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Garlic Shrimp and Sun-Dried Tomatoes with Pasta in Spicy Cream Sauce - a delicious, Italian-inspired seafood pasta recipe. If you want to make something different with shrimp, try this recipe! It's easy and you'll love it if you like sun-dried tomatoes.
There is lots of sauce in this seafood pasta. Be careful not to overcook the shrimp (which is easy to do). But even if you do overcook the shrimp, there is so much cream sauce, you won't even notice if the shrimp does get rubbery. That's the beauty of this recipe. Garlic Shrimp together with Sun-Dried Tomatoes is smothered in Spicy Creamy Sauce and served over fettuccine pasta. With everything spiced up with basil and crushed red pepper. Italian-inspired comfort food that's super easy to make!
How to make garlic shrimp pasta:
Start by cooking sun-dried tomatoes with minced garlic in 2 tablespoons of olive oil, then add shrimp, heavy cream, and spices:
Add the Parmesan cheese to melt it in the sauce, then add cooked pasta and mix everything in:
Adjust spices by adding more of basil, crushed red pepper, and salt:
Garlic Shrimp Pasta with Spicy Sun-Dried Tomato Cream Sauce
Ingredients
- 8 oz fettuccine pasta (use gluten free brown rice fettuccine for gluten free version)
- 1 lb shrimp (Use unfrozen uncooked shrimp. If you have to, you can use unfrozen cooked shrimp - it will work here too)
- 4 oz sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon paprika
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 cup heavy cream
- ½ cup half-and-half or whole milk
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 1 cup Parmesan cheese freshly shredded
Instructions
- Bring a pot of water to a boil. Cook pasta according to package instructions. Drain (reserving some pasta water).
- Note: if using sun-dried tomatoes in oil (in a jar), make sure to drain sun-dried tomatoes from oil, before using them. Reserve 2 tablespoons of this drained oil for sauteing as described below:
- In a large skillet, saute minced garlic and sun-dried tomatoes (drained from oil) in 2 tablespoons of oil (reserved from the sun-dried tomatoes jar - see note above) for 1 minute until garlic is fragrant.
- Add shrimp, sprinkle with a small amount of salt, paprika, and cook on medium heat for about 2 more minutes.
- Add heavy cream, basil, and crushed red pepper to the skillet with shrimp, bring to a stable simmer, and make sure the sauce is hot. Whisk in half of the Parmesan cheese (½ cup) gradually into the hot cream, then stir on the lowest heat setting until the cheese melts. If the sauce gets too thick, add ¼ cup of half-and-half to thin it out. Add more Parmesan to the sauce if it's too thin. You don't have to use the whole 1 cup of Parmesan - it depends on how thick you want your sauce. Use half-and-half to thin it out if it gets too thick.
- Remove the sauce from heat. Add more salt, basil, and more crushed red pepper if desired, to taste.
- Add cooked pasta to the creamy mixture, add more salt, basil, and more crushed red pepper if desired, to taste. If the sauce is too thick, use the reserved pasta water to thin it out.
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.
We make it low carb by substituting cauliflower for the noodles. Tastes amazing!
What a great idea to use cauliflower instead of noodles!
I made this tonight. It was simple, yet very flavorful. My husband loved the sauce. Will be making this again soon!
So glad to hear that! Thank you for taking the time to leave the comment!
Will this dish come out well without cheese and milk/ half and half. Trying to stay clear from dairy
If you don't want to use cheese, milk or half-and-half and can eat coconut milk, then coconut milk would be a great substitution!
I made this tonight but the sauce came out watery and not creamy. I am not sure why? Also, Step 5, "In the mean time, cook pasta according to package instructions. Drain (reserving some pasta water)." It doesn't say what to do with the reserved pasta water? Any tips on how to make this pasta more creamy?
I made it this evening and I added just a little more shredded cheese, I used parmesan and Romano shredded cheese. Also let it sit for a few minutes to thicken up. I did not use any of the pasta water at all! I will be making this again! Hope this helps!
I am glad you liked this recipe! Thank you for sharing your comment!
To make the sauce more creamy, make sure the half-and-half or whole milk boils on low (simmers) while you add the cheese, constantly stirring.
Another option would be to use heavy cream instead of half-and-half.
Use reserved pasta water to thin out the sauce, if needed.
See Step 7
We ate this tonight! I have a large family, so we doubled the recipe and I had to substitute a jar of roasted red pepper for the sun-dried tomatoes. It was delicious! It will be a repeat and next time I will use the sun-dried tomatoes. Thank you for sharing!
Thank you, Katie! I am so glad you enjoyed this recipe! 🙂
Great, easy, and quick recipe! I reduced the garlic to 3 cloves and didn't add any red pepper because I have a sensitive stomach. It still had a lovely flavor.
I am so glad you enjoyed this recipe!
Thank you for such a great recipe. I used milk instead of Half & Half. I also added green peppers and onions with mushrooms to the dish. Thank you once again. About to watch the NBA Playoffs and enjoy a great meal.... I'm a new fan
I am so glad you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave such a kind comment!
can you make the sauce the day before?
You should and as usual pasta tastes betta the next day..put it all together the next day and reserve some pasta water to add to the sauce, iike 5 ounces..
Yes, you can make the sauce the day ahead. And, as the above commenter has said, do reserve some pasta water to thin out the sauce as you are gently reheating it. Or, use half-and-half or milk to thin out the sauce.
This dish was amazing! Added a little pasta water at the end and mmm mmm good!
So happy to hear that! 🙂
I followed this recipe thoroughly and it was absolutely delicious, used freshly caught shrimp since I live in the coast. What caught my attention is that my pasta looked nothing like the picture, mine was much creamier and thicker.
I am so happy you liked this recipe!
How big is a serving size?
The whole recipe makes 4 servings.
This sounds amazing,but I don't eat seafood,could I use chicken instead??
Yes, you can use chicken. Saute chicken until it's cooked through instead of shrimp.
Julia, we loved this recipe! I used rigatoni. It was perfectly spiced and amazing. Easy too. Thank you for another fabulous meal.
You are very welcome! I am very happy you enjoyed this recipe!
My favorite recipe!! I add Italian sausage to mine!
What a great idea to add sausage!
This is a wonderful blend of ingredients! Full of flavor! I am going to make this again and again. Thank you Julia, this is awesome!
You are very welcome! I am so glad you enjoyed it! 🙂