This Creamy Lemon Shrimp Pasta is comforting and rich whilst still tasting fresh and light! With just a few grocery store ingredients you can create a simple shrimp pasta with tons of flavor!
The lemon cream sauce is so easy to make and adds a bright pop and zing to the pasta recipe. Plus it cooks as your pasta cooks, making this a quick dinner for the whole family!
This is a showstopper recipe that is elegant enough for company or date night but quick enough for weeknight meals. It is so easy to make but tastes just like something you would get in a wonderful Italian restaurant.
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About Creamy Lemon Shrimp Pasta
Isn't there just something elegant and impressive about shrimp pasta dishes? They look and tastes like something from a fine-dining Italian restaurant.
I love to serve this when I have company as I know it will be a hit, plus because it is ready in just 20 minutes I am not spending hours in the kitchen when I want to be in chatting to my friends and drinking a glass of bubbly.
This particular pan of pasta was for lunch with some girlfriends. I made the pasta, another friend prepped a salad, another sliced some bread whilst our last friend kept the wine topped up.
Four friends nattering and eating large bowls of creamy pasta....doesn't get much better than that!
How to make a lemon cream sauce
So this lemon cream sauce is wonderfully fresh and rich! It is creamy and lemony (did you see that one coming?) with a nice garlic flavor and just a hint of herb.
It is also SOOOO easy to make. I have adapted my favorite cream sauce to make it a little lighter but with no less richness!
We start by cooking minced onion and garlic in olive oil. Once this is soft and fragrant, butter and all-purpose flour (plain flour) are stirred into the mixture. It will turn into what can only be described as wet sand and you will panic. Don't 😀
Slowly pour in some broth/stock and use a whisk to combine the broth with the garlic. It will turn from wet sand to sludge, to a very thick sauce. To this thick sauce, lemon juice, lemon zest, dried basil, and heavy cream is added. This is simmered for 5 minutes and the sauce is ready to use.
I like to use shrimp broth/stock (get my homemade recipe here) for my shrimp pasta but you can use chicken or vegetable broth instead.
Check the seasonings in your sauce and then you can add the cooked shrimp back in and stir it through the pasta.
Shrimp for pasta
I like to buy bags of frozen, shelled and deveined shrimp and keep them in the deep freeze. They are so handy to have available for a last-minute protein addition.
To quickly defrost frozen shrimp dissolve a teaspoon of salt in 2 cups of water and then add the frozen shrimp. Leave this on the side for 30 minutes and the shrimp will have defrosted and softened. (On a very cold day this may take longer). Pat them dry with some kitchen paper before cooking.
When cooking shrimp you don't want to overcook them, as they go rubbery and tough.
Large shrimp need 3-4 minutes in total! For this recipe, we are going to cook them for just 2 minutes, because they will cook further when they are added back into the hot cream sauce.
Recipe Tips
- Onion - You can use any onion you like here or swap the onion for leek or shallot. I tend to use a standard brown or white onion. But any onion will be fine.
- Shrimp – I used frozen, shelled and deveined shrimp in this recipe. As long as you ensure they are fully defrosted before cooking they taste perfect in this sauce. Be sure not to over-cook the shrimp. Overcooked shrimp are rubbery! The shrimp need frying for just 2 minutes as they will finish cooking in the sauce.
- Lemons - Use fresh lemons here, rather than the bottles of juice. The flavor is far better and also you will need the zest of the lemon. Make sure you zest the lemons before you cut them open and juice them. It is very very hard to zest a juiced lemon!
- Stock - I use a homemade shrimp stock for this recipe, but you can use any broth that you have on hand. This sauce works with seafood, chicken or vegetable broth.
- Heavy Cream - The recipe uses heavy cream, you can substitute with half and half but there is a danger that the addition of lemon juice could split the sauce. This doesn't happen with heavy cream. If you are replacing it with half and half, add the lemon juice and zest to the broth and stir well before slowly adding the cream.
- Pasta – I love this creamy sauce with spaghetti, but the sauce will work with any long pasta, so use fettuccine, linguine or tagliatelle. If you prefer a smaller pasta this is equally good with penne or spiral pasta.
- Salt – Please please please salt the pasta cooking water. Adding plenty of salt (at least 1 tablespoon) to the pasta cooking water means the pasta will be well seasoned when you add it to the sauce, and your final dish will be much tastier!
- Spinach – If you want to swap out the spinach - steamed or blanched asparagus would be a great alternative. Or use a handful of peppery arugula (rocket) or some finely shredded baby kale.
How to deal with leftovers
Refrigerator - Keep your leftover shrimp pasta in an airtight container for up to 3-4 days. Reheat as detailed below.
Freezer - This pasta isn't ideal for freezing as the sauce tends to come out much thinner and then it soaks into the pasta making it much softer. If this isn't an issue, then you can freeze this in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Reheat as detailed below.
How to Reheat - To reheat this pasta, remove it from the refrigerator for 15 minutes to allow the sauce to soften. Then place it in a small pan. Add a splash of broth/water to the sauce to help it heat up and cook over medium heat until the sauce is bubbling and the pasta is fully heated. Don't overheat the pasta as your shrimp will go rubbery.
You can reheat this in the microwave, but use caution as the shrimp will quickly overcook. I like to remove any shrimp from the pasta, reheat in the microwave and then add the shrimp and give it just 30 seconds more to heat the shrimp through.
What to serve with Creamy Lemon Shrimp Pasta
Serve this delicious creamy shrimp pasta with some bread for mopping up extra cream sauce and a side salad with a zingy vinaigrette. The vinaigrette will help to cut through the richness of the creamy lemon pasta.
Alternatively, add some blanched asparagus or some skillet green beans.
What wine to drink with Shrimp Pasta
For me, this pasta screams for something bubbly. I like to pick a prosecco or an Australian/Californian sparkling wine. The bubbles help to balance the cream sauce, whilst bubbles turn this into even more of a treat meal!
For white wine, drinkers try something fresh like a Frascati, or something with a little more body like a Chenin Blanc or Chablis will work well with the creamy sauce. A dry French rose is also a great choice.
Enjoy x
For more creamy pasta ideas why not try:
- Creamy Lemon Salmon Pasta
- Creamy Chicken and Bacon Pasta
- Creamy Pepper Steak Pasta
- Easy Creamy Four Cheese Pasta
- Creamy Tomato Chicken and Chorizo Pasta
- Creamy Pasta with Bacon and Peas
- Creamy Chicken Gnocchi with Spinach
- Creamy Chicken Chili Pasta
- See ALL 50+ Pasta Recipes
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Get the Recipe
Creamy Lemon Shrimp Pasta Recipe
Ingredients
For the Pasta
- 3 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 lb shrimp - see note 1
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 small onion- finely chopped - see note 2
- 3 garlic cloves - minced
- 3 tablespoon butter
- 3 tablespoon AP flour
- ¼ teaspoon dried basil
- 1 lemon
- 1 cup broth - see note 3
- 1 cup heavy cream - see note 4
- 12 oz spaghetti - see note 5
- 1 cup fresh spinach
For Garnish
- fresh parsley
- black pepper
Instructions
- Start by getting a pan of boiling water on the hob.
- Whilst the water is coming to a boil, heat the 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large heavy-based skillet/frying pan.
- Cook the shrimp over high heat for just 2-3 minutes. (see note 1)
- Remove the shrimp to the pan and set to one side.
- Add the remaining olive oil to the skillet then cook the chopped onion for 2-3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for a further minute.
- Add the butter and as it melts add in the flour and stir well.
- Slowly pour in the broth, whisking into the flour. The sauce will start to thicken.
- Once the stock has been incorporated. Add the zest and juice of the lemon, dried basil, and heavy cream.
- Stir gently and place over very low heat.
- Whilst the sauce is simmering, add a tablespoon of salt to the boiling pan of water, then cook the pasta as per the packet suggestions. Reserve a cup of the cooking water and drain.
- Add the pasta and shrimp into the hot sauce and gently lift everything together until well combined and the shrimp have heated through.
- Stir through the cup of spinach and thin the sauce as needed with the reserved cooking water.
- Serve immediately garnished with parsley, black pepper and maybe a little extra lemon zest.
Notes
- Shrimp – I used frozen, shelled and deveined shrimp in this recipe. As long as you ensure they are fully defrosted before cooking they taste perfect in this sauce. Be sure not to over-cook the shrimp. Overcooked shrimp are rubbery! The shrimp need frying for just 2 minutes as they will finish cooking in the sauce.
- Onion - You can use any onion you like here or swap the onion for leek or shallot. I tend to use a standard brown or white onion. But any onion will be fine.
- Broth - I use a homemade shrimp stock for this recipe, but you can use any broth that you have on hand. This sauce works with seafood, chicken or vegetable broth.
- Heavy Cream - The recipe uses heavy cream, you can substitute with half and half but there is a danger that the addition of lemon juice could split the sauce. This doesn't happen with heavy cream. If you are replacing it with half and half, add the lemon juice and zest to the broth and stir well before slowly adding the cream
- Pasta – I love this creamy sauce with spaghetti, but the sauce will work with any long pasta, so use fettuccine, linguine or tagliatelle. If you prefer a smaller pasta this is equally good with penne or spiral pasta.
Lori says
Used this recipe as a base to build on. Added more broth, butter, basil, garlic and shrimp. Came out great.
Patty says
Ouch on that back bruise!! So sorry you are hurting. My suggestion is using "Neosporin" cream on it 2-3 times daily. It has a pain reliever in it to alleviate pain. Worked for mebut definitely not magical. Hope that helps and you heal quickly too.
Claire McEwen says
Thank you Patty, I will have a look for Neosporin, it is a gloriously blue black this morning and the swelling hasn't gone down much yet 🙁
Thank you so much for the thought xx
Farah says
My favorite type of weeknight meal. This looks delicious and love how simple it is. I'll try it out!