Healthy Shrimp Scampi ~ Ready in 15 Minutes

Yes, you read the title of this recipe correctly….Shrimp Scampi can be healthy!  And still crazy delicious.  My family LOVED this and I bet your family will love this too!

It is actually funny how much my kids love shrimp (it’s the first thing they order when we go eat at a restaurant) when I don’t eat any seafood.  I know, I am told I am missing out.  It’s not because it’s unhealthy, it’s because I don’t like it.

It’s a texture thing for me. And yes, supposedly I’ve has super fresh shrimp and still didn’t like it. It’s just not my thing and frankly, it never will be.

And I’m ok with that.

It took me several attempts to lighten up shrimp scampi and this one was a winner!  My husband was disappointed there wasn’t any left over.  I guess I should double the recipe next time.

Who knew little boys could eat that much? It makes me happy that they are such great eaters. I prayed during each pregnancy that none of my kids would be as picky as me.

I can only imagine how frustrated my parents were growing up trying to feed me. Sorry Mom and Dad! I thought for sure karma would come and get me and all my kids would be crazy picky.

I used to make this for one of our “fancy dinners” but the truth is that it’s so easy to prepare, I can easily make it on a busy weeknight. Just don’t tell my family that so they can still be impressed. They don’t need to know.

I like to keep frozen shrimp on hand so I can make this recipe whenever I feel like it. Sometimes I go to my local fish store and pick up fresh shrimp, other times I just buy the frozen shrimp from Trader Joe’s. Do what works for you. Either way everyone loves it.

I also made the spinach optional because my kids only like raw spinach (sigh…) Feel free to add it if you like cooked spinach, but you can easily leave it out. Most shrimp scampi recipes do not contain spinach.

By the way, isn’t it weird that my kids will only eat raw spinach? I absolutely love cooked spinach, it just bugs me that you can have a gigantic amount and it cooks down to almost nothing. But I still love it.

But seriously, why do like 4 containers of spinach cook down to 1 cup? It’s so annoying. Who’s with me?

Ok, I clearly I need to refocus. Come look at the recipe as see just how ridiculously easy it is to prepare:

Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 1/6 recipe
Amount Per Serving
Calories 316   Calories from Fat 94
Total Fat 10.4g
Saturated Fat 2.3g
Trans Fat 0.0g
Cholesterol 153mg
Sodium 225mg
Total Carbohydrates 39.2g
Dietary Fiber 4.2g
Sugars 1.3g
Protein 19.4g

*Nutritional Information is provided by www.caloriecount.com, not 100% guaranteed accurate

See? I told you it was easy! It will be ready in only 15 minutes, but it’s fancy enough to look like it took hours to prepare. I won’t tell if you don’t…

I left these tails on so it would look pretty for the pictures, but I always remove them before I serve. It just makes it easier to eat and cook. But again, you can do whatever works for you.

I just love all of the colors too. Isn’t it so pretty? It has a beautiful presentation so it’s great for entertaining or when you have a date night in.

Either way it will be impressive to your guests. You can also substitute the pasta for zucchini, yellow squash or carrot “noodles” if you’d like to lighten it up and decrease your carbs. So many people love those as alternatives to noodles so go for it if it makes you happy.

With that being said, if spaghetti or pasta makes you happy, then use that! Just watch your portions because a portion of spaghetti is pretty small and it’s easy to overindulge. I always recommend measuring your food to avoid over-eating.

Which we all know is very, very easy to do with pasta. So many people would be shocked at how small a portion is.

A reader shared with me that she added some broccoli and peppers to the skillet when she made this because she wanted to use them up. I love it. I wish she shared a picture because I bet all those colors looked beautiful!

So shrimp lovers… I wanted to share some more shrimp recipes I thought you might like:

Honey Garlic Butter Shrimp and Broccoli from Butter Your Biscuit

Gluten Free Caprese Shrimp Pasta from Lauren Kelly Nutrition

Spicy Shrimp Tacos with Garlic Cilantro Lime Slaw from Pinch of Yum

Low Carb Shrimp and Sausage Skillet from All Day I Dream About Food

I hope you enjoy my Shrimp Scampi! Please come back and let me know if you made it or any of these other delicious recipes I have shared with you. I love to hear from you!

And please share pictures of your creations you make at home. I always love seeing them too.

Thanks for stopping by and please com back again soon!