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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 is just fantastic! Served with garlic bread and topped with a bit of chopped green onions - fantastic! To the "nay-saying cheese-clumpers" - here's a hint: mix the half-and-half with cheeses and let set at room temperature about an hour before cooking. 🙂
Just made the dish. My cheese clumped and it was a little watery. Oh well, i didn't follow the recipe exactly, but used the ingredients I had one hand (kale instead of mushrooms, etc) and the listed spices to taste. The flavor was great. It was pretty quick and easy to make. Thanks.
Thank you so much for this amazing recipe! I followed the instructions exactly and it was amazing! I've been to several restaurants that don't serve shrimp pasta like this! The mushrooms, the seasonings were on point! And my hubby LOVED it! Thank you again!
I just made this for dinner tonight. It tasted so yummy, even in the morning! I was going to make it the night before (without the pasta) so that all the flavors were able to get through. I added onions, green, yellow, and red peppers when I cooked the mushrooms. I am going to cook penne rather than fettuccine. I did not have any problems with cheese clumping as some people claimed.
Tried this recipe today! It was delicious. Added some chopped cilantro to it.
I seasoned the shrimp with Old Bay before I sautéed it. Did everything else as instructed. Very easy to make. It was excellent! It's definitely something that can be served when you have guests over.
I just finished cooking this dish. Since I had fresh lump crabmeat, I used it, instead of fresh shrimp. It is delicious! Going to have fresh fruit on the side with it for supper tonight.
Bad , bad , bad. did anyone ever try this recipe? it doesn't work. cheese sauce is unmanageable. go back to cooking 101. a complete waste of time. Be warned!
I agree ....if the cheese is to be stirred in little at a time, then mention it in the directions. I too had an unmanageable mess of cheese ....very disappointing ....because the flavour was there!!
This is the kind of recipe where you have to actually shred your own cheese. Pre-shredded cheese is coated with cornstarch and who knows what else to keep it from sticking. If you put a little effort into it, this dish is great.
Oh my god made this for lunch 🙂 delicious.
Very good recipe. Made it the first time according to the recipe and we loved it. Since then have made it a couple of times but adapted it a bit. Instead of the half and half I used a jar of Alfredo sauce, threw in some Parmesan, plus the mozzarella and added as much of the spices to meet our tastes. The last time I made it, to up the basil content I added pesto to the Alfredo sauce. It was yummy. The pasta water thins out the Alfredo sauce. Next time I might add curry instead of the pesto. Very versatile recipe. Thank you.
Seems like the shrimp would get overcooked putting it in the sauce begore the cheeses are melted. Wouldn't it be better to add them just to heat them through at the end?
Low fat cheeses don't melt well. Buy regular for sauces. Could be the reason for clumping.
I made it with chicken, because I had shrimp the day before, I am always trying new recipes to avoid all the fat, salt and sugar in restaurant prepared foods. Absolutely amazing when I substituted the pepper flakes with jerk seasonings. I just marinated the chicken 30 min prior, followed the recipe as mentioned and as EMERIL says "BAM!"...Enjoy!
I made this last night, adding in the green onions. I accidentally put in too much red pepper flakes, so it was a bit spicy. But we all loved this dish! I served a green salad and garlic bread with it.. Got rave reviews from my family. Will definitley make again. Thanks for the recipe!