Easy Shrimp Scampi Recipe

This Easy Shrimp Scampi Recipe with garlic, butter, lemon and wine takes just minutes to make from scratch. Serve with pasta for a delicious quick dinner!

If you’re looking for an easy shrimp recipe, you’re going to love this one! My recipe for shrimp scampi is basically shrimp cooked in a savory lemony garlic butter sauce, and it’s on the table in under 30 minutes.

I hate to admit this, but I used to make frozen shrimp scampi from a box until I realized how quick (and better) it is to make from scratch. This super easy dinner takes just a few minutes to make, and it tastes absolutely amazing!

Even my picky eaters like this! The lemon flavor is similar to Lemon Chicken Piccata or Instant Pot Lemon Chicken Pasta, which they all love!

Simple Ingredients

You only need a few basic ingredients to make shrimp scampi at home:

• Shrimp or prawns
• Lemon juice and zest
• Olive oil
• White wine or broth
• Butter
• Garlic, salt and pepper
• Parsley and Parmesan cheese — not required but so flavorful!

This recipe comes together fast. I recommend prepping the shrimp and measuring out your ingredients beforehand to make cooking it even easier.

How to Make Shrimp Scampi

First, you’ll need to clean, shell and devein the shrimp if that hasn’t been done for you. You can leave the tails on for presentation or cut them off.

Heat the olive oil and butter on medium heat in a large skillet, and add your chopped garlic. Garlic cooks fast and can easily burn, so cook it just until it starts to soften and becomes fragrant.

Now, add the shrimp, and spread them out so that they don’t overlap. Season the shrimp with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Yes, you use both chopped garlic and powder for extra flavor!

You only need to cook shrimp for a couple of minutes per side, or until they turn pink. When they’re pink and they start to curl up, they’re done!

Now, you can remove the shrimp to a platter and keep warm while you finish the sauce. Or, just make the sauce with the shrimp still in the pan.

Next, add the wine, lemon juice, half of the zest and parsley. Allow the ingredients to simmer until the liquid heats up and reduces slightly. The alcohol will burn off as the sauce cooks.

Note that if you want to make scampi without wine, use chicken or vegetable broth. Or, you can also just leave it out if you don’t want extra sauce for pasta.

I like to garnish the shrimp with the remaining zest and parsley, plus a few lemon slices before serving. Grating some fresh Parmesan cheese over the top definitely takes this recipe to the next level!

Serve Scampi with Pasta

The garlic butter sauce is perfect for pasta. You can cook your favorite pasta on the stove, remove it from the water and just add it directly to the scampi.

Or, make the pasta beforehand and add it when the shrimp is ready. You can even cook pasta in your Instant Pot if you want! Linguine, spaghetti, thin spaghetti or fettuccine are all good with scampi.

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5 from 7 votes

Easy Shrimp Scampi Recipe

By: Dee

This Easy Shrimp Scampi Recipe with garlic, butter, lemon and wine takes just minutes to make from scratch. Serve with pasta for a delicious quick dinner!

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes minutes

Servings: 6

Ingredients  

1x2x3x

• ▢ 2 tablespoons olive oil
• ▢ 4 tablespoons butter
• ▢ 4 cloves garlic chopped
• ▢ 1.5 pounds shrimp cleaned, shelled and deveined
• ▢ 1 teaspoon sea salt
• ▢ ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
• ▢ 1 large lemon – juice of and zest about 1/4 cup
• ▢ ½ cup dry white wine I used pinot grigio
• ▢ 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
• ▢ ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese optional

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Instructions 

• In a large skillet, heat the olive oil and butter over medium heat
• Add garlic, and sauté until just soft, being careful not to let it burn
• Add the shrimp, spread it out evenly, and season with sea salt, garlic powder and pepper
• Cook for about 2 minutes per side or until pink and starting to curl. Remove to a platter, cover and keep warm
• Stir in the white wine, lemon juice, most of the zest and parsley, and bring to a simmer. Add the shrimp back in the pan, spoon sauce over shrimp, and top with remaining lemon zest, parsley and Parmesan cheese, if desired

Notes

Serve scampi with your favorite pasta.

To make scampi without wine, use chicken or vegetable broth in place of wine or leave out if not serving as a sauce for pasta.

Nutrition

Calories: 265kcal, Carbohydrates: 3g, Protein: 25g, Fat: 15g, Saturated Fat: 6g, Cholesterol: 309mg, Sodium: 1401mg, Potassium: 138mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 1g, Vitamin A: 269IU, Vitamin C: 15mg, Calcium: 223mg, Iron: 3mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American, Italian

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