Whether it’s for a date night at home a special occasion or important company, this Shrimp Alfredo is impressive, yet easy to make!
Are you a shrimp fan? You also need to try these Skillet Shrimp Fajitas or Spicy Shrimp Bowls.
This is one of my favorite pasta recipes. If you are planning for company this holiday season, or if you want to make a special date night at home, this Shrimp Alfredo is the recipe for you!
My husband is a huge Fettuccine Alfredo lover. I seriously think that he would eat it weekly if I made it that often. Back before I really knew how to cook, I would just use one of those sauce packets you can find at the grocery store. But then one of my sisters sent me this recipe back in 2004, and I realized that it is just as easy to make your own sauce. I’m pretty sure I haven’t bought one of those packets since then!
Ingredients
- Pasta: I like to use fettuccine, but any long cut pasta will work.
- Butter: I prefer unsalted butter so that I can control the amount of salt.
- Onion: The onion gives great flavor – I like to use a yellow or white onion.
- Mushrooms: If you aren’t a mushroom fan, feel free to leave these out. You can use either white mushrooms or baby bellas.
- Shrimp: You’ll want your shrimp to be peeled and deveined. I also like to remove the tails because it is much easier to eat that way.
- Flour: The flour will thicken up the sauce.
- Chicken Broth: Using some chicken broth is a great way to make a lighter white sauce. You could also use vegetable broth.
- Evaporated Milk: I use evaporated milk instead of cream to cut out a few calories. If you’ve never tried this trick, you really need to. It doesn’t compromise flavor or texture at all! Feel free to use cream if that is what you prefer, though.
- Parmesan Cheese: Pre-grated parmesan cheese tends to clump together, so freshly grated cheese always works best.
- Garlic Powder: You could also use fresh garlic – just add it in at the end of the onion cook time.
- Nutmeg: A little bit of fresh nutmeg in a cream sauce is so good – it adds a little hint of warmness in the background.
- Asparagus: The asparagus could also easily be substituted – broccoli, peas….the possibilities are endless!
How to Make Shrimp Alfredo
- Cook your pasta until al dente. Save some of the cooking water before draining the pasta. Return the pasta to the pot once it has been drained.
- While the pasta is cooking, melt the butter then add the onion and cook until they are starting to soften, then add the mushrooms.
- Once the onion and mushrooms are cooked, add the shrimp and cook it just until it is pink on both sides.
- In another pan, make the sauce by melting the remaining butter, then whisk in the flour. Cook for a couple of minutes.
- Whisk in the chicken broth and the evaporated milk, then stir in the garlic powder and nutmeg, and season to taste with pepper. Stir in the parmesan cheese. Simmer this all together until it has thickened.
- Add the shrimp mixture to the pot with the pasta, the stir in the sauce. Use as much of the reserved pasta water as needed to loosen and combine the mixture together.
- Stir the asparagus in, then serve.
Tips and Tricks
You can change the cheese – use a Pecorino Romano, or if you are a blue cheese lover I think a good blue cheese would be amazing.
My sister’s original recipe called for scallops, but I used shrimp. It would also be delicious with chicken, bacon or crab.
I always say to season to taste with salt and pepper. I don’t usually add salt to this, but I do like a good dose of black pepper.
I like to save extra pasta water if I think I’m going to have leftovers. The pasta will soak up a lot of the sauce when it is refrigerated overnight, so adding some of that pasta water will loosen it all up. If you don’t save any pasta water, you can add in more chicken broth or evaporated milk when reheating.
More Shrimp Pasta Recipes
Creamy Tomato Pasta with Shrimp
Key West Penne
Shrimp Pasta with Poblano Cream Sauce
Lemon Pepper Shrimp Pasta
Thai Shrimp and Noodles
Fra Diavolo Shrimp
Shrimp Alfredo
Ingredients
- 12 oz fettuccine noodles
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter divided
- 1/4 cup diced onion
- 1 cup sliced mushrooms
- 1 lb shrimp peeled and deveined
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 cup evaporated milk
- 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- Dash of nutmeg
- 3/4 cup steamed asparagus cut on a diagonal into 1/2 inch pieces
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt generously. Add the pasta and cook until al dente. Reserve a mug full of the pasta water. Drain, then place the pasta back into the pot.
- While the pasta is cooking, melt 1/4 cup of the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions and slowly cook until they are starting to soften, then add the mushrooms and continue to cook until both are tender. Add the shrimp and cook until they have changed color and are cooked through.
- In another saucepan, melt the remaining 1/4 cup of butter. Add the flour and stir until combined. Cook and stir for 2 minutes. Whisk in the chicken broth and evaporated milk. Add the garlic powder and nutmeg, then add pepper to taste. Stir in the parmesan cheese.
- Simmer the sauce for 5-10 minutes, or until it thickens.
- Add the shrimp mixture and the sauce to the pot with the pasta and toss to combine. If needed, add some of the pasta water to loosen up the sauce.
- Stir in the asparagus and serve.
Jim says
I tried this recipe and it was delicious. I made a couple of changes such as adding 4 cloves of chopped fresh garlic at the end of cooking the onions and mushrooms just before adding the shrimp to cook, instead of the garlic powder. I added gorgonzola instead of parmesan. I garnished each plate with a bit of chopped basil and tarragon. I left out the nutmeg as I don’t like it that much. There was enough sauce to increase the pasta to a pound (16 oz.) which made it enough to serve 6. Made homemade fusilli whole wheat pasta which I drained quickly and added to the sauce very wet so as to loosen the sauce a little while coating the pasta. I reserved some of the pasta water to thin the sauce if necessary but didn’t need it, keeping the pasta very wet was enough.
Thanks for a great recipe.
rossi says
This looks incredibly delicious, I’will be cooking it this week. Thanks.
cindy stearns says
Deb- Just thought I’d let you know the pasta shrimp turned out yummy. I also had a bunch of fresh spinach so I threw that in as well with a squeeze or two of fresh lemon. Will do this again with variations on meat. I’ll bet your idea cut some calories in omitting the cream.
Just ran across your blog in desperation that evening. Do you send out daily/weekly recipes or ideas? Hopefully I am signed up.
Happy Holidays. Cin
Cindy says
Deborah- Had defrosted shrimp a few days ago, but hadn’t used. Knew I didn’t have fresh whipping cream or half n’ half so I liked that this sauce recipe called for evaporated milk as I knew I had a can. Also, negative on fresh asparagus or mushrooms, so I am trying marinated artichokes, frozen early peas and a few capers. I am serving this as a side dish to accompany a small filet. Grocery shopping will happen tomorrow! Thanks for the ideas, and will let you know how it turns out. Cindy
Deborah says
I hope it turned out well for you! I do love the substitutions you made, and love that you are willing to be so adventurous!
Nancy Burke says
I have been making white sauces for pasta for 20 years, always trying new recipes and tweaking them a bit to find the “perfect” sauce. After making this tonight for dinner exactly as the recipe is written, and having my husband and teenagers scarf this down like it was their last meal on earth, the hubs told me this was the best white sauce I have ever made. Glad I have finally found THE white sauce recipe that has ended my search for the “perfect” one.
Deborah says
Nancy – you just made my night!! I’m so glad that it was the one, and that I could help you out!! I hope you enjoy it many, many more times. 🙂
Marlene says
I made this tonight and it was my first time making a shrimp sauce and I must say that this will be my #1 recipe for years to come! All the family loved it! Thank you
Deborah says
Yay – so glad it was a hit!
Lenny says
hmmm interesting
Melvin Fields says
I always keep frozen shrimp on hand, this afternoon I was craving a shrimp and noodle dish, but didn’t want a typical red sauce, so I Googled “shrimp noodles white sauce”, this was the first link, I used the recipe as a guide and I’m eating a delicious bowl of linguine with shrimp white sauce as i type this, just what I was looking for!
I omitted the asparagus, used half and half instead of cream, used corn starch to thicken and last but not least, I always use Gulf shrimp, shrimp from Thailand, India, Vietnam and others just don’t have the flavor that Gulf shrimp have.
Thanks for the recipe!
Deborah says
I’m so glad you made it and it was what you were looking for! This is one of my favorites!
Fatima says
Thank you for this! We have never made a shrimp and pasta recipe, and since we don’t drink, we’re glad we could find a recipe without white wine. We are cooking it now as I write this, I hope (and I’m sure) it’ll turn out great.
Thank you Deborah 🙂
Deborah says
I hope you loved it! It is a family favorite here.
carolyn says
really good recipe…. I’m a rooky cook and felt like I could definitely serve this to friends
Deborah says
I’m so glad you liked it!
Eileen says
My 17 year old son made this for us tonight. Fantastic!
Deborah says
Awesome! And especially awesome that your 17 year old son made it!!
Ruth T says
Am I nuts? Where is the wine in the recipe? What kind do I use, how much and when do I add it? Sounds Yummy!
Thanks!
Deborah says
Ruth,
There isn’t any wine in this recipe. Since I don’t drink, I don’t normally have it on hand. If you want to use wine, just use it in place of the chicken broth.
Cindy says
This is on my shopping list for Monday night dinner with half scallops and large shrimp. Yum! Yum! come on MONDAY!!!
Deborah says
I hope you love it as much as we do!
Nutmeg Nanny says
Oh how delicious!! This is a dish my husband is sure to love 🙂 can’t wait to surprise him with it!
Ashley | Spoonful of Flavor says
We are having guests over for dinner on Friday night and I think I found the dish that I am going to serve! Thanks for sharing!
Deborah says
Yay! I hope you love it!
Chels R. says
Love this! So many different protein options! So glad you updated this because I probably would of never found it!