This creamy shrimp parmesan recipe is perfect for a busy weeknight. It’s a super yummy and fresh meal, ready in under 30 minutes using just one skillet for easy cleanup.
Dark green spinach and beautiful, bright red cherry tomatoes add a lot of color to this dish, making it even tastier. It’s made creamy with canned coconut milk and fresh, salty parmesan cheese adds loads of flavor.
Shrimp parmesan is so simple and easy to make, yet it feels a bit fancy which makes it a great dish for hosting guests.
If you’d rather serve a lovely chicken dish, consider my Creamy Parmesan Chicken Skillet or Chimichurri Chicken.
Ingredients
- Shrimp — I recommend extra-large, peeled, and deveined shrimp. Buy them fresh, at the meat and seafood counter, or frozen.
- Extra virgin olive oil — Avocado oil will also work fine!
- Seasonings — Salt, black pepper, and paprika.
- Butter — I prefer to use unsalted, though salted will work in a pinch.
- Garlic — Whole fresh cloves taste best, but you can use a jar of minced garlic to save time if desired.
- Cherry tomatoes — Sweet, tart and colorful! Grape tomatoes also work, but I prefer cherry as they’re a bit more flavorful.
- Spinach — Beautiful fresh greens! You can also use kale in lieu of spinach.
- Coconut milk — Canned not boxed, heavy cream also works.
- Parmesan cheese — I highly recommend grating fresh parmesan from a block! When stored properly a block of parm lasts for a LONG time in the refrigerator, which is great because you can use it to make all kinds of yummy things like this Parmesan Brussels Sprouts Salad for instance.
- Parsley — Optional garnish for extra color and flavor.
Instructions
Season and sauté shrimp:
- Measure olive oil into a large skillet on the stovetop and turn the heat to medium-high.
- Meanwhile, place shrimp in a small bowl and season with salt, pepper, and paprika.
- Sauté shrimp for 1-2 minutes on each side, until pink and opaque in appearance. Avoid overcrowding as this can create a steaming effect, work in batches if necessary.
- Remove cooked shrimp from the skillet and set to the side.
Sauté garlic, tomatoes, and greens:
- Reduce heat from medium-high to medium and add your butter to the pan. Once melted, add garlic and sauté about 30 seconds.
- Add halved cherry tomatoes to the pan and season with salt and pepper. Stir continuously and cook until the tomatoes begin to burst, then add spinach and sauté until wilted.
Add milk and cheese:
- Finally, stir in your canned coconut milk and grated parmesan cheese. Bring the mixture to a simmer, then reduce heat to low and allow it to reduce for 2-3 minutes.
Serve:
- Stir cooked shrimp back into the skillet! Mix until all pieces are coated with sauce.
- Remove the pan from the heat and add some chopped parsley. Extra parmesan is also a GREAT and super tasty garnish.
- Serve and enjoy!
Recipe Tips
- I highly recommend buying shrimp that have already been peeled and deveined. This will save you a lot of time in the kitchen because you won’t have to shell them by hand.
- If you buy frozen shrimp, you’ll need to thaw before cooking. You can leave them in the refrigerator overnight, or simply empty shrimp into a colander and run under cool water for a minute or two.
- Don’t overcrowd shrimp when sautéing as this can create a steaming effect. Use an extra-large skillet or cook in batches, if necessary.
- Overcooked shrimp can turn out pretty tough and chewy. They cook really fast! 1-2 minutes per side should be sufficient. And remember, they’ll go back into the hot mixture at the end, too.
- Don’t substitute boxed coconut milk for canned, it’s far less rich and creamy.
- Canned coconut milk often separates as it sits on the shelf. The fats rise to the top of the can while the liquids sink to the bottom. I often scoop everything into a small bowl and microwave briefly to recombine fats and liquids!
- I prefer using baby spinach in this recipe, but regular will also work. You can also substitute kale.
To Store: Allow leftovers to cool and transfer them to an airtight container. Store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
To Freeze: You can also store leftovers frozen in a freezer-safe container for 3-4 months.
To Reheat: Allow leftovers to thaw in the refrigerator overnight (if reheating from frozen). Heat them back up in the microwave, or in a skillet on the stovetop!
This creamy shrimp parmesan goes well with a lot of different sides! Here are some ideas for your dinner table spread:
- Serve with cooked pasta or a grain like fluffy rice or quinoa. If you want a low-carb option, try some delicious cauliflower rice or zucchini noodles.
- Bread is great for soaking up extra sauce! Try some yummy, low-carb dinner rolls with butter, or include a loaf of crunchy garlic bread on the side.
- I also love this recipe with mashed potatoes or mashed cauliflower. They’re a great way to use up any leftover parmesan sauce.
More Shrimp Recipes
Shrimp Parmesan Recipe
This creamy shrimp parmesan recipe is perfect for a busy weeknight. It’s a super yummy and fresh meal, ready in under 30 minutes using just one skillet for easy cleanup.
Ingredients
- 1 lb. (or 454g.) raw extra-large shrimp peeled and deveined
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- ¼ teaspoon paprika
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoons grass-fed butter
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 & ½ cups halved cherry tomatoes
- 2 cups baby spinach
- ½ cup canned coconut milk or heavy cream
- ¼ cup grated parmesan cheese plus more for garnish
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley chopped
Instructions
- In a large skillet, over medium-high heat, add olive oil.
- Season shrimp with salt, black pepper and paprika. Place into the pan and cook 1-2 minutes per side, until pink and opaque. Set aside.
- Reduce heat to medium and add grass-fed butter. When it has melted, add garlic and cook until fragrant for about 30 seconds. Add cherry tomatoes and season with salt and pepper. Stir constantly. Cook until tomatoes are starting to burst.
- Add spinach and cook until wilted.
- Stir in canned coconut milk and parmesan cheese. Bring mixture to a simmer. Reduce heat to low and cook until sauce is slightly reduced. It will take about 2-3 minutes.
- Return cooked shrimp back to the skillet and stir well to combine.
- Remove from the heat and garnish with parsley and more parmesan before serving.
Notes
- Love shrimp recipes? I have a list of delicious and easy shrimp recipes here.
- Buy peeled and deveined shrimp to avoid shelling by hand.
- If you buy frozen shrimp, thaw before cooking. Leave in the refrigerator overnight, or simply run under cool water.
- Don’t overcrowd shrimp when sautéing. Use a large skillet and cook in batches, if necessary.
- Overcooked shrimp can turn out tough. Only sauté 1-2 minutes per side, until pink.
- Use canned coconut milk, not boxed. It’s much creamier!
- Canned coconut milk often separates as it sits on the shelf. Microwave briefly to recombine fats and liquids.
- I prefer using baby spinach in this recipe, but regular is fine. You can also sub kale.
- To store: Leftovers can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- To freeze: store frozen for 3-4 months!
- To reheat: You can microwave leftovers or reheat on the stovetop.
Nutrition
Serving: 1/4, Calories: 308kcal, Carbohydrates: 2g, Protein: 19g, Fat: 25g, Cholesterol: 199mg, Sodium: 238mg, Sugar: 4g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Did You Make This?
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Amazing! Served it with couscous. It was very easy to make and absolutely delicious.
Amazing! Happy to hear that!
This is gourmet cooking quick easy will be making again and again such flavor….don’t like tasted coconut milk used the cream cauliflower rice WOW SO SIMPLE MAKE IT….SO GLAD THERE IS LEFTOVERS HUBBY LOVED AND HE IS PICKY
Wonderful recipe. We loved it and will make it often. I added some chopped leeks and artichokes one time too. The more veggies the better. Thank you!
Absolutely. I love the idea of adding leeks and artichokes. Yum!
Made this with extra coconut milk/heavy creamer and parm cheese, served it over bowtie pasta garnished with green onion, OMG so yummy
Sounds absolutely delicious 😉
Amo camarão
This sounds so good! I’m dying to make it but I can’t stand tomatoes — anything else you can think of that might be a good substitute? Maybe red peppers? I’m terrible with thinking up creative additions!
I think roasted red peppers work work, but I’m not sure because I’ve never made this recipe with red peppers. Hope it helps. Thanks for your questions.
O. M. G.
This was amazing!
My husband and I cooked it tonight and we felt like we were dining out! We served it with fresh baked baguette to sop up the yumminess!
The only additions we made were more garlic and crushed pepper flakes,rosemary and lemon to the sauce at the end 🙂
We will totally be making this again!
Thank you for the amazing recipe and fun night in cooking together!
I’m SO glad you guys loved it! We also love this recipe. So flavourful and also easy to make. Thanks so much for taking the time to share this review. 🙂
omg THIS IF FABUBLOUS….WILL BE MAKING OVER AND OVER HUBBY PICKY AND RAVED ABOUT THIS
Awesome!
I’m waiting to get the ingredients needed for this recipe. It sounds wonderful. My husband and I love shrimp and always on the lookout for healthy recipes.
I may serve it with angel hair or linguine pasta, or I may serve it with a baguette of bread to sop up all of that yummy sauce. Can’t wait to make this. Thank you for your recipe.
This recipe goes really well with angel hair or linguine pasta. Hope you enjoy it.
Easy and delicious. We cooked up some linguine and put it over that and that made it extra special.
Amazing!
Absolutely delicious and low carb too.
Happy you liked it!