Healthy Shrimp Scampi
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Healthy Shrimp Scampi is easy to make and delicious! This skinny shrimp scampi is lower in calories while being packed with flavor!
This lighter shrimp scampi is a flavorful dinner that is restaurant quality! Lemony and delicious, this dish is full of flavor while being lower in calories than traditional shrimp scampi.
We love taking traditional Italian classics and making them a little lighter, like our healthy baked chicken parmesan or pasta fagioli.
In this shrimp scampi dish, we reduced the amount of butter and leaned into a bit more extra virgin olive oil. Swap the regular pasta for whole grain pasta or gluten-free pasta and enjoy a delicious lighter shrimp scampi!
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Tyler’s Tips for the Best Healthy Shrimp Scampi
- Opt for frozen, peeled, and deveined shrimp when grocery shopping. Most supermarkets will have good quality frozen shrimp that can easily be thawed at home.
- You can use fresh shrimp in this recipe, but I would ask the fish market to peel and devein them if possible, it’s a lot of extra work and time!
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Ingredients:
We like to use this citrus juicer for squeezing lemons, it’s much easier than using your hands!
substitutions
Shrimp: Frozen or fresh shrimp work well here. I prefer to have them deveined and ready to cook rather than spend the time to clean them yourself. If shrimp is not your ideal seafood, then feel free to substitute crab, lobster, calamari, or even scallops! Most white fish can be used in place of the shrimp as well, but you want to make sure they are cut into bite size pieces. You also may love our Shrimp Puttanesca.
Butter: We don’t recommend substituting the butter in this recipe. Olive oil does not have the same flavor as butter does!
Pasta: You can use fettuccine or angel hair in place of spaghetti. I haven’t tried this with gluten free pasta, but I think it would work. Some people like to use spaghetti squash as a lower carb shrimp scampi option, but it’s not the same as pasta – use at your own risk!
Lemon Juice: Use fresh squeezed lemon juice for this recipe. Don’t use pre-juiced unless you absolutely have to!
White Wine: If you don’t drink alcohol, then substitute with a tablespoon of white wine vinegar or omit altogether.
Fresh Parsley: This recipe really needs fresh parsley. It will not taste the same if you use dried parsley.
How to Make Healthy Shrimp Scampi
- Season the shrimp with salt and pepper, then sear in slightly browned butter over medium-high heat for 2 minutes per side until golden and cooked through. Remove and set aside.
- Add garlic, lemon juice, and white wine to the pan, scraping up browned bits and cooking for 2–3 minutes. Reduce heat, return shrimp, and add parsley, cooking for 1 minute. Stir in spaghetti, reserved pasta water, and olive oil, cooking for 1–2 minutes.
- Top with the red pepper and enjoy!
What to Serve with Shrimp Scampi
This shrimp scampi is filling and delicious, but it doesn’t have any added veggies.
We love to serve it with our Italian Salad, topped with Creamy Balsamic Dressing. It’s also great with Green Beans Almondine on the side or Lemon Parmesan Asparagus.
storage
Storing: This will last in the refrigerator for up to 3 days in an airtight container
Freezing: We do not recommend freezing this recipe. Shrimp and cooked pasta do not freeze well. This dish is best eaten fresh.
Reheating: You can reheat this recipe in a pan on the stove. We do not recommend microwaving it.
other healthy Seafood recipes:
Healthy Shrimp Scampi
Ingredients
- 1 pound peeled and deveined shrimp
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon salted butter
- ½ pound dry spaghetti pasta
- 2 tablespoons roughly chopped garlic
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- ¼ cup white wine
- ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
Instructions
- In a large bowl, season the shrimp with black pepper and salt. Set aside.
- Heat a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the butter to the pan and let it heat for 3 minutes or until it just begins to brown.
- While the butter is heating, fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil. Once boiling, add the spaghetti and cook until al dente, per package directions. Reserve ¼ cup of starchy pasta water before draining and set aside.
- Add the shrimp to the hot pan. Sear for 2 minutes, then flip and sear for an additional 2 minutes until golden brown. Once cooked, remove the shrimp from the pan and set aside.
- Add the garlic, lemon juice, and white wine to the pan. Scrape the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to release some of the browned bits. Cook for 2-3 minutes or until the garlic begins to soften and the liquid reduces.
- Reduce the heat to medium. Add the shrimp and parsley to the pan and stir together, cooking for 1 minute.
- Add the spaghetti, reserved pasta water, and olive oil to the pan and stir together for 1-2 minutes until evenly coated.
- Top with the red pepper and enjoy.
So easy to make! I liked it for busy nights!