Classic Shrimp Scampi

By Melissa Clark

Updated Dec. 29, 2025

Classic Shrimp Scampi
David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.
Total Time
15 minutes
Rating
5(18,301)
Comments
Read comments

Scampi are tiny, lobster-like crustaceans with pale pink shells (also called langoustines). Italian cooks in the United States swapped shrimp for scampi, but kept both names. Thus the dish was born, along with inevitable variations.

This classic recipe makes a simple garlic, white wine and butter sauce that goes well with a pile of pasta or with a hunk of crusty bread. However you make the dish, once the shrimp are added to the pan, the trick is to cook them just long enough that they turn pink all over, but not until their bodies curl into rounds with the texture of tires. (Watch the video of Melissa Clark making classic shrimp scampi here.)

Featured in: A GOOD APPETITE; Shrimp Scampi, A Classic Open to Interpretation

  • or to save this recipe.

  • Subscriber benefit: Give recipes to anyone

    As a subscriber, you have 10 gift recipes to give each month. Anyone can view them - even nonsubscribers. Learn more.

    Subscribe

  • Share this recipe

  • Print this recipe

Advertisement

Ingredients

Yield:4 servings
  • 2tablespoons butter
  • 2tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 4garlic cloves, minced
  • ½cup dry white wine or broth
  • ¾teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
  • ⅛teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, or to taste
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 1¾pounds large or extra-large shrimp, shelled
  • ⅓cup chopped parsley
  • Freshly squeezed juice of half a lemon
  • Cooked pasta or crusty bread
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

314 calories; 14 grams fat; 5 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 7 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 3 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 1 gram sugars; 40 grams protein; 595 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

Powered by

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    In a large skillet, melt butter with olive oil. Add garlic and sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add wine or broth, salt, red pepper flakes and plenty of black pepper and bring to a simmer. Let wine reduce by half, about 2 minutes.

  2. Step 2

    Add shrimp and sauté until they just turn pink, 2 to 4 minutes depending upon their size. Stir in the parsley and lemon juice and serve over pasta or accompanied by crusty bread.

Private Notes

Leave a Private Comment on this recipe and see it here.

Ratings

5 out of 5
18,301 user ratings
Your rating

or to rate this recipe.

Have you cooked this?

or to mark this recipe as cooked.

Comments

frazeej

Perfect, except.......USE THE SHELLS!!! The shrimp shells are wonderful flavor enhancers and should not be discarded-simmer the shells in the wine (add some extra wine) for ~10 minutes, strain and then discard the shells, and use the enriched wine in the recipe. Double the flavor!

JimF from Sewell

Alfredo

A lot of the "too little sauce" comments I see seem to reflect a missing step in the recipe: you'll notice the sauce doesn't really stick to the pasta so it feels like you have too little sauce.

You'll want to add half a cup of the cooked pasta water to the pan after adding the wine. The starch in the pasta water thickens the sauce a tiny bit and permits it to cling to the pasta. If you do this, you'll want to add 1-2 more tbsp of butter (or olive oil)

David

This is a terrific recipe. If you double the wine you have plenty of sauce. But less to drink.

Mark

Great recipe, did 3/4 cup wine, double butter, full lemon juice and 1/4 cup pasta water. Only thing I’d do next time is season the shrimp with some salt and pepper.

Philip

This recipe is loosely based on the Spanish dish, gambas al ajillo (prawns in garlic). Traditionally it does not contain wine. It's made from lots of good quality virgin olive oil, lots of garlic and a little chilli. Served in smoking hot Greixonera (small terracotta dishes) so the oil is sizzling when it comes to the table. Served as a tapa with lots of crunchy bread to soak up the oil. By all means use the shells but remember your cooking a different dish. De vein your shrimp before cooking

Tracey Culver

@Philip As Melissa Clark notes in her description of this recipe, ‘Shrimp scampi is a dish…entrenched in the Italian-American vernacular’. That vernacular includes wine in the associated recipes, of which this is one. It is not the ‘Spanish dish’ to which you refer.

Vivian

This is a super flavorful, easy classic dish!

Private comments are only visible to you.

Recipe Tags

or to save this recipe.