Pesto Shrimp Pasta

I’ ve been experimenting with shrimp a lot lately. Yes, it can be a small on the expensive side, but if a person pair it whith an inexpensive component like pasta, you can really stretch out that dollar and work this into an affordable meal. This Pesto Shrimp Pasta is an incredibly simple (and FAST) recipe that will make you really feel like you’ re eating the restaurant quality meal at home. Therefore even if shrimp is just an once in a while special day splurge, you’ ll still be preserving a TON by making this splurge in your own home instead of having it at a cafe!
Originally published 12-28-2010, updated 8-27-2020.
This formula was originally posted in 2010. Whenever updating this recipe I produced only minor changes to the formula yield, ingredient quantities, and preparing method. If you prefer the old formula, you can reach out to us at support@budgetbytes. com and we can send you a pdf file of the old version.
What Kind of Shrimp is Best for Pesto Shrimp Pasta
A smaller size shrimp works best for this recipe therefore you get more shrimp pieces throughout the teigwaren. If you check your package of shrimp you’ ll see a number variety specifying the number of shrimp per lb. The higher the number, the smaller the shrimp (more shrimp per pound). The particular shrimp I used were 41-60 size, or 41-60 shrimp for each pound.
You can purchase your own shrimp with or without the shell plus tail, but you’ ll wish to remove the shell and tail just before cooking. You can leave the tail upon, but I find that tail-on shrimp is more difficult to eat in a meal like pasta because you have to end and remove the tail with each bite.
This formula is written for raw (frozen or fresh) shrimp, but you can make use of pre-cooked shrimp if that’ s i9000 what you have available. To use pre-cooked shrimp, simply add them into the teigwaren at the end.
How to Unfreeze Frozen Shrimp
Once you know you’ ll be making this formula a head of time, you can exchange your shrimp from the freezer towards the refrigerator to thaw overnight. In case you didn’ t plan ahead, don’ t worry! Shrimp thaws rapidly under running water. I just place our shrimp in a colander and operate cool water over the shrimp for some minutes until it has thawed. As soon as thawed and peeled, make sure to apply the shrimp dry with document towel.
Can I Replace the Shrimp?
When you’ re not into shrimp, this recipe would also be great using diced chicken, sea scallops, or even chopped artichoke hearts!
Tips for Cooking Shrimp
Shrimp can be overwhelming for people who have never cooked it prior to, but I promise it’ h very easy! The trick is that shrimp at home cooks very quickly and if you continue to prepare it longer than necessary, the particular proteins will continue to contract getting out of the relationship with tough, rubbery shrimp. Therefore watch your shrimp closely and take them off from the skillet just as soon because they turn pink and opaque. It takes only a few minutes (depending on the shrimp’ h size and the heat level beneath the skillet)!
What Kind of Pesto to Use
Pesto can be another ingredient that can be pricy if you don’ t shop around . I used pesto from ALDI, which is very affordable, when you don’ t have an ALDI store near you check to see if your supermarket has their own store brand, or even look for Classico or Barilla brand pesto, which usually tends to be a little more affordable. I used basil pesto for this pasta, but I wager it would also be great with other tastes!

Pesto Shrimp Pasta
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Equipment
Elements
- 12 oz . shrimp, peeled and deveined $4. 99
- 8 ounces angel hair pasta $0. 53
- two Tbsp olive oil, divided $0. 24
- two cloves garlic, minced $0. 16
- one pint grape tomatoes $1. 49
- 0.25 cup basil pesto $0. 55
- one Tbsp grated Parmesan $0. 11
Instructions
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If using freezing shrimp, place them in a colander plus run cool water over best to thaw (this should just take a few minutes). Peel the particular shrimp and remove the tails. Dab the shrimp dry with a papers towel.
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Provide a large pot of water to some boil for the pasta. Once cooking, add the pasta and still boil until the pasta is sensitive (about seven minutes). Reserve regarding ½ cup of the starchy nudeln water before draining the nudeln in a colander.
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While the pasta is cooking food, prepare the rest of the dish. Heat one Tbsp olive oil in a large frying pan. Once hot, add the ready shrimp and sauté just till the shrimp turns pink and opaque (2-3 minutes). Remove the cooked shrimp to a clean bowl.
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Add another tablespoon essential olive oil to the skillet and add the particular grape tomatoes and minced garlic clove. Continue to sauté over medium till the tomatoes begin to burst and launch their juices. If the garlic starts to brown before the tomatoes have broken, add a couple tablespoons of drinking water to the skillet to slow the particular browning.
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After the tomatoes have broken down in the frying pan, add the cooked and exhausted pasta, ¼ cup pesto, approximately half of the reserved pasta drinking water. Stir to coat everything within the pesto, adding more of the pasta drinking water if needed to loosen the nudeln and spread the pesto more than everything.
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Finally, return the cooked shrimp to the skillet and stir to mix with the pasta. Top with grated Parmesan, then serve!
Nutrition
Scroll down for the step-by-step photos!
Try These types of Other Budget-Friendly Shrimp Recipes:
- Blackened Shrimp Tacos
- Lime Shrimp Monster Noodles
- Spicy Shrimp Tomato Nudeln
- Rice Cooker Teriyaki Shrimp plus Rice
- Blackened Shrimp Pasta
How to Make Pesto Shrimp Pasta – Step by Step Photos
This is the shrimp I used. 41-60 size (that means 41-60 shrimp per pound) and this is a 12oz. bag. To thaw the shrimp I placed them in a colander plus ran cool water over all of them for a few minutes, or until these were thawed enough to peel plus remove the tails. Once thawed, dab them dry with a paper soft towel to remove the excess water.
Bring a big pot of water to a steam for the pasta. Once boiling, include ½ lb. angel hair teigwaren to the pot and continue to steam until the pasta is tender (about 7 minutes). Reserve ½ mug of the starchy pasta water prior to draining in a colander. You can begin cooking food the shrimp while the pasta comes.
Give a tablespoon of olive oil to a big skillet and heat over moderate. Once the skillet and oil are usually hot, add the shrimp plus sauté just until they are red and opaque (2-3 minutes), after that remove them from the skillet to a thoroughly clean bowl. Make sure not to over prepare them!
Add the second tea spoon of olive oil to the skillet together with the pint of grape tomatoes plus 2 cloves of minced garlic clove. Sauté the garlic and tomato vegetables over medium heat until the tomato vegetables begin to burst and break down.
If the tomatoes aren’t very ripe they may take a whilst to burst, so if your garlic clove begins to brown before the tomatoes begin releasing their juices, you can add a few tablespoons of water to the frying pan to prevent the garlic from lightly browning. The juices from the tomatoes may create a sweet jam-like sauce over the bottom of the skillet.
When the tomatoes are at least half method broken down, add the cooked plus drained pasta, ¼ cup pesto, and about half of the reserved nudeln water to the skillet. Stir in order to coat everything in the pesto, increasing the of the starchy pasta water in case needed to loosen things up and assist the pesto spread.
Finally, come back the cooked shrimp back to the particular skillet and stir to combine with all the pasta and pesto.
I love to add just a little (about 1 Tbsp) grated Parmesan on top, and you can then add chopped parsley for color in case you’ d like (it’ t not necessary for the flavor).
Enjoy! (A little extra newly cracked pepper on top doesn’ capital t hurt, and if you’ re straight into spicy try adding a touch of crushed red pepper! )
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