An easy pasta recipe with seasoned sauteed shrimp, your favorite pasta sauce and fresh parmesan that's ready in 30 minutes with variations for Primavera, Diablo, Alfredo, Carbonara and Pasta alla Vodka!
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
I’m so excited about sharing this recipe with you! First of all, it’s CRAZY EASY. You can totally make this on a random Tuesday night but it's impressive enough to serve to guests!
The whole dish is done in the time it takes to cook the pasta. And don’t let the list of ingredients scare you off – half of it is just spices.
Speaking of spices, feel free to just use a blackening seasoning if you’d rather.
The second thing I like is how versatile it is! I used vodka sauce when I made this batch but I’ve made it with chunky spaghetti sauce too and I loved it just as much. Adding a whack of red pepper flakes to marinara sauce gives the dish a whole “shrimp diablo” vibe.
UGHNN! So good!
You could even use bite-sized pieces of chicken instead of the shrimp if you’d like! The possibilities are endless! Ha! I sound like an Olive Garden commercial!
Oh, and just a little note… fresh grated parmesan is sooooo much better in recipes like this than the other stuff. Spend five bucks on a wedge of parmesan and keep it in your fridge. It lasts forever so it won’t go to waste. I promise. And you’ll be amazed how often you reach for it once you get used to having it around.
Plus, who don’t eat spaghetti at least once a month?? Spend the money on the parm. You’ll be happy you did.
VARIATIONS FOR EASY SHRIMP & PASTA:
- Shrimp Primavera: Angel hair pasta, chunky garden-style spaghetti sauce and add sauteed fresh veggies.
- Shrimp Diablo: Spaghetti, marinara sauce with a hefty amount of red pepper flakes added to the sauce.
- Shrimp Alfredo: Fettuccine and good quality alfredo sauce.
- Shrimp Carbonara: Bucatini or spaghetti with jarred carbonara sauce (or add bacon to alfredo sauce in a pinch!)
- Shrimp alla Vodka Sauce (pictured): Penne pasta and vodka sauce.
Recipe for Easy Shrimp with Pasta
If you enjoy easy recipes with shrimp and love Cajun food, SHRIMP DELICATE is a recipe you should check out too!
Easy Shrimp with Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 pound penne pasta
- 1 24-oz. jar marinara, vodka or spaghetti sauce
- 2-3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 pounds medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon thyme
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 cup fresh grated parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Cook pasta per manufacturer’s instructions for al dente preparation in liberally salted water. Drain pasta; set aside.
- While pasta is cooking, toss the shrimp with the salt, pepper, cayenne, paprika, garlic, thyme and onion powder.
- Drizzle a large skillet with just enough oil to coat the bottom and heat over medium-high heat. When skillet is hot, add half of the shrimp and sauté for 3-4 minutes or until pink and cooked through. Remove shrimp from skillet, drizzle in a little more oil if necessary, then cook the remaining shrimp. Don’t cook all the shrimp at once to avoid overcrowding the pan – you want sautéed shrimp, not boiled.
- Once all shrimp are cooked and removed from the skillet, reduce heat to medium-low then add pasta sauce. Once sauce is heated through, add pasta and half of the shrimp. Gently stir to combine then pour pasta into a medium baking dish or large serving plate.
- Arrange remaining shrimp on top of pasta then top shrimp with parmesan cheese. Garnish with chives if desired.
Notes
Recipe variations:
- Shrimp Primavera: Angel hair pasta, chunky garden-style spaghetti sauce and add sauteed fresh veggies.
- Shrimp Diablo: Spaghetti, marinara sauce with a hefty amount of red pepper flakes added to the sauce.
- Shrimp Alfredo: Fettuccine and good quality alfredo sauce.
- Shrimp Carbonara: Bucatini or spaghetti with jarred carbonara sauce (or add bacon to alfredo sauce in a pinch!)
- Shrimp alla Vodka Sauce (pictured): Penne pasta and vodka sauce.
Hi Mandy! what size shrimp did you buy?
ReplyDeleteThe ones in the photo were large according to the bags (I bought frozen). I find that sizing differs a bit between fresh and frozen shrimp. If buying frozen go with large. If buying fresh, these would be more like a medium. I hope that makes sense! But technically, I don't think it matters what size you buy!
DeleteYou are my kinda gal! You love beer, really, really know how to cook and have attitude! Your shrimp dishes are amazing! I have eaten your shrimp and grits twice this week! You are good!!
DeleteIf you buy shrimp from the fish market usually 31-40 count shrimp are medium. the higher the count the smaller the shrimp and the lower count naturally are larger shrimp. the count indicates approximately how many shrimp it takes to make a pound. Hope that helps.
DeleteI would be sorely tempted to omit any tomato sauciness in this recipe and use pasta water and butter to thicken a sauce. The other flavors won't be masked that way. And I always increase any garlic form. Pasta and also shrimp are my weaknesses.
ReplyDeleteVodka and shrimp for tomorrow night (Friday and Lent) I'm in! Since you didn't say when to add the vodka to the recipe I'm assuming I add it to me......LOL
ReplyDelete