"This white wine shrimp scampi is an easy dinner that comes together in 15 minutes! Homemade scampi sauce and juicy shrimp on a bed of tender linguine."
Those of you who follow this blog know how much of a seafood lover I am, and this white wine shrimp scampi is no exception. Or, wait, would this qualify as a lemony shrimp scampi?
I guess it probably depends on your favorite flavor, because this homemade scampi sauce has both lemon and white wine.
This recipe has entered my life at just the right time, because it’s been another hectic week over here at our house – but, thankfully, in all the best ways:
For one, we have company visiting, and although I wish the circumstances were better it’s still been nice having someone to spend the long weekdays with while The Husband is still at work.
And for two, now that I’m working from home, it’s (surprisingly) easy to forget how nice a long, thoughtful conversations can be. Usually I make do by making silly small talk with the dogs (way more than I probably should) but nothing beats just sharing thoughts and stories with someone for hours.
Another great perk of having someone in the house with me?
I have help eating trying out all the recipes I make! Like, say, a freshly cooked dinner of shrimp scampi with white wine.
Or lemony shrimp scampi.
Sorry, I can’t seem to make up my mind how to describe this dish, because both flavors come together so wonderfully.
I have to be “careful” when it comes to seafood recipes, because I’m such pushover when it comes to seafood you can almost guarantee that I’ll eat it and love it and want seconds 5 minutes ago. I don’t think there’s such thing as a “bad” shrimp dish.
The Husband doesn’t share my enthusiasm for shrimp (or seafood in general) so I have to space out my shrimp fixes with pasta and chicken and steak to help keep the food peace.
But with this recipe, I got to cheat, since I made it for lunch for the just houseguest and I.
I felt a little sneaky about it, but in all the good ways:
For one, I got to have twice as many helpings as I normally do.
And for two, I got to experiment with red pepper flakes. This dish is written to be a spicy shrimp scampi, but you can adjust the amount of red pepper flakes to suit your tastes.
This shrimp scampi with linguine is more lemony / wine-y (does that word work here?)Â than it is buttery, but it compliments the shrimp and pasta extremely well.
Add in the fact that it only took me 15 minutes to make, I could easily see this being my new guilty pleasure lunch whenever I need my seafood fix.
notes & tips for this lemony shrimp scampi:
- Cooking shrimp can be very tricky. To a trained eye, you can see that even the shrimp in these photos are a tad overcooked (the unfortunate result of trying to work a video camera while I cook.) If you’re looking for some helpful pointers on cooking crustaceans, be sure to check out this guide on How to Cook Shrimp and Mistakes to Avoid.
- I’ve said a few times that this is white wine shrimp scampi, but you won’t see me listing the name of the wine I used – and that’s because I used plain ‘ol cooking wine from the baking aisle at my grocery store. You can certainly go all out with and use your favorite dry white wine in this dish, but for me, I like to keep this dish budget-friendly and save the good white wine for drinking.
- I glossed over it above, but keep in mind that this recipe as written is a spicy shrimp scampi. It’s not too hot, but you’ll definitely feel a bit of a burn. I tend to prepare it this way in mixed company but when I’m by myself I’ll exclude the red pepper flakes altogether.
- I’ve been asked if this dish can be made as just homemade scampi sauce. Yes, you can do this, but I’d recommend doubling or tripling the amount of butter used and reducing the amount of lemon and white wine (maybe by half). This recipe makes a watery sauce, and while this goes great with pasta it wouldn’t do well as traditional shrimp scampi. You’ll want it thicker and with more butter.
This post was originally published on February 28, 2015. It was updated with new pictures and revised recipe instructions on April 6th, 2017.
Shrimp Scampi with Linguine
Ingredients
- 8 oz linguine
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 lb shrimp peeled and deveined
- 1 tbsp garlic minced
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes more or less, to taste
- 1/4 cup white wine
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1 pinch salt to taste
- 1 pinch black pepper to taste
- 2 tbsp parsley fresh and chopped
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese grated
Instructions
In a 6 quart stockpot, cook linguine in salted water to package directions. Drain and set aside.
While pasta cooks, melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add garlic, red pepper flakes, and raw shrimp. Stirring occasionally, cook until shrimp are pink and cooked through, about 2-3 minutes.
Pour in white wine and lemon juice in to the skillet with the shrimp, then season with salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer, then remove from heat.
Stir in pasta cooked pasta and sprinkle top with sprinkle top with parmesan and parsley.
Serve immediately.
Recipe Notes
Recipe adapted from Damn Delicious.
