Zucchini Pasta with Lemon Garlic Shrimp

209 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. See my disclosure policy.

Jump to RecipeJump to Video

Zucchini pasta with lemon garlic shrimp is a delicious, gluten-free (and of course low-carb) version of shrimp scampi and linguini. Traditional pasta is replaced with zucchini noodles (also called zucchini pasta) for a lighter, healthier, more veggie-packed and nutritious meal.

It’s similar to my Garlic Butter Shrimp or Grilled Shrimp recipe, but prepped with zucchini noodles for a complete meal.

Zucchini pasta noodles and shrimp in a saute pan with tongs.

I’m very fortunate to have relatives that live in Alaska. That means fresh, wild-caught seafood sometimes makes it’s way from Alaska all the way down to me in Southern California. And when that happens, oh, it’s glorious and lovely.

Case in point: when my mom was in Alaska a couple of years ago, she brought an entire cooler of fresh seafood home and I was the smarty pants who volunteered to pick her up at the airport. Yep, I’m no dummy. And I was thanked with the beautiful fresh halibut used in my Baked Halibut with Herbed Mayonnaise Crust recipe.

But it was her dozens of bags of fresh shrimp that was the impetus for this recipe several years ago. Because it prompted me to update an old favorite pasta recipe – shrimp scampi and linguini – to make it gluten-free, grain-free, paleo and all around healthy.

Zucchini Pasta with Lemon Garlic Shrimp Recipe Video

The recipe is easy to make, but it always helps to watch a quick tutorial. You can also subscribe to my YouTube Channel for weekly cooking videos.

Making Zucchini Pasta with Shrimp

You guys know I’m a zucchini noodle lover. As in, I make them weekly. So if you haven’t yet watched my video on making zucchini noodles, you should definitely do that. I give tips for cooking zucchini (very important), because no one wants soggy zucchini pasta.

But if you’re new to the world of zucchini as pasta replacement, this Zucchini Pasta with Lemon Garlic Shrimp is a fab place to start. It’s so darn easy.

Zucchini noodles pulled out of pan with tongs.

Zucchini noodles pasta and lemon garlic shrimp on a plate next to a slice of lemon.

All you have to do is spiralize a few zucchini which substitute for the linguine. Then, sauté the shrimp with a little olive oil, garlic, lemon, white wine and parsley.

Whole30 Tip: If you’re doing a Whole30 or if you’re alcohol-free, you could also use chicken broth in place of the white wine.

Once the shrimp have turned pink, add the zucchini pasta back into the pan, gently tossing and cooking ever so slightly (just for a minute or two) until the zucchini pasta is warmed up. And that’s it. A delicious, easy, lemony garlic zucchini and shrimp dish that you’re sure to make again and again.

More Zucchini Noodle Recipes

And if you’re on a zucchini kick, you can’t go wrong with my Baked Zucchini Fries or Paleo Zucchini Bread. Enjoy!

A plate of zucchini pasta noodles and shrimp next to a pan with tongs.

Zucchini noodles on a plate with lemon garlic shrimp.

Zucchini Pasta with Lemon Garlic Shrimp

4.95 from 84 votes
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 5 minutes
Total: 15 minutes
Servings: 4 servings
Author: Lisa Bryan

Description

Healthy zucchini noodles "zucchini pasta" are tossed with lemon garlic shrimp for an easy, family favorite dinner recipe. It's naturally gluten-free, low carb, and can easily be made Whole30 by replacing the white wine with chicken broth. Watch the recipe video above!

Video

Ingredients 
 

  • 4 medium zucchini
  • 1.5 lb approx 30 raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 2 tbsp butter or ghee
  • 1 lemon, juice and zest
  • 1/4 cup white wine, or chicken broth
  • 1/4 cup chopped parsley
  • pinch of red pepper flakes
  • salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions 

  • Wash and cut the ends of the zucchini. Using a spiralizer, make the zucchini pasta. Then, set aside.
  • Heat the oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add the shrimp in one flat layer and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook for one minute without stirring, so the bottom side gets a little crispy.
  • Add the chopped garlic, then stir the shrimp for another minute or two to cook the other side. Use a large spoon or tongs to remove the shrimp to a plate.
  • Add the butter, lemon juice and zest, red pepper flakes and white wine to the pan. Bring to a simmer for 2-3 minutes while stirring.
  • Stir in the parsley, then add the zucchini pasta and toss for 30 seconds to warm it up. Add the shrimp back to the pan and stir for another minute. Serve immediately.

Lisa's Tips

  • If you've read my post on How to Make and Cook Zucchini Noodles you know I'm not a fan of cooking zucchini noodles. They become limp and soggy very quickly. So all you want to do is heat up the zucchini pasta without thoroughly cooking. That keeps it crisp and al dente.
  • The spiralizer I use in this recipe and all my veggie noodle recipes is my 3-Blade Paderno Spiralizer. But there's now a 6-Blade Paderno Spiralizer as well!
  • I always get asked if zucchini pasta recipes can be frozen and reheated. Unfortunately, due to the fact that zucchini is 95% water, these are not the best recipes to freeze/reheat once made.

Nutrition

Calories: 306.2kcal | Carbohydrates: 12.3g | Protein: 27.4g | Fat: 14.5g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 289mg | Sodium: 230.7mg | Fiber: 3.4g | Sugar: 8.4g
Course: Main Meal
Cuisine: American
Keyword: zucchini noodles, Zucchini Noodles Shrimp, Zucchini Pasta, Zucchini Pasta Shrimp
Did you make this recipe?Mention @downshiftology or tag #downshiftology!

This recipe was originally published October 2014, but updated to include new photos and video.

You May Also Like

About the author

Lisa Bryan

Lisa is a bestselling cookbook author, recipe developer, and YouTuber (with over 2.5 million subscribers) living in sunny Southern California. She started Downshiftology in 2014, and is passionate about making healthy food with fresh, simple and seasonal ingredients.

4.95 from 84 votes (2 ratings without comment)

Leave a comment

All comments are moderated before appearing on the site. Thank you for sharing your feedback!

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




209 Comments

  1. Hi there! I have just bought a spiralizer and am so excited to make some zoodles when I found this dish! Just wondering before I make it (it’s just my husband and me as my baby is only 4 months old and can’t eat solids yet), do you think it would be possible to make this dish for dinner and save the leftovers for a cold lunch dish the following day as you recommend not reheating the zoodles?

    So excited to make this!

    1. Hi Jessica – Absolutley! You can definitely save this for leftovers. I would maybe just recommend to put the garlic shrimp aside to re-heat if you want the shrimp to be warm instead of cold.

  2. Just made this and my husband kept calling it a gourmet meal! The only thing I added was some fresh grated Romano cheese when serving. This is a keeper!!!5 stars

    1. Hi Bonnie – Haha! I’m so glad to hear you and your husband loved this recipe :) Definitely a go-to dish for weeknight meals!

    1. This is my go to recipe for dinner parties becausw i can eat a great meal guilt free of not being ony diet.

  3. This recipe is LITERALLY one of my favorites! I cook a lot of food, so that’s saying something! And you can tweak this recipe like crazy too. My family can’t help the amount of drool when they see me meal prepping for this dinner ❤️5 stars

  4. This was fantastic! Very tasty and so easy to prepare. Adding this to the meal rotation for sure. Thank you!!5 stars

  5. Delicious recipe the zucchini noodles turned out perfectly- can’t wait to make this again 5 stars

  6. So fantastic! My husband and I are doing Whole30 and this hit the spot tonight! It’s really simple to make, and it tastes amazing! Thanks for sharing!5 stars

    1. Hi Rebecca – Thank so much for the kind comment! I’m so glad you enjoyed the zoodles with shrimp! You may have noticed but I have quite a few Whole30 recipes on my blog. Check them out and good luck this month :)
      Recipes>Dietary>Whole30

  7. Oh my goodness… this recipe was incredible. Not only was it so easy to actually make, and didn’t take much time, but it is SO. GOOD!
    I’m obsessed. I added a little turmeric and onion to the recipe as well.. this will definitely be a regular meal in my household!
    Love it!

    1. Yay, I’m so glad you loved the zucchini pasta, Lexi! And I love the onion and tumeric additions, what great idea! :)

  8. I have this on the stove RIGHT NOW and can’t wait to eat it. Easy recipe to follow and smells wonderful.
    Only disappointment was I couldn’t post to Facebook.

    1. Hi Linda – I hope you enjoyed the recipe once it was cooked! If you’re on Instagram you can always share your dish and tag me in it. :)

  9. My husband and I love this recipe, it’s so easy to make! And taste so good,  but the only thing I do is I don’t use as much parsley!   So Delicious!!

  10. Great recipe. Followed exact but added some parmesan cheese in the end and fresh basil instead (since I didn’t have parsley).5 stars

  11. I am so excited that I found your blog! I’m not very good at coming up with easy, healthy, delicious meals. Easy and delicious I can come up with, but healthy never seems to make it in there. So I’m desperate for yummy healthy food. Healthy food should be enjoyable, and this recipe looks so amazing! I can not wait to try this and some of your other recipes too.

    1. Wonderful! I’m happy you found me as well Christine. :) I hope you enjoy this zucchini pasta recipe and many others on my website!

  12. Recipe sounds and looks great. One thought I have is to eliminate the wine and add a half a pint of halved grape or cherry tomatoes, red or multi colored if available. Can’t wait to try it.5 stars

  13. Thanks for sharing the recipe, I just made this pasta for dinner today and it’s absolutely delicious, (I didn’t used wine I added the chicken broth instead).5 stars

    1. Wonderful! So happy you enjoyed it Maria. And yes, it’s just as delicious with the broth. :) x

  14. Just made this and my family LOVED it. Thank you for your video. It made my job so much easier. Simple to follow.5 stars

  15. Great recipe. I halved the lemon thinking whole would be to much, keep whole lemon. Also added ginger.5 stars

    1. Thanks for the feedback Amy! I happy you enjoyed the recipe (and love the addition of ginger).

  16. I’m not an experienced shrimp cooker here. When I add the shrimp there is a lot of liquid that comes off of them.  Do I leave it in the pan and add the butter, lemon etc? Or, am I cooking it wrong in that there isn’t supposed to be “shrimp juice”?5 stars

    1. Were your shrimp frozen or fresh? More liquid will usually come off frozen shrimp, but there is liquid that comes off fresh shrimp as well when cooking. Much of it should evaporate while cooking, but a little leftover liquid is fine. If you watch my video in the post you can see how much liquid I have in the pan. :)

  17. Sounds yum! I’m going to make it tonight. However, I don’t have red pepper flake. How does it taste? Sweet or spicy? I’m cooking for two 20 months-old who are yet to master the art of spicy-ness. What can I replace it with?

    1. Red pepper flakes are spicy. I’m definitely leave them off for 20 month-olds. It’ll still be delicious without them. :)

  18. Lovely receipe. Just bought a spiralizer and looking foward to trying zoodles for the first time as I need to cut down on my carbs.5 stars

  19. Okay, made this fully expecting my husband and teenage daughter who both profess their undying hatred of zucchini regularly, and their overall annoyance with me and my relatively new spiralizer to hate it!! Surprise!! We have a couple of shrimp dishes in our rotation with similar flavor profiles, and they totally gobbled it down. I was sure to keep the zucchini al dente. Huge hit!! And very fast for week night dinner (less than 30 min prep, cook to table!)5 stars

    1. Love to hear that! I think this recipe has made many a zucchini noodle convert. ;) Glad you all enjoyed it!

    1. For meal prep I’d recommend making the shrimp ahead of time and storing that separately and not including the zucchini as the zucchini can become watery when reheated. So just spiralize the zucchini as needed. :)

  20. Just made this recipe and loved it!! I’m becoming a huge fan of zucchini noodles and this recipe was delicious. It’s just enough garlic, but not overpowering and the dash of red pepper flakes give it just a little kick of flavor. Definitely a winner and will make again. Love your videos and website.5 stars

    1. Thanks so much Marcia! Thrilled to hear you loved this zucchini noodle recipe (and my other recipes and videos). Yay! :) x

  21. Where is the video about folding clothes for new storage ways?  You put that up top and sneak in a recipe..it sounds good but where is original video subject??

  22. YUM! Another great recipe from Lisa!  This was delicious! I used ghee ( which I’m not really crazy about) and the lemon taste took over! It was great!5 stars

  23. I made this and it was amazing!! I added 1 shallot with the garlic (cooked it a bit first before adding the shrimp), and I also added a bit more unsalted butter. I cooked everything except the shrimp a bit longer as well, then dished it all up into large pasta bowls and sprinkled a bit of parmesan on top. This is going into the weekly routine!5 stars

  24. Absolutely delicious! Thank you so much for sharing a wonderfully easy and tasty recipe. 
    It’s a “keeper.”

  25. I appreciate that you instruct to leave the shrimp undisturbed to get that crispy sear! That’s the best! Making me hungry!5 stars

  26. This looks so fresh and lovely! I 100% emphatically agree that zoodles should be barely cooked so they don’t get soggy! I’d love to have access to a cooler full of fresh fish from Alaska! Lucky!5 stars

    1. Yes! I find that when most people don’t like zoodles, its because they’ve gone soggy and mushy. And yep, definitely spoiled over here. ;)