Sautéed Lemon Garlic Butter Shrimp Pasta Recipe (2024)

Why This Works

This easy pasta recipe comes together in 20 minutes flat and uses simple ingredients.

It's a quick pasta dish, great for an easy weeknight dinner when things get busy. Not to mention, this easy garlic shrimp pasta has the perfect balance of sautéed garlic butter shrimp, fresh spinach, grated parmesan, and angel hair pasta.

Ingredient Notes

Pasta: I recommend using angel hair pasta for this garlic butter shrimp pasta recipe. The thin pasta cooks quickly and the thin pasta absorbs the light garlic butter sauce.

Pasta sauce: The light pasta sauce is a mixture of the lemon garlic butter (from the shrimp), fresh spinach, and grated parmesan cheese.

Shrimp: The main part of this recipe is basically making sautéed lemon garlic butter shrimp (see ingredients below). I recommend using fresh shrimp (not previously cooked). Use raw shrimp or previously frozen shrimp. I prefer large shrimp that's peeled and deveined for this recipe.

Tasty garlic butter sauce: Use high-quality extra virgin olive oil, salted butter, garlic cloves, and freshly squeezed lemon juice.

See the recipe card at the end of the post for quantities.

Peel, devein, and pat dry the shrimp with paper towels.

Add fresh garlic cloves and salt.

Mash the garlic and salt together using a mortar and pestle. Alternatively, use a garlic press or finely mince the garlic with a chef's knife.

In a large skillet, add the olive oil and butter on medium high heat.

Add the shrimp in a single layer. Season with salt and black pepper.

Once the shrimp start to turn pink (after about 1 to 2 minutes), move the shrimp aside to add the mashed garlic. Flip the shrimp over one by one so the other side of the shrimp can cook.

Squeeze the lemon on the shrimp.

Cover the skillet with a lid for 2 to 3 minutes for the shrimp to cook through. Add some freshly chopped parsley on top.

Remove the shrimp from the skillet, keeping the garlic lemon butter in the pan. Add the fresh spinach and 1 cup of pasta water (the water the pasta was cooked in). Alternatively, use water or chicken broth.

Cook until the spinach wilts.

Add the cooked angel hair pasta

Top with freshly grated parmesan cheese (optional).

Add the sauteed shrimp.

Mix the pasta, shrimp, and freshly grated cheese together. Add some chopped fresh herbs. Serve hot with some crusty bread.

Variations and Substitutions

• Substitute prawns for shrimp: Prawns are actually different from shrimp, but they are similar in taste. Prawns remind me of a mix between lobster and shrimp.
• Add some chili flakes, chili powder, or freshly chopped pepper for spice: This dish is excellent with a little zing to it.
• Add a heavier sauce: If you like a heavy sauce on your pasta, it's perfectly fine to add a béchamel pasta sauce, fettuccine sauce, or cream sauce.
• Use a different kind of pasta.
• Add a splash of dry white wine to the buttery garlic sauce as the shrimp cooks.

Equipment

• Mortar and pestle for mashing the garlic (or a garlic press)
• Large nonstick skillet with a lid
• Large stovetop pot (for boiling the pasta)
• Strainer (for straining the pasta from the water)

Storage

This garlic butter shrimp pasta is good for about 2 days in the fridge. I don't recommend freezing it.

Food Safety

Make sure the shrimp is fully cooked through prior to serving. Shrimp is easy to tell if it's cooked through (by its color). The shrimp should not be translucent and should be fully pink.