This Creamy Lemon Broccoli Pasta with Shrimp is bright and flavorful and comes together in just 30 minutes! You only need 8 simple ingredients to put together this light, fresh, and easy dish that the whole family will love.
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🍋 The Best Creamy Lemon Pasta
This delicious lemon shrimp pasta is so easy and perfect for a quick weeknight dinner. But it's also restaurant-quality, making it great for celebrations and gatherings too! For more seafood-centered party dishes, you should try my Vietnamese Shrimp Toast, Seafood Salad, or Hawaiian Garlic Butter Shrimp Kabobs.
This easy pasta dish is loaded with buttery shrimp, plenty of garlic, vibrant broccoli, and an effortless cream sauce. Fresh lemon juice is mixed in at the end to brighten the whole dish. It's bright and fresh yet cozy and comforting. And the best part is how easy it is - the whole recipe comes together in just 30 minutes with only 8 ingredients!
Why You'll Love It
- Light and fresh: Creamy pasta doesn't have to feel heavy! Fresh lemon and broccoli keeps this dish bright and balanced, while shrimp is a lean protein that will keep you full for hours.
- Quick: This lemon pasta has minimal prep and comes together very quickly (just 30 minutes). While the noodles are cooking, work on the produce and sauce so both can finish together at the same time.
- Minimal ingredients: These simple ingredients are easy to find. I bet you have most of them in your fridge and pantry already!
🧂 Ingredients
- Pasta: You can use any shape you'd like, but I like short pastas in this dish to keep everything the same size. Rigatoni is my favorite but you could also use penne, cavatappi, bowtie, or rotini. Linguine is also popular for seafood pasta!
- Shrimp: I like to buy frozen peeled, deveined shrimp with tails removed in bulk. To thaw, let sit in a bowl of cold water for about 30 minutes.
- Butter: I prefer unsalted butter for better control of the seasoning. But you can use salted butter, or even olive oil, instead.
- Lemon: Fresh is always best! The zest imparts a lot of flavor into the cream, and finishing with fresh juice brightens the whole dish. Extra lemons can be used for Baked Lemon Chicken Tenders, Lemon Basil Rice, or Lemon Chia Seed Muffins.
- Whole milk: The sauce consists of just milk and starchy pasta water. So make sure there's enough fat in the milk or else it won't emulsify into a rich cream sauce.
- Broccoli: To make sure all the broccoli cooks at the same time, cut larger florets into bite-sized pieces.
Substitutions & Variations
- Use your favorite type of pasta! I prefer white or whole wheat flour pasta for the al dente texture. It also releases more starch, which helps thicken the cream sauce. You can substitute with chickpea, brown rice, or lentil pasta to keep it gluten-free.
- Whole milk can be substituted with half and half or heavy cream for a richer sauce.
- If using frozen broccoli in place of fresh, add it to the pan at the same time as the heavy cream. This will give the broccoli more time to thaw and remove any excess water.
- Replace the shrimp with your favorite protein, like chicken, salmon, or scallops. You could also make it vegetarian by omitting it.
- Add whatever vegetables you have in your pantry or fridge. Mushroom, roasted red peppers, artichoke hearts, or spinach would work great!
🔪 How To Make Lemon Shrimp Broccoli Pasta
First, bring a pot of heavily salted water to a boil. Add the rigatoni and cook for 2-3 minutes less than package instructions. There should still be a bite to them since they'll finish cooking in the sauce. Reserve about a cup of the starchy pasta water, drain the pastas, and set it aside.
At the same time, melt some butter in a skillet. Pat the shrimp dry, season it with salt and pepper, and add it to the pan. Cook in a single layer until first side is opaque, then flip and cook one minute more. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
In the same pan the shrimp was in, melt the remaining butter. Add the onion and lemon zest and cook over medium heat until onion starts to get translucent. Then add garlic and stir for about 30 seconds.
Next, add the milk and ½ cup pasta water. Simmer over medium-high heat, stirring often.
Then add the fresh broccoli, al dente pasta, and season with salt and pepper. Over high heat, stir constantly until sauce thickens and broccoli is bright and tender.
Turn off the heat and add the fresh lemon juice. Season to taste and serve immediately.
💭 Top Tips
- Save money by purchasing frozen shrimp instead of fresh. They're usually the same anyway, plus you don't know how long it's been out for. I also recommend buying IQF (Individually Quick Frozen) for better texture and easy thawing.
- Since shrimp cooks quickly, it's best to cook it separately. It's also better to undercook the shrimp slightly since it'll reheat with everything at the end.
- Cook the pasta very al dente so it can finish cooking in the cream sauce. The pasta will absorb more flavor and the starch will help thicken the sauce. I usually cook mine 1-2 minutes less than what the package says.
- Use a vegetable peeler to zest the lemon but make sure to avoid the white pith - this part is bitter. The essential oil in the larger peels will add a stronger lemon flavor to the cream sauce.
🥡 Storing & Freezing
Storing: This lemon broccoli pasta is best served fresh, as the pasta will continue to absorb the sauce and lose its creaminess. However, it'll still taste great as leftovers! Let the it cool completely, then store in an air-tight container in the fridge for 4 days.
Freezing: I would not recommend freezing this because cream sauces tend to separate.
Reheating: Reheat in the microwave or over low heat on the stove-top, stirring occasionally, until warm. Add a splash of milk or cream if it looks dry.
📖 Recipe FAQs
Add pasta water and let very al dente pasta finish cooking in the hot sauce. The starch in the pasta water helps the sauce emulsify so it feels rich and creamy. The pasta will also absorb some of the sauce so it'll have more flavor.
You could, but I wouldn't recommend it. Pre-cooked shrimp will likely end up flavorless and overcooked in this dish.
A lot of recipes recommend boiling the broccoli at the same time as the pasta. But when I tested this, I found the florets became waterlogged and mushy. Instead, add the broccoli to the pan with the hot pasta and cream so it can lightly boil and steam. This will help maintain its texture and flavor.
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📋 Recipe
Creamy Lemon and Broccoli Pasta with Shrimp
Ingredients
- 8 oz pasta I used rigatoni
- ½ lb shrimp peeled and deveined; option to have tails on or off
- 1½ tablespoon unsalted butter divided
- 3-4 pieces lemon zest (see notes)
- ¼ small onion diced; about ⅔ cup
- 3-4 cloves garlic minced
- ½ cup whole fat milk
- 6 oz broccoli florets chopped to roughly the same size
- 1-2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice about half a lemon
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil. Add your pasta and cook until very al dente, about 2-3 minutes less than package instructions. Reserve 1 cup pasta water, drain, and set aside.
- Meanwhile, pat shrimp dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Melt ½ tablespoon butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook shrimp in a single layer until opaque, about 1-2 minutes each side. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
- Melt remaining 1 tablespoon butter over medium heat. Add lemon zest and onion, sautéing for 2-3 minutes until onion starts to get translucent at edges. Add garlic and stir for 30 seconds or until fragrant.
- Add milk, ½ cup pasta water, and season with salt and pepper. Let simmer for 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Then add broccoli, cooked pasta, and ½ teaspoon black pepper. Turn the heat to high and stir constantly until pasta absorbs most of the liquid and broccoli is bright green and tender, about 3-4 minutes. Remove lemon zest and season to taste.
- Turn off the heat. Pour in 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Stir and taste, adding more lemon juice as preferred. Serve immediately.
Notes
- Lemon zest: Use a vegetable peeler to get 1-inch pieces of the zest. Do your best to avoid the white pith as that will leave a bitter flavor.
- Whole fat milk can be substituted with half and half or heavy cream for a thicker sauce.
- If using frozen broccoli in place of fresh, add it to the pan at the same time as the heavy cream. This will give the broccoli more time to thaw and remove any excess water.
Nutrition
👩🏻🍳 Products I Used
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