cooked pasta and shrimp and toss until combined.
Tips for making creamy lemon shrimp pasta
- You'll want al dente pasta for this recipe, it will cook a bit more in the sauce.
- I like to use large shrimp for this recipe, and I leave the tails on. Not only does it add flavor while cooking but the presentation looks beautiful.
- Any dry white wine will work just fine. You can substitute vegetable or seafood broth if you want to leave the wine out.
- Our favorite pasta for the recipe is thin spaghetti. Linguine or angel hair pasta will also work just fine.
- If you're not a fan of lemon flavor then just add a tablespoon of lemon juice at a time, you can always go back and add more if you feel it needs it.
Recipe Tips
This pasta dish can be made with the shrimp tails left on or removed. Leaving the tails on adds lots of good flavor to the shrimp and they look much prettier when cooked.
You can really use any size of shrimp. I prefer 16/20 Jumbo.
Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 days in the refrigerator.
I usually pair this shrimp pasta recipe with a crisp salad and some crusty bread, to make it a complete meal.
More shrimp recipes you'll love
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Creamy Lemon Garlic Shrimp Pasta
Ingredients
- 8 ounces thin spaghetti or any other long pasta
- 1 pound large shrimp. peeled and deveined leaving tails on optional
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 5 cloves garlic finely diced
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream
- 2-3 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
- 1 cup finely shredded Parmesan
- 3 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley for garnish
Instructions
- In a large pot bring salted water to a boil and add pasta. Cook according to the directions on the package.
- In a large skillet heat olive oil. Add shrimp sprinkle with salt and pepper and cook 2-3 minutes, flip and cook another 2-3 minutes. Remove to a small bowl and set aside
- Add butter to skillet, over medium-high heat, and add garlic. and cook for 1-2 minutes. Add in the cornstarch and whisk. Reduce heat and whisk in white wine, and simmer for 2-3 minutes.
- Pour in the cream, and lemon juice, whisk and bring back to a low simmer.
- Whisk in parmesan cheese until combined.
- Add cooked pasta and add the shrimp toss together. Sprinkle fresh chopped parsley on top.
The cornstarch just helps thicken the sauce a bit more. You can certainly leave it out for a thinner sauce.
Hi, sounds delicious and am looking forward to trying it. One question.... what is the purpose of the corn starch? Would the heavy cream not make it creamy enough?
Thanks, Deborah
So happy you loved it Nancy 🙂
Made my version of this just the other day…but my hands just can’t zest a lemon or really squeeze one, so I pulled out my jar of lemon cream and added a couple tablespoons of it as well as a couple of squirts of lemon juice. I also added some crushed red pepper. And always add a bit of butter just before serving as it makes it look shiny!! Totally yummy!