Garlic Basil Shrimp Pasta proves that a handful of simple ingredients can turn a weeknight dinner into something you'd crave a week later. 🍤 Sweet shrimp, a garlicky tomato-wine sauce built with Chianti, and fresh basil all come together in one skillet in under 30 minutes - no jarred sauce required. 🍷
📝 Garlic Basil Shrimp Pasta Snapshot
✅ Prep Time: 10 minutes
⏲️ Cook Time: 20 minutes
🍽️ Serves: 4
💰 Cost: ~$18 total (about $4.50 per serving)
👨🍳 Skill Level: Easy, one skillet
🍷 Wine Used: Chianti (or Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah)
📦 Equipment: Large skillet, pasta pot, tongs
The wine isn't just a splash for flavor here - it gets simmered right into the sauce itself, so every strand of spaghetti picks up that deep, savory backbone. 🧄🍅
💬 Why You'll Love This Garlic Basil Shrimp Pasta
- Tastes like a restaurant sauce, but comes together from scratch in one pan 🍽️
- Once you make this, jarred spaghetti sauce is a hard sell 🚫🫙
- Chianti gives the sauce cherry, earthy depth you can't get from broth alone 🍒
- Ready in 30 minutes, but feels fancy enough for date night 🕯️
- Shrimp cooks in minutes, so this is a genuinely fast weeknight dinner ⏱️ Here's how to pan sear shrimp.
If I hadn't already had a half-used bottle of Chianti sitting on my counter, I probably would have reached for broth and called it done. But that wine is doing real work in this sauce - cherry and earthy notes that broth just can't fake. 🍷✨
I've made a lot of shrimp pasta dishes over the years, and the ones with wine-based sauces always disappear the fastest at my table. If shrimp is your thing, this pairs nicely with a few other favorites from my kitchen, like Pesto Shrimp Pasta in Mushroom Garlic Sauce and Hawaiian Shrimp. 🦐
Key Ingredients & Why They Matter
- Shrimp: Tender and sweet shrimp soaks up the garlicky tomato-wine sauce beautifully. Find out Which Shrimp to Buy (Frozen vs Fresh, Size & More).
- Spaghetti: Long spaghetti is so good at catching all that flavorful sauce in every strand.
- Red wine: The best wine to use in spaghetti sauce is Chianti. It has full range of flavors, from cherry and fruit to earthy and rusty. You can also use other red grape variety such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot or Syrah. Curious why use red in seafood pasta? I get into that in my guide to cooking with wine for Italian food.
- Basil: I used fresh basil, but if you can't find it, use dried basil instead - think summer in Italy, all year round.
- Fresh Garlic Cloves: Fresh garlic is the secret ingredient here. Skip the pre-chopped jars and go for the real deal.
- Onion: Sautéing onion kicks off the whole dish and lets those natural sugars caramelize, giving your chicken pasta a great start.
- Pureed tomatoes fall somewhere between crushed and tomato paste - they are smoother, thicker and deeper in flavor than crushed.
- Salt and black pepper: Always taste the sauce, if it doesn't taste delicious, add a little more salt.
- Italian seasoning, garlic powder, onion powder: These blend classic flavors, layering in nostalgia and savory backbone.
- Red pepper flakes: Their subtle heat wakes up the tongue and keeps things lively.
- Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese: Always use freshly grated parmesan cheese for the smoothest, richest sauce. Pre-grated parmesan just won't melt right and can ruin your pasta dish. Here's Why You Should Always Grate Your Own Cheese.
How to make Garlic Basil Shrimp Pasta
1. Cook shrimp: Sauté shrimp in olive oil, seasoning with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes until just cooked, then set aside. Dig deeper: How to Tell When Shrimp Is Done (Color, Shape, Texture)
2. Make sauce: In the same skillet, cook onion and garlic in olive oil until fragrant and translucent.Add tomato puree, cook briefly, then stir in diced tomatoes and red wine. Bring to a simmering point. Next add basil, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper.
3. Cook pasta: Simmer sauce while cooking spaghetti separately.
4. Toss it all together: Toss the cooked spaghetti and shrimp into the simmering sauce. Mix well.
5. Serve with Parm: Serve pasta sprinkled with Parmesan cheese.
Garlic Shrimp Pasta in Red Wine Tomato Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 lb. shrimp peeled
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Salt and Pepper for seasoning
- ⅛ teaspoon red pepper flakes
Red Wine Sauce
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ onion chopped
- 6 cloves garlic
- ½ cup tomato puree (from the can)
- 28 oz diced tomatoes (1 can, drained)
- ½ cup red wine (such as Chianti)
- ½ cup fresh basil leaves
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
Pasta
- 8 ounces Spaghetti
- ½ cup Parmesan Cheese
Instructions
- In a large skillet, add olive oil and heat it over medium high heat. When the pan is hot, add shrimp and season generously with salt, black pepper and red pepper flakes.
- Cook about 2 minutes, turning shrimp over once, until just cooked through, and then transfer to a large plate.
To make the sauce:
- Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook garlic is fragrant and onion is translucent. Add tomato puree and fry for 1 minute. Stir in diced tomatoes and add wine. Bring to a boil.
- Next add basil, garlic powder, onion powder, Italian seasoning and salt. Reduce heat to low and simmer while preparing pasta in the next step.
Pasta:
- Cook Spaghetti according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
Final Assembly:
- Add spaghetti and shrimp into the simmering red wine tomato sauce. Mix well.
- Serve sprinkled with Parmesan cheese.
Tips for the Best Garlic Basil Shrimp Pasta
- Don't overcook the shrimp. Pull them as soon as they turn pink and curl into a "C" shape. Shrimp cooked into an "O" shape have gone too far, and the texture noticeably suffers. They'll finish cooking gently once tossed with the hot sauce. To learn more about cooking shrimp, explore: The Complete Guide to Cooking Shrimp.
- Go slow with the onion and garlic. Medium heat builds flavor without burning the garlic, which turns bitter fast if the pan gets too hot.
- Deglaze with the wine. Adding the wine before the tomatoes lets you scrape up the browned bits stuck to the pan, which adds real depth to the sauce.
- Taste before you finish. Check the sauce after it simmers and adjust the salt or basil then, not after everything's already plated.
- Cook the pasta al dente. It finishes cooking once tossed into the hot sauce, so slightly underdone at the pot is exactly right. Here's more: How to Cook Pasta Al Dente
- Save some pasta water. A splash loosens the sauce back up if it thickens more than you want. Dig deeper: How to Emulsify Pasta Sauce with Pasta Water
Troubleshooting and FAQs
- Is the sauce too bland? Check your salt, add a squeeze of lemon, or extra basil.
- Sauce is too runny: Simmer uncovered for a few minutes to concentrate flavor.
- Pasta sticking together? Toss with a little sauce or olive oil immediately after draining.
- Sauce not thick enough? Mix in a spoonful of tomato paste or let it reduce longer.
Can I use white wine instead of red?
Yes. Both red and white wine work extremely well for adding flavor to basil tomato sauce. Red wine gives the tomato sauce added richness and robustness, while white wine imparts a fruity flavor.
Make ahead, storage, and reheating
- Make Ahead: This shrimp pasta can be made one day in advance. In fact, the flavors will develop even more as it sits! However, keep in mind that the pasta will absorb a lot of the sauce. For best results, cook the pasta just before serving so it maintains its texture.
- Refrigerate. Keep your shrimp pasta refrigerated in an airtight container until ready to enjoy for up to 1 week.
- Reheating: Reheat gently on the stove or in the microwave, adding a splash of red wine or tomato puree if the pasta has absorbed the sauce. For ultimate freshness, store pasta and sauce separately when possible.
Eugene says
Delish
Michelle says
Can you use regular store bought red cooking wine in a pinch?
Olya says
The flavor won't be there from cooking down regular wine.