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    Home » Pasta

    Creamy garlic prawn pasta

    Published: Feb 3, 2021 · Modified: Jan 13, 2022 by Genevieve

    Jump to Recipe Jump to Video

    Silky, creamy and soooo much flavour! One way to impress yourself and anyone you might cook for is by making this super easy and creamy garlic prawn pasta! Done in 20 minutes from start to finish and you have a mouthwatering, super delicious meal.

    This is a creamy, slightly more indulgent version of the Easy Garlic Prawn Pasta recipe.

    A plate of creamy garlic prawn pasta ready for serve
    Jump to:
    • Creamy & tasty, but healthy
    • Ingredients
    • Easy preparation
    • Step by step instructions
    • How to peel and devein prawns
    • More creamy pasta dishes
    • 📖 Recipe

    Creamy & tasty, but healthy

    When I say slightly more indulgent, yes, I'm referring to the heavy/thickened cream added to achieve its deliciously creamy sauce. Okay, so an emphasis on the 'slightly more' indulgent. For a recipe that serves 3 (or 2 very hungry people), we're only using 3 tablespoon of heavy cream.

    You don't need a whole lotta cream to achieve an amazing, silky and creamy sauce for this pasta. This recipe uses other healthy and great ingredients to achieve that including: extra virgin olive oil, chicken or vegetable stock, juices from the ripe cherry tomatoes and pasta cooking water (if needed).

    Ingredients

    All the ingredients required for this dish
    • Olive oil opt for extra virgin for its great flavour
    • Prawns/shrimp it's important to buy uncooked prawns as we'll be marinating them. This will get lots of flavour into the prawns and you'll be amazed at how much of a difference just 5 minutes can make!
    • Fresh parsley is a MUST in my books! It completely transforms and adds freshness to this dish. Make sure to only add them in the last 30 seconds to keep them fragrant.
    • Parmesan cheese I always grate my own cheese where possible. Freshly grated cheeses do not have the added anti-caking agent and so they melt really well into the pasta. No grainy texture either!
    • Heavy/thickened cream is used here to achieve creaminess. Stay away from light cream.

    Easy preparation

    Requiring minimal prep, this is truly a tasty and perfect quick weeknight meal!

    step by step on how to prepare the ingredients for this recipe

    Cherry tomatoes vs regular tomatoes

    Cherry tomatoes are preferred than regular tomatoes for this recipe as they're juicier, slightly more tart and are bursting with flavour. All these characteristics work perfectly with the cream, the garlic, the prawns and of course, the pasta.

    Step by step instructions

    Prawns cook QUICK. Overcooking will result in rubbery prawns and nobody wants that! The secret to delicious garlic prawns in this pasta dish without overcooking is by taking them out after about 2 minutes of cooking.

    You might think - why not just add the prawns 2-3 minutes before the entire dish is ready!? This is all because of the power of sauteeing. Sauteeing means cooking on high heat. The prawns and garlic will start to turn colour (caramelisation/browning) when cooked on high heat. Colour = complex and delicious flavour. And the more the tastier!

    step by step on cooking this dish

    Keep both eyes on the pan as everything happens quite quickly.

    ps. do you like my pink pan? My sister got it for me from ALDI for $15AUD!

    When it comes to prawns, I prefer buying whole prawns and then peel, devein at home. I find prawns are more flavourful that way. However, it is wayyyy easier and convenient to just buy peeled, deveined prawns.

    close up side profile of this silky, creamy pasta

    How to peel and devein prawns

    If you have the patience and using fresh prawns, this is how you do it:

    • Lightly twist off the head. If they're super fresh, the vein may come out too.
    • Peel the shells and legs off the prawns. I always start from the legs and most of the times the shells come off together.
    • Carefully, make an incision along the back of the prawn with a small knife. The safest way is by laying the prawn down on its side and cut the incision.
    • Scrape off the vein with the tip of your knife.

    Are prawn veins safe to eat?

    Although the veins (which really is just prawn poop) are safe to eat, they're just a little gritty texture-wise. I would make the effort of deveining prawns if they're large in size (as the veins are larger too!). If the prawns are small/medium-sized and looking fairly clean, I don't bother. It's up to individual preferences really.

    a full plate of creamy garlic prawn pasta

    Look at how silky this creamy prawn pasta is! YUM. I'm salivating as I type this.

    Finished dish in the cooking pan ready for serve

    More creamy pasta dishes

    • Creamy chicken and mushroom pasta
    • Creamy mushroom pasta (no cream) - healthier version!
    • Healthy-ish chicken and broccoli pasta

    Complete this super easy and yum creamy garlic prawn pasta with an easy, fuss-free starter Puff Pastry 'Pizza'.

    Let me know what you think and/or if you have any questions, thoughts, drop me a note in the comments section below and I'll get back to you. 🙂

    Happy cooking!

    Gen

    📖 Recipe

    full plate of creamy garlic prawn pasta

    Creamy garlic prawn pasta

    Silky, creamy and so much flavour! Impress yourself by making this super easy, creamy garlic prawn pasta! Done in 20 minutes.
    4.72 from 21 votes
    Print Pin Rate
    Course: Main Course
    Cuisine: Italian
    Keyword: shrimp alfredo pasta
    Prep Time: 10 minutes
    Cook Time: 10 minutes
    Total Time: 20 minutes
    Servings: 3 people
    Calories: 433kcal
    Author: Genevieve

    Ingredients

    • 200 g /7oz dried spaghetti fettuccine or linguine works great too
    • 200 g /7oz peeled, deveined prawns/shrimp (note 1)
    • 3 tablespoon heavy/thickened cream (note 2)
    • 3 cloves garlic large, minced
    • ½ cup chicken or vegetable stock or dry white wine (note 3)
    • 250 g /9oz cherry tomatoes halved
    • 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
    • salt and pepper to taste

    To serve

    • fresh parsley finely sliced
    • freshly grated parmesan cheese (note 4)
    Prevent your screen from going dark

    Instructions

    • Cook pasta according to packet instructions, to al dente and reserve ¼ cup of pasta cooking water. (note 5)
    • Whilst pasta is cooking, marinate the prawns by adding ⅓ of minced garlic, 1 tablespoon of olive oil, salt and pepper to the prawns. Mix thoroughly and set aside for 3 - 5 minutes.
    • In a large, non-stick pan or skillet, add remaining olive oil and garlic and cook on medium heat for 1 - 2 minutes or until garlic fragrant.
    • Add marinated prawns into the pan and turn the heat up to medium-high. Turn the prawns over after 1 minute with a pair of tongs. Cook the other side for another minute.
    • Add cherry tomatoes into the pan and mix for 1 minute. Remove the prawns from the pan and set aside.
    • Pour stock (or white wine if using) into the pan and reduce by half. Keep the heat on high.
    • Pour heavy/thickened cream in and immediately reduce heat down to low and bring to a simmer.
    • Add prawns back into the pan together with cooked pasta. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Mix thoroughly. Add a little pasta cooking water if needed. (note 5)
    • To serve, sprinkle parsley and lots of parmesan cheese!

    Video

    Notes

    Note 1. Peeled, deveined prawns if using frozen, ensure to defrost before cooking and marinating. 
    If you have the patience and using fresh, whole prawns, this is how you peel and devein at home:
    • Lightly twist off the head. If they're super fresh, the vein may come out too.
    • Peel the shells and legs off the prawns. I always start from the legs and most of the times the shells come off together.
    • Carefully, make an incision along the back of the prawn with a small knife. The safest way is by laying the prawn down on its side and cut the incision.
    • Scrape off the vein with the tip of your knife.
     
    Note 2. Heavy/thickened cream is best for this recipe as light or even normal cream do not provide the light thick, creamy consistency when mixed with other ingredients. 
    Note 3. Chicken or vegetable stock use either fresh or stock powders. I used stock powder as they're economical and a great pantry item. 
    Note 4. Grated parmesan cheese where possible, always grate your own cheese. Grated cheeses from stores all have added anti-caking agent (to stop them from sticking together) which don't melt as well. Plus the anti-caking agent gives the cheeses a bit of a grainy texture. 
    Note 5a. Reserve pasta cooking water comes in handy when making any pasta dish. Add a little to help loosen the pasta where necessary. Upon testing this recipe, I didn't need to use the pasta cooking water due to the liquids from stock, cherry tomato juices and cream. However, it is good practice to reserve some in case you do! 
    Note 5b. Cook pasta to al dente just means stop cooking when the pasta is almost done and has a bit of a bite when eaten. The pasta will continue to cook in the creamy garlic prawn sauce thus will be cooked to perfection!
    Tried this recipe?Mention @Casuallypeckish or tag #casuallypeckish!

    Nutrition

    Calories: 433kcal | Carbohydrates: 54.6g | Protein: 17.4g | Fat: 16.5g | Saturated Fat: 5.1g | Cholesterol: 21mg | Potassium: 327mg | Fiber: 3.2g | Sugar: 4.1g | Calcium: 40mg | Iron: 2mg

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    All in for a "what's for dinner" conversation. When I'm not at the gym exercising or grocery shopping, I'm making a mess in the kitchen and creating something yum along the way.

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