Shrimp Carbonara

This Shrimp Carbonara recipe is a perfect pasta dinner that only takes 25 minutes to make! Perfectly cooked pasta is coated in a creamy egg & butter sauce and tossed with tender shrimp and crispy bacon. It’s a great weeknight dinner.

Another quick weeknight shrimp pasta recipe is this Shrimp Scampi Linguine. You can’t go wrong with either one!

Ingredients

Here are the things that you need to make this Shrimp Carbonara Recipe and some tips on specific ingredients –

Room Temperature Egg – It is important that you use a room temperature egg so that it will break down properly in the food processor (or blender)

Pro Tip: To bring an egg to room temp quickly simply place it in a bowl of warm water for about 5 minutes.

Garlic- This recipe does call for quite a bit of garlic! The flavor is amazing mixed with the bacon, cheese and shrimp. However, if you are sensitive to garlic, then I recommend that you reduce the amount of garlic to 4 cloves.

Shrimp– When you buy it in the store it may be labeled as a number value. This means how many shrimp are in a pound.

For this Shrimp Carbonara you want to use a “large” shrimp, which will generally be around 31/35.

Step By Step Picture Instructions

This recipe comes together really quickly, so I HIGHLY RECCOMEND that you prep all the ingredients before getting started: put salted water on to boil, slice the bacon, place the egg in warm water to bring to room temp, mince the garlic, measure out the butter, pepper flakes, salt, and parm cheese, also chop the parsley.

Now that you are prepared (called mise en place in French. Fancy!) grab a food processor or blender and we will make the base of the sauce.

In the processor/blender add the egg, minced garlic, red pepper flakes, salt, softened butter, and parmesan cheese. Blend about 15 seconds until it is creamy. You may need to stop and scrape the sides down. Set the butter mixture aside for now.

Pop the pasta in the boiling water to cook per package instructions.

Pro Tip: Place a measuring cup in your colander and you won’t forget to reserve the starchy pasta water!!

In a large skillet sauté the bacon over medium heat until it is crisped and brown. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon to a paper towel lined plate.

Drain all but 2 tablespoon of bacon grease from the pan.

Add the shrimp to the bacon grease in the pan and cook over medium heat for about 3 minutes, just until the shrimp are a nice pink color.

Remove the shrimp from the pan and place on the plate with the bacon.

Place the now empty skillet over medium heat. Pour in ¼ cup reserved starchy pasta water and deglaze the bottom of the pan.

Deglazing – scraping up with browned bits from the bottom of the pan with hot liquid.

Stir in the pasta, butter/egg mixture, parsley, bacon, and shrimp. Give it a good toss to coat the pasta in the sauce.

Serve immediately topped with parmesan cheese and cracked black pepper.

Recipe Tips

• The recipe comes together really quickly, so prep all your ingredients before you start cooking!
• This is not a “make-ahead” recipe, it is best served immediately.
• Make sure you use a room temperature egg. They will process properly when at room temp.
• Don’t be shy with the cheese! If you like a creamier cheesier pasta, add another ¼ cup of cheese.
• Don’t forget to reserve the starchy pasta cooking water! Place a measuring cup in your colander to remind you.
• This recipe would also be delicious with fettuccine or bucatini pasta.

Audio Recipe

Listen to the full recipe, including tips and tricks, using the player below.

Recipe FAQ’s

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