Made with a homemade tomato ginger sauce, this Spicy Shrimp Pasta is about to wow your tastebuds. The spicy sauce is full of flavor from fresh minced garlic, ginger, and onion all sautéed with a white wine and tomato reduction. Then to top things off, tender shrimp and al dente pasta that makes this dish into a true “chef’s kiss” creation.
It’s easy, healthy, and a great way to incorporate new flavors into your meals! Not to mention you can always sub the shrimp for scallops or chicken or heck, even make it vegan. This pasta dish is super versatile with less than 10 ingredients and quick to make, 30 minute cook time at the max! There’s no excuse to not give it a try.
And if you’re looking for another seafood inspired pasta dish, this Lemon Basil Pasta with Seared Scallops is definitely one to try. Just imagine, sweet sautéed summer corn and garlic combined with a creamy lemon basil sauce and crisp seared scallops all overtop a bed of al dente pasta. Pure deliciousness!
Ingredients
Shrimp – I suggest using whole, raw shrimp that are also peeled and deveined. I prefer a bigger shrimp size, I went with a 16-20 size.
Onion – Make sure to dice the onion real fine so that you have the flavor without biting into a big chunk of onion!
Ginger – Fresh ginger is what makes this spicy shrimp pasta so good, and ‘spicy’. The natural flavor and bite of it is amazing for the tomato and ginger sauce.
Garlic – Adds more flavor to these spicy garlic shrimp, fresh is best once more.
Diced Tomatoes – Canned tomatoes work great for this dish and are much easier than fresh. I love using the brand Muir Glen because they’re top notch quality with superb flavor! This recipe calls for the 28oz can and remember to use the tomato juice.
White Wine – Consider this the secret ingredient for elevated flavor. White wine pairs well with tomatoes for this fresh sauce because it balances out the acidity of it.
Salt/Pepper – Basic seasonings that really pull the dish together.
Olive Oil – Infuses flavor into the sauteed onions, garlic, and ginger + everything to follow.
Optional Garnishes – Fresh chopped parsley, parmesan cheese, and red pepper flakes would all add extra flavor to this shrimp tomato pasta dish.
How to Make Spicy Shrimp Pasta
- Heat olive oil in a large frypan on medium high.
- Add onions, garlic and ginger and continue to cook until onions become translucent.
- Stir in tomatoes, wine, and salt, and pepper. When sauce begins to boil, reduce heat to medium low and continue to simmer until most of the liquid has been reduced and sauce has thickened (~15-20 min.)
- Bring heat back up to medium high and add shrimp.
- Continue to stir sauce and shrimp until all shrimp are cooked (~3-6 minutes), season to taste and serve over noodles of choice.
How to Cook Raw Shrimp
While it may seem intimidating to cook raw shrimp (it was for me at first) … I promise it’s actually very easy. The first step is to find quality sourcing for your shrimp and to look for a source that provides whole, raw, peeled, and deveined shrimp. That might seem rather specific but I promise it makes the process 10x easier than attempting to do it on your own!
If you do find raw shrimp that aren’t peeled and deveined it’s also possible to do yourself, just a little more time consuming. For this, you want to cut along the length of the shrimp’s back – only about 1/4″ deep. From there, remove and discard the vein the long vein (which is often brown) using the knife or your fingers. Wash the shrimp with water and set aside.
Once you have the fresh or frozen-then-thawed shrimp ready, the cooking part is easy and quick. In this recipe the raw shrimp are only cooking for 3-6 minutes once you add them to the hot sauce mixture. It’s similar if you’re sautéing them as well, just 2-3 minutes per side and dinner is served.
And make sure to be careful to not overcook the shrimp otherwise they can become too chewy. The best way to tell if shrimp are completely cooked is when they are firm and tightly curled almost into circles.
In conclusion, cooking raw shrimp is very easy so long as you get the prep work done ahead of time or done for you from the source. And that’s that!
White Wine Tomato Sauce
If you’ve never cooked with white wine then consider this your sign to start. Adding white wine to sauces, specifically cream or tomato based sauces, is a complete game changer.
When cooking with white wine, you want one with high acidity to help balance out the dish while elevating the overall flavor. A few examples would be Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio, Pinot Gris, and Pinot Blanc just to name the most popular! The white wine enhances the natural aroma and flavor of the ingredients without contributing much flavor of its own. Basically, you won’t take a bite and think “wow this white wine is amazing” … instead you’ll just be wowed by the overall flavor!
How to Store Shrimp Tomato Pasta
My best advice for storing leftovers of this spicy shrimp pasta is to either store the pasta separately or make it fresh when reheating the tomato and ginger sauce. If you store the pasta with the spicy shrimp sauce, the dish may be too dry once you reheat it.
To keep leftover pasta fresh though, simply mix it with some olive oil before stashing away in the fridge. Then to reheat, add it to sauce pan with the leftover shrimp sauce and stir while heating. Otherwise, simply make a fresh batch of pasta while reheating your shrimp sauce! Either way will work.
If you’re looking for more healthy pasta recipes, check out these blog favorites.
Vegan Alfredo Sauce made with a cashew base. This easy vegan alfredo sauce is lighter than most recipes yet still tastes “cheesy” thanks to the nutritional yeast. Serve over pasta with roasted vegetables and/or a protein of choice for a quick and tasty meal!
Spicy Tahini Rice Noodles with sautéed onions, jalapenos, mushrooms, broccoli, and gluten free rice noodles, all coated in an easy + super creamy spicy tahini sauce. Another quick and easy meals that’s also healthy! The best of both worlds for flavor and health + a great option for meal prep.
If you try this recipe, please let me know by leaving a comment and rating in the boxes below! I always love to hear from you and it helps other people find this recipe when they search online for the BEST Spicy Shrimp Pasta 🙂
Ingredients
- 1 ½ lbs whole raw shrimp peeled and deveined (I used 16-20 size) —thawed and drained
- 2 cups yellow or sweet onion diced extra fine
- ½ cup ginger fresh, diced extra fine*
- 3 ea garlic cloves diced extra fine
- 1 ea 28 oz. can diced tomatoes —do not drain
- ¾ cup white wine
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- optional garnish: fresh chopped parsley parmesan cheese, and red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a large frypan on medium high. Add onions, garlic and ginger and continue to cook until onions become translucent.
- Stir in tomatoes, wine, and salt, and pepper. When sauce begins to boil, reduce heat to medium low and continue to simmer until most of the liquid has been reduced and sauce has thickened (~15-20 min.)
- Bring heat back up to medium high and add shrimp.
- Continue to stir sauce and shrimp until all shrimp are cooked (~3-6 min.), season to taste and serve over noodles.
Notes
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I tried your recipe after my son asked me to cook prawns (he had bought from the supermarket). So straight forward. Super tasty….I wish I had included the wine but didn’t have the confidence! I will next time.Thank you
Hi Liz – thank you so much for leaving a review, so glad to hear you and your family loved this recipe and will be making it again!! 🙂 – Casey