Ready for some easy peasy comfort food with a light and creamy twist? These Creamy Pesto Zucchini Noodles are topped with speedy sautéed shrimp and are SO delicious!
Not to state the obvious or anything, but we need to talk about this sauce.
Ho. Ly. Cow. THIS SAUCE!
There’s a local restaurant that serves up shrimp and rotini pasta with a pesto cream sauce that is out of this world, lick-your-bowl-delicious. Pretty sure I just hacked the recipe… SCORE!
Naturally the first thing I had to do with my saucy bowl-o-victory was pour it over a boatload of zucchini noodles.
Don’t get me wrong, I puffy heart all things carbalicious, especially pasta, but it’s just too heavy for lunch. I wind up feeling sleepy and slow and have to postpone my workout because I’ve got “the pastas.” Annoying right?
Save the noodles for a special occasion and grab some light and tasty zucchini for this recipe!
Creamy Pesto Zucchini Noodles with Shrimp
Creamy Pesto Zucchini Noodles with Shrimp
Ingredients
- 2 medium zucchini squash (approx 7 inches long)
- 1 TBSP butter
- 1 TBSP gluten-free or regular all-purpose flour
- ½ cup room temperature milk (2% or whole)
- ½ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese plus extra for topping
- 2 TBSP homemade or store bought pesto
- 8-10 oz cleaned peeled shrimp (fresh of thawed)
- ¼ tsp garlic powder*
- ⅛ tsp paprika
- ⅛ tsp sea salt
- ⅛ tsp black pepper
- extra virgin olive oil for drizzling
OPTIONAL EXTRAS:
- fresh basil torn or chopped
- fresh chopped parsley
- red pepper flakes
- for extra garlic flavor add some minced garlic to your shrimp while sauteeing. This can be done in addition to or in place of the garlic powder!
Instructions
- Wash and slice the ends off your squash.
- Using a spiralizer or a veggie peeler, slice your zucchini into noodles and set aside.
- Bring a nonstick pan or skillet to medium heat and melt your butter.
- Add flour and stir constantly to form a smooth paste.
- Next add room temperature milk (warm it if needed) and continue stirring until mixture is smooth and begins to thicken.
- Sprinkle in Parmesan cheese and stir, then add your pesto.
- Reduce heat to lowest setting and allow sauce to stay warm while you cook your shrimp.
- Bring a pan or skillet to medium heat and add a drizzle of olive oil (or use butter if you prefer!) and your shrimp.
- Season with garlic powder, paprika, sea salt and pepper and cook on each side for about 2 minutes until shrimp curl and turn a pinkish-orange and opaque. The saute time will depend on the heat setting you choose and the size of your shrimp, but regardless they’ll be perfectly cooked in a matter of minutes!
- Add the noodles to your shrimp and stir, giving the zucchini noodles a chance to soften slightly. They’re best al-dente, slightly tender with an nice bite to them.
- Pour your sauce over the mixture and serve.
- Top with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and your choice of extras from the list above.
Notes
Nutrition
For an even creamier sauce, feel free to use fresh cream or a mixture of cream and milk in the recipe. The sauce is super flexible and may be as rich as you like. I went with a lighter cream sauce since I served this deliciousness for lunch. My husband and I LOVED it!
so. . . how was it?!
I’m crazy in love and can’t wait for you to try these creamy pesto zucchini noodles with shrimp!
I can’t remember the last time I’ve made myself a big ole bowl of zucchini noodles. At some point my love affair with spiralized zucchini migrated over to cucumber (case–in–point) and I almost forgot about my beloved zoodles. Luckily they’re coming back into season here in the South and our romance has rekindled.
They were oh-so-perfect with this creamy sauce (seriously – SO GOOD!) and you bet your butt you’ll be seeing more of these gorgeous green noodles around here all Summer long. Get excited!
If you haven’t picked up a spiralizer yet, now is most definitely the time! I’ve had my Tri-Blade Paderno Spiral Slicer (affiliate link) for nearly 5 years now love it! They even came out with a 5-Blade model! Whaaaa!? I basically adore this silly little gadget like woah.
Oodles of veggie noodles. It’s a thing.
This was great!! I made this for Valentine’s Day and it turned out great! I modified it to have enough to feed my family by using 4 zucchini. I had to also modify the sauce by adding additional milk, pesto, and water. I also used frozen small shrimp that already had the tail cut off and added shredded chicken. My family enjoyed it!! Thank you!!!
This was sooooooo good. I love using zucchini noodles instead of pasta – it’s much healthier and lighter. This dinner was definitely a winner in our house.
Woooot! So happy glad you enjoyed it April, thank you!
I love everything about this meal! So fresh and delicious!
So so happy to hear it – thank you, Wilhelmina!
Oh my! Just made this tonight and it was delicious! I did add just a small amount of angel hair pasta and some red pepper flakes. Will be making this again very soon!
So so glad you enjoyed it Jennifer, thank you!
My son has a shellfish allergy so we skipped the shrimp, serving the zoodles and sauce alongside garlic roasted chicken instead. Delicious!
Glad it was a hit Tanya! I’m totally trying it with chicken next time we make it, thanks! <3
Well I just HAVE to try this sauce now! Looks amazing and I love the addition of shrimp. YUM!
Thanks Megan! Hope you looooooove it! <3 I'm bonkers over this recipe!
I just bought a poodle maker so I am so making this! 🙂
Oh my goodness! That sauce looks amazing!
Thanks Roxanna! <3 I'm HOOKED! 🙂