Note: If you love shrimp, be sure to also check out our Shrimp with Corn in Creamy Poblano Sauce, Lemon Garlic Shrimp with Asparagus and our Garlic Shrimp with Chickpeas over Quinoa.
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👍 Why We Love this Garlic Butter Shrimp Pasta
Quick and simple- Like all of our recipes, this shrimp pasta can be made in 28 minutes or less.
Bursting with flavor! The grape tomatoes and red pepper flakes give this dish a unique pop of flavor that you won't be able to get enough of!
Always a hit- Both the adults and kids in our house love this recipe!
🛒 Ingredients
Notes on ingredients:
Pasta- we prefer a longer noodle, like linguine, fettuccine, spaghetti or angel hair.
Butter- a key ingredient for sure, but adjust the amount as you see fit.
Garlic- fresh or jarred is fine, so long as it's minced or finely chopped!
Shrimp- shelled & deveined, fresh or frozen. [See tips on thawing frozen shrimp below]
Red pepper flakes- optional, but we love the added spice!
Parmesan cheese- shredded or finely grated.
Parsley- dried or fresh is fine. Dried: 1 Tablespoon. Fresh (chopped): 3 Tablespoons
🔪 Instructions
Step 1: Cook pasta, setting aside ½ cup of pasta water once pasta is done. Kid Step: Taste! Ask kids to taste the noodles to check and see if they're done cooking.
Step 2:Cook shrimp in butter with garlic, red pepper flakes, salt & pepper until cooked through. Kid Step: Stir shrimp and watch it turn pink as it cooks!
Step 3:Add tomatoes, Italian seasoning and spinach, and cook another 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Kid Step: Kids scoop up the spinach, crunch it in your hands and distribute in pan. Watch how fast it cooks down as you stir!
Step 4:Combine shrimp mixture with the pasta. And stir in parmesan, parsley, pasta water and milk, cooking another 3-5 minutes until warmed throughout. Kid Step: Measure and stir in cheese. Little ones will love tasting the cheese during the process.
Note: If you want to learn to draw a shrimp with pasta, set aside a few uncooked noodles before you start cooking for this fun craft.
💭 Tips and Tricks
- Pasta al dente!!! We highly recommend cooking pasta al dente because your pasta will cook a few minutes more when combined with shrimp and sauce.
- Avoid pasta sticking! If your pasta is ready way before the shrimp mixture, rinse the cooked pasta in cold water in a strainer right away to avoid sticking.
- How to best defrost frozen shrimp: Place shrimp in a colander in the sink and run cold water over them for 10-15 minutes.
- Dry your shrimp! Dab thawed shrimp dry before cooking to remove excess moisture, which can impact searing.
- When is shrimp done? Overcooked shrimp can be chewy...yuk. Shrimp is fully cooked when it has an opaque, pinky color.
- For softer tomatoes...Add them to the pot earlier, when cooking the shrimp.
👶🏼 Customize for Picky Eaters
🍅 Keep it mild. If your kids don't like spicy food, simply omit the red pepper flakes. Garlic also brings some heat and strong taste to the dish. So, consider cutting back on the garlic too.
🍅 Serve raw tomatoes. Some kids may not like the texture of soft, cooked tomatoes. If that's the case, set some raw tomatoes aside to serve as a side veggie for your kiddos.
🍅 Set aside some plain noodles. My kids loved the shrimp but didn't like "all the stuff" on the noodles - I think they were referring to the parsley, lol! You may want to set aside some plain noodles before you mix everything together. Pull some shrimp pieces out of the final mix and serve them next to the plain noodles on your kids' plates. Then, you can let the kids sprinkle parmesan on everything.
❓FAQs
We prefer to make this dish with a longer pasta, like linguine, fettuccine, spaghetti or angel hair pasta. However, any pasta you enjoy should work!
There are several ways to quickly defrost shrimp. According to A Couple of Cooks, frozen shrimp can be quickly thawed by placing shrimp in a large bowl of cold water for 15-20 minutes, occasionally stirring away clumps of ice. You can also place shrimp in a colander and run cold water over it for the same amount of time.
This pasta dish is great on its own, but a small salad or slice of garlic bread would pair nicely with the meal.
This dish is best served straight away. However, you can store leftovers in an airtight container for 1-2 days.
✂️ Make a Shrimp Craft!
Kids can learn to draw a shrimp with pasta with this adorable craft! Turns out, noodles make great shrimp legs! Grab some paper, glue, markers and dry noodles...and get crafting!
🍽 Other Dishes You May Like
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🦐 Garlic Butter Shrimp Pasta
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons salt divided
- 1 pound linguine pasta
- 3-4 Tablespoons butter
- 1 ½ pounds raw shrimp shelled & deveined, fresh or frozen
- 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
- ¾ teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 1 - 2 pints grape tomatoes
- ¾ teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 2-3 big handfuls fresh raw baby spinach
- 1 ½ cup parmesan cheese, finely shredded or grated + extra for plating
- 1 Tablespoon dried parsley flakes
- ¼ cup milk
Instructions
- Heat water for pasta in large pot, and add 1 teaspoon of salt to the water. Once boiling, add pasta and cook according to package directions. Once pasta is done, reserve ½ cup of pasta water and set aside. Then strain pasta and pour back in pot.
- While the water is boiling, melt butter into a large pan and heat on low-to-medium until butter has melted. Stir in shrimp, garlic, red pepper flakes and season with pepper and remaining teaspoon of salt. Cook shrimp until pink, about 5-7 minutes.
- Add tomatoes, Italian seasoning and spinach, and cook another 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Transfer shrimp mixture into the pot with the pasta and stir in parmesan, parsley, pasta water and milk. Heat another 3-5 minutes on low, until warmed throughout.
Notes
- Cook your pasta al dente because it will cook a few minutes more when combined with shrimp and sauce, anyway.
- IF your pasta is ready way before the shrimp mixture, rinse the cooked pasta in cold water in a strainer right away to avoid sticking.
- To defrost frozen shrimp: place shrimp in a colander in the sink and run cold water over them for 10-15 minutes.
- Dab thawed shrimp dry before cooking to remove excess moisture, which can impact searing.
- When is shrimp done? Overcooked shrimp can be chewy...yuk. Shrimp is fully cooked when it has an opaque, pinky color.
- For softer tomatoes...add them to the pot earlier, when cooking the shrimp.
Nutrition
*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet. While we are not certified nutritionists, we work with a WordPress-integrated nutrition API to calculate our recipes' ingredient values.
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