This Easy Weeknight Shrimp Marinara is fancy enough to serve to guests, but easy enough to make mid week. Shrimp is cooked in a simple yet delicious tomato sauce and finished with fresh basil and parsley for extra flavor. Add this Italian inspired shrimp dish to your meal rotation; minimal ingredients, easy to make, and easy to clean up! Serve over pasta or with a starch and veggie for a complete meal.
What you need to make this Easy Weeknight Shrimp Marinara
The ingredient list is pretty short. Mostly pantry and fridge staples with shrimp.
- shrimp
- You will want to make sure you use raw shrimp for this dish. The pre-cooked shrimp will turn out rubbery.
- butter
- kosher salt
- Italian seasoning
- garlic powder
- olive oil
- onion
- garlic
- crushed tomatoes
- fresh basil
- fresh parsley
How to prep the shrimp
If you’ve never worked with shrimp before, it can feel intimidating; but I promise you, it’s so easy to cook. You can purchase shrimp fresh from the seafood counter, or you can purchase frozen shrimp in a bag. I like to keep a bag of frozen shrimp in my freezer at all times. It ensures I have a good protein option on hand for quick meals.
If you purchase shrimp from the seafood counter, chances are they will be cleaned, shelled and deveined. If they aren’t cleaned, you can ask for them to be. There are two veins on each shrimp (these are the digestive tract of the shrimp). Some seafood counters will remove one, but not both. This is personal preference. I like to remove both veins. On the flip side, if you purchase frozen shrimp in a bag, you’ll likely have to shell, clean and devein them yourself. It’s very simple to do, but if you’ve never done it before, here is a quick how-to article: How to Clean Shrimp
How to prepare this recipe
Start by cleaning and deveining the shrimp. Make sure after the shrimp are clean to pat them dry. It is important to remove all the moisture before cooking the shrimp. Next, melt the butter in a large skillet or frying pan over medium high heat. Season the shrimp with 1/4 teaspoon of the kosher salt, Italian seasoning and garlic powder. Toss to coat. Add the shrimp to the pan and cook on both sides or until they are pink and firm. This should take about 5 minutes total. Remove from the pan and set aside. They will continue to cook in the sauce later.
Leave the residual juices in the pan. Add the olive oil to the pan. Dice the onion and cook the onion over medium high heat for about 5 minutes or until tender and slightly caramelized. Mince the garlic and add it to the pan, cooking for 1 minute or until just fragrant.
Add the crushed tomatoes to the pan with the 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt. Stir to incorporate the ingredients and simmer the sauce, covered, for about 10 minutes or it starts to cook down. Add the shrimp back in and simmer for another 5 minutes for the flavors to combine.
Garnish with fresh basil and parsley.
Other shrimp recipes to try
- Easy baked shrimp scampi is flavored with fresh, flavorful ingredients: garlic, lemon and white wine come together to form a flavorful sauce, and panko is mixed with butter to form a decadent topping.
- Pan-seared shrimp tossed in a quick sweet creamy chili sauce and garnished with sesame seeds and scallions.
- Garlicky lemon shrimp is the easiest one-pan meal you’ll make; it’s ready in minutes and tastes like it’s straight from a restaurant.
Easy Weeknight Shrimp Marinara
Equipment
- frying pan
Ingredients
- 2 lb shrimp, (raw, cleaned, deveined)
- 2 tbsp butter
- ¼ tsp kosher salt
- 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 28-32 oz crushed tomatoes, (canned)
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- fresh basil and parsley
Instructions
- Clean and devein the shrimp, pat dry.
- Melt the butter in a large skillet or frying pan over medium high heat.
- Season the shrimp with the ¼ tsp. kosher salt, Italian seasoning and garlic powder. Toss to coat.
- Add the shrimp to the pan and cook on both sides (for about 5 minutes total) or until they are pink and firm.
- Remove from the pan and set aside. They will continue to cook in the sauce later.
- Keep the residual juices in the pan.
- Add the olive oil to the pan.
- Dice the onion and cook the onion over medium high heat for about 5 minutes or until tender and slightly caramelized. Mince the garlic and add it to the pan, cooking for 1 minute or until just fragrant.
- Add the crushed tomatoes to the pan with the ½ tsp kosher salt.
- Stir to incorporate the ingredients and simmer the sauce, covered, for about 10 minutes or it starts to cook down.
- Add the shrimp back in and simmer for another 5 minutes for the flavors to combine.
- Garnish with fresh bail and parsley.
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