Pesto shrimp epitomizes a level of sophistication without having to spend hours in the kitchen or an ingredient list that extends beyond your arms!
It’s loaded with juicy shrimp, a zesty basil pesto sauce with white wine, mushrooms, and tender fettuccine pasta. It’s a truly mouth-watering seafood dish that your family, friends, and guests will all rave about!
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❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
- It’s a simple seafood dish that anyone can feel confident about cooking with great success and amazing flavors!
- A tasty alternative to Alfredo sauce while still providing that “comfort-food” factor.
- A dish that can be adapted to suit various preferences.
You’ll be amazed by how such a delicious dish only requires 30 minutes of your time.
🛒 Ingredients
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Note: The full list of this Shrimp Pesto Pasta recipe ingredients with their amounts and options are listed in the recipe card below.
- Shrimp -- our shrimp of choice is wild-caught.
- Crimini Mushroom -- may also use white mushrooms although we prefer the brown for this dish.
- Olive oil -- we always use extra virgin.
- Basil pesto -- may use your favorite jarred variety or our Home Basil Pesto Without Pine Nuts.
- Garlic cloves --
- White wine - dry
- Chicken broth - low-sodium
- Kosher salt
- Italian seasoning - may use our Tuscan seasoning
- Smoked paprika - may use regular
- Fresh basil
- Fettuccine pasta - or your pasta of choice
🗒 Instructions
Note: This is an overview of the instructions. The full instructions are in the recipe card below.
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
- Put the shrimp in a mixing bow and rub in the seasoning mixture. Add shrimp to the hot pan and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Remove shrimp from the skillet and set aside.
- Pour the additional olive oil to the skillet and add sliced mushrooms and salt.
- Add minced garlic and sauté for 1-2 minutes.
- Return the shrimp to the skillet.
- Add the pesto, stir, and then deglaze the pan with the white wine. Pour in the stock and allow to reduce, about 2 to 3 minutes.
- Transfer the cooked fettuccine to the skillet and stir to coat the sauce over the pasta.
- Warm for two minutes. Season with more salt and additional red pepper flaker. Garnish with chopped basil.
🔪 Equipment
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You’ll need the following items to make this Pesto Shrimp recipe successfully.
- Large skillet
- Pasta pot
- Sharp knife
- Cutting board
- Liquid measuring cup
- Measuring spoons
- Wooden mixing spoon
🤔 FAQs
These are the questions we are most frequently asked about making Pesto Shrimp Alfredo Pasta recipe.
This really depends on what kind of dish you are craving. If you want a nutrient-rich and flavorful pasta dish then pesto is the way to go but if you’d prefer an ultra-creamy luxurious sauce then Alfredo is the obvious winner!
Pest sauce is green and typically includes ingredients such as garlic, basil leaves, Parmesan, and pine nuts in olive oil whereas Alfredo sauce is a classic white sauce that’s incredibly creamy and comforting. The textures, colors, and flavors of these two sauces are therefore quite different.
Pesto goes extremely well with seafood such as shrimp, crab, and fish, as well as being a great marinade for grilled steaks, chicken, and pork chops. You can drastically reduce the amount of seasoning when using pesto in a dish.
Yes, you can! Use store-bought pesto or you can make your own Easy Homemade Pesto instead! Purchased pesto usually contains a higher concentration of basil extract though so you may need to use a higher quantity of homemade pesto since this recipe calls for the jarred variety with correlating quantity.
👩🏻🍳 Tips
- Adding reserved pasta water to the pesto sauce acts as a natural thickener. You can also add a little of this pasta water to your pasta if the pasta seems somewhat dry at the time of preparing to serve your dish. This is a great alternative to adding oil which will just result in a soggy oily mess.
- Something to note is that fresh basil will turn black when in contact with a hot skillet or pot. It’s nothing to worry about, but merely a normal reaction to the heat and it won’t alter the taste of the dish. If you want a sprinkle of green basil upon serving this dish, it’s best to wait until portions are served into bowls.
- Only remove the reserved pasta water just prior to draining the pot of pasta. If you do so before, there won’t be enough starch present in the water for the purpose of its use.
- Pesto is typically not seasoned that much which means that you should definitely salt the water when making the pasta.
📚 Variations
- For a gluten-free dish, use gluten-free pasta.
- I’ve used fettuccine pasta for this pesto shrimp but feel free to use your favorite pasta instead. Penne and ziti are great alternatives since they’re easy to toss in sauce.
- I’ve used a basil pesto for this pesto shrimp pasta dish but you could also use rocket/arugula pesto or spinach pesto instead. The steps of the recipe will remain the same regardless.
- Add some grated parmesan cheese over each serving of pesto shrimp for extra decadence.
🥫 Storage
Pesto pasta can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Reheat in a skillet, adding in some leftover pasta water or chicken broth should the stored pasta have soaked up a lot of sauce during storage.
You could also freeze this dish for up to 1 month but I prefer to eat seafood as soon as possible.
📗 Related Recipes
If you are a seafood lover like I am, then there’s no doubt that this pesto shrimp recipe has gotten you thinking of all the different dishes you could make with juicy flavorful shrimp. If that’s you then you’ll definitely want to try some of these top shrimp recipes:
Of course, if you’re looking for ways to use up leftover pesto, consider including this Grilled Italian Pesto Salmon on your meal planning rotation.
And if want to make your own pesto, our Homemade Pesto Without Pine Nuts is delicious and budget friendly.
🍽 Serve with
Serve this pesto shrimp with this classic Italian Antipasto Caprese Salad, Lemon Garlic Asparagus With Parmesan, Parmesan Roasted Broccoli, or even with rice instead of pasta.
📞 Chiacchierata (chat)
A seafood-based meal is always a welcome addition in my house to the usual red meat dishes or chicken. One way to really compliment juicy shrimp is to pair it with basil pesto - it’s something I’ve been familiar with since childhood.
Toss in some al dente fettuccine, mushrooms, and seasoning and suddenly you have a dish that’s fit for serving to guests you want to impress!
What's new? Check out my All Our Way Store on Amazon. We'll be adding more items we love and use or wish we had to make cooking fun and easy.
📝 Recipe Card
This pesto shrimp recipe is loaded with distinct notes of refreshing basil pesto, juicy fresh pan-fried shrimp, white wine, sauteed mushrooms, and tender pasta.
You can keep this dish simple or sprinkle some freshly chopped basil and Parmesan over each serving bowl for a truly mouth-watering feast.
If you love this recipe please give it 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.
Spicy Pesto Shrimp Fettuccine with Mushrooms and Garlic
Ingredients
Main Ingredients
- 16 oz. Shrimp peeled and deveined
- 2 Tablespoons Olive oil
- 10 oz. Crimini Mushrooms Baby Bellas cleaned and sliced
- ⅓ cup Basil pesto
- 4 Garlic cloves
- ¼ cup White wine dry (NOT cooking wine)
- ½ cup Chicken broth low sodium
- ¼ teaspoon Kosher salt
Seasoning Mixture:
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning or Tuscan seasoning
- ¼ teaspoon Red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon Smoked paprika may use regular
- ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
- Fresh basil chopped
Pasta
- 10 oz. Fettuccine pasta may use gluten free for gluten free version
Equipment Needed
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl whisk together the seasoning mixture. Put the shrimp in the mixture and rub the seasoning onto the shrimp. Make sure the shrimp is well coated.
- Heat 1 Tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
- Add the shrimp to the hot pan and cook for about 1-2 minutes on each side, turning once midway. The shrimp will turn pink and you don't have to cook them all the way. They'll finish cooking in the sauce. Remove shrimp and set aside.
- Add second Tablespoon of olive oil to the same skillet. Once the pan is hot, add the sliced mushrooms and ¼ teaspoon of salt. Cook, stirring for about 2-3 minutes until the mushrooms release their liquid, reduce in volume, and get soft.
- Add the minced garlic for the last minute of the sautéing mushrooms and cook for an additional minute. Add the cooked shrimp back to the pan.
- Stir in the pesto and deglaze the pan with the white wine. Add the chicken stock and allow the liquid to reduce, about 2 to 3 minutes. Set aside.
- In the meantime, bring a large pot of water to a boil, add the pasta and cook it according to instructions. Save about 1 cup of the pasta water to add to the shrimp sauce. Drain the pasta, but do not rinse.
- Add pasta to the skillet and stir until pasta is fully coated in the pesto alfredo sauce.
- Over low heat allow to warm for 2 minutes. Add additional pasta water if the skillet seems dry.
- Portion and serve. Season with more salt and additional red pepper flakes, if desired. Sprinkle with chopped fresh basil.
Notes
- Adding reserved pasta water to the pesto sauce acts as a natural thickener. You can also add a little of this pasta water to your pasta if the pasta seems somewhat dry at the time of preparing to serve your dish. This is a great alternative to adding oil which will just result in a soggy oily mess.
- Something to note is that fresh basil will turn black when in contact with a hot skillet or pot. It’s nothing to worry about, but merely a normal reaction to the heat and it won’t alter the taste of the dish. If you want a sprinkle of green basil upon serving this dish, it’s best to wait until portions are served into bowls.
- Only remove the reserved pasta water just prior to draining the pot of pasta. If you do so before, there won’t be enough starch present in the water for the purpose of its use.
- Pesto is typically not seasoned that much which means that you should definitely salt the water when making the pasta.
