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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.
Look! This is gonna become a staple at our house. I did modify a little, added parsley and two kinds of mushrooms, I made a double batch for three of us, thinking I would have left overs, no chance. I think next time I might add a little sausage to it, it was great, thank you!
Hugh, I am so happy this recipe was a success! 🙂 Thank you for taking the time to share this positive feedback. Sausage would be a nice addition, for sure!
Hubby and I thoroughly enjoyed this meal. Going to have again tomorrow. Thank you.
Dawn, so happy you both loved this pasta! Thank you for taking the time to share this positive review! 🙂 🙂
Just tried this and possibly my new favorite.
Daryl, I am happy to hear that! 🙂
Hello Julia, Could I use Asparagus instead of Mushrooms in this recipe? My husband does not like Mushrooms. Thank you.
Coleen, asparagus would be delicious instead of mushrooms! Enjoy!
would Old Bay seasoning work in place of the red pepper flakes?
Jean, Old Bay seasoning would be delicious with shrimp and work really well. I don't remember if Old Bay seasoning already has salt in it and if it does - I would obviously reduce the amount of salt in this recipe.
This was delicious. Didn’t have paprika, but otherwise I filled the recipe exactly. I used the pasta water on the leftovers before I refigerated it & it kept it nice & creamy for reheating the next day. Thank you.
Dolores, thank you for trying the recipe, and glad you loved it! Thank you so much for sharing the tip about adding pasta water to the leftovers to keep them creamy - love this tip! 🙂
I made this before for my kids we all loved it and no leftovers. So I just got married and I was going to cook this for my husband. He said he don't like a cream sauce. So I still made it he eat a big bowl of it and was looking for leftovers and there was none. Very good and easy recipe to make.
Nicole, your comment made my day and made me smile! 🙂 So glad everyone enjoyed this recipe!
Wonderful recipe was so simple to make and it was so delicious.
Debbie, glad you enjoyed it and thank you for the 5-star review! 🙂
I can see something green in finished dish but no mention of it in recipe. Is it green onions
Sandra, yes, those are green onions. Chives would work well, too.
The BEST! Because I'm a shripm-a-haulic I added a shrimp bouillon to the pasta cooking water. I'm obsessed and will probably have this twice a week! Thank you!
Christine, your comment truly made my day! 🙂 Glad you loved this recipe. And, thank you for such a positive and enthusiastic comment!
Made this last night. Loved it. Going to try different things. I make a lot of different food. Love to try new things this one will be the best one I have in long time. Love loved it.
Joanne, your comment made my day! I know a lot of people might like the recipe but don't have the time to comment, but when I see glowing reviews like yours - they really make my day!
Delicious!!!easy instructions to follow added a bit more basil but otherwise made extra Lu as written. So creamy.
Maxine, thank you for trying the recipe! Glad you liked it!
Made this recipe tonight. Excellent. Will definitely make it again.
Bernie, I am glad you found this recipe worth repeating!
This was absolutely delicious. I have a Grandson who is so fussy, and he ate a big plate. IT DID GET A LITTLE THICK, BUT I THINNED IT OUT WITH THE PASTA WATER. You don’t need a salad or anything else with this dish. It is very satisfying, and filling at the same time. Thank you. This will be made again..
Alice, your comment made my day! So glad you and your grandson enjoyed this recipe! 🙂
This recipe is delicious I have made it quite a few times. Lots of times I add scallops with the shrimp.
Barb, I am so happy you love this recipe and made it several times. Scallops would be delicious here!
This was delicious. I’ve made many variations of this recipe. I used only heavy cream, added some vegi broth to give more flavor. I used pecorino Romano cheese which was perfect . The recipe was very creamy. I did add a bit of corn starch to thicken it up. I’m low carb so I split it up and mixed mine with sautéed zucchini noodles— yum! My husband had rotini pasta with his. He said it was delicious!! Win win!
Tania, I am so flattered that you love this recipe and made so many variations with it. Thank you for sharing your changes - they all sound delicious!
I’m made this recipe tonight and we enjoyed it. I chose to sauté the shrimp and add the additions according the directions. I sautéed the mushrooms and add the cheeses but held the shrimp so I didn’t overlook the shrimp. At the end I added the shrimp and pasta. I found the mozzarella melted became stringy. We like the recipe although I wondered if adding the mozzarella on top and melting in the oven would work out better. I’ll try again…
This was so delicious! I will definitely use this for compa y.
Rene, I am so happy the recipe was enjoyed! 🙂
Sandy, I am glad you gave this recipe a try and enjoyed the flavor. What kind of mozzarella cheese did you use? This is the recipe to use part-skim, low-moisture Mozzarella cheese that usually comes shredded or in rectangular solid blocks of cheese.
Fresh mozzarella (that usually comes as mozzarella balls or logs) will not work in this recipe.