Wonderfully creamy, indulgent Lemon Garlic Shrimp Fettuccine is bursting with flavor and on your table in 20 minutes!
It is the easiest, most satisfying meal that tastes totally gourmet!
I find myself constantly whipping up pasta because not only is it cravilicious but it’s uber quick to prepare and requires hardly any effort. The exact same goes for shrimp. Pair the two together in this easy shrimp fettuccine dish and you have a luxurious tasting meal that comes together at a moment’s notice.
Now be warned, you are going to want to stock up on fettuccine and frozen shrimp because we are about to make one of the best tasting pastas of. your. life.
For this pasta and shrimp combo, I’ve gone with a lemon garlic shrimp because shrimp looooves a garlic butter bath.
We start by melting butter with some olive oil then sautéing our shrimp with minced garlic, red pepper flakes, lemon zest, salt and pepper for approximately 4 minutes then remove to a plate.
The lemon garlic butter infused shrimp is so juicy and flavor exploding you’ll have to slap your own hand from eating it into oblivion!
At this point, you can chop the tails off your shrimp or leave them on, depending on your preference.
We wait until this point to remove the tails because not only is it easier but more importantly, tail shells add flavor to this shrimp fettuccine.
When shrimp is cooked with the tails on, the flavor seeps out and we get more robust shrimp flavor, much like cooking meat on the bone.
Now, onto our luxuriously creamy Parmesan infused lemon, garlic sauce – I’m drooling already. First, we sauté more garlic in butter then sprinkle in some flour and cook for one minute to get rid of the raw flour smell.
We then whisk in our chicken broth, heavy cream and pesto and bring to a simmer until thickened. The pesto adds richness and dimensional flavor without overpowering the sauce.
Finally, we finish off our shrimp fettuccine by stirring in additional lemon juice and Parmesan cheese until silky, followed by our shrimp and pasta.
I just add one tablespoon lemon juice because we’ve already sautéed our shrimp with lemon zest but feel free to add as much (or even as little) lemon juice as your heart desires, just be sure to taste the pasta first.
Now you are ready to dive into this Lemon Garlic Shrimp Fettuccine that tastes every bit as decadently delicious as the finest restaurant. And it only took you 20 minutes.
More Shrimp Favorites
- Coconut Shrimp Curry
- Easy Shrimp Scampi
- Coconut Shrimp
- Lemon Pepper Shrimp
- Shrimp Tacos
- Shrimp and Grits
Lemon Garlic Shrimp Fettuccine
Ingredients
- 8 ounces fettuccine
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 tablespoons butter divided
- 1 pound medium raw shrimp peeled and deveined
- 6 garlic cloves minced, divided
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1 ½ cups low sodium chicken broth
- ½ cup heavy cream
- ¼ cup prepared pesto
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
OPTIONAL GARNISHES
- parmesan cheese
- fresh parsley
- lemon juice
Instructions
- Cook pasta in salted water until al dente. Reserve ½ cup pasta water before draining. Set aside.
- Melt 1 tablespoon butter with 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add shrimp, 4 minced garlic cloves, ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes, lemon zest, ¼ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Cook and stir for approximately 4 minutes or just until shrimp are opaque and cooked through. Scrape shrimp and garlic/juices to a plate. Once cool enough to handle, you can chop off shrimp tails if desired. Set aside.
- To the same skillet (don’t wipe out), melt 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Add remaining 2 minced garlic cloves and saute 30 seconds. Sprinkle in flour and cook while stirring for 1 minute, then turn heat to low. Slowly whisk in chicken broth, heavy cream and pesto, stirring constantly until smooth.
- Turn heat to medium high and bring the sauce to a simmer. Simmer until slightly thickened, stirring occasionally, approximately 3-5 minutes.
- Reduce heat to low and stir in lemon juice followed by Parmesan cheese until melted. Stir in shrimp (and juices) and pasta until well coated in sauce, adding additional reserved pasta water or heavy cream if needed to reach desired consistency. Taste and season with additional salt, pepper and/or red pepper flakes to taste.
- Garnish with freshly grated Parmesan Cheese, fresh parsley and lemon juice (optional).
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Dinner
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Definitely 5 stars
Excellent. Definitely a keeper and had all ingredients at home. I used fresh fettuccine and a pinch of red pepper flakes. Perfect dish for us.
Made this for dinner today and it was amazing! A new favorite for my family. Thank you.
Love the fettuccine Alfredo
This is so good, you have to make it. Really not hard or too time consuming. I had to pick up a couple items that i didn’t have on hand. It is the best ever.
I am so glad you enjoyed this Kim!
Delicious-but much more time consuming than predicted. I will definitely make it again & I think it will be much easier the next time-family loved it.
Hi Amy, This recipe looks amazing:) I will be cooking lunch for 40, outdoors on a big camp stove and this looks can do! Would you use the specs for 40 servings as the computer suggests or make changes?
Thank you,
Nita
I’ve not made this dish in that quantity! When scaling the recipe, the instructions do not scale, so you’ll need to watch that and manually adjust the instructions accordingly. Happy cooking Nita!
Excellent, made recipe exactly as stated. Absolutely delicious!