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Creamy Shrimp Pasta with Mushrooms in a homemade alfredo sauce. The creamy pasta sauce is made with Parmesan and Mozzarella cheese, garlic, basil, crushed red pepper flakes, paprika.
One of the bests ways to cook and eat shrimp is in a luscious creamy sauce with pasta! Some of my favorites are creamy mozzarella shrimp pasta and spicy shrimp pasta with tomato cream sauce.
And, don't forget mushrooms - they go amazingly well with shrimp, as in this pesto shrimp mushroom pasta!
How to make creamy shrimp pasta
1) First, saute shrimp in olive oil, garlic, basil, and paprika.
2) Then, remove the shrimp from the skillet and in the same pan saute some mushrooms.
3) Add cooked shrimp to the skillet with mushrooms.
4) Next, make creamy shrimp pasta sauce. To the skillet with cooked shrimp and the mushrooms, add half-and-half, cheeses, more spices while the sauce simmers. Simmer the sauce, stirring, until the sauce thickens.
5) Add cooked and drained pasta to the skillet with shrimp, mushrooms, and the cream sauce. Reheat on medium heat. Stir well.
How to thicken or to thin out the cream sauce?
- To make the cream sauce thicker, add more cheese, while liquids are hot.
- To make the cream sauce thinner, add reserved warm pasta water (from cooking pasta).
Gluten-Free Friendly Recipe
I've also made this creamy shrimp pasta with gluten-free pasta (I used brown rice fettuccine) - and it was wonderfully delicious! The gluten-free pasta had the perfect texture for this kind of sauce.
Other creamy shrimp pasta recipes:
Creamy Shrimp Pasta with Mushrooms
Ingredients
- 8 oz fettuccine pasta (for gluten free version, use gluten free brown rice pasta)
- ½ cup cooked pasta water (optional)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 lb shrimp (10 big shrimp or 20 small shrimp without shells, deveined)
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- ¼ teaspoon dried basil
- ¼ teaspoon paprika
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 8 oz mushrooms thinly sliced
- 1 cup half and half
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese shredded
- ½ cup Mozzarella cheese shredded
Instructions
Cook pasta
- Cook pasta according to package instructions. Drain. Reserve some of the pasta water.
How to cook shrimp
- Heat a large skillet until hot - add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and immediately add garlic and shrimp.
- Cook on one side for about 1 minute until pink, on medium-high heat.
- Flip the shrimp to the other side. Sprinkle the top of the cooked side of shrimp with dry basil, paprika, crushed red pepper flakes, and salt. Cook for another 1-2 minutes, occasionally stirring, until shrimp is pink on both sides.
- Remove the shrimp from the skillet. If shrimp is a little undercooked - it's OK because you will continue cooking it in the sauce.
How to cook mushrooms
- To the same, now empty, skillet, add sliced mushrooms. Add more olive oil if necessary.
- Cook on medium-high heat for about 2 minutes, occasionally stirring, until mushrooms become soft and release juices. Sprinkle with a small amount of salt midway through cooking.
How to make creamy sauce
- To the skillet with mushrooms, add cooked shrimp. Immediately add 1 cup half-and-half. Bring to boil.
- Add half the cheese (½ cup). Bring to boil, and immediately reduce to medium-simmer. Cook, constantly stirring, until the cheese melts.
- Gradually start adding the remaining cheese (½ cup), while stirring. Do not add all of the remaining ½ cup of cheese at once. Add just enough for the sauce to get creamy without getting too thick. You might not use all of the remaining cheese.
- Remove from heat. Taste, and add more salt if needed.
- Add cooked and drained pasta from step 1 to the skillet with shrimp and mushrooms and cream sauce. Reheat on medium heat. Stir well.
- If the cream sauce is too thick and you want it thinner - add some pasta water in small amounts to the cream sauce (while the sauce is simmering on low-medium heat) until you reach desired consistency.
- Season with more salt and add more crushed red pepper flakes and basil, if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer:
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed. It should not be used as a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
This was great! I only used 1/8th of the red pepper flakes because my husband doesn't like it real spicey, but added the fresh spinach & chive at the end, and 1/2 heavy cream/ 1/2 milk instead of 1/2 & 1/2. SO GOOD!!! thank you! Love shrimp & mushrooms meals!!!
Just finished eating this. Very delicious! Easy to follow directions. I used rigatoni pasta & heavy cream instead of half n half just because that’s what I had on hand, everything else the same. Definitely a keeper.
This sounds so delicious! Do you think I could add red/yellow peppers to it? Thanks so much!
Oh my gosh this was so good!! Made it just like recipe except just used parm as I had no Moz.
Very good. Will definitely fix again.
Can I add sundried tomatoes and if so can I cook with the mushrooms
Absolutely delicious! Easy and quick.
This is the best thing I have ever put in my mouth. Best thing I have ever cooked. Delicious!
This was delicious and came together very easily. I too added in a little fresh spinach just before it was done and just let it wilt. It didn’t need it at all. I’m just trying to eat more veggies lately. And I left out the red pepper flakes. That was just a personal preference. I added some black pepper instead. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
In this time of COVID-19, this recipe was a welcome and delicious alternative to our usual frozen meals. All I had on hand was oat milk, and whaddya know! It worked perfectly. Thanks for the recipe 🙂
Mine is way better. I use fresh herbs, fresh garlic, sun dried tomatoes, fresh pasta, half and half, arrowroot, aged Gruyère cheese and white wine !!
Great recipe. Im just wondering, how much is a serving? In oz. Or cups?
Absolutely fabulous, and so easy to make!
My kids and mom loved it! Easy steps to follow.
Delicious!! Thanks for sharing!
So good! Easy to make, lovely presentation and smells and tastes delicious - I tried it for a special Valentine’s dinner and it was perfect.
Thank you for such a thoughtful comment! Glad you enjoyed this recipe!