An Italian-American staple, shrimp scampi pasta is made with a lemon, butter, garlic and white wine sauce that’s bright and zesty with a touch of richness from the butter. It’s a great weeknight dinner that tastes like a fine dining meal!
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This shrimp scampi pasta is balanced with the perfect amount of acidity and freshness, and a hint of buttery creaminess. Leeks are the secret ingredient in this pasta (they’re the absolute best!), adding a pop of green and complementary sweetness to the shrimp.
This pasta dish just might be your new favorite go-to option for weeknights or for entertaining alike. And if shrimp scampi doesn’t satisfy your shrimp cravings completely, this Shrimp Tempura Roll recipe, Baked Coconut Shrimp, or my Shrimp Tacos might just do the trick!
Why You’ll Love This Shrimp Scampi Pasta Recipe
- Restaurant Quality Flavor: This recipe is elegant enough for a dinner party, but easy enough to whip up on a weeknight, with incredible flavor! Between the lemon, butter, wine, and shrimp, your tastebuds will be thanking you.
- Easily Customizable: This shrimp scampi pasta is the perfect canvas. If you’re looking to add some fun additions, add veggies, fresh herbs, top with breadcrumbs, swap out the wine and make it as spicy or mild as you’d like!
Video: Watch How to Make It
Ingredients
- Frozen peeled and deveined shrimp – It’s best to buy raw shrimp and cook it. Look for peeled and deveined shrimp that makes cooking super easy. But if you use cooked shrimp, be careful not to overcook!
- Linguine – linguine is a long pasta that is flat like fettuccine, but narrower. You can also use fettuccine or spaghetti.
- Leeks – leeks are the secret ingredient in this shrimp scampi pasta recipe. They add a pop of green and a sweet, mellow onion flavor.
- Dry white wine – white wine adds brightness and a touch of acidity. I recommend using pinot grigio or sauvignon blanc.
- Lemon – lemon adds a fresh citrusy pop that offsets the richness of the butter.
- Extra virgin olive oil – olive oil helps sauté the garlic and leeks.
- Garlic – garlic is a key ingredient in scampi! You’ll need a lot of it. I like to sliver (aka thinly slice) garlic which flavors the dish without being overpowering.
- Butter – butter adds velvety creaminess.
- Fresh Italian parsley – parsley adds a pop of freshness.
- Red pepper flakes – you can use no red pepper flakes, a little or a lot depending on how spicy you like your pasta!
- Grated parmesan cheese (optional) – if you’d like, you can garnish your pasta with parmesan or Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese!
How to Make Shrimp Scampi Pasta
Learn how to make shrimp scampi pasta. Full instructions in the recipe card; this is just an outline!
- Sauté veggies. Thaw shrimp. Add olive oil, garlic, leeks, and red pepper flakes to a large skillet. Sauté over medium-high heat for 3-4 minutes.
- Cook shrimp. Add the wine and then the shrimp. Sauté the shrimp over medium-high heat for 2-5 minutes until shrimp are cooked (pink and opaque).
- Flavor. Turn heat to very low and add lemon zest, juice and salt.
- Boil. Boil pasta while keeping the lemon wine mixture warm.
- Toss. Add drained pasta, butter, and parsley to the lemon wine mixture. Toss until combined.
- Serve. Serve with grated cheese if desired. I don’t but my husband does…ha!
My Pro Tip
Pro Tips for the Best Shrimp Scampi Pasta
Cook your pasta just shy of al dente since it continues to cook when you toss your pasta. This way when you serve, it will be perfectly cooked!
Also if you use cooked shrimp (not recommended but if you must!), defrost completely and add in last with your pasta to heat up so it doesn’t overcook and become rubbery!
Prep all ingredients before starting to cook!
Look for frozen shrimp that says “peeled and deveined” on the package to save time and mess!
FAQs
Shrimp scampi is typically served with long pasta like linguine or angel hair to hold that beautiful butter sauce. But you’re not beholden to just those! You can use other long noodles like spaghetti, fettuccine or bucatini.
Toss the pasta vigorously into the lemon butter sauce until all ingredients are combined (“vigorously” is the key!).
The choice is yours, but I go for no cheese at all! It isn’t a traditional element of shrimp scampi because seafood and cheese to many Italians is a big no-no. However, if you’re craving cheese, go with harder, nuttier Italian cheeses like grated parmesan, grana Padano or pecorino Romano.
Absolutely! You can skip the wine all together or add a few wine-like substitutes. Chicken broth and lemon juice, seafood or vegetable broth, and pasta water and lemon juice work well!
It is recommended to make it fresh, but you can make certain elements ahead. My recommendation would be to make the sauce ahead and leave the pasta and shrimp to be made fresh since the shrimp can get rubbery when reheated.
Transfer to an airtight container and store for up to 3 days. Shrimp can spoil quickly so make it your lunch the next day! When I want to reheat quickly in the microwave, I put at 50% power and heat in increments of 20 seconds to avoid the shrimp getting rubbery. Enjoy!
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If you’ve tried this Shrimp Scampi Pasta Recipe or any other recipe on my website, please let me know in the comments below. I love hearing from you. Please consider leaving a 🌟 star rating while you are here!
BEST Shrimp Scampi Pasta Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds frozen peeled and deveined shrimp, (uncooked)
- 1 pound linguine pasta
- 2 cups leeks, chopped
- ½ cup dry white wine
- ⅓ cup fresh lemon juice, plus the zest of 1 lemon
- ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 7 large garlic cloves, slivered
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1 handful fresh Italian parsley, chopped
- Red pepper flakes, to taste
- Salt, to taste
- Grated parmesan or Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, to garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Thaw shrimp according to the package instructions. Add olive oil, garlic, leeks, and red pepper flakes to a large skillet. Sauté over medium-high heat for 3-4 minutes until the leeks soften.
- Add the wine and then the shrimp. Sauté the shrimp over medium-high heat for 2-5 minutes depending on the size of the shrimp. Shrimp are cooked when they are pink and opaque.
- Turn heat to very low and add lemon zest, juice and salt to taste.
- Boil pasta to al dente while keeping the lemon wine mixture warm.
- Add drained pasta, butter, and parsley to the lemon wine mixture. Toss until the butter melts and all ingredients are combined.
- Serve with parmesan cheese if desired.
Video
Notes
- Prep all ingredients before starting to cook! Can’t find linguine? You can use fettuccine or spaghetti instead!
- The best dry white wines to use are pinot grigio or sauvignon blanc.
- I love slivered garlic in this pasta because it flavors the pasta without being overpowering. It’s also easier to slice than minced garlic. If you prefer extra garlicky flavor, mince your garlic instead of slicing.
- You can use whatever sized shrimp you like. I prefer larger shrimp.
- Look for frozen shrimp that says “peeled and deveined” on the package to save time and mess!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
When I was younger I always ordered shrimp scampi when I went out to a restaurant. This is bringing me right back to childhood! So easy to make and so delish. I love the addition of lemon zest too. Thank you!!
Hi Nicole,
This is so great to hear! Thanks so much for letting me know how it turned out 🙂
Grace