Easy One Pan Shrimp Lemon Caper Pasta Recipe

This one-pan shrimp lemon caper pasta recipe is quick enough to make on a weeknight but has enough pizzazz for special occasions. Coming together in under 30 minutes, this is a great recipe for any day of the week. It contains some of my favorite ingredients to cook with, shrimp, garlic, lemon, and parmesan. Together they bring so much flavor with just a handful of ingredients. 

Preparing to cook

This recipe comes together fairly quick,  so I like to have all my ingredients prepped and ready to go before I start. That way once I start cooking I can get supper to the dinner table in no time at all. There is a French phrase for this called “Mise en Place” which means, “putting in place”. It’s such a good habit to start as a home chef. It reduces the chance of realizing, once you are already cooking, that you don’t actually have all the ingredients that you thought you did. Or does that only happened to me?

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon of butter
• 1 pounds shrimp
• 2 Garlic cloves, minced
• 12 oz linguine 
• 2.5 – 4 cups Chicken or vegetable broth(divided)
• 1/2 cup of heavy cream
• 1 lemon, zested and juiced
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• ​Black pepper in a pepper mill
• 1/4 cup Capers, drained 
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley
• A pinch of red pepper flakes, if desired
• Garnish suggestions, extra capers, grated parmesan, minced parsley, lemon wedge

Notes about the ingredients

Shrimp

I use frozen, peeled and deveined shrimp to save myself time. If your shrimp didn’t come deveined, you will need to do that now. 

Depending on how much time you have, there are a couple options for thawing the shrimp. 

The first is to place the bag of shrimp in a bowl and put in the fridge overnight to thaw. 

If you are short on time you can also thaw in water. My preferred way is to place the shrimp in a zip top bag, removing as much air as possible. Place the bag in a bowl of cold water. Place a plate on top of the bag to ensure it is fully submerged. Let the bag sit in the cold water for approximately 30 minutes, flipping the bag half-way through. At this time the shrimp should be fully thawed. If it is still a little frozen, change the water for fresh cold water and repeat.

Once your shrimp is thawed, give it a rinse with cold water. Pat them dry with paper towels.

Alternative proteins

You could easily substitute the shrimp for an alternative protein if you prefer. Diced chicken or bay scallops would work beautifully here. 

With chicken, reduce the cooking fat in half by removing the butter. To be sure you are not overcrowding the pan you may need to cook the chicken in two batches. With an instant read thermometer you are looking for an internal temperature of 165 degrees F. 

If you are choosing Bay scallops, start the pan at slightly higher heat. You are looking to get a nice golden brown crust on them. You will know they are finished when they are opaque in appearance. An instant read thermometer should read 120 degrees F at the center.

Pasta

To substitute the linguine with a thin pasta, such as an angel hair pasta, you will need to adjust the liquid and cooking time. As always with this recipe, start with a lesser amount of broth and only add additional broth if needed. It is better to start with not enough liquid then have too much and have mushy pasta.

Start by adding 2 cups of broth to the 12 oz  of pasta you have chosen. As your pasta cooks and absorbs the liquid add more broth as needed. Start checking your pasta for doneness around 5-6 minutes, and allowing to cook until al dente. 

Cream

Any cream can work here: heavy cream, heavy whipping cream, half and half, whatever you have on hand. The cream can be removed if desired, adding additional broth in its place. It does give the pasta a nice light creamy sauce though, and I recommend keeping it in.

Lemon 

The lemon zest and juice both play an important role here. The zest contains natural oils that really bring a bright note of flavor to the dish. The juice brings the acidity. 

Since we will be using both the juice and the zest I prefer to use organic lemons. Wash your lemon with soap and warm water and dry off well.

Its easiest to zest the lemon before juicing. Once it’s cut it will be a little more difficult to zest, but not impossible. You certainly have not ruined the dish if you cut the lemon first.

To zest you can use a microplane, or the small side of a box grater. I do not recommend using a citrus zester for this recipe, as it produces longer thicker strands of zest. 

Be sure to just zest the outer bright yellow zest. Once you get below that you will see the white pith. The pith has an unpleasant and bitter taste, for best flavors, avoid adding it to your pasta dish.

Lets get cooking

Cooking the shrimp

Rinse the shrimp with cold water and pat dry with paper towels.

Place a large dutch oven or large skillet over medium-high heat and add your olive oil and butter. Allow to heat up. Once oil is shimmering and butter has melted add your shrimp to the hot pan. Cook shrimp for 2-3 minutes on the first side. Flip the shrimp and finish cooking on the second side, another 2-3 minutes.  You will know the shrimp is ready to come off the heat, when they are light pink in color and when the internal temperature measures 120 degrees F.

Add the minced garlic, and red pepper flakes if using. Cook for just a minute, until the garlic is fragrant. 

Remove the shrimp from the pan, placing it on a plate and set aside. 

Cooking the pasta

To your pan, add the pasta, 2 ½ cups chicken broth, lemon juice, cream, salt and a generous grind of black pepper. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently to prevent the pasta from sticking to the bottom. Once its boiling, turn down to a medium-low heat and simmer for 8-10 minutes. Continue to stir frequently.

As the pasta cooks it will absorb the liquids. As the liquid absorbs and the pan starts to dry out, add additional broth if the pasta is not fully cooked. This could be anywhere from 1/4 cup to 3/4 cups more. Be sure to only add the broth 1/4 cup at a time, as needed.

Bring it all together

Once the pasta is al dente and the liquids are absorbed, add the shrimp, parsley, parmesan, lemon zest and capers to the pan. Stir the added ingredients into the cooked pasta and heat through, 2-3 minutes.

Serve the shrimp and pasta while hot, garnishing with parmesan, parsley, capers and fresh lemon, as desired.

Share your favorite weeknight meals in the comments below.

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