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This Tuscan butter shrimp brings the taste of Tuscany to your table in such an easy, delicious way!
A quick dinner to serve over rice or pasta, or all by itself with a side salad and baked potato. Also great alongside your favorite meat – think steak or grilled chicken!
What makes a dish “Tuscan?” you may ask.
Basically the tastes of this butter shrimp combine tomato with Italian spices, garlic, white wine, and cheese to deliver a richly flavorful combination that will knock your socks off!
Buttery, creamy, and rich – this is a dish that you’d expect to find at an elegant restaurant. Yet so simple and quick to make at home.
If you love shrimp and Italian seasonings, you’ll love this simple butter shrimp recipe. Make it, and let me know what you think!
What You’ll Need:
- 1 pound shrimp (cooked or uncooked, de-veined and peeled with tail off or on, see below)
- 3 Tablespoons butter
- 1 Tablespoon garlic (or 2 large cloves), minced
- 1 teaspoon each of dry marjoram, oregano, and basil (or 1 Tablespoon of Italian seasoning)
- 1/4 cup dry white wine
- 1/2 cup cream
- 1 ounce cream cheese
- 1 Tablespoon tomato paste
- 1/2 cup fresh raw spinach (packed)
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated or shredded
- 1/4 teaspoon salt, more to taste
I made this recipe with tail-on shrimp, but next time I will either buy shrimp with no tails or remove the tails myself.
Why? Because the sauce is so rich and thick, having the tails on made it not so great when picking them up out of the sauce. Quite messy, although no less delicious!
So save tailed shrimp for scampi-type dishes that aren’t drenched in luscious sauce (this sauce is luscious!)
How to Make Tuscan Shrimp
To make this Tuscan butter shrimp, you will first preheat a heavy skillet on low-medium heat for 5 minutes on the stove top. I like to use my cast iron skillet.
Once preheated, add the butter, garlic, marjoram, oregano, and basil (or Italian seasoning mix). Cook about 2 minutes or until garlic just begins to brown.
You will then turn the heat up to medium and add the white wine. Stir and cook 4-5 minutes or until wine is reduced a bit.
After the wine is reduced a bit, add cream cheese and tomato paste to the pan and reduce the heat to low. Cover for 1-2 minutes to soften cream cheese and tomato paste.
Next, uncover the skillet and add cream and shrimp. Stir and cook 5 minutes until thickened, stirring occasionally.
Once thickened, you will turn off heat and add the spinach and parmesan, stirring them in.
Let the pan sit for 2 minutes uncovered in order to wilt the spinach and melt the parmesan cheese.
Serve hot over pasta or rice. Also perfect alongside or over your favorite steak or grilled chicken breast.
Shrimp Cooking Tips
If using uncooked shrimp, you will want to make sure that the shrimp is fully cooked at this point.
When done, it will look white and pink all over instead of grayish. Cook a bit extra if needed (if not yet pink) and turn over halfway through cook time.
If using pre-cooked shrimp, make sure not to overcook in order to not end up with tough shrimp.
Also, if using frozen shrimp (whether cooked or not), be sure to thaw it in cool water, drain, and pat dry before cooking. (This should take about 10-15 minutes.)
I hope you and your family love this creamy garlic Tuscan shrimp and feel like royalty while eating it! Let me know in the comments below!
Tuscan Butter Shrimp
Ingredients
- 3 Tbsp butter
- 1 Tbsp garlic , minced (about 2 large cloves)
- 1 tsp marjoram , dry
- 1 tsp oregano , dry
- 1 tsp basil , dry
- ¼ cup white wine , dry (can be cheap, but don't use cooking wine)
- 1 ounce cream cheese
- 1 Tbsp tomato paste
- ½ cup cream
- 1 pound shrimp , fresh or frozen (thawed), de-veined, peeled, and tail on or off)
- ¼ tsp salt , more to taste
- ½ cup spinach , fresh, packed
- ¼ cup parmesan cheese , grated or shredded
Instructions
- On the stove top, preheat heavy skillet on low-medium heat for 5 minutes.
- Add butter, garlic, marjoram, oregano, and basil (or Italian seasoning mix).
- Cook about 2 minutes or until garlic just begins to brown.
- Turn heat up to medium and add wine. Stir and cook 4-5 minutes or until wine is reduced a bit.
- Add cream cheese and tomato paste to the pan, and reduce heat to low. Cover 1-2 minutes to soften cream cheese and tomato paste.
- Uncover, add cream, shrimp, and salt. Stir and cook 5 minutes until thickened. If using uncooked shrimp, make sure that shrimp is white and pink all over (turning halfway during cook time).
- Turn off heat. Add spinach and parmesan, and stir.
- Let sit 2 minutes to wilt spinach and melt parmesan.
- Serve hot over pasta or rice or alongside your favorite meat such as steak or grilled chicken.
Nutrition
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