Garlic Butter Shrimp Linguine (Printable)

Tender shrimp in a luxurious garlic butter sauce paired with silky linguine. An elegant yet simple 25-minute dish.

# What you need:

→ Seafood

01 - 1 lb large shrimp, peeled and deveined

→ Pasta

02 - 12 oz linguine pasta

→ Sauce

03 - 4 tbsp unsalted butter
04 - 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
05 - 6 cloves garlic, minced
06 - 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
07 - Zest of 1 lemon
08 - 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice

→ Finishing

09 - 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
10 - Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
11 - Freshly grated Parmesan cheese for serving

# Directions:

01 - Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the linguine according to package instructions until al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water, then drain the pasta.
02 - While the pasta cooks, pat the shrimp dry and season lightly with salt and pepper.
03 - In a large skillet over medium heat, melt the butter with olive oil. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes; sauté for about 1 minute until fragrant, but not browned.
04 - Add the shrimp in a single layer. Cook for 2 minutes per side until pink and just cooked through.
05 - Stir in the lemon zest and juice. Add the drained linguine and toss to coat, adding reserved pasta water a little at a time if needed to loosen the sauce.
06 - Remove from heat and toss in the chopped parsley. Season with additional salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately, topped with grated Parmesan if desired.

# Expert tips:

01 -
  • It tastes like you spent hours in the kitchen but you'll be sitting down in under half an hour.
  • The garlic butter clings to every strand of pasta and coats each shrimp like a silky glove.
  • It's fancy enough for date night but easy enough for a Wednesday when you're too tired to think.
  • Leftovers reheat surprisingly well, though they rarely make it to the next day.
02 -
  • Don't walk away from the garlic, it goes from perfect to burned in about ten seconds and burned garlic is bitter and ruins everything.
  • Shrimp cook faster than you think, and overcooked shrimp turn into little rubber erasers, so pull them off the heat as soon as they're pink all the way through.
  • That pasta water isn't just water, it's liquid gold full of starch that helps the sauce cling instead of puddle at the bottom of the bowl.
03 -
  • Use a skillet that's big enough to toss the pasta in, otherwise you'll be awkwardly transferring everything and losing half the sauce.
  • Zest your lemon before you juice it, trust me on this, trying to zest a squeezed lemon is an exercise in frustration.
  • Taste a shrimp before you toss in the pasta, if it needs more salt or lemon, fix it then because it's harder to adjust once everything's mixed together.
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