This easy Shrimp Alfredo Pasta Recipe has creamy homemade Alfredo sauce seasoned with garlic, shredded Parmesan cheese, and tender shrimp all stirred together with perfect al dente pasta. Ready in just 15 minutes!
We love 15 minute meals and this one is easy and quick and makes a great lunch, dinner, or romantic date night meal for two. It’s great for busy weeknights or any night of the week.
Step 1 –In a large pot of water, cook the pasta according to the package directions. Rest a wooden spoon over the water to help keep it from boiling over. Drain.
Step 2 –While the pasta is cooking, cut the cream cheese into cubes.
Step 3 –Also, heat a large frying pan with high sides over medium heat. Add the cream cheese and butter, stirring until melted. It won’t be smooth and creamy yet.
Step 4 –Stir in the milk, Parmesan cheese, minced garlic, salt, and pepper. Cook and stir for 2-3 minutes or until the cheese melts and is thickened and smooth.
Step 5 –Add the deveined shrimp to the homemade creamy alfredo sauce and cook over medium heat for about 3-4 minutes, flipping them over halfway through. The shrimp will be opaque and pink when cooked through.
Step 6 –Stir in the cooked pasta until well coated and cook until warmed through about 1-2 minutes.
Step 7 –Garnish with fresh chopped parsley, if desired. Serve and Enjoy!
Pro Tips
For the easiest meal prep, I recommend buying frozen shrimp in a bag that is labeled “peeled, deveined and tails removed”.
Store leftovers in an airtight container for 3-4 days in the fridge.
Recipe FAQs
What goes with Shrimp Alfredo?
We love to serve it with a simple side salad and garlic bread.
You may also enjoy
Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo
Shrimp and Zucchini Bake
Shrimp Stuffed Baked Potatoes
Shrimp and Steak Kabobs
Yield: Serves 2
Shrimp Alfredo Pasta Recipe
This easy Shrimp Alfredo Pasta Recipe has creamy homemade Alfredo sauce seasoned with garlic, shredded Parmesan cheese, and tender shrimp all stirred together with perfect al dente pasta.
Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time10 minutes
Total Time15 minutes
Ingredients
4 ounces pasta (fettuccine, linguine, or angel hair pasta)
4 ounces of cream cheese
3 Tablespoons of butter
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon jarred minced garlic
Salt and pepper (to taste)
1/2 pound shrimp, thawed (I buy peeled, deveined and tails removed)
Optional for garnish - 1/2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
Instructions
In a large pot of water, cook the pasta according to the package directions. Rest a wooden spoon over the water to help keep it from boiling over. Drain.
While the pasta is cooking, cut the cream cheese into cubes.
Also, heat a large frying pan with high sides over medium heat. Add the cream cheese and butter, stirring until melted. It won’t be smooth and creamy yet.
Stir in the milk, Parmesan cheese, minced garlic, salt, and pepper. Cook and stir for 2-3 minutes or until the cheese melts and is thickened and smooth.
Add the deveined shrimp to the homemade creamy alfredo sauce and cook over medium heat for about 3-4 minutes, flipping them over halfway through. The shrimp will be opaque and pink when cooked through.
Stir in the cooked pasta until well coated and cook until warmed through about 1-2 minutes.
Garnish with fresh chopped parsley, if desired. Serve and Enjoy!
Notes
For the easiest meal prep, I recommend buying frozen shrimp in a bag that is labeled "peeled, deveined and tails removed".
Store leftovers in an airtight container for 3-4 days in the fridge.
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Nutrition information is a guideline only, is calculated automatically by third party software, and absolute accuracy is not guaranteed.
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Hi and welcome. I’m Zona and I have a passion for recipes. I share recipes, tips, tricks, and resources to help you cook for two. Eat, drink, and enjoy!
This recipe is also available on my other website Zona’s Lazy Recipes and serves 6.
Use the pasta water to create a creamy Alfredo sauce
This water (which Bon Appetit calls “LIQUID GOLD”) is what emulsifies with the fat in your sauce (oil, butter, cheese, etc) and creates that incredibly smooth sauce. My #1 tip with pasta water is DO NOT ADD IT DIRECTLY FROM THE POT.
Heartier herbs like thyme or oregano can be added in to simmer with the sauce. Add delicate herbs like parsley, basil, or chervil at the end to maintain their delicate, aromatic flavor. Quick tip: Swirl in a bit of leftover pesto to add another herbaceous twist to your Alfredo sauce.
Fresh parmesan cheese grated off the block is one of those key ingredients. This will create a smooth textured sauce rather than a grainy one. Butter: Both unsalted or salted work for this alfredo sauce recipe. If using salted butter, then just adjust the extra salt you use or omit it entirely.
Parmesan is the signature flavor in Alfredo sauce but you can also combine it with other cheeses for additional flavor. You can also make a a completely different sauce/different flavor profile by swapping the Parmesan for another melting cheese such as mozzarella, Asiago, Gouda, smoked cheddar, Monterrey, etc.
Table salt, kosher salt, sea salt... any of these types of salt will work fine. Avoid iodized salt, which will impart an off taste to the noodles. If you use salt with grain that is finer than kosher salt, start with an even tablespoon and add more to taste.
Nutmeg: A pinch of freshly grated nutmeg can elevate the flavors in your Alfredo sauce. However, use it sparingly; a little goes a long way. White Wine: A splash of a good-quality white wine can add depth and complexity. Make sure to cook off the alcohol by simmering the sauce for a few extra minutes.
Extra seasonings and spices will go a long way in adding flavor to a boring jar of sauce. Some of my personal favorites include salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, dried basil, oregano, onion powder or seasoned salt. Start with small amounts (1/2 teaspoon at a time) and add as needed, in order to avoid over-spicing.
This recipe for homemade alfredo sauce uses $4.33 worth of ingredients and makes 9.5 ounces, which is also roughly 46 cents per ounce. This means homemade alfredo sauce costs about the same as high quality jarred sauces, but tastes even better.
For tomato-based sauces, a good rule of thumb to follow is to use one jar of 24-ounce pasta sauce for every 16-ounce package of pasta. When calculating how much sauce for pasta per person, generally about 2 to 4 ounces (1/4 to 1/2 cup) of sauce for each 2 ounce (about 1 cup cooked) serving of pasta would be needed.
Yes, as a matter of fact, using half and half instead of heavy cream results in a sauce that is equally as thick and creamy. How do you thicken half and half for Alfredo? We've added a couple tablespoons of flour to this sauce recipe to make sure the sauce turns out equivalently thick and creamy using half and half.
Don't overheat any cheese sauce or it will “break” meaning that the cheese will separate into a thin sauce and bits of cheese which describes the “grainy” nature of your Alfredo sauce. Ideally Alfredo sauce should not be “cooked” at all but combined using the heat from the pasta only.
Once the pasta is in the sauce, add pasta water. This is the most vital step in the process. Starchy pasta water doesn't just help thin the sauce to the right consistency; it also helps it cling to the pasta better and emulsify with the fat and cheese you're going to be adding.
Once the pasta is in the sauce, add pasta water. This is the most vital step in the process. Starchy pasta water doesn't just help thin the sauce to the right consistency; it also helps it cling to the pasta better and emulsify with the fat and cheese you're going to be adding.
According to that line of thinking, the starchy pasta water helps to bind and thicken the sauce, and in some cases—such as buttery or oily sauces—emulsifies it into a creamy, non-greasy coating.
As pasta finishes cooking in the sauce, starches on the surface of the pasta and the cooking water expand and burst, thickening and binding up the surrounding liquid. The result is a thicker, richer, more cohesive sauce that clings to your pasta just like vinaigrette to salad greens.
The water helps loosen any bits of food stuck to the pan and also aids in coating the pasta with all those flavors. One more advantage to using this water is that the leached starch in the cooking water will help thicken the sauce further.
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