This tasty Garlic Shrimp Pasta combines perfectly cooked shrimp, pasta, and fresh greens with a buttery garlic sauce for a simple shrimp dinner that everyone will love! The easy white wine sauce makes the dinner perfect for pairing with a good bottle of Pinot Grigio or Chardonnay, or substitute seafood broth to omit the wine!
Easy Shrimp & Pasta
My family simply loves seafood and raves about this easy-to-make garlic shrimp pasta! It's such a quick dish, and it will make you look like a genius when you serve this aromatic delight to your family and friends!
Very similar to shrimp scampi, the butter-based sauce is complimented beautifully with a nice dry, white wine (I like Pinot Grigio with my seafood, Sauvignon Blanc is also a great choice). Riesling is one of my favorite drinking white wines but would be a touch too sweet for the best results in this pasta dish.
The best part about shrimp dinners? They cook up so quickly! You can literally have this dinner on the table in just 20 minutes!!
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🥘 Ingredients
- Pasta - Any variety, linguine, angel hair, spaghetti, etc.
- Olive Oil - Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
- Garlic - Minced very small add great flavor or go with my roasted garlic.
- Shrimp - Fresh or frozen, I use large shrimp, but small or even jumbo shrimp are good.
- Oregano - Gives this dish a classic almost Italian feel.
- Thyme - The thyme works by enhancing the flavors, dill is another good choice.
- Crushed Red Pepper Flakes - Adds just the right amount of heat.
- Salt & Pepper - Add these to taste, fresh cracked black pepper works really well here.
- White Wine - Optional, I typically use a Pinot Grigio or Sauvignon Blanc but any dry wine will do!
- Butter - A half of a stick gives such an amazing buttery taste.
- Parsley - Fresh and chopped fine.
- Arugula - The smaller "baby" varieties are excellent for this pasta & seafood, but also baby leaf spinach is a good choice.
- Lemons - Totally optional, but a squeeze on top adds a perfect complement to the shrimp and the citrus brings the dish up a notch for freshness!
- Parmesan Cheese - Another optional garnish, always a treaty on fresh pasta dishes!
*Be sure to see the free printable recipe card below for ingredients, exact amounts & instructions with tips!*
🔪 Step-By-Step Instructions
Your garlic shrimp pasta dinner comes together quickly and easily in just a few simple steps!
- Cook your pasta according to the boxed instructions. I usually adjust the time by a minute or two less for my cooking time to get a great al denté pasta texture. *Reserve some of your pasta water to add to the pasta sauce if more liquid is needed.
- Preheat a large skillet or non-stick frying pan with two tablespoons of olive oil over medium-high heat. Add minced garlic and saute for 1 - 2 minutes.
- Add the shrimp and seasoning and saute for another 1 - 2 minutes, then add the white wine to deglaze the pan. *This will get all of the yummy bits stuck to the pan added to the sauce for more flavor!
- Melt the butter, then add the fresh baby arugula and parsley. Cook just until the arugula begins to wilt, then add the pasta and combine.
- Serve and enjoy!
Garnish with freshly shredded Asiago, Romano, or Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and additional chopped parsley if desired.
💭 Angela's Tips & Recipe Notes
- Reserve a bit of the pasta water, that you can add to the sauce if you would like it to be a bit thinner.
- Don't be afraid to scale up or down spices or ingredients in this dish, want more heat add more pepper flakes. Want more garlic? Feel free to add lots more!
- Make sure to add salt to your water when making the pasta.
- Cook the pasta to "al dente" so it is "firm to the bite" 95% cooked but not mushy.
🥡 Storing & Reheating
Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
To reheat, add a bit of butter and a splash of water to a large frying pan bring the heat to medium, add the leftovers, and heat for a few minutes occasionally toss the pasta.
🦐 More Great Shrimp Recipes To Try
Check out my post on how to make shrimp pasta.
- Garlic Shrimp Alfredo Bake another great garlic shrimp dinner in rich and creamy alfredo sauce! Bake this dish until nicely golden on top and bubbling around the edges for a wonderful family dinner!
- Hunan Shrimp is spicy and delicious! Plus it's another super quick and easy meal or appetizer to wok fry on short notice!
- Creamy Coconut Shrimp is one of my favorite entrees at Chinese food buffets! Creamy coconut sauce with lime is the perfect sauce for tender shrimp!
- Sweet and Sour Prawns are a great Chinese restaurant meal to make at home for your 'mock take-out night! I've been making a lot of my favorite restaurant meals at home to save myself time and money!!
- Shrimp Enchiladas are all of the wonderful flavors of enchiladas literally wrapped up around shrimp! This version uses red sauce. Why? Because it's the one I'm most likely to actually have on hand in the pantry!
📋 Recipe
Garlic Shrimp Pasta
Ingredients
- 6 oz linguine (or spaghetti - cooked, drained, and rinsed)
- 2 tablespoon olive oil (extra virgin)
- 4 cloves garlic (minced)
- 1 lb shrimp (large shrimp, peeled and deveined - thawed, if frozen)
- ½ teaspoon oregano
- ½ teaspoon thyme (fresh, chopped)
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- ¼ teaspoon each, salt & pepper (to taste)
- ½ cup white wine (Pinot Grigio - preferably a dry wine, and not sweet)
- 4 tablespoon butter (½ stick or ¼ cup)
- 1 tablespoon parsley (fresh, chopped)
- 1 cup arugula
Instructions
- Cook noodles, drain, rinse, and set aside. *Reserve some of your pasta water in case more liquid is needed for your sauce.
- Preheat large skillet to medium-high heat with the olive oil. Once the olive oil starts to shimmer, it is ready to add the garlic.
- Add minced garlic to the heated skillet and saute for 1-2 minutes, or until fragrant. Add the shrimp and seasoning (thyme, oregano, crushed red peppers, salt & pepper). Stir frequently and cook for approximately 1-2 minutes.
- Deglaze the pan with the white wine and bring back up to heat (about 1 minute).
- Add the 4 tablespoons of butter, the baby arugula, and chopped parsley, then cook until the leaves of the fresh arugula are just beginning to wilt.
- Stir in cooked pasta and serve topped with freshly grated Italian cheese and garnish with more parsley (optional).
Nutrition
Angela is an at home chef that developed a passion for all things cooking and baking at a young age in her Grandma's kitchen. After many years in the food service industry, she now enjoys sharing all of her family favorite recipes and creating tasty dinner and amazing dessert recipes here at Bake It With Love!
Michelle J Glover says
I have no measurements on anything - how much white wine so as to not have the sauce too thin?
Angela @ BakeItWithLove.com says
1/2 cup of white wine and 4 tablespoons of butter (here ). Thanks for asking!