Spicy Shrimp Pasta in Garlic Tomato Cream Sauce - shrimp seared on stove top with crushed red pepper, paprika, and salt, then smothered in a spicy cream sauce made with chopped onions, minced garlic, crushed tomatoes and cream. Seasoned with basil and oregano. Delicious, creamy shrimp pasta recipe with lots of bold flavors!
This spicy shrimp pasta has everything you crave for in an Italian pasta: easy creamy tomato sauce made from scratch, seafood, spices (garlic, paprika, basil, oregano, crushed red pepper) - all of that over the perfectly shaped penne pasta. Simple recipe that you can make at home.
Penne is perfect for this pasta dish as it holds the sauce very well, and with every bite you will get not only pasta and shrimp but a generous scoop of spicy tomato cream sauce too! I've used gluten free pasta (brown rice penne) for this dish as well, and it was marvelous!
Whichever pasta you use, make sure to cook it al dente, then rinse it with cold water, drain it, and only then add it to the sauce. This will preserve the pasta structure and prevent it from getting mushy in a creamy sauce.
How to make spicy shrimp pasta with garlic tomato cream sauce:
Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet on medium-high heat and cook shrimp on one side for about 1 minute, until shrimp turns pink on that side. While it cooks, GENEROUSLY sprinkle the top of shrimp with crushed red pepper, paprika and SALT to cover every single shrimp. Do not crowd the shrimp and don't skimp on spices:
Using spatula, turn the shrimp over to the other side and cook for 2 more minutes (on medium-high or medium heat):
Remove shrimp to a plate, being careful to leave all the oil in the skillet. To the same skillet, add chopped onion and minced garlic and cook on medium high heat in the olive that will have a nice reddish color from paprika and crushed red pepper. Cook for about 2 minutes until onions soften:
Next, add crushed tomatoes and chicken bullion cube dissolved in ¼ cup boiling water. Add basil and oregano, mix everything, bring to boil, reduce to simmer. Simmer for about 10-15 minutes, mixing occasionally and crushing all tomatoes into very small bites, until the garlic tomato cream sauce reduces just a bit. Season with more red pepper and salt, if needed.
Add heavy cream, while on simmer, and mix it in on very low simmer:
Almost immediately after you added cream and mixed it in on low simmer, remove the skillet from heat. Your garlic tomato cream sauce should look like this:
Add back the shrimp and pasta. Mix everything well to combine. Add more salt and pepper if necessary. Add more spices (crushed red pepper, basil, oregano), if needed. Gently reheat your spicy shrimp pasta.
Spicy Shrimp Pasta in Garlic Tomato Cream Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 pound shrimp without shells, and deveined
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper
- ¼ teaspoon paprika
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 small onion finely chopped
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 2 cups canned crushed tomatoes
- ¼ cup water
- ½ cube chicken bullion (I used Knorr)
- 1 tablespoon basil
- ¼ teaspoon oregano dried
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 8 oz penne pasta (for gluten free version, use brown rice penne)
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet on medium-high heat. Add shrimp and cook on one side for about 1 minute, until shrimp turns pink on that side. While it cooks, sprinkle the top of shrimp with crushed red pepper, paprika and salt to cover every single shrimp. Make sure not to crowd the shrimp in the skillet, otherwise moisture will form and shrimp won't sear right. And, don't skimp on spices. Using spatula turn shrimp over to the other side and cook for about 2 more minutes.
- Remove shrimp to a plate, being careful to leave all the oil in the skillet.
- To the same skillet, add chopped onion and minced garlic and cook on medium high heat in the olive oil that will have a nice reddish color from paprika and crushed red pepper. Cook for about 2 minutes, occasionally stirring, until onions soften.
- Add crushed tomatoes and chicken bullion cube dissolved in ¼ cup boiling water. Add basil and oregano, mix, bring to boil and reduce to simmer. Simmer for about 10-15 minutes, mixing occasionally and crushing all tomatoes into very small bites, until the sauce reduces just a bit. Season with more red pepper and salt, if needed. In the end, while on simmer, add heavy cream, mix it in, and immediately remove from heat.
- In the mean time, bring a large pot of water to boil and cook pasta al dente according to the package instructions. Drain.
- Add back the cooked shrimp and cooked and drained pasta to the skillet with the sauce. Mix everything well to combine. Reheat on low simmer, if needed. Do not bring to boil or high heat as it might affect the sauce texture. Add more salt and pepper if necessary.
- When serving, I like to sprinkle the top of pasta with just a touch of crushed red pepper.
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 recipe is delicious. I chose to add half a zucchini and a full red pepper to it, to give myself more veggies. Delicious!
I just love your additions of zucchini and red bell pepper! They will go so well with this sauce!
I made this for lunch and it was delicious. I had to sub two ounces of cream cheese for the heavy cream because I didn’t have any. Also I added some Parmesan. Definitely adding this to the rotation and will make sure to buy some heavy cream so I can make it the right way next time.
Tanya, I am glad you enjoyed this recipe! Yes, cream cheese works well for a cream sauce - great substitution!
I made this a couple of months ago and my daughter has been asking me to make it again! I double the recipe and make 1/2 with chicken and 1/2 with shrimp (she doesn’t like shrimp). Comes out great!
Thank you, Mike, for the comment! I am glad you gave this recipe a try and enjoyed it! 🙂
I made this recipe tonight for the first time and it is delicious! I made it for my daughter for Valentine’s Day dinner!
Kim, what a great choice of a recipe to make for Valentine's Day Dinner! I am very happy the recipe was enjoyed! 🙂
This will be my 3rd time making this dish. My spouse loves it!
Debbie, I am so happy to hear that! Thank you for such positive feedback! 🙂
So so good! Comes together very quickly so best to have all your ingredients out and ready to go. Looking forward to leftovers already.
Melissa, great feedback - thank you! I am so glad you enjoyed this recipe!
Made this for dinner tonight and was delicious. Definitely a keeper. Thank you for sharing.
Joanne, you are very welcome! So glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
Dairy free substitute?
Use coconut milk instead of cream.
What size cans of crushed tomatoes do you use? Thanks
I used a large can of crushed tomatoes and measured 2 cups of crushed tomatoes into this recipe.
Hi Julia - excellent recipe - the flavors were excellent - perfect amount of spice for my family. I added a pinch of sugar to take down the acidity and grilled the shrimp. Thank you for sharing
Vanessa, you are very welcome! Glad you liked it! Thank you for the comment! 🙂
Made this recipe tonight and it was amazing! I did add fresh baby spinach to it.
Glad you liked it! The addition of spinach sounds delicious! Thank you for 5-star review! 🙂
I want to make this recipe, but I would love to use white wine instead of water. Can i???
Hello! What size can of tomatoes do I need?
Thank you
Fantastic! I followed the recipe exactly and it was perfect. Just the right amount of heat, even the nonspicy eaters loved it. Makes sure to buy quality crushed tomatoes. I served it with roasted asparagus and garlic bread. Everyone raved. Thanks for the recipe.
So delicious and pretty quick to prepare!
Love the heat of the dish, whole family loved it!
Thanks for a new addition to the rotation.
I have NEVER commented on a recipe before, but this was SOOOOO good, and I made it exactly as written which is unusual for me. Seriously the perfect tomato cream sauce. Even my husband - who's version of high praise is "it's all right" - raved about this. Thank you!!
I almost never comment on recipes, but I'm making an exception! I cook a lot and think I'm pretty decent at it, but I'd never come up with quite the right combination of tomato and cream and spice in a pasta sauce - this was literally PERFECT, and so quick and simple. I look up recipes for inspiration and rarely use them "as is", but the only thing I changed with this one was not cooking the shrimp first (because I'm lazy like that)...I just let them simmer in the tomato sauce right before adding the cream and pasta. Thanks so much for the recipe. Like others have said, there are many ways to tweak this and I know I will, but the base recipe is going into regular rotation in our house.