Jump to the Recipe
Since childhood, I have always been a big seafood lover. My favorite dish, hands down, is shrimp scampi.
I have sampled many varieties of scampi, both in restaurants and homemade. Some dishes are more buttery, and some are served over pasta, usually angel hair.
The version of this recipe that I grew up with is baked shrimp scampi. This perfect mix of butter, lemon, and garlic is unlike anything else I have ever experienced.
The crunchiness of the breadcrumb topping soaks up all of these flavors and makes for a truly delicious dish.
Serve over pasta or with a side of rice along with a simple side of roasted root vegetables or a fresh green salad, and you have a meal that people will be talking about for days.
This recipe starts with “shell on” shrimp that require deveining – if you’re not sure how to go about this, check out Foodal’s guide on the subject.
For a slightly lighter version, skip out on dredging the shrimp in breadcrumbs, and opt for our preparation in our lemon garlic shrimp recipe.
The Recipe
| Servings | Prep Time |
| 4 people | 45 minutes |
| Cook Time |
| 25 minutes |
|
|
|
|
This baked seafood dish features an optimal mix of butter, lemon, white wine, and garlic that will tantalize your taste buds. Get the recipe now on Foodal.
|
- 2 pounds extra large shrimp whole with shells on
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- 1/4 cup minced shallots
- 3 tablespoons Lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 4 tablespoons Minced parsley, plus more for garnish
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons dry white wine
- 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- 1 egg yolk
- 2/3 cup regular or panko breadcrumbs
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon Freshly ground black pepper
- Lemon wedges for garnish
- Spaghetti or pasta of your choice (optional)
- Preheat the oven to 425°F.
- Devein and butterfly the shrimp, leaving the tails on.
- In a medium bowl, mix the garlic, shallots, lemon juice, lemon zest, parsley, olive oil, wine, butter, egg yolk, breadcrumbs, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper until combined.
- Carefully press the mixture into the cut side of each shrimp, a teaspoon at a time. They should be stuffed well, but you will have some left over.
- Arrange the shrimp in a single layer in a baking pan. Spread the remaining breadcrumb mixture over the top of the seafood with a spatula.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the top is golden. While the shrimp is baking, boil water and prepare your favorite pasta for serving, if desired.
- Serve over pasta, garnished with parsley and lemon wedges.
Nutritional Info*
Cooking by the Numbers…
Step 1 – Prepare Your Mise en Place
Preheat the oven to 425°F and get out a large rectangular ceramic or glass baking dish.
Prepare your ingredients, setting out the required amounts of shrimp, shallots, garlic, lemon, and parsley.
Measure the required amount of butter, and allow it to soften on the countertop, or defrost in the microwave in 20-second increments on low power.
Separate the egg, reserving the white for another use. Try adding it to a fluffy omelet or whipping it with more egg whites to make a meringue.
Measure out the olive oil, white wine, red pepper flakes, breadcrumbs, salt, and freshly ground black pepper.
Step 2 – Peel
Peel and devein the shrimp, removing the heads but leaving the tails on. Those shells will be perfect for a homemade seafood stock, so don’t throw them away!
Next, butterfly the shrimp to create a space for stuffing in the middle.
With a sharp knife, carefully slice them in half without cutting all the way through the back of the shrimp, so you have two pieces that open like a book.
To speed up the process, consider purchasing prepared shrimp…it may be a bit more costly, but if you’re rushed for time, it’ll save you a bit of work.
Step 3 – Prep the Citrus and Vegetables
Clean the fruit well, then roll your lemon on the countertop, pressing beneath your palm so it will be easier to extract the juice.
Next, using a microplane or zester, remove the zest from the lemon before cutting it in half. You want the flavorful yellow outer layer where all of the aromatic essential oils are found, not the bitter white pith below.
Juice the lemon with a citrus reamer. Squeezing with a fork or large metal spoon stuck into the middle of the fruit will also work for juicing in a pinch.
Remove any seeds, give the zest a quick chop if the pieces that you’ve grated with your zesting tool of choice are large, and measure out the quantities of juice and zest that you will need for this recipe.
Mince the garlic and shallots. Remove the stems from a small handful of fresh parsley and chop to add to the filling, and for garnish.
Step 4 – Prepare the Breadcrumb Mixture
In a large mixing bowl, combine the minced garlic, shallots, parsley, lemon juice and zest, olive oil, wine, butter, red pepper flakes, egg yolk, breadcrumbs, salt, and pepper.
Mix well until the ingredients are evenly distributed.
Step 5 – Stuff and Bake
Use a teaspoon to gently fill the cut side of each shrimp with the breadcrumb mixture.
Arrange the shrimp in a single layer in the prepared baking dish. The seafood can be touching, but avoid any overlap.
Use a spatula to spread the remaining filling mixture over the shrimp.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the breadcrumbs on top are golden.
Step 6 – Garnish and Serve
While the shrimp are baking, you can boil water and start cooking some pasta if you wish.
I really like this buttery baked shrimp scampi served with pasta that has been tossed with just a hint of salt, and a generous glug of extra virgin olive oil – or some more butter.
Garnish the dish with fresh lemon slices and parsley, and it’s ready to serve.
Serve Up Some Simple Seafood for Supper Tonight
This dish offers a beautiful presentation without being too complicated, and it’s big on flavor. What’s not to like?
If you’ve got shrimp fans at your house, they are going to love this dish. And if you’re not sure about deveining and butterflying your own shrimp, just ask for some assistance at the seafood counter of your local market.
This meal is perfect for an intimate dinner for a small group, or you can double it up and bake a few pans of shrimp at a time with a big pot of spaghetti to feed a crowd.
Is your mouth watering yet? Well go ahead, then – it’s time to get cooking!
How do you enjoy eating shrimp? What will you serve alongside yours? Let us know in the comments below.
For more delish shrimp and pasta dishes, try these:
Don’t forget to Pin It!
Photos by Felicia Lim, © Ask the Experts, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. See our TOS for more details. Originally posted April 25, 2015. Revised and updated February 1, 2017 with additional writing and editing by Felicia Lim and Allison Sidhu.
*Nutritional information derived from a database of known generic and branded foods and ingredients and was not compiled by a registered dietitian or submitted for lab testing. It should be viewed as an approximation.
About Jennifer Swartvagher
Jennifer is an experienced journalist and author. Her work has been featured on TODAY Parents, The New York Times Blog, BlogHer, Scary Mommy, and scores of other parenting and cooking publications.
My mum LOVES shrimp scampi (she orders it everytime we go out), but unfortunately we don’t have an oven. Is there a way to make this in the pan, perhaps?
Yes, you can prepare a variation on this recipe in a pan. Instead of stuffing the shrimp with a breadcrumb mixture and serving a baked dish, you can saute the shrimp, garlic, butter, and lemon in a pan and serve over pasta or rice.
This is an interesting looking dish and looks like it’s a cinch to make. Just pop in the oven and forget for a while. I’m looking forward to trying this soon!
I’m a fan of everything that is sea food, including shrimps and also a fan of pasta (my mom is italian), but I have never heard of these two combined together! I’m going to give it a shot, the recipe doesn’t look that something I would fail with miserably!
I have lots of friends who like this type of dish, but as a vegetarian I was never sure what to cook. This seems really easy and I can make a veggie version and a shrimp version at the same time so people can choose. I like the idea of breadcrumbs, maybe garlic ones?
Garlic breadcrumbs would just enhance the flavor and sounds delicious. I usually use seasoned breadcrumbs.
Any suggestion to knock the butter out of this one? If not out than at least down a tad? I was thinking olive oil. I know butter is in the title. I know. I just like to find healthier ways to serve delicious meals.
Yes, you can substitute olive oil for part or all of the butter in this recipe.
There is just something about shrimp scampi that is amazing. Everyone in my family likes it, even the pickiest eaters. This recipe looks really high quality but also quite straight forward. I can practically taste this dish, wish a little lemon squeezed on top…delish.
I have been looking for a delicious shrimp scampi recipe online and here you are. It almost looks like mix between a Cobanara and Alfredo with the egg yolk included. I like the fact that you put the mixture on the prawns instead of cooking the prawns in the mixture. My son will love this as he loves any shrimp dish and I will get to show him a new way to eat them. Thank you!
I’ve also seen quite a variety of shrimp scampi recipes, and I like that yours is different from most I’ve seen. Shrimp are plentiful here on the Gulf Coast, so this is a recipe that I’m looking forward to making. Other than the deveining and butterflying, the recipe sounds pretty easy, and I’m sure I could whip up a nice salad and vegetable side dish without any problem.
Mmm, this sounds and looks delicious (minus the breadcrumbs since I’m not a fan of crunch). I’ve been looking for a recipe for good shrimp scampi that I can make at home. Looks like I’ve finally found it! No more having to go to Red Lobster, I can make it myself!
One word: mmmm!!! That looks absolutely delicious. I remember having my first scampi pasta dish, in Sorrento in Italy (go figure!) and it was superb. The scampi was cooked to perfection and the liquor, rich but sharp with just enough garlic; all served over a very generous serving of linguini and seasoned with black pepper and freshly grated parmesan. It’s always the relatively simple dishes that taste the best, in my opinion, because there are not too many flavours jostling for position. I have never heard of a breadcrumb crust on pasta, but I am intrigued and will definitely be trying this!
This looks so delicious! I’m obsessed with angel hair pasta, it’s soooooo good! I remember eating shrimps for the first time, at first I was creeped out, but I grew to love their taste! I think that I know what I will eat for tomorrow’s dinner 🙂
I just made shrimp scampi last night for dinner! Such a yummy and easy dish to make! Instead of using linguine as I normally do, I decided to try it with cheese tortellini. Heaven in my mouth!
Thank you! I have been looking for a new shrimp scampi recipe to try. I have never made it with bread crumbs or lemon though, so this will be new. Also, I haven’t really baked it. I have always just sauteed it over the heat and then threw it over some pasta. With my family loving shrimp scampi, I have a feeling that this will be a hit with them. This recipe looks amazing and I cannot wait to cook this for my family!
My family and I love shrimp. It is one of the only forms of seafood we eat besides fish, and sometimes crab. Shrimp pasta dishes have always been a hit in my family, and this shrimp scampi recipe sounds amazing. Thanks for the recipe!
There really is nothing better than combining butter, lemon, and garlic in any recipe. This combo is classic and delivers a burst of flavor. My husband is a huge fan of pasta and this recipe sounds like one he would love forever. The combination of butter, lemon, and garlic and shrimp need we say more…delicious, my mouth is watering.
This is heaven in a plate for me. I am a big seafood lover and this recipe is it. I usually end up with rubbery shrimp that are not well seasoned at all. I am trying this recipe this weekend when my kids go on Spring Break with the grandparents.
The picture looks good enough to eat. This recipe sounds fantastic. I have been wanting to make some of this for a while now. Unfortunately, I’ll have to skip the pasta and try to find something else, since I’m limiting carbs. Maybe some zucchini spirals. I usually make it with angel hair.
I’ve tried a few different recipes, but they were not quite perfect. I’m looking forward to putting this one to the test. Thanks!
Shrimp pasta is one of my all-time favourite dishes. Not doing the deveining thing though – I just buy fresh shrimp that are already prepped. I would also add a little splosh of white wine to this dish, just to give it a little bit of a bite.
I make shrimp scampi for my husband all of the time. But, I have never used egg yolk or red pepper flakes. This is going to be interesting to see how this one turns out.
I love eating shrimp as well. I had a neighbor recently grill some for me and made a buttery dipping sauce. Now I have a new recipe to try for the next time we get shrimp. I hope I’m able to find some angel hair pasta.