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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.
can you use grated parm or does it have to be shredded?
It's best to use shredded Parmesan.
This is delicious and easy to make
I am happy you liked it! 🙂
Delicious!! Made this exactly as advised...i will NEVER go back to store bought Alfredo sauce again. Thanks so much!
So glad you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you for your wonderful comment!
I've made this twice and love how simple it is. I used Argentinian red shrimp from Trader Joes and it was awesome! This is now one of my favorite go-to recipes!! Thanks so much!
Liz, you are very welcome! I am so happy you liked this recipe. Thank you for such a wonderful review.
I made this recipe and it was delicious. I added some frozen peas and at the end, also added some dry vermouth. Thanks.
I was looking for a simple shrimp Alfredo recipe, but none seemed worth the attempt. I tried this recipe tonight and I’m glad that I did! This is way better than something you would spend $20 + at a restaurant. It came out perfect! Thank you so much for this, I will be making this from now on!
I am so glad you tried this recipe and liked it! 🙂 .
Really nice! Loved the sauté of the shrimp and mushrooms. Paprika gives outstanding color!! Good as is, but I couldn't resist adding a prelude to step 3. Deglaze pan with 1/4 cup Dry Sherry (or any white wine), reduce by half, add a dab of butter and then the cream etc. Sinful, for sure! Everybody always has their own tweaks, but thanks so much for starting the show with your delicious and elegant recipe!
Robert, thank you for such a kind comment! I am so glad you enjoyed this recipe. Adding wine always makes pasta dishes better. What a great idea to add dry sherry before adding the cream!
Made this 2weeks ago and having it again tonight!! It’s sooo good, a definite keeper!! I will be checking out your for more shrimp recipes. Thank you so much
Laura, you're very welcome! Enjoy other shrimp recipes!
Made this 2 weeks ago and it was awesome, making it again tonight!! This is definitely a keeper!! Will check out your site for more shrimp recipes
So happy you liked this shrimp mushroom pasta! 🙂
AMAZING!
Thanks! 🙂
Made this today it was delicious.i will make again I used penn instead of fettuccine.
Glad you liked it! Penne is a great choice of pasta for creamy dishes.
This was so easy! And I'm a newby cooker. It was also so delicious I've already sent the recipe to two people and I've only had 2 bites! Thanks!
You're very welcome! I am glad you enjoyed this pasta! 🙂
Made this last night and it was , DELICIOUS !! Thanks so much for posting .
You're very welcome! So glad you enjoyed it!
What does half & half mean? Half & half of what? Baffled.
Half and Half is the name of a dairy product available in the US that consists of a mix of half heavy cream, half milk. Half and Half gives recipes a creamy texture with a bit less fat; it is also less thick in texture than full fat (heavy) cream. It comes in cartons or bottles in the refrigerator section of grocery stores, near the milk.
Great explanation! Thank you! If you don't have half and half, to make 1 cup of half and half, combine 1/2 cup milk and 1/2 cup regular cream (by regular creamy I mean heavy, or whipping cream).
Half and half is a US milk product. To make 1 cup of half and half, combine 1/2 cup of milk and 1/2 cup of heavy cream (or cream that's at least 30% milk fat).
I haven’t yet made this recipe, but I make Shrimp Alfredo a bit thT is similar. The only thing I want to comment on, is the amount of cooking the shrimp gets in your recipe. Way too much! I would leave the shrimp out of the pan following its cooking....... I would add it back into the pan after all the following steps you list (when ready to serve) as shrimp gets tough and rubbery with too much cooking. Once shrimp turns pink....it is DONE!
Thank you! I am so glad you liked this recipe. Thank you for sharing your tips. I can't agree more with you - it's very important not to overcook the shrimp.
Just made this for dinner. It is delicious. We went to a restaurant the other day and ordered chicken instead of shrimp Alfredo as we didn’t feel like paying extra for the shrimp. Thanks to your recipe, we are now enjoying restaurant-quality shrimp Alfredo at home!
Thank you, Alice, for such a wonderful comment! I am glad you've enjoyed this recipe!