Jumbo shrimp, meet spicy Cajun! This Cajun-style shrimp pasta is ready to eat in 15 minutes! No joke. Nine to 10 minutes for the pasta to cook to “al dente” while the sweet Argentine Royal Red shrimp cook in just about 2 1/2 to 3 minutes. Toss the pasta with the seasoned shrimp and buttery Cajun-spiced sauce and that’s it! A restaurant-quality shrimp pasta that’s both super tasty and easy to make at home. We definitely think it’s worthy of a spot on your rotating pasta roster. Plus, cleanup is a breeze. And if you’re feeling spicy, just add a little more heat.
Spicy or not, This Shrimp Pasta is Delicious.
I personally love to eat this pasta a little on the spicier side. But when I make it for dinner parties or groups, I tend to add a little less heat and serve extra cayenne pepper and crushed red pepper flakes on the table so everyone can choose how much (or how little) they’d like to add. Also, when making a recipe with so few ingredients, try to make sure the main ingredients are high-quality which always ensures the best, tastiest outcome.
Let’s Talk Shrimp
The shrimp used for this recipe are Argentinian Red shrimp, which is one of the famous varieties of Red Shrimp found in just a few places throughout the world. They are sweeter and have a more tender texture than the average shrimp. I also use Gulf Coast Royal Reds for this recipe whenever I’m in the States and can order them from reputable sources near the coast. In fact, Gulf Royal Reds are my all-time favorite of the “Reds” family (or any shrimp). However, nowadays it’s easier for most people to find the red shrimp from Argentina, so I’ve used them for this shrimp recipe. Either of these red shrimp will work beautifully in this pasta recipe. And if you can’t find the reds where you live, just use the best shrimp you can find and this pasta will still be delicious.
Cajun Style Royal Red Shrimp Pasta Ingredients
You only need a handful of simple ingredients to make this spicy Cajun shrimp pasta. Buy the best red shrimp (or any high-quality sweet shrimp) that you can find and the rest is pretty simple. The success of this dish is dependent on the quality of the shrimp as is the case when there are so few ingredients. Be sure to use the tips below for how to choose and buy the best seafood and get ready for your restaurant-quality pasta at home.
- 6 Royal Red Shrimp, deveined with shell-on (or other wild-caught sustainable shrimp)
- 4 ounces dried spaghetti or linguine pasta (120g)
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter (separated into two equal portions) (28-30g)
- 1/2 teaspoon or more liquid Concentrated Zatarain’s Shrimp & Crab Boil, or more to taste (3g)
- 1/2 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning, or more to taste (2g)
- 1/2-1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil (can be increased as desired) (5-10g)
- kosher salt to taste
- cayenne pepper or red pepper flakes to taste (optional)
How to Make Cajun Style Royal Red Shrimp Pasta in 15 Minutes
This restaurant-quality shrimp pasta is ready in 15 minutes or less making it perfect for a delicious busy weeknight dinner, special occasion date nights, or dinner parties.
- Boil the water. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil.
- Cook the shrimp. While the water is heating up, melt the butter in a skillet on medium-high heat, add the Zatarain’s Crab & Shrimp Boil liquid and Old Bay Seasoning and stir to combine. Add the shrimp to the skillet in a single layer, sprinkle with a little salt and cook for approximately 2 minutes. Flip the shrimp in the butter mixture being sure to coat them well and continue cooking for an additional 30 seconds to 1 minute more, or until they turn pink and mostly opaque, and turn off the heat.
- Cook the pasta. Add the spaghetti (or linguine) to the boiling water and cook until al dente according to the packaged directions.
- Add the noodles to the sauce. When your pasta is just cooked through, strain the noodles reserving approximately 1/2 cup of the starchy pasta cooking water. Add the strained noodles directly to the skillet with the shrimp and turn the heat back on to medium-high. Add the olive oil and about 1/4 cup (60g) of the starchy pasta water to create a loose (but not watery) sauce and continue stirring and tossing everything really well with tongs to combine and coat the noodles in the smooth silky sauce.
- Finish the pasta. As soon as you reach the perfect sauce consistency (a matter of just a few seconds), remove the skillet from the heat and add in the last two tablespoons of butter, toss to coat and serve immediately and Enjoy!
*If you want to cook the shrimp without the shells, use this delicious 4-Minute Pan-Seared Argentinian Red Shrimp Recipe as a guide for perfectly pan-seared shrimp every time.
Looking for More Shrimp Recipes?
We love shrimp! Below are a few of our house favorite shrimp recipes.
- 4-Minute Perfect Pan-Seared Shrimp
- Delicious Shrimp Scampi for Two (or a Crowd)
- Triple Shrimp Trighetto Pasta (Naturally Creamy Shrimp Pasta)
- Shrimp Pasta w/Garganelli (the Italian Way)
- Easy + Delicious Sweet Corn Chowder (w/Shrimp & Lobster)
- The Most Delicious Shrimp Alfredo Pasta of all time (recipe coming soon)
More about Gulf Coast Royal Red Shrimp and the Red Shrimp Varieties
Let’s talk about Gulf Coast shrimp for a second — they’re unequivocally tender, sweet, buttery, fatty, and satisfying to eat. Occasionally they can be pretty naturally salty (and sometimes not so much), so you must adjust the salinity of the cooking water and seasonings you’re working with accordingly. No matter the natural saltiness, they’re still always sweeter than lobster and more tender. In fact, they’re the most tender species of the shrimp family because they have more fat than other varieties of shrimp.
These shrimp live in (and are caught in) very deep cold waters in just a few locations around the world. These conditions are what give them this beautiful buttery lobster-like texture and their unique flavor. They even cook a bit quicker than other types of shrimp making them a perfect candidate for cooking yummy bowls of this shrimp pasta on the fly♡. Additionally, these prized shrimp require a permit issued by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to catch them. If you don’t have access to these sweet seasonal shrimp, substitute Argentinian Reds, or Italian Gambero Rosso varieties.
Sustainability in Shrimping
I like to know where my seafood is coming from and if it’s sustainable before I buy. I’ll always pay more for sustainably wild-caught shrimp because it allows me to help support the livelihoods and family-owned businesses of hardworking men and women. These are the guys and gals who care about the oceans and our precious waterways ensuring there will be enough shrimp and seafood for us to eat in the future. Buying local helps ensure these generational businesses and their communities survive and hopefully thrive.
Cajun Style Royal Red Shrimp Pasta for One (or a crowd) tips + tricks + FAQ’s
- If you decide to remove the shells from the shrimp before cooking them, use this delicious 4-minute pan-seared Argentinian Red shrimp recipe.
- Save shrimp shells/heads to make shrimp butter. Simply sauté shrimp shells with unsalted butter until it imparts a nice reddish color and full shrimp flavor. This can be stored in the refrigerator and used on garlic toasted french bread, bruschetta, to butter your favorite breakfast sandwich, in sweet summer seafood corn chowder, or to top your favorite pan-seared or grilled steak. with a little imagination, the applications are endless.
- Double this recipe., Just ensure you use the appropriate size skillet for the shrimp so they can all be cooked in one single layer and not thrown on top of one another.
- If you only have a small skillet, just add the butter and seasonings to it and cook the shrimp in separate batches. It will take just a few minutes longer.
- Substitute pan-seared sea scallops for all (or some) of the shrimp.
- Substitute extra virgin olive oil if you’re averse to using butter or have health issues that keep you from using it. It won’t taste quite the same, but it’ll still be great.
- Royal Red Shrimp’s scientific name is pleoticus robustus native to the Gulf Coast, the Keys, and even Connecticut.
- Royal Red shrimp are sweeter, fattier, and more tender than any other variety of shrimp.
- Royal Reds are fished (or rather, shrimped) out of very deep water (1200-2400ft (365m-731m) which makes them more labor-intensive and can also make them more dangerous to catch.
The Real American Dream — Zatarain’s + Old Bay Seasoning Founders
If you’re curious about where Zatarain’s and Old Bay Seasonings both come from and the families who brought them to our kitchens, look no further than the American immigration story that’s as old as the country itself. Although the packaging looks very similar in color etc. these two ingredients are not the same. So, if you use Zatarain’s or Old Bay, you can thank these two industrious men for their historical culinary contributions.
- Zatarain’s was invented in New Orleans, LA, (USA) in 1889 by Emile Zatarain. He was born in Louisiana, but his parents had emigrated from south of the Pyrenees to the US before he was born. Emile was also known for his root beer and a few other interesting facts you can find here.
- Old Bay Seasoning was invented in Baltimore, MD (USA) in 1939 by Gustav Brunn. A German immigrant who’d owned a spice company in Germany fled to America as the rise of Nazi Germany took hold. He arrived in NYC and went on to Baltimore, MD where he had extended family and he began working at the McCormick Spice factory. Two days after he was hired, he was fired when they found out he was Jewish. And ironically enough in 1990, almost exactly 100 years after inventing Old Bay Seasoning, the McCormick Spice company bought the Old Bay Seasoning company.
Ichi Bon Rouge
All credit goes to my good friend KP for my introduction to Royal Reds many years ago. He grew up in and around the Louisiana/Alabama areas and knew all about these prized shrimp. In fact, they were still fairly obscure to most people back when we started hosting our occasional Royal Red dinner parties. They always include a spread of newspaper laid out on the table, giant batches of quick-boiled “Reds” in aluminum pans doused with Old Bay Seasoning and served with lots (lots) of clarified butter, corn on the cobb, hot garlic, and herb buttered bread, and key lime pie with strawberry coulis for dessert.
Clarified butter is all these shrimp need (dip them as you would a lobster tail). They don’t need anything else. In fact, if I had to choose, I would take Gulf Reds over lobster any day of the week (and I’m a lobster girl through and through). As far as the entire category of red shrimp, I prefer the Gulf Royal Reds to almost all other varieties found throughout the world. This includes the delicious Argentine reds and the super delicious (and expensive) Italian Gambero Rosso. These Italian red shrimp are closer to the texture and flavor of the Gulf reds as compared to the Argentinian reds. If you’re fortunate enough to ever be able to experience them from near or around the Gulf, or Italy, you won’t regret it.
Let’s get started!
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Cajun Style Royal Red Shrimp Pasta for One (or a crowd)
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 1 large serving or 2 smaller Primi servings 1x
Description
We love Cajun food, shrimp, and pasta! This quick and delicious Royal Red seafood pasta is the culmination of all that affection! We like ours on the spicy side, but feel free to tone down the heat. Old Bay Seasoning and Zatarain’s Liquid Crab Boil provide just the right amount of Cajun’y flavor while allowing high-quality Gulf Coast Royal Red shrimp (or even Argentinian Red shrimp) to be the superstars in this pasta! The best part — dinner’s ready in the amount of time it takes to boil the pasta!
Ingredients
- 6 Royal Red Shrimp, deveined with shell-on (or other wild-caught sustainable shrimp)
- 4 ounces dried spaghetti or linguine pasta (120g)
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter (separated into two equal portions) (28-30g)
- 1/2 teaspoon or more liquid Concentrated Zatarain’s Shrimp & Crab Boil, or more to taste (3g)
- 1/2 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning, or more to taste (2g)
- 1/2–1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil (can be increased as desired) (5-10g)
- kosher salt to taste
- cayenne pepper or red pepper flakes to taste (optional)
Instructions
- Boil the water. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil.
- Cook the shrimp. While the water is heating up, melt the butter in a skillet on medium-high heat, add the Zatarain’s Crab & Shrimp Boil liquid and Old Bay Seasoning and stir to combine. Add the shrimp to the skillet in a single layer, sprinkle with a little salt and cook for approximately 2 minutes. Flip the shrimp in the butter mixture being sure to coat them well and continue cooking for an additional 30 seconds to 1 minute more, or until they turn pink and mostly opaque, and turn off the heat.
- Cook the pasta. Add the spaghetti (or linguine) to the boiling water and cook until al dente according to the packaged directions.
- Add the noodles to the sauce. When your pasta is just cooked through, strain the noodles reserving approximately 1/2 cup of the starchy pasta cooking water. Add the strained noodles directly to the skillet with the shrimp and turn the heat back on to medium-high. Add the olive oil and about 1/4 cup (60g) of the starchy pasta water to create a loose (but not watery) sauce and continue stirring and tossing everything really well with tongs to combine and coat the noodles in the smooth silky sauce.
- Finish the pasta. As soon as you reach the perfect sauce consistency (a matter of just a few seconds), remove the skillet from the heat and add in the last two tablespoons of butter, toss to coat and serve immediately and Enjoy!
Notes
- Why add the pasta cooking water? Starchy pasta water added to sauce is one of the professional techniques used in restaurants (and by the Italians who invented the stuff) to create rich velvety pasta. And in this recipe, when combined with the butter sauce, noodles, and the heat of the skillet in the last minutes of cooking it helps create a perfectly silky and extremely flavorful sauce.
- If your sauce is too thick or you feel you don’t have enough, add just a little more pasta water 1 tablespoon (15g) at a time and toss well. Just don’t add too much which may drown out all that shrimpy, Cajun’y flavor!
- In step 3, do not overcook the pasta in this step because you will add the cooked, drained pasta to the skillet along with the shrimp sauce and sauté for just about 1 minute more in order to build the sauce and bind everything together just before plating.
- If using Gulf Coast Royal Red shrimp in this recipe do not cook the shrimp for longer than 3 minutes or they will overcook and become rubbery.
- If using Argentinian Red shrimp in this recipe you may cook them for up to3.5 to 4 minutes without them becoming rubbery.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Pasta
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 recipe
Keywords: pasta sauce, spaghetti recipe, cajun shrimp pasta, easy pasta sauce, cajun seasoning, cajun seafood, cajun shrimp, cajun pasta sauce,
