Seafood Ravioli Recipe with Garlic Cream Sauce
Why Is My Creamy Seafood Ravioli Recipe So Good
- The whole thing comes together in one pan in about 30 minutes, so it works for a weeknight or a date night in.
- Combining shrimp and scallops gives the dish two different textures instead of relying on just one protein.
- Four cheese ravioli means you another layer of flavor and texture in your pasta dish.
- I spent years cooking in restaurants before I started this blog, and what I’ve always wanted to do is show people that they can easily make restaurant quality dishes at home. That’s exactly why I love creating dishes like this, something special that you can make at home pretty easy.
Key Ingredients
- Shrimp: use large or jumbo shrimp (16/20 or 21/25 count) because they are much easier to manage and keep from overcooking. Thaw completely if frozen, and pat dry before adding to the pan.
- Scallops: try to look for “dry” scallops rather than “wet” ones treated with sodium tripolyphosphate. Wet scallops release excess water and water down the sauce. Pat them very dry before cooking.
- Shiitake mushrooms: these bring an earthy, slightly meaty flavor, but feel free to use any mushrooms you love here, cremini and white button both work well too.
- Fresh spinach: baby spinach is my first choice since it wilts down faster and tastes milder than mature spinach. If you need to, you can use frozen spinach, just make sure to squeeze the excess liquid out well.
- Heavy whipping cream: use heavy whipping cream, not half-and-half or light cream. The higher fat content is what keeps this sauce thick, rich and creamy, so it doesn’t turn thin when it heats up with the broth and seafood.
- Four cheese ravioli: fresh ravioli from the refrigerated section is your best choice for flavor and quality. I prefer the cheese ravioli (like three cheese or four cheese), but you can use seafood or mushrooms or spinach.
Full ingredient list is in the recipe card.
How I Make This Creamy Seafood Ravioli Recipe
- Cook the ravioli separately. Delicate cheese ravioli breaks down fast if it simmers too long, so I boil it on its own and add it in only at the very end.
- Build the sauce in two stages. Sauté the spinach and mushrooms before you touch the sauce. Cooking them down first, along with the garlic, builds a flavor base that the broth and cream pick up once they go in.
- Don’t add cream too soon. Adding the cream too early would cause to break down if it overheats or cooks too long.
- Treat the seafood like the star, not an afterthought. Shrimp and scallops only need a couple of minutes total once they hit the sauce. I pull that pan the moment the shrimp turns opaque pink rather than waiting for them to look “done,” since they keep cooking a bit due to carry over cooking in the hot sauce and could turn rubbery fast if you wait too long.
- Fold the ravioli in gently. Stirring hard at this point is the easiest way to tear the pasta open, so I use a light folding motion instead of a regular stir.
- Melt the cheese in off the peak heat. Letting the pan sit at a bare simmer while the Parmigiano-Reggiano melts in keeps the sauce smooth instead of oily or separated.
Lyuba’s Tips for Success
- Prep and measure everything before you start cooking. Once the seafood hits the pan, this dish moves fast.
- If your sauce turns out thinner than you’d like, stir in a little extra Parmigiano-Reggiano, or let it simmer an extra minute or two before adding the ravioli.
- Don’t skip patting the shrimp and scallops dry. Excess moisture is what makes seafood steam instead of sear.
Storing Your Creamy Ravioli
- This dish is best fresh. It doesn’t freeze well since the cream sauce tends to separate when thawed and reheated.
- If you have leftovers, store them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days and reheat gently in a covered pan over low heat.
- Seafood toughens in the microwave, so I don’t recommend reheating it that way.
Ways to Serve
Keep it simple with homemade Parmesan garlic and herb breadsticks for soaking up the sauce, or add something green on the side like Italian roasted asparagus or a Caesar salad. If you’re planning a full seafood spread, my scallop scampi or balsamic shrimp salad both make great additions.
Creamy Seafood Ravioli Recipe FAQs
No, this dish doesn’t hold up well in the freezer. The cream sauce separates when it thaws and reheats, and the texture of the seafood changes too.
Yes, if you’d rather not use scallops, just add more shrimp in their place. Or you can cut salmon into small cubes but it will take a little longer to cook so start it before shrimp.
Cremini (baby bella), white button mushrooms, or really any mushrooms you like will work well if shiitake isn’t available.
This sauce is meant to be light rather than thick like an Alfredo. If you prefer it richer, stir in extra grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or let it reduce a minute or two longer before adding the ravioli.
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Spinach and Mushroom Seafood Ravioli Recipe in Garlic Cream Sauce
Ingredients
- 9 oz Four cheese ravioli
- 1/4 lb fresh shrimp
- 1/4 lb fresh small scallops
- 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
- 3 oz fresh spinach
- 4 oz Shiitake mushrooms
- 2 cloves garlic minced
Garlic Cream Sauce:
- 1/4 cup vegetable broth
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 large clove of garlic pressed
- 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1/4 cup fresh grated Parmigiano-Reggiano more for topping in desired
- Salt
- Fresh grated pepper
Instructions
- Cook ravioli according to package instructions and set aside.
- In a large cooking pan, heat up oil and add chopped spinach and sliced mushrooms. Saute until spinach cooks down and add minced garlic, some salt and pepper. Saute until garlic is fragrant.
- Add broth, stir well.
- Add heavy cream, Worcestershire, pressed garlic, salt and pepper and stir well.
- Add shrimp and scallops. Cook until shrimp start to turn pink and flip shrimp and scallops.
- Add ravioli, carefully stir in and cook until shrimp is done.
- Stir in Parmigiano-Reggiano and cook for another minute.
- Serve right away.
Nutrition
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Categories:
30 Minute Meals, Dinner Recipes, Most Popular Recipes, Pasta Recipes, Seafood Dinner Recipes,All images and text ©Lyubov Brooke for ©Will Cook For Smiles. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If using my posts in collections and features, please link back to this post for the recipe.
Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate as most ingredients and brands have variations.
I made this and loved it!I used large scallops,and seared after spinach,then left to warm.I made the sauce with white wine and veg.broth and garlic.I used half and half instead of cream..Then added the spinach and scallops.Cheese added last.
Hi Gretchen,
I am so glad you liked it!
This was so good 🙂 I didn’t have scallops so my dish had shrimp, spinach, mushrooms and I added some sausage. But I followed the instructions for the sauce and included some cornstarch to make it a bit thicker. Loved it!
Hi Shelley,
I am so happy you enjoyed it! Thank you for letting me know you liked it!
Hi Lyuba, This recipe has everything in it that I love! I have one problem though….My girlfriend is allergic to Mushrooms. I would like to add something in place of them and have not found anything that works well for the texture of mushrooms. Do you have a suggestion?? I usually use Asparagus as a veggie with the garlic, lemon, cream sauce in a pinch but was wondering what could take the place of the Mushrooms. Great recipe though just as it is!!
Great Recipe! My family loved it!
How many does this serve?
Lyuba…..your Recipes look & sound sooo good!! I love cooking, & am considered a good cook but I have no doubts about your trying all your Recipes….you’re a very good cook too!!!
Awe, thank you so much, Sharon! I have no doubts about your skills as well 😀
I am lactose intolerant so could I use lactose free whole milk instead of the cream and would I need to add anything with it! Thank you
Hi Shirley!
Yes, you can use lactose free whole milk. Milk is just not quite as thick as heavy cream so you can add a little bit of flour or cornstarch to thicken it. If you will use flour, just add a little to veggies, stir it well and add the broth and then milk. If using cornstarch, mix some with some cold milk and stir it in after you’ve added broth and milk to the pan.
I hope this helps!
Sounds delightful! As I have the (frozen shrimp) ingredients on hand so I’ll try this today. Likely it will rate all five stars.
How many does this recipe serve, I couldn’t find the info.
I would also like to know how many people this serves…
The recipe says it serves two.
I’m new to your page & love your recipes.
They’re amazing. I look forward to cooking for my family.
Thank you so much, Tonjia!!
I’m not a measurement kind of cook. So I randomly added everything and the only change I made was beef stock instead of vegetable. Also a “5” cheese ravioli! My husband talked about it for days. Thank you for the idea!
making this today looks so good
I really hope you enjoyed it, Michelle!! 😀
can you omit the Worcestershire sauce? Can I use any kind of mushroom without overpowering the remaining ingredients?
Hi Maria!
You can omit the Worcestershire sauce if you just don’t like it but it does add a nice flavor to the sauce. As for mushrooms, baby bella/crimini will have a milder flavor and if you want to go stronger flavor, go with shiitake or porchini.
I hope you enjoy it!
I did enjoy it!!!!!
I omitted the seafood and served it over shrimp and roasted garlic ravioli. I kept in the Worcestershire sauce and used regular button mushrooms.
AMAZING flavor
Sounds amazing! I’m glad you like it, Maria!
Made this tonight it was awesome! The flavors were great! A nice creaminess with subtle mushroom and spinach flavors, garlicky but not fishy. We like thicker sauces so I thickened it with some cornstarch. I see where you said it could be thickened with flour at the end of step 2. I will try that next time for sure.
Thank you, Marnie! I’m glad you and your family enjoyed it 🙂
I made this and while my Husband and I liked the flavor the consistency of the sauce was like soup( too liquid like) I followed the recipe but perhaps I could have put some cornstarch to thicken it a bit.
Hi Deanna!
The sauce is actually not supposed to be thick here. If you like a thick sauce, then I can recommend adding a couple of table spoons of flour. (Sprinkle a couple of tablespoons of flour over spinach and mushrooms, mix, and then start pouring broth and then heavy cream while slowly stirring.)
I’m glad you liked the flavors!
Do you think replacing Ravioli with any type of pasta would work? I have a few that don’t like ravioli. How would I make this work with 2Ibs of shrimp? There’s alot of us in our house
Hello, Sarah! It would absolutely work! You can either make this a shrimp dish without other seafood, or you can just make majority of protein a shrimp. You can also double or triple the recipe per your need. I would just adjust pasta amount accordingly since you’re substituting it instead of ravioli.
Let me know if you need any more help!
🙂
I made this over the weekend and it was amazing! My husband said it was one of the best things I have ever made – and I cook a LOT! Thank you for sharing!
Thank you, Meggan! That’s great to hear 🙂
This looks so yummy! I’m sure my hubby would fall in love with this recipe!
I hope you’ll make it and fall in love as well 🙂
Thank you so much, Jordan!
This looks marvelous as well as the photos. I love cream sauce but only make it for special occasions — your recipe is definitely pinned for a special occasion. Thank you for another wonderful recipe and for the inspiration.
Thank you so much, dear!!
Lyuba! Thank you so much for including a link back to my Cajun Shrimp. How did you know that garlic cream sauce is pretty much my favorite sauce of all time? I’m totally going to have to make this…and soon! Pinned!
Absolutely!
I just knew you’ll love it!
Thank you so much, David!