Pan-seared butter garlic shrimp, mixed in with delicious fettuccine pasta flavored with chicken broth, white wine, and Worcestershire sauce. This garlic butter shrimp pasta dish is a flavor galore.
Shrimp is a specialty of my wife’s. She has dozens of incredibly tasty shrimp recipes in her arsenal, like the broiled shrimp. This recipe is no exception. Every part of this dish is super flavorful and a joy to eat. It takes a bit of extra work, but it’s so worth it.
In this recipe, shrimp is sauteed in butter with garlic separately, until just done. You can, of course, add raw shrimp to the pasta with the sauce and cook it like that, but the shrimp won’t be nearly as flavorful. Nor will it be as beautifully browned.
The pasta sauce in this recipe is reminiscent of fettuccine alfredo, but it’s way more flavorful and healthier, being less rich and less fatty. Light cream, in combination with white wine and chicken broth, creates a smooth, creamy yet bright and balanced sauce that is quite addictive. I can hardly stop eating the pasta, even without the shrimp, it’s that delicious. The perfectly cooked, garlicky shrimp is just the icing on the cake.
Tips and tricks
- While we recommend fettuccine pasta for this recipe, you can use any pasta that you prefer or have on hand. Spaghetti, linguine, angel hair, and other types will work just fine.
- If you would rather not use wine, you can substitute it for 1 cup of chicken or vegetable broth and a tablespoon of lemon juice.
- Instead of shallots, use sweet yellow or red onions.
Ingredients
- 1 lb shrimp peeled, deveined, tails on
- 5 Tbsp butter
- 5 cloves garlic pressed
- 2 Tbsp minced shallots
- 1 cup white wine
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 2 tsp minced red chili pepper
- 1 cup light cream
- 8 oz pasta uncooked; fettuccini recommended
- ¼ tsp black pepper freshly ground
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- 1 ½ Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 Tbsp parsley chopped
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, mix the shrimp with salt and black pepper and set aside.
- Meanwhile, cook the pasta as per the instructions on the package.
- In a large skillet, melt 3 Tbsp of butter over medium heat. Add 1 pressed garlic clove and stir. Add the shrimp and sear for 1-2 minutes on each side or until it turns pink. Transfer the shrimp to a clean bowl or a platter and set aside.
- In the same skillet, over medium heat, melt 2 Tbsp of butter and sauté 4 garlic cloves, shallots, and red chili pepper until soft, for about 2-3 minutes.
- Add the wine, chicken broth and the Worcestershire sauce. Bring to a boil and let simmer until the liquid has reduced a little, about 6-7 minutes.
- Add the light cream, bring back to a gentle simmer and cook until the sauce thickens a little, approximately 5-7 minutes. Add the cooked pasta and toss well with the sauce.
- Add the cooked shrimp, give it a quick stir and continue cooking for another 1-2 minutes, until the shrimp is warm.
- Plate, garnish with the chopped parsley and serve while hot.
Nutrition
Clayton Shaffner
I love this recipe. I have altered it though quite a bit. I use heavy whipping cream because it helps to further thicken it. I also only use 1 tsp of red pepper flakes. I add a whole Roma tomato, white onion and red bell pepper all chopped because of a restaurant I used to work at. The establishment had all of that in their shrimp pasta and I loved it. To each his own but this is how I love it. Also I don’t rush anything I allow the mixture to simmer as long as it takes to reduce to my liking! Enjoy!
Lynn
We added andouille sausage and made it more like a gumbo. It was great
victor
Happy to hear it. Enjoy!
Dyan
Sounds very delicious. I’m curious as to why use shrimp with tail still on? Can’t wait to make this!
victor
I do it for presentation more than anything. You can remove them if you want.
Mariane
I used red chili flakes and way to hot, next time 1 tsp and I like spice. I also added whipping cream because 10% cream not enough fatti thicken so needed to add a bit of cornstarch. I used shrimp from Argentina, only ones I will use.
Other than to spicy we will try again and topped it with fresh Parmigiano Cheese.
Kerri
Delicious!! I added shredded parm in the pan at the end to thicken it up!! It was also one of the easiest recipes ever! The only prop was to cut your garlic and shallots. That’s my kind of recipe! So good! I am full!
Helen
Delicious!!!
Abbie
Could you substitute the cream with milk?
Thank you 🙂
victor
Abbie, milk doesn’t have enough fat, it won’t thicken enough.
Abbie
Oh yeah, that makes sense! Thank you!
Traci
Turned out amazing. I added Romano cheese before the shrimp and it was perfect!
Cathy
Amazing, couldn’t stop eating and I don’t have a big appetite. I love that it has worstechire (whatever) can’t say it and can’t spell it, haha. I feel you can easily add lean steak to it as well. I used skinny spaghetti and it came out great! Again, COULD NOT STOP EATING!!!
victor
😉 Happy to hear that, Cathy. Enjoy! And thank you for your feedback.
Melissa
This was delicious. I added a chopped zucchini and a orange bell pepper. Didn’t have any wine so I double the broth. Will definitely make again.
David Carey
This was great. I added some diced red pepper which added to the taste and looked great!
Swanny
Easy and Delicious! A new family favorite especially for a 13 year old foodie. Thanks for sharing this with the world.
victor
You are very welcome. Enjoy!
Flav Flavius
This came out so good. I didn’t have light cream so I used heavy cream instead. I also did not have wine or red chili peppers so I used crushed red pepper instead and this still came out bomb
victor
Awesome! Thank you for the feedback. Happy cooking!
Lisa Quevedo
This was amazingly good! I used a good white wine and pink Argentinian shrimp. I also used regular whipping cream and spaghetti as that is what I had available. I would recommend starting the pasta later on in the process so it doesn’t sit so long, but regardless, it was fantastic!
Karen
Made for dinner tonight. It was
delicious! My entire family loved this recipe.
Carla
I love shrimp and scallops. I buy them cooked and frozen. I use chicken broth thickened with cornstarch, cooked until it no longer tastes “starchy.”
When the chicken broth has thickened, I set that aside in a bowl Corning Ware Bowl that is on a burner set at “melt.” Then in a Blue Diamond Frying pan, I add some butter, when that is hot I add the cooked shrimp or scallops for fifteen to twenty seconds, and serve with the all ready mashed potatoes or some pasta that I cooked and set aside.
Sheryl
I can’t wait to try this tomorrow, I’ve been looking for a good shrimp and pasta meal!!!! Looks yummooooo!!!!
Lam Mrochuk
I used cooking wine with lemon juice in place of white wine. It turned out nicely. Thanks
victor
You are very welcome.
Alex
Greetings! very good recipe! Terrific blog by
the way!
Colleen
Made this tonight, so good!
Keri
Hi!
Is the light cream, light sour cream?
victor
Light cream is usually cream with about 18-20% milk fat. Sour cream is a little different.
Teresa
This was a fantastic recipe. I made it for our Valentines dinner and my husband said it was one of his favorites. The sauce that this makes is delicious.
Diane
Can I make this in advance for large group and keep warm in crockpot? Or will it separate?
victor
No, it won’t separate but the longer you keep it warm the more the sauce will dry out. It might work if you make extra sauce.
David
Made for dinner tonight Awesome
MyBen
Made this tonight for my family and it was a total hit! My bro in law who is a chef loved it. Used Tagliatelle pasta. Awesome recipe! Thank you.
victor
You are very welcome!
TK
My family loved this! Easy to make, and didn’t take long.
victor
Happy to hear that. Happy cooking!
Nicole
Delicious. Made it for my family tonight. Everyone loved it!
Brenda
Awesome recipe!! I had angel hair pasta, and then a combo of sour cream and Greek yogurt for the cream, then I decided to add about a quarter cup of Parmesan cheese to thicken a little more. It was excellent! Thanks for sharing 😋
Mary
The best shrimp I ever made. Thank you. Mary
Sara
Incredible recipe
I really enjoyed it
Gabby
Hello, what type of white wine would you recommend to cook with?
victor
We like using dry white wine like Pinot Grigio.
Sarah
In this recipe it says shrimp with tail on. Can you eat shrimp tails?
I’ve only made shrimp twice which we didn’t eat the tail.
Also would it be raw shrimp or cooked shrimp and what size, jumbo, large, or medium.
Excited to try this! 🙂
victor
Sarah, you see, shrimp with tails is like chicken wings, or bone-in chicken breasts… or baby back ribs… you remove the bone, or the tail as you eat them. Shrimp looks good with tails on, but this makes it harder to eat. To make eating easier, remove the tails before cooking. The size of the shrimp doesn’t matter – large, small, or medium will work just fine.
Sandra Wright
What kind what of cream is it
victor
18% fat. You can use 18% – 30% that’s what’s considered light cream.
Ann
Best shrimp pasta recipe ever!! Absolutely love it.
Jim Durrett
Hello Victor, I followed your recipe exactly. I used two 3 lb whole chickens with about 12 cups of water. Used kielbasa too. It was wonderful. I always use my rotisserie chicken carcasses for homemade broth so this was instant broth. Used all the vegetables as part of the bog. Very similar to our chicken soup. Lots of great leftovers for our son who is 31. Next time I will use cheese cloth or something for the peppercorns. Like looking for a few needles in a haystack. ha. Thanks for the recipe.
Jim Durrett
Jacksonville, FL.
Rose
Followed the recipe to a T and my partner loved it so much we will be cooking this again tomorrow! This recipe is a keeper. Thank you for sharing this Victor
victor
You are very welcome, Rose. Happy cooking!
Lori J Higgons
Question….. it calls for minced red chili pepper???? Not exactly sure what it means?????Lori
victor
Very-very finely chopped red chili peppers
TC
Does it make a lot of sauce? Wondering if I should double the amounts if I want to make 16 oz. of pasta?
victor
I wouldn’t say a lot, so yeah, I would double the amounts.
TRH
This came out absolutely delicious. The worchestire sauce is a great addition. Thank you for sharing!!
victor
You are very welcome! Happy cooking!
Courtney
This was my first time trying shrimp and I am so glad that I did! This recipe is so delicious, easy to make, and affordable. I’ll definitely be making it again.
victor
Glad you liked our recipe, Courtney.
Alice
I made this for lunch. Beautiful color and flavor. Very good! Easy to make. Tasty.