This simple Shrimp Linguine recipe is covered in a lemon butter sauce that will have you licking your plate clean! The best part is it’s made in less than 20 minutes!
Do you love seafood recipes as much as I do? Try Baked Salmon, Fish and Chips, Lobster Roll, or Easy Homemade Crab Cakes!
Why I love this recipe:
- Basic ingredients – Once you’ve got your shrimp, all you need to make shrimp scampi is butter, olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, lemon, crushed red pepper, and parmesan cheese.
- Fast (20 minutes) -. This is the easiest dish EVER, and it’s just a bonus that’s it’s delicious and impressive.
- Kid-friendly – Even at 1 and 2 years old, my kids LOVED this meal. Cut the shrimp into small pieces and serve with their favorite noodles.
Purchasing Shrimp: What to Know
If you live in an area where you can buy fresh shrimp, lucky you! Definitely do that.
For everyone else, you can purchase shrimp at the store in all varieties (large, medium, small, shell on/off, tail on/off, fresh, frozen, etc.) but for this shrimp pasta recipe we recommend buying extra large, tail-on, un-cooked shrimp. Once thawed, remove the shells.
I usually buy frozen shrimp from the freezer section. You can also buy thawed shrimp from the seafood counter. Remember that the higher quality the shrimp, the better your shrimp linguine will taste.
To Thaw Shrimp: Leave the shrimp in the refrigerator overnight OR pour them into a bowl and cover them with cold water for about an hour. Drain the shrimp and use paper towels to soak up the water.
How to make Shrimp Linguine:
Cook Shrimp: Season the shrimp with salt and pepper. Melt butter in a large skillet, add garlic and sauté for 1 minute. Add the shrimp and sauté just until they turn pink, about 4-5 minutes, tossing often.
Add Seasonings: Remove shrimp from the heat and add the parsley, lemon zest, lemon juice, lemon slices, and red pepper flakes.
Toss to Combine: Sprinkle parmesan cheese on garlic shrimp pasta and toss everything gently. Season with additional salt and pepper, if needed.
Serve: Serve shrimp linguine with crusty bread or homemade breadsticks.
Recipe Variations:
- Add White Wine: Add ¼ cup of white wine in step 3, sautéing for a few minutes to let it cook down a little.
- Add Veggies: Toss in some asparagus and cherry tomatoes.
- Zucchini Noodles: For a healthier twist, swap out the linguine for zucchini noodles.
More Shrimp Recipes:
- Shrimp Alfredo
- Fresh Spring Rolls
- Shrimp Tacos
- Cioppino
- Shrimp Pad Thai
- Fajitas
- Easy Shrimp Cocktail
- Shrimp Creole
- Spanish Paella
- Authentic New Orleans Gumbo
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Recipe
Shrimp Linguine
Ingredients
- 1 pound linguine noodles , white or wheat
- 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3 Tablespoons olive oil
- 5 cloves garlic , minced
- 1 pound large shrimp , about 20 shrimp, peeled and deveined
- salt and freshly ground black pepper , to taste
- 1/2 cup fresh chopped parsley , chopped
- lemon zest , from ½ of a large lemon
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice , about 2 lemons
- 1/2 lemon , thinly sliced in half-rounds
- crushed red pepper flakes , to taste
- 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to boil. Add a little bit of oil and salt to the boiling water and cook the linguine according to package instructions.
- Meanwhile, season the shrimp with salt and pepper and set aside.
- Add the butter and olive oil to an extra-large skillet over medium-low. Once the butter has melted, add the garlic and sauté for 1 minute, being careful not to burn it.
- Add the shrimp and sauté just until they turn pink, about 4-5 minutes, tossing often.
- Remove from the heat and add the parsley, lemon zest, lemon juice, lemon slices, and red pepper flakes.
- Toss to combine. Season with additional salt and pepper, if needed.
- When the pasta is cooked, drain the water and add the noodles to the sauté pan.
- Top with fresh parmesan cheese and toss everything gently to combine. Serve.
Notes
- Add White Wine: Add ¼ cup of white wine in step 3, sautéing for a few minutes to let it cook down a little.
- Add Veggies: Toss in some asparagus and cherry tomatoes.
- Zucchini Noodles: For a healthier twist, swap out the linguine for zucchini noodles.
Nutrition
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Recipe adapted from Ina Garten.
*I originally shared this recipe May 2016. Updated February 2020 and October 2022.
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This was excellent!!!. Easy to make and so very tasty. Thank you.
Delicious! Added cherry tomatoes and extra lemon and zest as well as about a 1/3 cup pasta water. Also added a bit of old bay to shrimp. So fresh and light
Loved it. Didn’t have lemon so used 2 Tb lemon juice from the fridge. At the end, added the parmigiano reggiano with some pasta water to the pasta to make an emulsion. Learn to use the pasta water!
I only used half as much lemon as the recipe called for, and my sons said lemon was all they could taste. It even covered up the garlic (and I put a lot of garlic in it). I also put a lot of red pepper flakes, but I could have used more. It was a bit bland, but I really liked it anyway.
I usually have good outcomes when using your recipes and I trust them, but…You can’t cook the garlic for five or six minutes and not burn it. I know better but followed your directions and ended up with a lot of burnt garlic and underdone shrimp. I also added several herbs and still it was very bland. I had to add a lot more liquid than called for. Wine really makes this dish, so I highly suggest it.
Absolutely wonderful and “open ended” recipe! I had fun adding my own creative twists like chopped red bells and black truffle parmesan seasoning 👌🏼 Thank you so very much for sharing your recipe, Lauren!
I made this recipe for guest and it really topped the night. I added wine after the garlic. Very good, delicious and easy.
Great recipe! A quick but delicious dinner I needed to throw together for unexpected guests…a big hit. I did add some white wine, had I had more time I would have tried other additions. Thank you for posting this!
DELICIOUS! I am a very newbie cook and I made this with ease. It turned out great.
This recipe is DELICIOUS!! About to make it for the 2nd time tonight!! Made it exactly how it says, but I did add about 1/2 a cup of the pasta water to the dish. Made it super creamy!!
Whole family loved it.
This recipe is the best new recipe I have tried in the last 10 years!! LOVED IT! The lemon garlic sauce with the spice of the red pepper is so yummy. The fact that it is super easy to make is an added bonus.
I cooked as stated, except I left out the lemon zest and red pepper flakes, and we loved it! Thank you!
Love your shrimp linguine dish. So simple, even me can do this dish. YUMMY.
Good but this recipe requires more doctoring then usual. This one can be challenging if you are not used to tailoring a recipe to what tastes good to you – I skipped on the lemons but added lemon juice and only a little lemon zest… I also added about 1/2 a cup of four cheese Alfredo sauce and. But more butter and olive oil, and garlic powder tobeef up the flavor . Don’t skip on the Parmesan as it really enhances the flavor of this dish. Thankfully after trying for the 1st time, my boyfriend loved it
This recipe is soooooo good! Cooked exactly how recipe calls for. A++++
Delicious!! Thank you ❤️❤️
My dog doesn’t like garlic so used ginger instead. I also added some vinigar to give it an extra kick.
The dish ended up being way too gingery, and the vinegar taste really doesn’t go well with the shrimp and lemon.
I was looking forward to cooking this for months so was very disappointed when it ended up being awful ): Maybe I should try adding some chocolate next time?
😂
Love it! Thank you.
I love your recipes! I’ve tried several and am going to do scampi this week. I feel so confident following your recipes that I know it will be fabulous.
My husband says he doesn’t like garlic. I admit I only used 3 cloves instead of 5. He loved it! Served it with roasted broccoli. And I’m all about the fresh grated parmesan! Really yummy. Thank you.
Way too much lemon! And like the other person said, no cheese. Pretty good recipe, otherwise.
This was very good!! And so simple! The crushed red peppers added some spice, but husband loved that! Will deff make again.
It was very good.
Made this turned out horrible added broccoli per request of my son don’t know if it was broccoli or lemon that ruined this dish but what a waste of money disappointed was really hungry for this
Somehow I used a little too much lemon 🍋. My wife liked the shrimp and the salad I served w/ dinner, but she didn’t care for the pasta. “Too tangy”. My daughter and I both liked the whole dish including the pasta. I did not put the lemon zest, just the juice of two lemons.
Wine for sure and I use bay scallops. Italians do not use cheese with fish! No Parmesan please
Really good! Quick and easy recipe!!
So fresh tasting and good! I am keeping this recipe. Ty!
When I make this (which I am anxious to do) can I make extra for a second meal, or is this not especially good for leftovers? And if it is, how would you reheat it for best results?
I whipped this up for the family and they loved it. I added wine, cherry tomatoes and spinach. Thanks for the recipe.
I made this the other night and the whole family loved it. Thank you for sharing the recipe, we will be adding this to our rotation.
Incredibly easy and tasty! I added sautéed zucchini and squash. Also added scallops! Delish!
Quick and easy to make and most importantly was delicious! Great balance of garlic, lemon and a bit of spice. Husband also loved it and requested I make it more often!
Easy to make and taste so great. Great with white wine or a Rose bubly.
So easy and delicious! This is going in the regular rotation!
I was out of lemon juice and lemons so I used lime Gatorade instead. Also substituted hot dogs for the shrimp and used ramen noodles instead of linguine. It was awful.
Well Kevin, if you followed the recipe as written, you may have had a better outcome. LOL
Why would you use Gatorade with shrimp and pasta? I don’t care that you ran out of lemons and lemon juice but I hope you learned a huge lesson as well as using hot dogs. Not everything can be a substitute. That is your own fault, not the person who wrote the recipe. Let this be a big lesson to you. Don’t substitute, do something else if you don’t have the right ingredients.
Lol. Don’t listen to the other commenters. Never be afraid to experiment. It’s the best way to learn! Interesting substitutes! But I can definitely understand why it wasn’t good.
I spend about 95% of my time out on the road as I am an over the road driver. I Enjoy cooking and baking, more baking actually for my lady and I on the occasions that I am home. Thank you SO VERY much for all these wonderful ideas. I WILL be trying as many as possible, time allowing