A zesty one-pot shrimp and pasta dish is complete after tossing with capers, basil, olive oil, and lemon juice. Serve with focaccia or crusty baguette.

Lemon Basil Shrimp and Pasta

water

spaghetti

shrimp

basil

capers

olive oil

lemon juice

salt

baby spinach

Bring 3 quarts water to a boil in a Dutch oven. Add pasta; cook 8 minutes. Add shrimp to pan; cook 3 minutes or until shrimp are done and pasta is al dente. Drain. Place pasta mixture in a large bowl. Stir in basil and next 4 ingredients (through salt). Place 1/2 cup spinach on each of 4 plates; top each serving with 1 1/2 cups pasta mixture.


This recipe does not taste good enough to justify the sodium numbers.........

great easy dish, the peeled and deveined shrimp were a lot more expensive than the easy peel, so I just peeled them myself.  Next time I would use double or triple the spices or they some different flavorings, It just lacked punch when made to the recipe's specifications.

This is one of my family's favorite dishes, we have it frequently. When I make this dish, I don't cook the shrimp in the pasta water as suggested. Instead I cook it in a skillet with olive oil spray and minced garlic (and a little squeeze of lemon). I also add halved cherry tomatoes to the pasta just before serving it and sub whole grain pasta for traditional spaghetti. My family is not a huge fan of spinach so I normally serve it with blanched asparagus or steamed broccoli instead. This recipe is always a crowd pleaser.

Final product was bland and was reminiscent of lemon dish washing liquid. I will try to liven it up with pesto, red peppers, and garlic to zest it up a bit. The one pot meal idea was great though.

I read the other reviews and decided at the outset that I was going to add garlic.  I put the olive oil in a small saute pan and sauted minced garlic on med-low while the shrimp cooked.  I added the lemon juice to that along with the capers and a little of the water from the pasta just prior to draining it.  Dumped the drained pasta back into the pot pouring it on top of the spinach and basil, then adding the olive oil mixture, tossing well.  Salt, pepper, and a little parmesean finished the dish.  I thought it was pretty tasty and would definitely make it again.

Incredibly easy to prepare. I used frozen easy-peel shrimp--16 to 20 to the pound. Cooking the pasta and shrimp in one pot is a great time-saver; both came out perfectly cooked; 8 minutes for pasta, 4 for shrimp. The dish is a little bland. I will make it again, but I think it needs something to brighten it up a bit. Maybe grated lemon rind and definitely more lemon juice and more pepper. I served it for lunch with friends with Caesar salad with a spicy dressing.

Delicious and easy.  I made a couple of changes: sautéed the shrimp and spinach in olive oil, then added fresh basil, lemon juice and capers. Thought it might be too dry, so added some of the pasta water (probably 1/2 to 3/4 cup).  Also didn't add any extra salt, capers added enough.  My family loved it!

This is a super quick/easy meal. I grilled the shrimp and served with lemon slices as suggested by others. It is a perfect summer meal.

Kind of bland...I even sauteed the shrimp in garlic and olive oil first...Probably won't make it again.

Pretty good but needs some mods to be outstanding. Fresh pasta was really key and we thought the sauce needed more lemon. This was easily remedied by serving with a wedge of lemon. 
I ended up seasoning the shrimp with "Seafood Magic" and then grilling on skewers, which made it really tasty.

This recipe is very quick and easy to make. The only changes we would have made is to add more lemon juice and more fresh basil. My husband also topped his with cracked pepper and grated parmesan which enhanced the flavor more. This is a great weeknight dish.

I didn't think this recipe was bland at all. You need to use FRESH basil and lemon juice to get the best flavor. The only thing I added was fresh cracked pepper and shredded parmesan topping at the table. My teenage daughters really liked it. Including the spinach!  I would definitely make this again.

I suggest putting spinach in colander &amp; pouring pasta &amp; shrimp over it to drain &amp; simultaneously wilt spinach.  Needed a little more flavor...garlic would be great &amp; pesto idea sounds good too. Loved that it was so quick &amp; easy...a perfect weeknight meal.

If you follow the recipe exactly this dish very bland.

I must be missing something with all of these wonderful reviews but I thought this recipe was a complete bust! Very little flavor though I followed it to a t. I suppose the capers should give the dish all of it's flavor (plain boiled shrimp..yawn)? You can't count on one ingredient to do all of the work right? I do like that is it one pot...maybe add red pepper flakes?

I made a couple changes to this recipe, I used a curly pasta and exchanged the olive oil for 2 TBS of store bought pesto sauce. This was awesome!!!!! just those little changes made this recipe taste great!!!!!!

This recipe is great for a quick week night meal.  It is a one pot stop.  I used frozen shrimp which thaws really fast.  I do prefer to cook the spinach a little.  I just throw it all it the pot and warm it up.  YUM!

We really enjoy this recipe as a starting point. We have tried several versions but our favorite to date is as follows. Prepare pasta according to instructions. Meanwhile saute 1/3 cup chopped red onion and 2 cloves of minced, fresh garlic in 2 tablespoons of good olive oil and 2 tablespoons of butter until onion is tender and the garlic just starts to turn golden. Add shrimp and saute until it turns pink and browns on each side. Add capers, three good tablespoons, slightly crushed and the juice of 2 lemons and cook for 2 minutes. Add 1/2 cup of Sauvignon Blanc and reduce for 2 minutes. Add the basil - I used a good 1/2 cup of chopped basil and think more would acceptable. Add the pasta along with some of the cooking liquid and toss in the pan. Add a little more olive oil and toss again. Transfer the pasta to the plates with the spinach and top with the shrimp. Microplane Parmigiano-Reggiano onto the dish.

My husband and I both thought this was bland.  I could taste a hint of everything (lemon, basil), but my husband said it tasted like boiled shrimp and noodles. 

Will not have again.

I love flavor, and thought this was fantastic with a simple adjustment.  While the pasta and shrimp boiled and cooked, I put everything else in the food processor with some garlic, red pepper flakes, almonds, and romano cheese (all stuff I had on hand) and made a pesto.  It's done by the time the shrimp/pasta is done, then all you do is toss the pesto into the pasta mixture.  The cheese adds a bit more fat, but you don't need much.  FULL OF FLAVOR!  I like Snoopy's method too, may try that next time.  Great summer dish to eat out by the pool.

If you think this is bland, try this: follow instructions up through cooking pasta/shrimp.  When draining pasta, reserve 1 cup of cooking liquid.  While pasta mixture drains, place cooking pot back on burner on medium.  Add the olive oil, minced garlic (fresh, not jarred, to taste 1 - 3 cloves), and some red pepper flakes (to taste).  Cook until fragrant and garlic is barely starting to brown.  Add a little pasta water or white wine, cook 2 minutes to blend flavors.  Add pasta and remaining ingredients to pot, toss to coat.  If too dry, add enough of the reserved cooking water to blend with the pasta and make a sauce.  Leave on heat just long enough to warm through and come together.  Serve!  Still a one pot meal, with NO added fat needed to boost flavor.

This was really not that good.  The textures of the dish did not go well together.  The taste was just okay.  I would not make this again.

This was so easy to prepare that it's great for a week night.  It was so yummy and wonderfully filling.  The next time I make it, I will omit the spinach though.  The spinach didn't add anything to the dish and wasn't as tasty as the rest of the dish.

This does have potential. It needs some serious love though. I would saute the shrimp instead of adding them to the boiling water. Maybe saute shrimp with some onion and garlic. It was bland even with the addition of Parmesean cheese. I'm not sure I'd make it again anytime soon and if I did it would probably so far off from this to even call it the same recipe. Love Cooking Light but this one was not the best.

Can not say enough about how good this was, not to mention super easy to make....taste so clean and fresh....great summertime dish!

I followed all the instructions exactly but made a few additions. I had leftover asparagus, peas, and green beans so I added those. I also added a quarter cup of butter which I thought would kick it up a notch as some reviewers thought it was bland. All in all, a very good dish that I would make again, especially when I wish to use up leftover veggies.

Serve a zesty shrimp pasta toss in less than 20 minutes.

lemon basil shrimp and pasta

Servings: 4

Author : Nancy Hughes

Ingredients

Instructions

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