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.
Does it have to be shredded? I like using the sliced tube like mozz(not deli)
If you want mozzarella, do not use "fresh mozzarella" (soft balls or logs). Use a solid rectangular block of Mozzarella or a pre-shredded kind in the bag (either should be labeled low-moisture, part-skim). If you use fresh Mozzarella, it might result in a gobble of the cheese in the middle of the sauce that will not melt properly.
This was one of my favorite recipes thus far! This was even better warmed up!
Definitely will make again!
Hi Pam, thank you for your wonderful review - it made my day! 🙂
I’m thrilled with this recipe. I added bacon and spinach to mine. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Thank you so much, Alice, for your rave review!!
Hello,
I was wondering if I can substitute fontina cheese for the mozzarella. Would it go with Parmesan cheese?
Hi Lynne! Fontina goes very well with parmesan - it should work well in this recipe.
Ok what happened here?! I am trying to be meatless most of the time. It's a new thing. So I made meatballs for the hubs and had this one lone Portabello cap hanging in the fridge. Already started thawing some uncoooked shrimp. Then I stumbled upon this recipe. I told myself I can sacrifice the dairy aspect tonight for the sake of my mind. Oh and no mozzarella and only fat free 1/2 and 1/2 (yeah, I know. someone picked up the wrong one at the store!). Guys. Make. This. Tonight!! As you can see from above I was short on ingredients. I even left out the garlic because, well, I need to talk to people tomorrow and garlic likes to hang for a week! Plus I was only making this for one so I'll admit, I measured the Italian way! So good! Thanks for great food in a pinch!
Wow, Becky, thank you for your rave review. It made me smile and made my day! So glad it worked with fat-free half-and-half and no Mozzarella cheese! 🙂 Love your enthusiasm! ❤️
This pasta dish was an absolute stunner last night. Husband said I could make it anytime! That’s the best compliment he gives! The sauce is stellar. Highly recommend!
Connie, I am so flattered by your comment! ❤️❤️ So glad you both like this recipe. I am wishing you and your husband a very Happy New Year! 🙂
This recipe is perfect, delicious and very easy to make.. I added a little spinach for some added veggies.. I'll definitely be making this again!
Sheena, I am so glad you enjoyed this pasta dish. Thank you for taking the time to share your great review! ❤️
So many ads and pop ops the site is unreadable on mobile phone
Darlene, I will revise the layout of the ads on my site after the Thanksgiving to make it a better user experience.
This recipe was a hit. Halted all the ingredients to make for my husband and myself. Let's just say he wiped the bowl clean with garlic bread.
Janice, I am so happy both you and your husband enjoyed this pasta! Thank you for your review! ❤️
I made thIs tonight for dinner and I happened to have all the ingredients. I added a shallot and white wine and it was fabulous! My husband called it perfect! It’s definitely company worthy and I will make it again! Thanks again for a great dinner!!
Cindy, I am so glad you tried this recipe and loved it! Thank you for your great review! ❤️
My family loved this recipe. My husband especially liked the mushrooms in it. He said it really added extra flavor.
My husband and son said it was really good! That’s a big thumbs up for them
Gina, I am so flattered by your comment! ❤️❤️
I wanted to substitute Spinach for the mushrooms. Do you think that would work out well?
Denise, yes, go ahead and use spinach instead of mushrooms - it would be delicious!
Great dish! Flavor was great on the shrimp and the cream sauce wasn’t too thick or runny. The flavors blended beautifully. It was a keeper!
It was great! Added shallots to the mushrooms. Also added fresh basil when I added the cream and the cheese. Yummy!
Laurie, I am so glad you loved it. Love your additions! ❤️
I made this recipie and we loved it! I also used sun dried tomatoes in oil, and shrimp and a bit of the pasta water!
Jolynn, I love the addition of sun-dried tomatoes - so good!