Wonderfully creamy, indulgent Lemon Garlic Shrimp Fettuccine is bursting with flavor and on your table in 20 minutes!
It is the easiest, most satisfying meal that tastes totally gourmet!
I find myself constantly whipping up pasta because not only is it cravilicious but it’s uber quick to prepare and requires hardly any effort. The exact same goes for shrimp. Pair the two together in this easy shrimp fettuccine dish and you have a luxurious tasting meal that comes together at a moment’s notice.
Now be warned, you are going to want to stock up on fettuccine and frozen shrimp because we are about to make one of the best tasting pastas of. your. life.
For this pasta and shrimp combo, I’ve gone with a lemon garlic shrimp because shrimp looooves a garlic butter bath.
We start by melting butter with some olive oil then sautéing our shrimp with minced garlic, red pepper flakes, lemon zest, salt and pepper for approximately 4 minutes then remove to a plate.
The lemon garlic butter infused shrimp is so juicy and flavor exploding you’ll have to slap your own hand from eating it into oblivion!
At this point, you can chop the tails off your shrimp or leave them on, depending on your preference.
We wait until this point to remove the tails because not only is it easier but more importantly, tail shells add flavor to this shrimp fettuccine.
When shrimp is cooked with the tails on, the flavor seeps out and we get more robust shrimp flavor, much like cooking meat on the bone.
Now, onto our luxuriously creamy Parmesan infused lemon, garlic sauce – I’m drooling already. First, we sauté more garlic in butter then sprinkle in some flour and cook for one minute to get rid of the raw flour smell.
We then whisk in our chicken broth, heavy cream and pesto and bring to a simmer until thickened. The pesto adds richness and dimensional flavor without overpowering the sauce.
Finally, we finish off our shrimp fettuccine by stirring in additional lemon juice and Parmesan cheese until silky, followed by our shrimp and pasta.
I just add one tablespoon lemon juice because we’ve already sautéed our shrimp with lemon zest but feel free to add as much (or even as little) lemon juice as your heart desires, just be sure to taste the pasta first.
Now you are ready to dive into this Lemon Garlic Shrimp Fettuccine that tastes every bit as decadently delicious as the finest restaurant. And it only took you 20 minutes.
More Shrimp Favorites
- Coconut Shrimp Curry
- Easy Shrimp Scampi
- Coconut Shrimp
- Lemon Pepper Shrimp
- Shrimp Tacos
- Shrimp and Grits
Lemon Garlic Shrimp Fettuccine
Ingredients
- 8 ounces fettuccine
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 tablespoons butter divided
- 1 pound medium shrimp peeled and deveined
- 6 cloves garlic minced, divided
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ cups reduced sodium chicken broth
- ½ cup heavy whipping cream
- ¼ cup pesto
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- ½ cup shredded Parmesan cheese
OPTIONAL GARNISHES
- shredded Parmesan cheese
- chopped fresh parsley
- fresh lemon juice
Instructions
- Cook pasta in salted water until al dente. Reserve ½ cup pasta water before draining. Set aside.
- Melt 1 tablespoon butter with 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add shrimp, 4 minced garlic cloves, ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes, lemon zest, ¼ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Cook and stir for approximately 4 minutes or just until shrimp are opaque and cooked through. Scrape shrimp and garlic/juices to a plate. Once cool enough to handle, you can chop off shrimp tails if desired. Set aside.
- To the same skillet (don’t wipe out), melt 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Add remaining 2 minced garlic cloves and saute 30 seconds. Sprinkle in flour and cook while stirring for 1 minute, then turn heat to low. Slowly whisk in chicken broth, heavy cream and pesto, stirring constantly until smooth.
- Turn heat to medium high and bring the sauce to a simmer. Simmer until slightly thickened, stirring occasionally, approximately 3-5 minutes.
- Reduce heat to low and stir in lemon juice followed by Parmesan cheese until melted. Stir in shrimp (and juices) and pasta until well coated in sauce, adding additional reserved pasta water or heavy cream if needed to reach desired consistency. Taste and season with additional salt, pepper and/or red pepper flakes to taste.
- Garnish with freshly grated Parmesan Cheese, fresh parsley and lemon juice (optional).
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Dinner
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The 1/4 tsp of crushed red pepper made the recipe a little too hot for my taste. If you are sensitive to hot dishes I would recommend not using the crushed red pepper. I did not have a lemon for the zest. I used lemon extract for substitute. Lemon Extract
The substitution formula is about as easy as it comes: 1 teaspoon of lemon zest = 1/2 teaspoon of lemon extract. I used a 1 pound 8 ounce bag of medium frozen tailless and peeled shrimp.
You cannot make these kinds of changes/omissions and then rate it poorly when it doesn’t turn out.
This looks so delicious! I can’t eat pesto though, can you suggest a substitute or could I just leave it out?
Hi Amy, you could leave it out or if there is something specific in the pesto that you can’t eat you could try making your own pesto omitting that ingredient. We have a few recipes that may work for you: basil pesto, or a kale pesto.
This is one of the best shrimp fettuccine recipes I’ve ever had. The flavour is simply delicious! However, it does have a strong pesto taste and not as much lemon. For the future, I would simply add less pesto and some more lemon juice! I would definitely make this again and I’m saving this for next time!
Hands down a new family favorite. It’s rare we come across a recipe the whole family loves, especially when the dinner table combo includes picky kid eaters and seafood. My nine year old requested this be the ONLY pasta recipe we make going forward, which is the highest endorsement he could give.
The dish isn’t too heavy and makes a balanced meal when combined with a green veggie and bread to sop up the sauce. Double the recipe if you want any leftovers!
That is such high praise! Thank you, Rebecca! So happy you found this recipe.
OMG this dish was the best shrimp fettuccine I have ever eaten. Definitely is something to serve to guests. The sauce was so silky-smooth smooth. Excellent. Lemon has been key to many of my dishes here lately. Thanks
Great Recipe and easy to make!! The Pesto was a nice surprise…taste amazing!
I just made this for my family as a college student with little experience, and they LOVED it. My dad suggested I add a half a cup of white wine when cooking the shrimp and it was AMAZING! I am absolutely bookmarking and making this again.
This is the best meal I’ve ever made from my college apartment. Now I need to cook it for my family at home. This is much better than the pasta that I recently got from a restaurant. 10/10
❤️❤️ That’s awesome Aireka!
8 oz of pasta, one cup, doesn’t seem enough to feed 4 people. Can we double this recipe?
In this recipe, 8 oz is a weight measurement, not fluid ounces (or cups). If you check your pasta package, it’s often sold in a 1 pound package and you would need half of a pound or half of a package.
This lemon garlic cream fettuccine looks really amazing. I love this lemon garlic cream fettuccine recipe. Thanks for sharing this recipe with all of us.
This was excellent. Just note if you do add a bit more cream like I did, you need to add a little more salt and pepper otherwise this was phenomenal and will make again!
This was amazing. I added spinach and cherry tomatoes.
Will any jarred basil pesto do the job?
It should Megan. You can try making your own or using your favorite prepared pesto for this recipe.
Well i’m Portuguese and i made this lemon, garlic shrimp Dish and my Grand Mother told me that i made it better then hers thank you My whole family enjoyed ♀️❤️
So happy to hear that Rosie! Glad everyone enjoyed it.
This is delicious … make it exactly as recipe says and you will LOVE! Better than a restaurant. I had to use frozen shrimp because fresh were not available and it was still delicious.
So easy and it taste as if you spent hours preparing it! Worth all the calories!
I made the recipe as is, and it turned out great!
I am so glad you enjoyed this recipe Jacqueline!
Did you you use basil or tomato pesto ? I’m presuming basil but you never know ? :)
Basil Pesto. :) Enjoy!
Is there an alternate for the heavy cream?
I’ve only tried the recipe as written. You could try substituting milk. The sauce would be a bit runnier, so you may want to add a little less milk at first, and add more to get the consistency you desire. Let us know if you try it Milliee!
Tried this tonight – it was a big hit! Made me proud to serve such a delicious and beautiful dish – we added peas on top Off to see what other tasty stuff I can findThank you
I’m so happy to hear that Lori! I’m glad you loved it!
Amazing recipe. Thoroughly enjoyed! Thanks :)
This is a delicious recipe! Thanks for sharing (: