Healthy Lemon Basil Shrimp with Pasta (in 20 Minutes!)

Name: Healthy Lemon Basil Shrimp with Pasta (in 20 Minutes!)
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 20 min
Ingredients: 1 ½ tablespoons olive oil, divided; 1 leek, very thinly sliced (white and light green part only), about ½ cup; 1 medium zucchini, thinly sliced into half moons; 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped; 1 pound shrimp, peeled, cleaned and deveined; 1 lemon, zested and juiced; ½ cup basil leaves, chopped; 8 ounces spaghetti (gluten free, if needed); ¼ teaspoon kosher salt; ¼ teaspoon black pepper

May 30, 2021

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Healthy Lemon Basil Shrimp with Pasta is a delicious and healthy weeknight dinner made in just 20 minutes. With a bright burst of citrus, garlic and aromatics, this is a simple pasta recipe that’s packed with flavor. Bonus: it’s a well-balanced meal to help you feel great!

Dairy Free, Soy Free, Nut Free, Gluten Free option

You know those days when you want a really delicious dinner, but don’t want to spend too much time slaving over the stove? I have the perfect dinner for you!

This Healthy Lemon Basil Shrimp with Pasta is jammed packed with flavor and so satisfying!

Inspired by bright summer flavors, I can’t get over how delicious the lemon and basil combination is with pasta!

If you’re traditionally a tomato sauce kinda person, I get that you may be skeptical… but think about how good pesto is. Now image pesto but with a more lemony kick. If you like citrus at all, you’re going to love this dish! I’m just giddy writing about it because I think this may be my favorite recipe of the year so far. It will 100% definitely be on repeat this summer because NO OVEN is required and you can even make it 100% plant-based too (see below)!

Healthy Lemon Basil Shrimp with Pasta is…

Well-balanced to help you feel great (even when eating pasta!)
Loaded with flavor from bright citrus to garlic and earthy aromatics
Made in just 20 minutes
Customizable to make vegan with the same lemon basil flavor
Great to feed a crowd

How is this a balanced meal?

I love an “all in one” type of balanced meal. What do I mean? I mean that you have all components of a balanced meal in a single recipe so you’re not pulling together a 3-course meal on a weeknight. It’s all about simplicity, my friends!

What’s a balanced meal?

As a refresher, a balanced meal contains:

Protein
Veggies
Carbohydrates
Fats

Of course for good measure we also want flavor and fun to ensure our meals are satisfying too!

How is this Lemon Basil Shrimp with Pasta dish balanced?

You can almost see it in the title alone!

Shrimp provide the majority of protein in this meal. Per ounce, shrimp contain nearly 6 grams of protein per 1 ounce of shrimp. I typically suggest 3-6 ounces of protein per meal, so that would pack a hefty 18-36 grams of protein!

Veggies are abundant in this meal, but to be honest, I usually add a side salad too (see below for serving suggestions). Zucchini, leeks and garlic are all types of veggies in this meal.

Pasta provides the bulk of the carbs. I chose a whole wheat pasta because it contains more fiber per serving, as well as more vitamins and minerals. Even more, an unknown fact is that pasta actually provides some additional protein to the meal. Per ounce, whole wheat pasta contains 4 grams of protein and 2.5 grams of fiber!

Fats are added to this meal in the form of cooking oil. And that’s 100% OK if that’s the only fat. If you wanted, you could also sprinkle parmesan on top, but that’s quite controversial with seafood!

For even more information about how to build a balanced meal, be sure to check out my Ultimate Guide to Balance Your Plate. It’s full of info to help walk you through it!

Ingredients You’ll Need to Make Healthy Lemon Basil Shrimp

You’ll need just 7 ingredients (plus oil, salt and pepper) to make this recipe:

Leeks
Zucchini
Garlic
Shrimp
Lemons
Basil
Spaghetti (or any pasta you wish)

How to buy shrimp

I often find the “barrier to entry” for cooking seafood dishes at home is a fear about buying fish. And I get it… as someone who wrote a cookbook about fish, I get that seafood is a delicate protein source. You need to use it quickly after purchase and it’s definitely a tad more expensive, so you don’t want to mess it up.

Shrimp come in various sizes – it’s important to know what size you need for your recipe when buying shrimp.

For this recipe I use “26/30” shrimp, which means that there are about 26-30 shrimp per pound. I find these to be the goldilocks of shrimp – not too big and not too small… but just right!

You’ll also find 10/14 shrimp or 30/35 shrimp, which are bigger and smaller, respectively. 10/14 shrimp means there are 10-14 larger shrimp per pound compared to 30-35 smaller shrimp per pound.

You can use any size shrimp for this recipe. If you use larger shrimp you’ll need to add cooking time. Smaller shrimp will require less cooking time.

What if basil is not available?

Basil is fairly essential for this lemon basil shrimp dish, however, you can slightly adapt the recipe and use another green herb available:

Parsley for a classic addition
Dill for a bright Mediterranean feel
Cilantro for a slightly Mexican-inspired twist

I’ve never used leeks – what do they add to the dish?

Leeks complement garlic so well, which is why I chose them, but you could also swap shallots, sweet onions or green onions for a similar flavor.

Leeks are also a food source of prebiotics AKA food for probiotics, which help support a healthy gut.

Can I use a different vegetable besides zucchini?

Of course you can customize this dish to any veggie you have on hand (or honestly leave it out). Any leafy green (spinach or kale), thinly sliced bell peppers or even mushrooms would be delicious in this dish. If you don’t have any of these options available you could also omit the veggies and serve with a salad to balance your plate.

How to Make Healthy Lemon Basil Shrimp with Pasta

This is *almost* a one pot meal. OK, so it’s a two-pot meal and there’s no way around it, but it’s delish and so worth the extra pot!

First, set a large pot of water to boil to cook the pasta.

Salt it like the sea as all of the TV chefs say because it really does make a difference in the end flavor of your pasta! Once it’s boiling, be sure to add your pasta to make this a real 20-minute meal!

It takes a while for a large pot of water to boil, so in the meantime prepare all of your other ingredients:

Chop the leeks
Chop the zucchini
Chiffonade the basil (aka chop it said in a fancy way)
Zest and juice your lemon (in the same bowl is fine)
Chop the garlic (if you’re not using the storebought jar of pre-chopped garlic)
Make sure your shrimp are peeled, deveined, and the tails off (the last part being optional)

Then, heat a large cast iron pan (or any skillet) over medium heat with oil. First you’ll cook the leeks, zucchini and garlic until they begin to soften. Remember they’ll continue to cook, so don’t wait until they’re over-cooked and mushy to add the other ingredients.

Time when you add the shrimp well!

Next you’ll add the shrimp, lemon zest and lemon juice. Try to make room in the pan so all of the shrimp cook evenly. I like to move things around in my pan with a set of tongs. You’ll want to time this move right. Don’t add the shrimp until your pasta is in the water and cooking because they cook super quickly.

When you flip the shrimp also add the basil and season well with salt and pepper.

How to put it all together…

When the spaghetti is done cooking, add it to the pan with the shrimp and toss it all together with some additional olive oil, lemon zest and basil for a final punch of flavors. If you like your food spicy, you can also add some crushed red pepper flakes at the end.

How to Customize this Lemon Basil Pasta to make it Vegetarian or Vegan

Lemon and basil complement each other so well, so I wanted to provide a variation for you to try when you don’t have shrimp in the house, have a vegetarian or vegan coming over for dinner, and want these flavors ASAP!

You can pretty much follow the same instructions as above:

Boil water to cook pasta.
Saute the leeks, zucchini and garlic.
Add WHITE BEANS, lemon juice and zest, plus basil.
Toss it all together.

See… easy swap for white beans to add some more plant-based protein to this dish without the seafood. White beans are sturdy enough to hold their own in pasta, but have a mild flavor to pick up on the lemon and basil.

What to serve with this pasta dish

As I mentioned earlier, this is a complete well-balanced meal in one, however, I usually like to bulk up the veggies to make it more filling. I’m all about volume when eating.

Here are some of my favorite sides to serve with this pasta dish:

Simple side salad
Roasted Dill Carrots
Easy Balsamic Roasted Tomatoes
Lemon Cauliflower Rice with Hummus Dressing (for a lemon party!)

Kitchen Tools You May Need to Make This Recipe: