Lemon Garlic Shrimp Scampi
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Dinner just doesn’t get any faster, simpler or tastier than this Lemon Garlic Shrimp Scampi recipe! Super quick, super tasty, and your dinner guests will think you’re a gourmet rockstar! It’s quick enough for a casual weeknight family dinner and elegant enough to serve at a dinner party.
For more quick and easy shrimp pasta deliciousness be sure to check out my Shrimp Pesto Pasta!
Scandalously delicious and deceptively simple. That’s Shrimp Scampi! A long-time favorite of my husband’s, when we were dating I whipped this up for him and he said it was better than his favorite restaurant version. He’s since taken over making it most of the time and our kids love it. It’s equally perfect as a quick casual family dinner and for entertaining. It’s super quick, the flavor is phenomenal and the presentation is elegant, and your guests will think you’re a total gourmet!
How to Make Shrimp Scampi
The ingredients are simple and for that reason it’s important to use quality ingredients. Use good shrimp, good wine (not “cooking wine”), good butter and freshly squeezed lemon juice (avoid the bottled stuff). And for that sprinkling of Parmesan to go on top, get a small chunk of the really good stuff from the speciality cheese section. You only need a tiny chunk so it will be inexpensive, but the quality of the freshly grated Parmesan will make a big difference in the outcome of the dish.
What to Serve with Shrimp Scampi
The shrimp scampi is the showstopper so avoid competition by keeping the sides simple, both in flavor and appearance. Shrimp scampi with pasta has both your protein and your carbs so there is no need for any additional high-carb sides unless you’d like to include some bread. Here are just a few ideas for sides:
- Crusty bread
- Garlic bread
- Leafy green salad
- Caprese salad
- Roasted or steamed veggies
This shrimp scampi recipe is so quick to make, it’s perfect for a busy weeknight meal. At the same time, it’s elegant and classy in its simplicity and presentation and is equally fit for a fancy dinner party with guests.
Enjoy this simple and simply delicious classic dish!
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Lemon Garlic Shrimp Scampi
Ingredients
- 16 ounces linguine , cooked al dente in lightly salted water
- 1 1/2 pounds large 16-20 count shrimp , shelled and deveined (optional: leave the tail on for a fancier look))
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic , minced
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes , add more if you like it hot!
- 1/2 cup white wine
- 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon zest
- freshly ground black pepper and salt to taste
- 1/3 cup finely chopped parsley
- Parmesan cheese for sprinkling
- extra chopped parsley for garnishing
Instructions
- Heat a medium-sized pan on medium-high heat. Once heated, add the butter and olive oil. Once the butter is melted and is no longer foamy, increase the heat to high and add the shrimp. Cook for one minute then turn shrimp over, add the garlic and red pepper flakes, and cook for another minute. Be careful not to overcook or the shrimp will be tough. Set shrimp aside on a warm plate.Next add the white wine, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Add black pepper and salt to taste. Leave the heat on high and let the wine sauce boil for 2-3 minutes.Reduce heat to medium. Add the shrimp and parsley and stir to coat with the sauce.Serve immediately over pasta sprinkled with some freshly grated Parmesan cheese and a little extra chopped parsley. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Originally published on The Daring Gourmet January 20, 2013
Hi, I’m Kimberly Killebrew and welcome to Daring Gourmet where you'll find delicious originals, revitalized classics, and simply downright good eats from around the world! Originally from Germany, later raised in England, world-traveled, and now living in the U.S., from my globally-influenced kitchen I invite you to tour the world through your taste buds!
Wow, it’s really delicious and easy to cook. My children love Garlic Shrimp Scampi so much. Thank you for your sharing.
This was absolutely delicious! I added asparagus as it’s fresh in our garden right now. The biggest compliment came from my husband who is not really a pasta fan – he said “ it was fabulous and make sure you print that recipe!” Thanks!
By the way, although I’m American, we have been living in England for the past twenty years. Scampi here is battered deep fried langostine tails. When Europeans come over they are always so disappointed when they order shrimp scampi!
Wonderful, Leslie, I’m so glad you both enjoyed it, thank you! Asparagus was a great touch. We planted our asparagus bed 3 years ago so technically should have enjoyed our first good harvest this season but unfortunately they were still thinner than a pencil. Crossing our fingers for a great harvest next year!
Whereabouts are you in England? I lived near Peterborough for 7 years. We’re headed to England for our family vacation in another week and a half – it always feels like going home.
This is the perfect date night meal! Yum!
Sounds so impressive! I’m going to try this for sure, so tasty and flavorful meal!
This is seriously making me hungry!
Seriously one of my favorite dishes! I can’t wait to make this this week! Perfect with some white wine!
I would love to make this for my wife, however she can not have citrus . Is there a good substitute for the lemon?
Hi Bob, lemon is a central ingredient in the flavor profile (both the lemon zest and lemon juice) and unfortunately there just is no substitute. There are a lot of different shrimp scampi recipes online though with different (non-citrus) flavor profiles.
Phew, the title of this recipe caused some confusion since Shrimp is a different species from Langoustine and the tails of the latter is what is used for Scampi. Language is a funny thing isn’t it? Langoustines are also called Dublin Bay Prawns and Norway Lobster!
I like your recipe, despite my confusion. I hope you all had a lovely Easter celebration.
Hi Toffeeapple, I think the confusion here mostly comes down to semantic differences between English and American English :) In the U.S. “Shrimp Scampi” is made using shrimp like the ones called for in this recipe. We probably “should” make a clearer distinction but just lack the sophistication, lol.
We did have a lovely Easter, thank you, and I hope you did as well. We’ll be touching English soil in another 3 weeks and can’t wait to spend a few weeks there again. This time we’ll also be spending a few days in south Wales.
My kids just love shrimp scampi! We are making this for dinner tonight!
Wow, it’s truly quick and easy to cook. The flavor will be impressed with the big fan of shrimp like me. Thank you so much for sharing.
Such a fantastic meal!! Incredibly delicious!!
I have been cooking with shrimp lately, but haven’t made this recipe yet! I will be giving this a try this week; looks splendid!
I love this recipe, it’s perfect. My pet peeve is when shells, even just the tails of the shrimp, are left on in hot dishes that require you eat with a fork. I really don’t think it improves the visual or the taste and it makes it more difficult to cut around the tail. The tails are fine left on for shrimp cocktail, etc.
Finally found the time to cook today and your recipe is AWESOME….I absolutely love it….I can taste the lemon and the garlic but they’re not too strong of a taste. I generally don’t like spicy so I didn’t use the red pepper and I like a lot of sauce so I doubled the amount of lemon, wine, butter and Olive oil and it still came out perfect!!!!
That’s wonderful, Alexis, I’m so happy to hear it, thank you!
Hello. Is there a specific white wine you’d recommend? I’ve never used it before and I don’t drink so I’m completely clueless when it comes to cooking with wine.
Hi Alexis! I don’t drink either, I only cook with it so I’m no wine expert either. But generally the top recommended “go-to” dry white wines for cooking include Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc, Chablis and Chardonnay. Any of these will go great with this scampi. Happy cooking!