How To Make Shrimp Pesto Pasta

Shrimp Pesto Pasta is a quick skillet meal that can be prepared in 30 minutes. Fresh handmade basil pesto is blended with shrimp and pasta, and Parmesan cheese shavings are added on top.

Tossed with spaghetti, our Garlic Beef Lo Mein becomes a quick and delicious Pasta Dinner, better than your favorite Italian restaurant!

This one-pan supper of shrimp pesto pasta features our home-made basil pesto. For a supper that is ready in less than 30 minutes, marinate the shrimp while you make the pasta until it is al dente. A staple weeknight meal that is easy to prepare yet elegant enough for special occasions is pesto shrimp pasta.

If you’d rather not create your own, you may substitute a store-bought pesto sauce for your Pesto Pasta with Shrimp. Going to the shop for the supplies is worthwhile because it’s so simple to create homemade basil pesto. It just takes two minutes to create in a blender, and the sauce can be frozen and kept for months. Make it in large quantities so you can always have pesto on hand and stop using bottled sauce!

In addition to taste better than store-bought pesto, one of the main reasons to make homemade pesto is that you have complete control over the components. You may modify the pesto recipe to remove the dairy and nuts, or even swap fresh basil for other herbs or greens. We have options for you to alter the pesto sauce for this pesto shrimp pasta in the modifications section!

VARIATIONS ON SHRIMP PESTO PASTA

Creamy Pesto Pasta: Pasta with creamy pesto: Cook shrimp, remove, and put aside. To the pan, add 1 cup of broth, 1/2 cup of heavy cream, and 1/2 block (4 ounces) of melted cream cheese. Pasta, shrimp, and pesto are added to the pan after stirring and cooking until thickened.
Chicken: To create a quick meal of chicken pesto pasta, use any leftover grilled chicken. Butterfly chicken breasts and marinade them in pesto for raw chicken. Cook for approximately 3–4 minutes on each side, or until well cooked. Before bringing back the pasta and pesto, remove from the pan and slice.
Tomatoes: Pasta with pesto is delicious with tomatoes! When you add the pasta and pesto to the pan, you can also add sun-dried tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, or diced tomatoes (drained).
Veggies: To make a complete one-pan supper, toss cooked vegetables like peas, red peppers, or asparagus into the pasta mixture before serving.
Pasta: Instead of spaghetti, use fettuccine, bucatini, or linguine if you like thin-noodle pasta. For this pasta meal, you may also use penne, fusilli, or farfalle.

Homemade Pesto Variations

Cheese: Use 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast in place of parmesan cheese to make a dairy-free pesto sauce. You can also add a squeeze of lemon juice for flavor.
Nuts: In place of the pine nuts, use roasted walnuts or almonds. Use roasted pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds to make a pesto sauce without nuts.
Basil: You may use parsley, spinach, kale, or the tops of carrots for fresh basil. Use a bit of each to make a pesto with mixed greens.
Olive Oil: Swap 12 an avocado, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, and 3 teaspoons of water for the olive oil to make a lighter pesto sauce. To get the greatest oil flavor, use extra-virgin olive oil.

Ingredients

Pesto Sauce:

1/4 cup pine nuts
3 cups fresh basil , packed
4 cloves garlic
3/4 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
1/2 cup olive oil

Shrimp Pasta:

1 pound shrimp , peeled and deveined
1 pound spaghetti
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese , shaved

Instructions

Add the pine nuts to a small pan on medium heat and let toast until you can just smell the pine nuts.
Add toasted pine nuts, basil, garlic and Parmesan cheese to food processor and blend while slowly pouring in the olive oil through the food chute.
In a large bowl, toss the shrimp in ½ cup pesto and let sit for 15 minutes.
While the shrimp marinates, cook the pasta one minute shy of the package instructions.
Drain and set aside, reserving ¼ cup pasta water. Do not rinse.
Heat a large skillet over medium high heat.
Scrape the pesto off the shrimp and add to the hot pan, cooking on each side for 1-2 minutes.
Add pasta and the remaining pesto to the pan and toss with shrimp until heated through.
Optional: Thin sauce with pasta water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until desired consistency.
Top with Parmesan cheese before serving.

Nutrition