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Why we love this recipe
So, I better start things off by saying that you must love and adore the following things in order to love and adore this easy lemon shrimp pasta supper.
Lemons. There are lemon slices, lemon zest and lemon juice in this dish. A whole lot of lemon juice, freshly squeezed from four, count ’em, four lemons. Things are lemony!
And garlic. There are four, count ’em, four cloves of garlic in this recipe, all minced up and cooked with the lemon juice, along with some butter, some fresh herbs, and some lovely large shrimp.
And all of that is tossed with pasta and OH MY MY. It’s like shrimp scampi meets pasta, and who could say no to lemon shrimp scampi pasta? Let’s make it!
Ingredients you need
Ingredient additions and substitutions
- Pasta: You can use any pasta you like except for angel hair (too delicate for this sauce) or teeny pasta (like my beloved pastina). Anything else will work just fine.
- Shrimp: We like large shrimp for this recipe, and we buy them with the shell on at our supermarket seafood counter for maximum freshness and shell them at home (yay for the Southern husband!). You can use any size shrimp you like, and if you need to get them frozen and thaw them out, that’s okay.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How to make this recipe
STEP 1: Cook 12 ounces of linguine or spaghetti in salted water in a large pot according to the directions on the box, drain and put back in the pot.
STEP 2: While the pasta is cooking, melt 6 tablespoons of butter and 5 tablespoons olive oil in large skillet over medium low heat. Add 4 cloves of peeled, chopped garlic and sauté for one minute. Add shrimp, one teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, turn up heat to medium and sauté until shrimp are pink, about 5 minutes. Stir often, turning the shrimp over to make sure they are cooked through.
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STEP 3: Turn heat back down to low and add the juice from four lemons. Stir for about a minute to combine and heat up the sauce. Pour the sauce with shrimp into pot with drained pasta, toss well with parsley or whatever other herb you like best (I also love fresh thyme for this dish), garnish with lemon zest and serve.
Recipe FAQs
Now, you don’t HAVE to take the vein (that dark line up the back of the shrimp) out, but lots of folks prefer their shrimpies that way. Pull off the shell by wiggling it apart at the bottom of the shrimp. Once the shell is off, cut a shallow line along the top of the shrimp where the vein is, pull it out with the tip of the knife and…you’re done! Put the shrimp shells in a zippered plastic bag when you toss them out, because if they sit in your trash can for more than a few hours…well, I’ll let you use your imagination.
Start with the zesting! There are all kinds of fancy lemon zesting tools out there, but I love my microplane zester – it does the job quickly and you can also use it for cheese. Simply drag the lemon over the zester and little chopped lemon peel pieces will come out the other side. As for juicing, you can get as fancy as having a citrus juicer that squishes the juice out and leaves the seeds, or you can simply squeeze that lemon juice into a prep bowl with your hands.
Yep! Honestly, this recipe will work with pretty much any kind of pasta you have in your pantry, except for the really delicate types (like angel hair) or really small types (like pastina). I like linguine or spaghetti myself, but you be you, pasta-wise!
Pop your question in the comments section below and I will answer pronto!
And that’s it! Less then a half hour, and you have a glorious lemon shrimp pasta all ready to be twirled up on your fork. If you are like me, welcome to heaven, where everything is made with lemon and garlic. And bacon.
Want to round out your meal?
If you are craving a little starter with this easy lemon pasta, you can’t beat these cute little antipasto skewers. Add some veggies by roasting up these green beans with walnuts.
And let’s go all out on dessert with this super easy Heath Bar Birthday Cake!
Other seafood pasta recipes we love
Looking for more pasta inspiration? Here is our complete collection of pasta recipes!
Could you leave us a review?
If you try this recipe, we would love to hear how it came out for you! I’d be super grateful if you could leave a star rating (you pick how many stars! 🌟 ) and your thoughts in the Comments section.
Lemon Shrimp Pasta
Lemons, shrimp, garlic and pasta – if you love them, this recipe for lemon shrimp scampi pasta is the speedy and scrumptious supper you have been looking for!
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 6 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients
- 12 ounces linguine
- 6 tablespoons butter
- 5 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 pounds large shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
- ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley (or other herbs if you like something else better!)
- Grated zest of one lemon
- Juice from 4 lemons
- 1/2 lemon, cut in half and thinly sliced
Instructions
- Cook linguine in salted water until done, drain and put back in the pot.
- Meanwhile, melt butter and olive oil in large skillet over medium low heat. Add garlic and sauté for one minute. Add shrimp, one teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, turn up heat to medium and sauté until shrimp are pink, about 5 minutes. Stir often, turning the shrimp over to make sure they are cooked through.
- Turn heat back down to low and add lemon juice, zest and slices, and red pepper. Stir for about a minute to combine and heat up the sauce.
- Pour sauce with shrimp into pot with drained pasta, toss well and serve.
Notes
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- Pasta: You can use any pasta you like except for angel hair (too delicate for this sauce) or teeny pasta (like my beloved pastina). Anything else will work just fine.
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- Shrimp: We like large shrimp for this recipe, and we buy them with the shell on at our supermarket seafood counter for maximum freshness and shell them at home (yay for the Southern husband!). You can use any size shrimp you like, and if you need to get them frozen and thaw them out, that’s okay.
Deb Darling says
Made this for our Thanksgiving dinner. It was simple and delicious. My family was thrilled. There was very little left over. I also added fresh crab after everything else was finished cooking, as well as using the shells to make stock to cook the noodles. I’d make this again.
Well, I just love that you went a pasta route for Thanksgiving – and also love the addition of crab!
Eric says
I love a nice light pasta dish, and this one hits the nail on the head! Came out perfect!
Isn’t it great when something is both delicious as easy! Thanks for your kind comment!
Martha in KS says
I suggest taking those shrimp shells & tossing them into the pot of water & boil until reduced by 1/3 to 1/2. Remove shells from water (after they cool I bag & freeze until trash day). Salt water & use it to cook pasta. This adds some flavor to the pasta.
Well as usual that is a great suggestion, Martha! Hope you are having a greet weekend. :)