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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.
C'mon, people! BASIL IS GREEN! If your dried basil is too old to turn green (or greenish) with moisture, then it's way past its prime. Get a new supply. Let me repeat: the green is basil. B-A-S-I-L!!! Get it? (SHEESH!) But, hey! You want green onions or chives? Have at it! It's your dinner! You want flat-tasting flour paste instead of Alfredo? Hot-foot it to the store and get some jarred Alfredo sauce. You'll never know what you missed. Once again, it's your dinner!
If i dont have half and half or any type of cream what should i use? Tnx
Wow, this looks AMAZING! I think it will be dinner tonight but with scallops rather than shrimp. Or, maybe both! Hell, if I am indulging in cream....
I picked up some lump Crab and I was wondering if it can be added to this dish and what are your thoughts as to whether it would change the outcome by much? I'm planning on making this dish real soon. Thank you!
Lump crab meat could work well in this recipe! I've never tried it in this recipe but creamy sauce with lump crab meat sounds actually pretty good!
What is half and half ?
WHAT IS HALF AND HALF? Half and half is the US milk product that combines half milk half cream to form a lighter cream (unlike heavy cream). To make 1 cup of half and half, combine 1/2 cup milk and 1/2 cup regular cream (heavy, or whipping cream).
what is the calories count per serving?
Made this last night! My husband and I really enjoyed it!
Thank you, Samantha, glad to hear that! 😉
Delish!! My husband is lactose intolerant so used pecorino Romano (Parmesan substitute) and Cabot Monterey Jack (for the mozz) instead of the cheeses listed. Also used lactaid whole milk and supplemented with butter for the half and half. Also through in some spinach at the end. Great meal - and even better as reheated leftovers!!!
Sue, so glad you and your husband liked the pasta! Thank you for sharing the changes you made to this recipe! 🙂
I made this and it was very tasty but the sauce was super watery and not creamy at all, it never thickened up and the shredded cheese just clumped up together in big chunks.....
Did you bring the liquids to boil before adding cheese? The pan and the liquids should be heated enough for cheese to melt successfully.
Made this tonight and it was delicious! Did need a little bit of salt.
Thank you! So glad you liked it! Just the right amount of salt makes all the difference in how the meal tastes, doesn't it?
just want to say that a lot of new cooks look up recipes so those who said who doesn't know how to adapt a recipe it would be young cooks trying to learn...I personally have altered this recipe from what I have on hand and I think that my daughter a few years ago wouldn't have been able to make this recipe...today she could as she gets the how much etc....lighten up please and cooking this now looks yummy
This recipe is amazing!! I made it for supper tonight and it was a BIG hit. Thank you so much!
Made it...with rock shrimp substitute, kudos to you. Absolutely delicious.
I just made this tonight, and it was delicious!!! I used heavy cream as its my husbands fave and frozen spinach and peas. Fantastic and easy for a novice cook!
Now when it talks about half and half is it meaning the 2 cheese or milk to make the sauce. My husband really wants me to do it but I'm kind confused becuz I hate doing pasta stuff. Help!!!