Classic Shrimp Scampi
Updated Nov. 13, 2025
- Total Time
- 15 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 2tablespoons butter
- 2tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 4garlic cloves, minced
- ½cup dry white wine or broth
- ¾teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
- ⅛teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, or to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1¾pounds large or extra-large shrimp, shelled
- ⅓cup chopped parsley
- Freshly squeezed juice of half a lemon
- Cooked pasta or crusty bread
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
314 calories; 14 grams fat; 5 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 7 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 3 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 1 gram sugars; 40 grams protein; 595 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
In a large skillet, melt butter with olive oil. Add garlic and sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add wine or broth, salt, red pepper flakes and plenty of black pepper and bring to a simmer. Let wine reduce by half, about 2 minutes.
- Step 2
Add shrimp and sauté until they just turn pink, 2 to 4 minutes depending upon their size. Stir in the parsley and lemon juice and serve over pasta or accompanied by crusty bread.
Private Notes
Comments
Perfect, except.......USE THE SHELLS!!! The shrimp shells are wonderful flavor enhancers and should not be discarded-simmer the shells in the wine (add some extra wine) for ~10 minutes, strain and then discard the shells, and use the enriched wine in the recipe. Double the flavor!
JimF from Sewell
A lot of the "too little sauce" comments I see seem to reflect a missing step in the recipe: you'll notice the sauce doesn't really stick to the pasta so it feels like you have too little sauce.
You'll want to add half a cup of the cooked pasta water to the pan after adding the wine. The starch in the pasta water thickens the sauce a tiny bit and permits it to cling to the pasta. If you do this, you'll want to add 1-2 more tbsp of butter (or olive oil)
This is a terrific recipe. If you double the wine you have plenty of sauce. But less to drink.
I am sure there are many noted that will share the same recommendation, but I seasoned the shrimp with salt and pepper and cooked them hot and fast then removed them from the pan. Reduced the heat and added more butter, the shrimp shells, and a minced shallot and the zest from the lemon. Added double the wine and a scant half cup of starchy pasta water and reduced it by half, then added the slightly undercooked pasta (bucatini for me) and, because I’m a heathen, finished it with a sprinkle of parmesan and a dash of tobacco. I lived in Italy for a decade and I absolutely know this should never happen, so I will call it “bastard’s scampi” to ease the pain. Delicious!!
So simple and so good. I removed the shrimp from the pan after cooking them until they were barely done, then reduced the sauce a bit. Added Angel Hair pasts to the pan and tossed with the sauce along with some of the pasta water and grated parmesan, plus chopped fresh basil instead of parsley. Added the shrimp back to a corner of the pan to warm a bit again, then served them on top of the noodles.
The suggestions for making more sauce sounds great, especially for bread dipping and the suggestions for cooking the shells in wine are great too, but in the video Melissa says I don't think there is a better recipe that you can make in 10 minutes, period! Short on time, and no shells, follow the recipe. You can't go wrong! Have more time, check the suggestions. Thanks, Melissa