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 1/4 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.
Italian-style pasta with spicy shrimp smothered in a homemade garlic tomato cream sauce. Easy shrimp pasta recipe that you can make at home any time with easy ingredients!
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 pound shrimp without shells, and deveined
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 small onion finely chopped
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 2 cups canned crushed tomatoes
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/2 cube chicken bullion (I used Knorr)
- 1 tablespoon basil
- 1/4 teaspoon oregano dried
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 8 oz penne pasta (for gluten free version, use brown rice penne)
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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.
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Remove shrimp to a plate, being careful to leave all the oil in the skillet.
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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.
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Add crushed tomatoes and chicken bullion cube dissolved in 1/4 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.
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In the mean time, bring a large pot of water to boil and cook pasta al dente according to the package instructions. Drain.
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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.
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When serving, I like to sprinkle the top of pasta with just a touch of crushed red pepper.
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Want another delicious creamy shrimp pasta? Check out this video for Shrimp Mozzarella Pasta:
I made this tonight and it was soooooo good. I used 15oz can of crushed tomatoes and it worked well. The instructions were simple and easy to follow. Start to finish was easy. Thank you for sharing. This recipe would be great with chicken, sausage, or a combination.
Thank you, Linda, for your wonderful feedback! Yes, this recipe will work well with chicken or sausage.
Made this for New Years Eve 2019 – The most delicious Red Sauce & shrimp combo !! Keeping and sharing this recipe . Thank you for such an amazing and easy recipe !
Maria, you are very welcome! So glad you made this recipe for the New Year’s Eve. Thank you for such a sweet comment.
Yum! I either made too much sauce or too little pasta, but sopping up ther extra sauce with a nice crusty bread….Mmmmm. The sausage addition sounds amazing. Next time!
Too much pasta sauce is never bad! Adding sausage to this shrimp pasta sounds so delicious!
I would like to make this ahead of time for a party and reward in the oven. Has anyone done that? Did it turn out okay?
You could rewarm it in the oven. You might have to check it half way through and add some milk to thin out the sauce.
Hi I am thinking of giving it a try during the weekend. However I don’t have the can of crushed tomatoes in my pantry.. was wondering if it would be possible to use the regular tomatoes probably in a crushed form? Would that work out ok? Or would it affect the taste altogether?
You can absolutely use regular tomatoes and just crush them (or slice them into small pieces).
All I had on hand was a can of petite diced tomatoes. I just poured mine in a blender and gave it a few pulses to get the process started. Once I added them to the pan and they started to cook, I was able to mash the bigger pieces a bit more once they had cooked down a bit. Other than that I followed the recipe to the letter and it was delicious!
Added 1 lb Italian Sausage, used no sodium chicken bullion. Since I increased the protein I increased the tomatoes & heavy cream. I also made 1 lb of pasta. My family LOVED it!
Adding sausage sounds delicious! So glad you enjoyed the recipe and that your family loved it! 🙂
Do you drain the tomatoes or toss them in with all their liquid?
Toss the tomatoes with all their liquid! Just make sure you add total of 2 cups of crushed tomatoes from the can (with the juices). Not more than 2 cups.
This was a nice, straightforward recipe that I enjoyed making. I needed something to make with shrimp that wouldn’t require lemon or butter (I was out) and I had all the ingredients for this recipe in my cupboard! I think you could substitute chicken or scallops nicely, and tbh I think a shrimp/scallops combo would be fantastic. I didn’t add any extra red pepper after initially seasoning the shrimp (because I forgot) and IMO it had a whisper of spiciness that would probably be well tolerated by most folks. Obviously if you like the heat, you’ll probably want to add more! Thanks for the recipe!
Kelly, you are very welcome! I am so glad you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you for such a great review!
Do you mean two cans of diced tomatoes? Or is it really two cups?
Looks delicious but very high in sodium !
Skip the bullion cube. That will cut down on a LOT of salt. And use No or low sodium tomatoes. I do this cause then I just add the salt I need.
Great tips, Donna.