Marry Me Shrimp Pasta
Add Preferred SourceMarry me shrimp pasta is what I make when I want dinner to feel like a night out and I’ve got about 25 minutes and no energy for a project. One pound of shrimp and a handful of pantry staples turn into four generous plates, and you’ll find frozen shrimp works just as well as fresh.
The part that makes or breaks it is the shrimp: I watch for the moment they turn pink and opaque, because they keep cooking in the hot cream and go rubbery if you walk away. The sauce comes together in the same pan, so the browned bits from the shrimp end up in every bite.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- It’s ready in about 25 minutes start to finish, with one skillet doing all the sauce work.
- One pound of shrimp stretches to four servings once it’s tossed with the pasta and sauce.
- Frozen shrimp, thawed and patted dry, works as well as fresh, so it’s doable on a normal night.
- The sauce is built from pantry things: heavy cream, Parmesan, and sun-dried tomatoes, with no specialty shopping.
- It bends easily to what you have, since spaghetti, linguine, or fettuccine all hold the sauce.
Ingredients You’ll Need
The printable card below has the full list with quantities. These are the few ingredients worth a note before you start.
- Shrimp: one pound, peeled and deveined. Frozen is fine here, and often cheaper, so long as you thaw it and pat it dry, or it steams instead of searing.
- Sun-dried tomatoes: chopped, about a third of a cup. Use the oil from the jar in place of the olive oil for more flavor at no extra cost, and blot the tomatoes first so the sauce doesn’t turn greasy.
- Heavy cream: one cup. It’s what lets the sauce cling to the pasta rather than pooling at the bottom of the bowl.
- Parmesan: grate it yourself. Pre-grated cheese is coated to stop it clumping in the bag, and that coating is what leaves a cream sauce grainy.
- Pasta: eight ounces of spaghetti, though linguine or fettuccine hold this sauce just as well.
- Red pepper flakes: a quarter teaspoon for a low background warmth. Add more if you like it hotter, or leave it out for a milder plate.
How to Make Marry Me Shrimp Pasta
A complete printable recipe and the measurements in both US customary and metric are available in the recipe card below.
Boil the pasta
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the spaghetti to al dente, about 8 to 10 minutes.
Scoop out a little of the pasta water before you drain, since a splash of it loosens the sauce later if it tightens up.
Sear the shrimp with the garlic
Heat two tablespoons of olive oil, or the oil from the sun-dried tomato jar, in a large skillet over medium heat.
Add the minced garlic and cook about 30 seconds, until fragrant, then add the shrimp and red pepper flakes. Cook 3 to 4 minutes, just until the shrimp turn pink and opaque.
Build the cream sauce
Pour in the heavy cream and stir up any browned bits stuck to the pan. Let it simmer gently for 3 to 5 minutes, until it thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon.
Keep the heat moderate rather than letting it boil hard, which is what splits a cream sauce.
Finish with Parmesan and tomatoes
Stir in the grated Parmesan and chopped sun-dried tomatoes and keep stirring until the cheese melts and the sauce is smooth.
Toss and serve
Add the drained pasta and toss until every strand is coated, loosening it with a splash of the reserved pasta water if it’s tight.
Scatter fresh basil over the top and serve it right away, while the sauce is still glossy.
Recipe Notes and Expert Tips
- Pat the shrimp dry before they hit the pan, especially if they were frozen, so they sear rather than steam.
- Grate the Parmesan yourself and stir it in once the sauce is off a hard boil, so it melts smooth instead of seizing into grains.
- Keep the sauce at a gentle simmer, never a rolling boil. Cream splits when it’s pushed too hard, and it’s difficult to bring back once it does.
- If your tomatoes are oil-packed, drain and blot them, or the sauce can turn oily on you.
Recipe Variations
- Baby spinach folds in easily: stir a couple of handfuls in with the Parmesan and let it wilt into the sauce. It changes nothing about the timing, so it’s a well-supported addition.
- Salmon or chicken can stand in for the shrimp, but that swap is untested here and the timing shifts with the protein, so cook to doneness rather than watching the clock.
- A pinch of smoked paprika alongside the red pepper flakes adds a rounder, not sharper, heat. It’s a supported tweak that doesn’t touch the cooking time.
How to Store Leftovers
Refrigerate leftovers within two hours, in a shallow airtight container, and use within 3 to 4 days.
Don’t leave the pan out to cool fully first, since a warm dish sitting on the counter is exactly where trouble starts; a shallow container in the fridge cools it quickly and safely.
To warm it back up, use low heat on the stove with a splash of cream or broth to loosen the sauce, and stop as soon as it’s hot through, which food-safety guidance puts at 165°F (74°C).
Skip the microwave if you can, since it tends to overcook the shrimp and break the creamy texture.
To get ahead, you can make the shrimp and sauce up to an hour before serving and hold it off the heat, then rewarm it gently and toss with freshly boiled pasta.
I wouldn’t push it further ahead than that, because a cream sauce is always at its best the day it’s made.
What to Serve With Marry Me Shrimp Pasta
This is a rich plate, so it likes a couple of simple, bright things beside it rather than another heavy dish.
A loaf of garlic bread is the obvious partner, mostly because you’ll want something to mop up the sauce left on the plate.
To cut through the cream, I’d add a sharp green salad like this honeycrisp salad, where the cider-vinegar dressing and crisp apple do the job a squeeze of lemon would.
Between the two, dinner feels finished without a second rich dish competing with the pasta.
FAQs
Grainy usually traces back to pre-grated Parmesan, which is coated to keep it from clumping, so grate your own and stir it in off a hard boil. Oily usually comes from oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, so drain and blot them before they go into the pan.
I don’t recommend it. Cream sauces tend to separate once they’ve been frozen and thawed, and the shrimp turn rubbery when they’re reheated from frozen. This one is much better made fresh and kept in the fridge for the three or four days above.
More Weeknight Dinners Worth Making
If this one earns a spot in your rotation, here’s what I’d make next.
- Shrimp Alfredo is the closest cousin, the same shrimp-and-cream idea without the sun-dried tomatoes, for a night you want it plainer.
- Marry Me Chicken Pasta is the one I make when I want that sauce with chicken instead, and it reheats better the next day than the shrimp version does.
- Marry Me Salmon takes the same creamy sun-dried-tomato sauce in a different direction, spooned over rice or pasta.
- Creamy Tuscan Pasta carries that same sauce with spinach standing in for the shrimp when I want a meatless night.
- Classic Shrimp Scampi is the garlicky, no-cream alternative I turn to when I want something lighter and brighter.
Ingredients
- 8 ounces pasta spaghetti
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 pound shrimp peeled and deveined
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes adjust to taste
- 1 cup heavy cream
- ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- ⅓ cup sun-dried tomatoes chopped
- Fresh basil
Video
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook according to the package directions until al dente, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain and set aside.8 ounces pasta spaghetti
- In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add minced garlic and sauté for about 30 seconds until fragrant. Add the shrimp and red pepper flakes, cooking for 3-4 minutes until the shrimp turns pink and opaque.2 tablespoons olive oil, 3 cloves garlic, 1 pound shrimp, ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- Pour in the heavy cream, stirring to incorporate any browned bits from the skillet. Let it simmer for 3-5 minutes until slightly thickened.1 cup heavy cream
- Stir in Parmesan cheese and sun-dried tomatoes, mixing until the cheese is fully melted and the sauce is smooth.½ cup grated Parmesan cheese, ⅓ cup sun-dried tomatoes
- Add the cooked pasta to the skillet, tossing until evenly coated in the sauce.
- Garnish with fresh basil and serve immediately.Fresh basil
Notes
- Pat the shrimp dry before cooking, especially if frozen, so they sear instead of steaming.
- Grate the Parmesan yourself; pre-grated cheese is coated and can leave the sauce grainy.
- Keep the sauce at a gentle simmer, not a boil, so the cream doesn’t split.
- Use the oil from the sun-dried tomato jar in place of the olive oil for more flavor, and blot the tomatoes so the sauce doesn’t turn oily.
- Refrigerate leftovers within two hours, in a shallow airtight container, and use within 3 to 4 days.
