Shrimp scampi is built for zucchini noodles. The sauce is nothing but garlic, butter, lemon and a splash of broth — no flour, no cream — so swapping pasta for zoodles loses almost nothing and the whole pan still tastes like the Italian-American classic. It is the lightest regular in our Healthy and Low-Carb collection and it lands on the table in about twenty-five minutes.
The one thing that ruins this dish is water. Zucchini is mostly water, and it lets that water go the moment it meets heat and salt. The fix is unglamorous and total: salt the noodles, let them drain, squeeze them, and give them barely two minutes in the pan at the end. Cooked that way they stay tender-crisp and the sauce stays a sauce instead of turning into soup. It is the same respect-the-zucchini thinking behind our Garlic Herb Shrimp Zucchini Skillet, just cut into strands instead of rounds.
Everything else is speed. The shrimp cook in the garlic butter first and come out, the sauce reduces for a minute in the same pan, and the zoodles and shrimp go back in together just long enough to get acquainted. Serve it straight from the skillet with lemon wedges and more parsley than you think you need.
Salt and squeeze the zoodles — really
Toss the spiralized zucchini with half a teaspoon of salt and let it sit in a colander for ten minutes while you prep everything else. You will see liquid pooling under it. Then take handfuls and squeeze them firmly over the sink, or roll them in a clean towel and press. This ten-minute step is the whole difference between glossy garlic butter clinging to noodles and a watery puddle under them. Do not skip it on a humid day especially — zucchini holds even more water in summer.
Shrimp cook in minutes and wait for no one
A pound of large shrimp needs about two minutes in a hot pan — ninety seconds on the first side until the edges turn pink, thirty to sixty seconds on the second. They finish cooking in the residual heat of the sauce, so pull them while the very center still looks a touch glassy. Grey, tight, rubbery shrimp are almost always shrimp that stayed in the pan while something else caught up. Cook them first, set them aside, and let the sauce wait for them instead of the other way around.
Ingredients
- 4 medium zucchini (about 2 lb / 900 g), spiralized into noodles
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt (9 g), divided
- 1 lb large raw shrimp (450 g), peeled and deveined
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper (1.5 g)
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (0.5 g), plus more to taste
- 2 tablespoons olive oil (30 ml)
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter (42 g)
- 5 garlic cloves, finely minced (about 15 g)
- 1/3 cup low-sodium chicken broth (80 ml) or dry white wine
- 1 lemon, zested and juiced (about 3 tablespoons juice / 45 ml)
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley (15 g), plus more to serve
- 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan (22 g), to serve
Amounts are for the yield below. US customary measures first, grams in brackets for scale users.
Step-by-step instructions
- Salt the zucchini noodles. Put the zucchini noodles in a colander, toss with 1 teaspoon of the salt, and leave them to drain for 10 minutes. Squeeze handfuls firmly over the sink to press out as much liquid as you can, then spread them on a clean towel. They will look like less than you started with — that is the water leaving, which is the point.
- Season and sear the shrimp. Pat the shrimp dry and season with the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, the black pepper and the red pepper flakes. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Add the shrimp in one layer and cook for about 90 seconds, until the undersides are pink and golden at the edges. Turn and cook 30 to 60 seconds more, until just opaque. Transfer to a plate, keeping every drop of juice in the pan.
- Build the garlic butter. Drop the heat to medium and add the butter to the same skillet. When it foams, add the garlic and cook, stirring, for about 30 seconds until it smells sweet and fragrant but has not colored. Garlic goes from golden to bitter fast in a hot pan, so keep it moving and have the broth ready.
- Reduce the sauce. Pour in the chicken broth and lemon juice and scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan — that is concentrated shrimp and garlic flavor and it belongs in the sauce. Simmer for 1 to 2 minutes, until slightly reduced and glossy. Stir in the lemon zest.
- Add the zoodles. Add the squeezed zucchini noodles to the pan and toss with tongs for 1 to 2 minutes, just until they are warmed through and tender-crisp. They should still have a little bite and a bright green color. The moment they start slumping and releasing liquid, they are done — pull the pan off the heat.
- Finish and serve. Return the shrimp and any juices from the plate to the pan, add the parsley, and toss everything together for about 30 seconds so the shrimp warm through in the sauce. Taste for salt and lemon. Serve immediately in warm bowls with Parmesan over the top and extra parsley and red pepper flakes at the table.
Nutrition estimate
| Nutrient | Per serving |
|---|---|
| Calories | 260 kcal |
| Protein | 24 g |
| Carbohydrates | 9 g |
| Fat | 14 g |
| Saturated fat | 5 g |
| Sodium | 640 mg |
| Fiber | 2 g |
| Sugar | 5 g |
Nutrition figures are estimates calculated from standard ingredient data for the yield stated. Your actual values will vary with brands, substitutions and portion sizes — treat them as a guide, not a guarantee.
Storage & reheating
This dish is at its best the moment it is made, because zucchini noodles keep releasing liquid as they sit. Leftovers keep for up to 1 day in the refrigerator and should be reheated very gently in a skillet over low heat just until warm — expect them softer and a little wetter than the first serving. We do not recommend freezing the finished dish; the zoodles turn limp and watery after thawing. If you want a head start, spiralize and salt the zucchini up to a day ahead and keep the squeezed noodles wrapped in a towel in the fridge. Nutrition figures are estimates from standard ingredient data and vary with brands and substitutions.
Easy Zucchini Noodle Shrimp Scampi
Garlicky lemon-butter shrimp over tender-crisp zoodles — one pan, 25 minutes.
Ingredients
Tick ingredients off as you prep, and tap a step below to mark it done as you cook. Scaling adjusts the listed amounts - seasoning to taste stays your call.
Instructions
- Salt the zucchini noodles. Put the zucchini noodles in a colander, toss with 1 teaspoon of the salt, and leave them to drain for 10 minutes. Squeeze handfuls firmly over the sink to press out as much liquid as you can, then spread them on a clean towel. They will look like less than you started with — that is the water leaving, which is the point.
- Season and sear the shrimp. Pat the shrimp dry and season with the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, the black pepper and the red pepper flakes. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Add the shrimp in one layer and cook for about 90 seconds, until the undersides are pink and golden at the edges. Turn and cook 30 to 60 seconds more, until just opaque. Transfer to a plate, keeping every drop of juice in the pan.
- Build the garlic butter. Drop the heat to medium and add the butter to the same skillet. When it foams, add the garlic and cook, stirring, for about 30 seconds until it smells sweet and fragrant but has not colored. Garlic goes from golden to bitter fast in a hot pan, so keep it moving and have the broth ready.
- Reduce the sauce. Pour in the chicken broth and lemon juice and scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan — that is concentrated shrimp and garlic flavor and it belongs in the sauce. Simmer for 1 to 2 minutes, until slightly reduced and glossy. Stir in the lemon zest.
- Add the zoodles. Add the squeezed zucchini noodles to the pan and toss with tongs for 1 to 2 minutes, just until they are warmed through and tender-crisp. They should still have a little bite and a bright green color. The moment they start slumping and releasing liquid, they are done — pull the pan off the heat.
- Finish and serve. Return the shrimp and any juices from the plate to the pan, add the parsley, and toss everything together for about 30 seconds so the shrimp warm through in the sauce. Taste for salt and lemon. Serve immediately in warm bowls with Parmesan over the top and extra parsley and red pepper flakes at the table.
Recipe by Shahid Imran · FryDaily. Printing? This card is designed to print cleanly on its own.
