Shrimp Pesto Pasta

Shrimp Pesto Pasta is a deliciously light pasta dish packed with fresh and aromatic ingredients like basil and garlic in the homemade pesto sauce and sautéed shrimp. As an added touch, it’s topped with shaved parmesan and pine nuts. This is a bright and impressive dish but you wouldn’t believe how EASY it is to make.
Quick Overview
- Combination of juicy, bright and flavorful pesto pasta and perfectly sauteed shrimp is absolutely divine.
- The whole dish comes together in less than 30 minutes and you can prepare all three components at the same time!
- Cooking Water is a secret ingredient to juicy, saucy pasta! The starchy water that the pasta is cooked in will help the consistency of the pesto by keeping it moist! Pesto has a tendency to dry out because pasta soaks up the oil quickly, and cooking water helps to avoid that entirely.
- Feel free to use GLUTEN FREEE noodles when needed!
Shrimp Pesto Pasta Cooking Tips
- This is a fast moving recipe, so gather the ingredients before starting to cook.
- Start cooking pasta in salted water and make pesto. Pesto is super simple, just toss all of the required ingredients into a food processor and pulse until it’s smooth and well blended.
- Shrimp only needs about 5 minutes to cook but make sure to pre-heat the cooking pan first! Sear shrimp in a hot pan just until opaque on each side. (Make sure not to overcrowd the shrimp, use a large cooking pan.)
- Right before straining pasta make sure to reserve about a cup of cooking water.
- It’s best to toss the pasta, pesto, and cooking water in a bowl, NOT in the hot cooking pot! Pesto (basil) tends to turn black when exposed to heat.
- You can toss the shrimp with the pasta or plate the pasta and then top it with the sauteed shrimp.
Variations To Try
- Chicken – I love to marinate chicken breasts in a mixture of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, garlic powder, dried basil, oregano, and parsley. After marinating for a couple of hours, I just pan-cook it for 5-7 minutes per side. The exact time will depend on the thickness of the chicken. (You can check internal temperature and it should be 165°F.)
- Other proteins – pesto pasta works very well with other seafood like seared scallops, crispy skin salmon, pecan crusted salmon, or lobster tails.
- Add veggies – you can add some sauteed veggies like tomatoes, zucchini, summer squash, asparagus, or broccoli.
- Bacon – everything is better with bacon!
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Shrimp Pesto Pasta Recipe
Ingredients
Pesto:
- 2 oz basil
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 oz Parmesan cheese block, shaved, or shredded
- 3 oz pine nuts
- 1/2 cup olive oil + 2 Tbsp.
- salt to taste
Shrimp:
- 1 lb shrimp
- 2 tbsp canola oil
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
- salt
- black pepper
Pasta:
- 1 lb pasta any favorite pasta
- 1/2-2/3 cup cooking water
- shaved Parmesan cheese for topping
- pine nuts for topping
Instructions
For Homemade Pesto:
- In a food processor, add about half the oil.
- Add basil, pine nuts, cheese, garlic, and salt to the blender and pour remaining olive oil over the top.
- Pulse several times to begin to blend. Scrape sides of the blender and pulse a few more times. You may need to scrape the sides again and pulse a few more times until all ingredients are well blended.
- Set aside until ready to mic into pasta.
Shrimp and Pasta:
- Cook shrimp while pasta is cooking.
- Cook pasta according to the box instructions and before draining off water, set aside about a cup of cooking water. (Some cooking water will go into pasta and set aside extra just in case you will need to reheat the pasta leftover's later.)
- Toss shrimp in a mixing bowl with salt, pepper, pressed garlic cloves, and grated Parmesan cheese until evenly coated.
- Preheat a large cooking pan over medium-high heat for a few minutes and add oil.
- Sear shrimp for about 2 minutes on each side, until they turn completely opaque. (Exact time will depend on the size of shrimp.) Take the shrimp out of the pan as soon as they are cooked.
- Toss cooked pasta with pesto and about 1/2-2/3 cup of cooking water.
- You can mix the shrimp right into the pasta or simple add it to the top of pasta.
- Garnish with some shaved Parmesan cheese and pine nuts and serve!
Video
Notes
- Gluten Free: to make this dish gluten free, simply use your favorite gluten free pasta. Pesto and shrimp should be already gluten free but as always, double check the packaging on ingredients.
- Reheating: Save some cooking water if you plan to store and reheat the leftovers. Pasta tends to drink the sauce and any liquids it’s stored in, so you will need to add some cooking water and a little more pesto when reheating. Make sure to reheat until just warmed or it will overheat.
- Toast pine nuts: for the best flavor, I highly recommend that you toast the pine nuts. Add them to a small dry skillet in one single layer. Turn the heat to medium-low and cook them, tossing from time to time, for 3-5 minutes.
Nutrition
More Summer Pasta Recipes!
Originally published on Will Cook For Smiles in May 2021.
Categories:
30 Minute Meals, Dinner Recipes, Gluten Free Recipes, Pasta Recipes, Seafood Dinner Recipes, Shrimp 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’ve made this recipe many times and am making it tonight! It is simple and delicious.
This was so easy and so good!