Shrimp Puttanesca
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Shrimp Puttanesca is an easy, delicious recipe that is secretly healthy! Shrimp, salty olives, capers and herby oregano pair perfectly!
There’s something special about the combination of salty, tangy olives and capers with fragrant oregano, garlic, and seared shrimp tossed with fettuccine pasta and a light tomato sauce. The smell of this dish permeates throughout the kitchen and will absolutely have the entire family’s attention.
This easy shrimp puttanesca recipe comes together so quickly and is an easy, healthy pasta dish that has simple and flavorful ingredients.
Tyler’s Tips for the Best Shrimp Puttanesca
- Make sure to reserve 1/4 cup of starchy pasta water! The starch from the pasta releases into the boiling water and helps bind to the fats from the olive oil and make a delicious and smooth sauce when combined and stirred together!
- Make sure the olives are pitted olives so you don’t end up biting into a hard olive pit!
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Ingredients:
substitutions
Olive Oil: You could use avocado oil, but we really recommend extra virgin olive oil
Shrimp: Peeled, deveined shrimp are ideal to limit the amount of preparation time. I have used both fresh and frozen shrimp; they both work just fine in this recipe. You can also use scallops, crab, lobster, and most white fish for this recipe as well. Omit the seafood altogether and make this a vegetarian pasta puttanesca recipe if you prefer!
White Wine: Red wine would work for this recipe as well but we prefer the flavor and fragrance of the dry white wine. Omit the wine if needed; it will not impact the sauce too much.
Garlic and Onion: Fresh garlic and the flavor and sweetness from the red onion work really well in this dish but yellow onion or white onion can also work. Onion powder or garlic powder can work but I would only use 1/2 teaspoon of dried garlic powder and onion powder.
Olives: Kalamata olives and green olives are recommended for this pasta puttanesca sauce but black olives can work as well if needed. Be sure to get pitted olives for this recipe.
Capers: The capers add that salty, tangy flavor to this dish but these can be omitted if needed. You could also use Caperberries or a teaspoon of lemon juice to imitate that flavor. Traditional puttanesca uses anchovies for a similar flavor.
Tomatoes: Crushed tomatoes with no sugar added are ideal. Whole tomatoes can work as well as long as you crush them by hand or with a food processor. Tomato sauce will also work but it may create a bit of a thinner puttanesca sauce since there will not be texture from the crushed tomatoes.
Oregano: Sicilian oregano is my favorite oregano to use in this dish but any type of oregano will work.
Pasta: Fettuccine is my favorite pasta noodles to use in this recipe but spaghetti and angel hair will also work. Whole wheat pasta, gluten free pasta should work in this recipe as well but please note we have not tested it for these options.
How to Make Shrimp Puttanesca
- Cook shrimp in oil in a pan over medium-high heat for 2 minutes on each side, then set aside.
- Cook the onion and garlic for 2 minutes, then deglaze the pan with wine. Reduce the wine by half, then add olives and capers and cook for 2 minutes.
- Stir in the tomatoes and oregano and simmer over medium low heat for 10 minutes. Boil pasta to al dente.
- Before draining, reserve 1⁄4 cup of pasta water. Toss in the pasta, pasta water and shrimp for 1 minute. Garnish with fresh herbs like chopped parsley.
What to Serve with Shrimp Puttanesca
A loaf of crusty bread or garlic rolls would go great with this dish. You can also add a side salad for some extra vegetables, try our peach salad with goat cheese or easy kale lemon salad.
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 as it will not thaw properly.
Reheating: We recommend reheating this recipe on the stovetop. Microwaving the shrimp can make them have a rubbery texture.
other healthy Seafood recipes:
Here are some of our favorite seafood recipes:
Shrimp Puttanesca
Ingredients
- 1 pound peeled deveined shrimp
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- ¼ cup chopped red onion
- 2 tablespoons minced garlic
- ¼ cup white wine
- ½ cup green olives, pitted and chopped
- ½ cup kalamata olives, pitted and chopped
- 3 tablespoons capers
- 15 oz can crushed tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- ½ pound fettuccine pasta
- ¼ cup starchy pasta water
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat.
- While the oil is heating, bring a large pot of water to a boil for the pasta.
- Add the shrimp to the pan and cook for 2 minutes. Flip the shrimp and cook for an additional 2 minutes until lightly browned. Remove the shrimp from the pan and set aside on a plate.
- Add the red onion and garlic to the pan. Cook for 2 minutes, then add white wine to deglaze the pan, scraping any browned bits at the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon.
- Once the wine reduces by half, add the olives and capers. Cook for another 2 minutes.
- Add the crushed tomatoes and dried oregano to the pan. Stir together and turn down the heat to medium low. Simmer the sauce for 10 minutes.
- While the sauce is simmering, boil the pasta per the directions on the package for al dente.
- Before draining the pasta, reserve 1⁄4 cup of starchy pasta water.
- Add the cooked pasta, reserved pasta water and cooked shrimp to the sauce. Mix together over medium heat for 1 minute.
