The Best Shrimp Scampi Recipe
If you’re looking for a dinner that tastes like it came straight from a restaurant but is ridiculously easy to make at home, shrimp scampi is what you need. This is one of those recipes that doesn’t need a million ingredients or hours in the kitchen. You can have it ready in about 15 minutes, and the flavor? Absolutely worth it.
The star here is a pound of big, plump shrimp, already peeled and deveined so you can get right to cooking. Then there’s fresh garlic, about four cloves, minced up nice and fine. Trust me, don’t skip fresh garlic. It’s what makes the whole kitchen smell like something special is about to happen. You’ll also need real butter, just two tablespoons, because butter + shrimp = magic.
A splash of white wine goes in next, nothing fancy, just something you’d drink. It gives the sauce that little hint of sweetness and depth. Fresh lemon juice (about two tablespoons) comes in to brighten everything up, and dried parsley adds that subtle herby note. Salt and pepper? Absolutely. And to bring it all together, a cup of linguine for the shrimp and sauce to hang out with.
Here’s how it all comes together. Start cooking the pasta in salted water until it’s just right. While that’s going, melt your butter in a big skillet over medium heat. Toss in the garlic and stir for a minute until it smells amazing, don’t walk away, it cooks fast. Add the shrimp, cooking them for just a couple of minutes per side until they turn that perfect pink. Pull them out so they don’t overcook.
Now pour in the wine and lemon juice. Let it bubble for a bit so it thickens slightly and all those flavors meld together. Sprinkle in your parsley, season with salt and pepper, and give it a taste, you can always tweak it here. Then toss the shrimp back into the pan along with the hot linguine. Give everything a good stir so the buttery, garlicky sauce coats every strand of pasta and every bite of shrimp.
The below guided recipe would put you through the broken down process of making you delicious homemade shrimp scampi.

The Best Shrimp Scampi Recipe
Equipment
- Cutting board
- Knife
- Linguine
Ingredients
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the linguine according to package instructions.
- In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes or until fragrant.
- Add the shrimp to the skillet and cook for 2-3 minutes per side or until pink and cooked through.
- Remove the shrimp from the skillet and set aside.
- Add the white wine and lemon juice to the skillet and cook for 1-2 minutes or until the sauce has slightly thickened.
- Stir in the parsley and season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve the shrimp over the linguine and drizzle with the scampi sauce.