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
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.
I used only half of the cheeses from the outset, and it was creamy and delicious. Both my hubby and I really enjoyed it. And it was perfect for my keto diet, sans the pasta.
Good to know that the recipe worked with the half amount of cheeses and without pasta! And, thanks for the 5-star review!
What cheese can I sub if I don't have mozzarella on hand?
Use Parmesan or Asiago instead.
Prepped and pre measured all of the ingredients for my 8 year old daughter to assist with the cooking (great way to get those picky eaters to eat!). I think the most important note that take this recipe from good to great, shred your own cheese! The pre shredded cheese has a coating that doesn’t allow for proper melting. Take an extra 5 minutes to shred blocks and this recipe is perfect as is!
Just a side note on “fishy” shrimp, I can’t stand the fishy shrimp flavor in pasta dishes. Easy remedy for frozen shrimp is to soak the shrimp in milk for 20 minutes after it’s thawed. Huge flavor difference.
Amy, thank you so much for your feedback and tips about shredding your own cheese and how to make sure the cheese melts properly for the sauce to get creamy. Glad you enjoyed the recipe!
OMG!!!!! I'm so happy I tried this recipe! It's Delicious! an interesting side note: I never realized how flavorful Parmesan cheese could be. All I'd ever used it for was spaghetti. It has SOOO much more flavor!
Thanks for the warning about not overcooking the shrimp during the initial cook. Good to know.
I gobbled down this deliciousness and my husband was thankful I gave him a bit!
Thank You Thank You!!
Thank you so much for such an enthusiastic and positive comment!! I am glad you enjoyed this recipe! Parmesan cheese is truly delicious and adds so much flavor!
I tried this with scallops as I used to be allergic to shrimp. I did not like this at all. I might try it with chicken next time and I'll add more veggies too
Thank you for your feedback! This should taste delicious with chicken.
This has become one of our most loved dinners! I have made it many times because we love it so much!!
Karen, your comment made my day! WOW! Thank you for taking the time to share this positive feedback and the 5-star rating! 🙂
Was looking to make something different for dinner and noticed your recipe. It was very good and easy to make. This will be a keeper. The next time I make it, I'm thinking about adding some small cut asparagus.
I am so glad you gave this recipe a try and enjoyed it! 🙂 Adding asparagus will be delicious!
I made this and it is a decent recipe. However, if you follow the recipe you risk overcooking the shrimp. I skipped cooking the shrimp and did the rest. Then when letting the pasta and sauce set up. I tossed the shrimp in the seasoning, sautted in butter not oil and then added them to the pan.
Great tips about not overcooking the shrimp!!
I made this recipe as directed & it was awesome! I just have so much left over I was wondering if it would freeze well. It's so delicious!
Julie, I am glad you tried this recipe and liked it! Cream sauce made with cheese does not really reheat well when frozen - the sauce loses its texture. If you decide to freeze them, add extra liquid (milk or half-and-half) when reheating thawed leftovers to thin out the sauce.
Hi: I made this recipe and yes, it’s a keeper. I also added a cut up chicken breast and added a bit more cream and cheese and this was very nice. A change from regular tomato sauce. I did not need the amount of noodles that you suggest but that’s ok, I will make a soup of give my buddy a tomato sauce linguine this week. Thank you,
Glad you tried this recipe and enjoyed it! Chicken is a delicious addition here!