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I’ve been experimenting with shrimp a lot lately. Yes, it can be a little on the expensive side, but if you pair it with an inexpensive ingredient like pasta, you can really stretch that dollar and work it into an affordable meal. Whether it’s a classic like shrimp scampi or something a little different like this Pesto Shrimp Pasta, these kinds of recipes are incredibly easy (and FAST) and taste just like something you’d order at a restaurant. So even if shrimp is just a once-in-a-while special occasion splurge, you’ll still be saving a TON by making this splurge at home instead of having it at a restaurant!
“I made it this weekend and it was fantastic!! Will definitely put this in my rotation!”
Gail
Easy Recipe for Pesto Shrimp Pasta
This pesto shrimp pasta is one of my favorite quick dinners. The shrimp turn out juicy and perfectly cooked, the tomatoes blister and burst into a simple jammy sauce, and the pesto brings it all together with a herby kick. If you’re new to cooking shrimp, this easy shrimp pasta is the perfect place to start.
Budget-Friendly Shrimp Tips
- A smaller-sized shrimp works best for this recipe, and they also often work out cheaper than larger shrimp. If you check your package, you’ll see a number range specifying the number of shrimp per pound. The higher the number, the smaller the shrimp (more shrimp per pound). The shrimp I used were 41-60 size or 41-60 shrimp per pound.
- You can purchase your shrimp with or without the shell and tail, but you’ll want to remove the shell and tail before cooking. Shell and tail-on shrimp are often cheaper than peeled and tail-off shrimp, and they’re very simple to peel. You can leave the tail on, but I find that tail-on shrimp is more difficult to eat in this recipe because you have to stop and remove the tail with every bite.
- This recipe is written for raw (frozen or fresh) shrimp. Frozen often works out cheaper, so that’s what I use. You can also use pre-cooked shrimp if you get a really great deal. To use pre-cooked shrimp, simply add them to the pasta at the end.
Pesto Shrimp Pasta
Servings 4Ingredients
- 12 oz. deveined shrimp ($4.99*)
- 8 oz. angel hair pasta ($0.53)
- 2 Tbsp olive oil (divided, $0.24)
- 1 pint grape tomatoes ($1.49)
- 2 cloves garlic (minced, $0.16)
- 1/4 cup basil pesto ($0.55)
- 1 Tbsp grated Parmesan ($0.11)
Instructions
- If using frozen shrimp, place them in a colander and run cool water over top to thaw (this should only take a few minutes). Peel the shrimp and remove the tails. Pat the shrimp dry with a paper towel.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil for the pasta. Once boiling, add the pasta and continue to boil until the pasta is tender (about seven minutes). Reserve about ½ cup of the starchy pasta water before draining the pasta in a colander.
- While the pasta is cooking, prepare the rest of the dish. Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in a large skillet. Once hot, add the prepared shrimp and sauté just until the shrimp turns pink and opaque (2-3 minutes). Remove the cooked shrimp to a clean bowl.
- Add another tablespoon olive oil to the skillet and add the grape tomatoes and minced garlic. Continue to sauté over medium until the tomatoes begin to burst and release their juices. If the garlic begins to brown before the tomatoes have burst, add a couple tablespoons of water to the skillet to slow the browning.
- Once the tomatoes have broken down in the skillet, add the cooked and drained pasta, ¼ cup pesto, and about half of the reserved pasta water. Stir to coat everything in the pesto, adding more of the pasta water if needed to loosen the pasta and spread the pesto over everything.
- Finally, return the cooked shrimp to the skillet and stir to combine with the pasta. Top with grated Parmesan, then serve!
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Equipment
- Stainless Steel Pots and Pans
- Garlic Press
Notes
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!How to Make Pesto Shrimp Pasta – Step by Step Photos
Thaw your shrimp: This is the shrimp I used. 41-60 size (that means 41-60 shrimp per pound) and this is a 12oz. bag. To thaw the shrimp, I placed them in a colander and ran cool water over them for a few minutes or until they were thawed enough to peel and remove the tails. Once thawed, pat them dry with a paper towel to remove the excess water. Deshell and remove the tails before cooking if using shell and tail-on shrimp, as I have here.
Boil the pasta: Bring a large pot of water to a boil for the pasta. Once boiling, add 8 oz. angel hair pasta to the pot and continue to boil until the pasta is tender (about 7 minutes). Reserve ½ cup of the starchy pasta water before draining in a colander. You can begin cooking the shrimp while the pasta boils.
Cook the shrimp: Add a tablespoon of olive oil to a large skillet and heat over medium. Once the skillet and oil are hot, add the shrimp and sauté just until they are pink and opaque (2-3 minutes), then remove them from the skillet to a clean bowl. Make sure not to overcook them!
Make the sauce: Add the second tablespoon of olive oil to the skillet along with the pint of grape tomatoes and 2 cloves of minced garlic. Sauté the garlic and tomatoes over medium heat until the tomatoes begin to burst and break down.
If the tomatoes are not very ripe, they may take a while to burst, so if your garlic begins to brown before the tomatoes start releasing their juices, you can add a couple tablespoons of water to the skillet to prevent the garlic from browning. The juices from the tomatoes will create a sweet jam-like sauce on the bottom of the skillet.
Assemble: Once the tomatoes are at least halfway broken down, add the cooked and drained pasta, ¼ cup pesto, and about half of the reserved pasta water to the skillet. Stir to coat everything in the pesto, adding more of the starchy pasta water if needed to loosen things up and help the pesto spread.
Finally, return the cooked shrimp back to the skillet and stir to combine with the pasta and pesto.
I like to add just a little (about 1 Tbsp) grated Parmesan on top, and you can add some chopped parsley for color if you’d like (it’s not necessary for the flavor).
Enjoy! (A little extra freshly cracked pepper on top doesn’t hurt, and if you’re into spicy, try adding a pinch of crushed red pepper!)
Recipe Success Tips
- Thaw your shrimp. If you’re planning ahead, thaw the shrimp overnight in the fridge. If not, I just run cool water over them in a colander for a few minutes. Shrimp thaws very quickly under running water. Once thawed and peeled, make sure to dab the shrimp dry with a paper towel.
- Use a different protein. If you’re not into shrimp, this recipe would also be good using diced chicken (like I use in my one pot pesto chicken pasta), sea scallops, or even chopped artichoke hearts!
- Don’t overcook the shrimp. The trick is that shrimp cooks very quickly, and if you continue to cook it longer than necessary, the proteins will continue to contract, leaving you with tough, rubbery shrimp. Watch your shrimp closely and remove them from the skillet just as soon as they turn pink and opaque. It only takes a few minutes (depending on the shrimp’s size and the heat level under the skillet!)
- Use any pesto you love. Pesto is another ingredient that can be pricy if you don’t shop around. I used pesto from ALDI, but if you don’t have an ALDI store near you, check to see if your grocery store has its own store brand, or look for the cheaper Classico or Barilla brand pesto. I used basil pesto for this pasta, but some of our readers have tried it with other flavors and loved it. I bet my kale pesto would be delicious, too.
Serving Suggestions
I like to serve this easy pesto shrimp pasta with a simple Greek salad (with cucumbers, tomatoes, red onion, olives, and a sprinkle of feta). Roasted broccoli or zucchini makes a great veggie side, and if I have some crusty bread or garlic bread, I always add that to my plate to eat with the jammy tomatoes.
More Budget-Friendly Shrimp Recipes
This recipe was originally posted in 2010. When updating this recipe, I made only minor changes to the recipe yield, ingredient quantities, and preparation method. If you prefer the old recipe, you can reach out to us at support@budgetbytes.com, and we can send you a pdf of the old version.
Not enough pesto for the pasta or shrimp portion, we used double and it was still not enough sauce for my tasting.
Wow. All I can say about this dish. Tossed a little red pepper in with the Tomatoes, and also threw some salt and pepper on the shrimp while cooking, but other than that the recipe is perfect.
Will absolutely be making this again.
Very easy and tasty! I threw a bit of salt on the shrimp before cooking, and added a pinch of red pepper to the pan with the garlic and tomatoes.
Hello, if I was going to use pesto paste would the measurement still be the same (1/4 cup)?
Hmmm I just looked up pesto paste and I’m not sure if it’s concentrated or not, I feel like you’d have to used most of the tube to get 1/4 cup. I would check the directions on the tube and if it doesn’t give you a substitution option then I’d go ahead and use 1/4 cup.
This is one of my favorite recipes!
I usually have homemade pesto on hand in the freezer (as well as cooked shrimp) so this comes together super fast.
Really, no changes are needed – perfect as is! Tonight I was distracted while cooking and while I was eating, kept thinking I’d forgotten something. It wasn’t til I was washing up that I remembered I’d forgotten the Parmesan. It was still good – but I won’t forget it next time.
I love when fancy is simple!
Quick, easy and delicious! I subbed red, orange and yellow bell peppers for the tomatoes. My kids loved it – 2 and 6 years – they finished their plates.
Great recipe. Have made it several times. It’s a keeper. Trying to adapt it to chicken. Everything as-is plus lemon zest? Capers? I dunno.
As Beth mentions in the section “CAN I SUBSTITUTE THE SHRIMP?” chicken would be great in this recipe. I also love the idea of adding capers! We also have a handful of “pesto chicken” recipes on the site, here are a few of them:
https://www.budgetbytes.com/creamy-pesto-pasta-chicken-broccoli/
https://www.budgetbytes.com/easy-pesto-chicken-and-vegetables/
https://www.budgetbytes.com/one-pot-creamy-pesto-chicken-pasta/
https://www.budgetbytes.com/easy-pesto-chicken-and-vegetables/
Worked out great. Simple
So simple and easy! I used too much pasta but it still turned out tasty and even my super picky 6 year old ate some! Definitely adding this to the rotation.
I love your recipes, but I don’t know where you get your prices from. 12 oz of store brand (!) peeled and deveined shrimp is $9 in my part of the US. Classico pesto sauce is about $5 for an 8 oz jar. This recipe is over $15, definitely not under $10.
That was from ALDI in Nashville, TN. The shrimp was not purchased peeled, I peeled it after thawing (this is included in the recipe instructions). I do not show the prices as an indicator of what the recipe will cost you personally, because the recipe will not cost the same for every person. Prices vary greatly from region to region, store to store, and even day to day. Some people will pay more, some people will pay less. I include the prices for example purposes, so you can see the impact of each ingredient on the overall cost, which helps you learn how to tweak recipes to make them more affordable to you. You can read more about how and why we calculate recipe costs here.
I’m making this tonight for dinner! I commented because I saw you mentioned Nashville! I’m here in Nashville as well😃
So easy, fresh tasting and delicious!
this came out excellent. even being short 1/3 of the grape tomatoes. but i can definitely see that the 1/3 missing would have made it even better. the whole house loved it.
hmmm yummy Pesto Shrimp Pasta…. great recipe
I made this last night.. and i didn’t tell my husband what i put in. He ate the whole thing and raved about it..
He finally asked what was in that.. I said Basil Pesto. he said NO WAY. I hate that suff….. I can tell. LOL.
Oh and i added Mushrooms to it too. it was so good.
Just a tip: if you buy shelled shrimp, don’t throw away the shells. Freeze them and use them later to make shrimp stock.
Love it! Thanks for sharing the tip!
thats a great idea. thanks.