These tender lemon garlic shrimp zoodles with juicy tomatoes is a 20-minute veggie-packed dinner. Topped with salty parmesan cheese and herby parsley, it’ll be a summertime weeknight favorite!
Why I Love This Shrimp and Zoodles Recipe
This is the ultimate summertime entree! If you live somewhere hot like us (hello, Florida) then you can enjoy this dish pretty much all year long. Tender zoodles are so much easier to make than you may think and they’re such a fun pasta substitution! And when they get piled high with lemony shrimp, real magic happens. This is a light, vibrant entree that actually hits the spot and fills you up. Here’s why we can’t stop making it:
- Great for the summer: Every bite is bursting with fresh vegetables like zucchini noodles, tomatoes and sweet onions.
- Quick: Ready in just 20 minutes, the shrimp and noodles cook so quickly! You can save even more time by buying store bought zucchini noodles.
- Hearty: While this is a lighter dinner than traditional pasta, it will still fill you up with lots of protein-packed shrimp and fiber-filled veggies.
- Versatile: Make it with fusilli, add grilled chicken, or add basil pesto for easy weeknight variations of this dish.
Zucchini might just be our favorite summer vegetable! Enjoy more recipes like this zucchini succotash, zucchini fritters and air fryer zucchini fries.
Key Ingredients
You can really clean out your produce drawer with this recipe. Scroll down to the recipe card below for the full ingredient list and exact amounts!
- Zucchini Noodles: These are so easy to make yourself with a spiralizer (we have this one and it works great). You can also buy them already sliced at your local grocery store in the refrigerated ready-to-use fresh produce section.
- Shrimp: They should be peeled and deveined. You can use frozen shrimp, just make sure they’re fully thawed prior to preparing.
- Garlic: Fresh garlic is the way to go for the best flavor. Jarred garlic just won’t have the same flavor, but will work win a pinch.
- Lemon: You’ll need both the juice and zest to add lots of zesty lemon flavor. Don’t use the store-bought bottled lemon juice if you can help it.
- Parmesan Cheese: For the very best texture and flavor, consider using freshly grated parmesan.
How To Make Lemon Garlic Shrimp With Zucchini Noodles
It’s just like making your favorite pasta… but with zucchini noodles! Below is a quick recipe overview, but please scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post for full instructions.
- Cook the onions: Heat the olive oil and butter in a skillet. Sauté the onions, add the garlic, and cook until nice and fragrant.
- Add the shrimp: Stir in the shrimp and cook them for 2-3 minutes. You are not cooking them completely, they will finish cooking when you add the zucchini noodles.
- Add the veggies: Gently mix in the zoodles, cherry tomatoes, lemon juice, and red pepper flakes. Cook everything until the shrimp begin to curl. Mix in the parmesan cheese. Season with salt and pepper.
- Serve: Serve immediately, garnishing with extra parmesan cheese, lemon zest, and chopped fresh parsley. For an even stronger garlic flavor, you can also top with thinly sliced raw garlic.
Cook’s Tips & Variations
- Make it saucy: Skip the lemon and mix in 1/2 to 1 cup of your favorite ragu sauce into the zoodles for a saucy dinner. You can also use Alfredo sauce. Basil pesto works too, but reduce the amount to 1/4 cup and add more to taste.
- Make it spicy: Sprinkle an extra 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper into the skillet when you’re cooking the shrimp for a spicy kick.
- Swap the protein: Using grilled chicken, turkey, or beef instead of shrimp are easy variations of this recipe. Just add them to the skillet to heat up and continue with the recipe as written.
- Add leftovers: Stir leftover sautéed mushrooms, roasted tomatoes, or air fryer shrimp into the skillet to reduce food waste.
- Use pasta: Swap the zoodles for cooked and drained spaghetti, fettuccine, fusilli, or penne pasta if you prefer.
What To Serve With Zucchini Noodles
- Salad: You can’t go wrong with some more fresh vegetables! Try our favorite strawberry and spinach salad or keep the citrus theme going by topping your salad with our refreshing orange salad dressing.
- Bread: We love serving this lemon garlic shrimp zoodle pasta with a side of garlic bread. If you are looking for an appetizer, we love it with this impressive caprese garlic bread!
Yield: 4 Servings
Lemon Garlic Shrimp with Zucchini Noodles
This quick lemon garlic shrimp recipe with tender zoodles, parmesan cheese, juicy tomatoes, and spicy red pepper flakes is an easy low-carb dinner recipe ready in just 20 minutes.
Ingredients
- 4 to 5 small zucchini, or about 2 lbs zucchini noodles
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 small yellow onion, diced
- 2 tablespoons minced garlic
- 1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes
- Zest and juice of 1 lemon, divided
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- ⅓ cup parmesan cheese, plus for more garnish
- Fresh parsley, minced, for garnish
Instructions
- Rinse and pat dry the zucchini. Using a spiralizer, spiralize the zucchini into noodles and set aside.
- Heat the oil and butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Sauté the onion for 3 minutes, then stir in the garlic and sauté for one additional minute.
- Add the shrimp and cook for 3 minutes, stirring often to cook the shrimp evenly. The shrimp will finish cooking in the next step.
- Add the zucchini noodles, tomatoes, lemon juice, and crushed red pepper flakes. Continue to cook over low-to-medium heat, for about 3 to 4 minutes, until the shrimp start to curl and turn pink. Stir in the parmesan cheese, then season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Serve immediately garnished with more parmesan cheese, lemon zest and chopped fresh parsley on top. For an even more robust garlic flavor, you can also garnish it with thinly sliced raw garlic.
Notes
Store: Transfer cooled leftovers to an airtight container for up to 3 days. Discard immediately if the zoodles or shrimp feel sticky.
Reheat: Microwave in 20-second increments until warm. You can also heat it in a pan over medium-high heat for 7 to 8 minutes.
Nutrition
Serving: 1 serving, Calories: 195kcal, Carbohydrates: 12g, Protein: 21g, Fat: 8g, Saturated Fat: 4g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 2g, Trans Fat: 0.1g, Cholesterol: 156mg, Sodium: 817mg, Potassium: 610mg, Fiber: 3g, Sugar: 5g, Vitamin A: 856IU, Vitamin C: 46mg, Calcium: 203mg, Iron: 1mg
I made this for dinner it was so easy and delicious, there were no leftovers!
So yummy!