Garlicky, buttery Shrimp Scampi doesn’t require wine to give you that delicious scampi flavor. And, you can have it on the table in under 15 minutes!
Whether you serve this shrimp dish over Angel Hair Pasta with Capers or with some fat slices of Baguette Garlic Bread, you are going to love adding this to your regular easy dinner rotation. This is a favorite of mine when dinner time rolls around, and I have no plan.
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Why Make This Recipe
- All the classic Shrimp Scampi flavor with no wine needed! Great for anyone avoiding wine or without any wine on hand.
- So fast! Prep the ingredients in advance, and your dinner is done in minutes.
- Pairs well with lots of different sides and accompaniments.
🥗 Ingredients for Shrimp Scampi No Wine
- Shrimp: We prefer fresh large shrimp for this recipe. Look for 16-20 count (16-20 shrimp per pound) at your store or seafood market. You can use smaller shrimp (or larger) if that’s what you prefer—just note that you may need to adjust the cook time accordingly. And save yourself some time by buying them already peeled and deveined!
- Garlic: No good substitute for fresh garlic in this dish, but you can use the pre-minced jarred garlic cloves if you have those on hand.
- Butter: Salted or unsalted butter is fine to use. Adjust the salt level as necessary with your kosher salt.
- Chicken Broth: We prefer using a low-sodium chicken broth or stock for this recipe. If yours isn’t low-sodium, adjust the salt called for in the recipe. You can also make this scampi sauce without wine using vegetable broth or fish stock instead.
- Lemon Zest and Juice: Using a fresh lemon for this dish really adds a punch of great flavor.
- Crushed Red Pepper: We love to add a little spice to our garlic shrimp scampi, but feel free to add less or more depending on your spice tolerance.
🥣 Step-by-Step Instructions
Peel and devein 1 ½ pounds of shrimp. Rinse shrimp and pat dry with a paper towel.
Peel and mince 4 garlic cloves. Melt 3 tablespoons butter in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-low heat. Then add garlic, and cook until fragrant and just starting to toast, about 3 minutes.
Add shrimp and turn heat up to medium. Sauté for 3 minutes, until shrimp are fully cooked.
Remove shrimp from pan with slotted spoon. Pour in ½ cup chicken broth, then 1 teaspooon lemon zest, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper, and ½ teaspoon salt.
Turn heat up to medium-high and bring to a low boil. Simmer for 2 minutes. Taste sauce, and add more salt and more lemon juice if needed.
Stir in ½ tablespoon chopped parsley.
Add shrimp back to pan, along with any juices on the plate. Cook for another minute, stirring gently, until shrimp are fully warmed. Serve, garnished with additional chopped parsley.
Leftovers can be stored for 2 days in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
🧐 Recipe FAQs for Shrimp Scampi without Wine
Shrimp will curl up and turn pink when fully cooked. They will lose all of their translucency and will firm up as well. Shrimp cook very quickly, so be sure to take them off the heat as soon as they are done. Overcooked shrimp quickly turn rubbery!
While white wine is used traditionally in making shrimp scampi, you can recreate that great flavor using chicken broth and a little lemon juice instead. As an alternative to the lemon juice, you could also try adding a little white wine vinegar, to mimic some of the wine flavor.
You can, though reheating already cooked shrimp can make them rubbery. If you know you are going to eat this dish later, we’d recommend not cooking the shrimp all the way through when you make it in advance. Then finish the cooking by putting the dish back on the stovetop for just a minute or two before serving, to fully cook the shrimp.
Yes, shrimp actually freezes pretty well, although it can turn tough if reheated too aggressively. Wait until shrimp has cooled completely before freezing, and place in an airtight container. Defrost in the refrigerator overnight, then reheat gently (over the stovetop is preferred.)
Scampi are a type of crustacean also known as langoustines, found commonly in the Mediterranean Sea and North Atlantic ocean. Legend has it that early Italian immigrants to the United States could not find scampi, so substituted shrimp instead, but cooked them in the traditional scampi style. This was in a sauce with garlic, butter, white wine, and sometimes parmesan cheese.
👩🍳 Expert Tips
The only tricky part of this Shrimp Scampi without Wine recipe is at the beginning, when you are toasting your minced garlic. Garlic goes from barely cooked to burned very quickly under high heat, so make sure to keep your heat low and watch your garlic carefully.
For shrimp scampi pasta without wine, just make a pot of plain spaghetti, angel hair, or linguine pasta and toss with the shrimp scampi. You may want to double the sauce ingredients in this recipe to coat all the pasta. And, top with a good sprinkle of parmesan cheese if you like.
For extra flavor, don’t be afraid to play around with other herbs or spices. You can add oregano, thyme, or basil to this dish (fresh or dried), or up the lemon flavor even more by adding more lemon juice.
If you only have frozen shrimp available, those will work just fine for this recipe. But make sure to thaw them before using, and pat them dry very well after they are thawed. If they are too watery, the scampi sauce will become watery as well. Quick tip: if you need to thaw frozen shrimp quickly, put them in a colander in your sink and run cool water over them for several minutes.
Now that you are hooked, try our Spicy Scallop Scampi for a different take on scampi. Chicken broth serves as our white wine substitute in this shrimp scampi—you can use this technique in the scallop recipe as well if you don’t want to cook with wine.
Once you have made your shrimp scampi, you can serve it as an appetizer or for a main course. To serve as a main, pour over pasta or serve with garlic bread.
For a gluten-free option, you can use zucchini noodles, brown rice, or white rice as a substitute for pasta. Or follow these instructions for How to Rice Cauliflower, and make that on the side!
On the side, this meal is delicious with a simple Side Salad or Roasted Broccoli Rabe. We also love to pair this dish with our Salade de Tomates and our Mediterranean Tomato and Cucumber Salad. A simple side of sautéed Snow Peas is another perfect choice.
More Delicious Seafood Recipes
Love seafood as much as we do? Shrimp lovers should definitely try these Old Bay Shrimp. And, check out these top recipes featuring shrimp, scallops, salmon, and more.
If you try this No Wine Shrimp Scampi recipe, we would love to hear from you! Please rate this recipe and leave a comment below—your feedback is invaluable to us.
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📖 Recipe
Shrimp Scampi without Wine
Garlicky, buttery Shrimp Scampi doesn’t require wine to give you that delicious scampi flavor!
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds large shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 4 garlic cloves
- 3 tablespoons butter
- ½ cup chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 ½ tablespoons lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
Instructions
- Rinse shrimp and pat dry with a paper towel.
- Peel and mince garlic cloves.
- Melt butter in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-low heat.
- Add garlic, and cook until fragrant and just starting to toast, about 3 minutes.
- Add shrimp and turn heat up to medium. Sauté for 3 minutes, until shrimp are fully cooked.
- Remove shrimp from pan with slotted spoon.
- Pour in chicken broth, then lemon zest, lemon juice, red pepper, and salt.
- Turn heat up to medium-high and bring to a low boil. Simmer for 2 minutes. Taste sauce, and add more salt if needed.
- Stir in ½ of the chopped parsley.
- Add shrimp back to pan, along with any juices on the plate.
- Cook for another minute, stirring gently, until shrimp are fully warmed.
- Serve, garnished with the remaining parsley.
Notes
Storage Tips:
Leftovers can be stored for 2 days in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
To freeze this dish, wait until shrimp has cooled completely before freezing, and place in an airtight container. Defrost in the refrigerator overnight, then reheat gently (over the stovetop is preferred.)
Expert Tips:
For extra flavor, don’t be afraid to play around with other herbs or spices. You can add oregano, thyme, or basil to this dish (fresh or dried), or up the lemon flavor even more by adding more lemon juice. Also, add more or less of the crushed red pepper depending on your spice tolerance.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 287Total Fat: 12gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 382mgSodium: 1955mgCarbohydrates: 4gFiber: 0gSugar: 0gProtein: 39g
Nutrition information is provided as a general reference for users courtesy of the online nutrition calculator Nutritionix.
Instagram Users: Now that you've made this Shrimp Scampi Recipe without wine, tag us @vanillabeancuisine or #vanillabeancuisine because we’d love to see your results!
More About Molly
Cooking healthy(ish) meals with seasonal ingredients is my passion. Trained as a French pastry chef, I spent over 10 years as a personal chef. Here you'll find well-tested recipes that you and your family will love!
Susan says
One and a half tblsp of lemon juice was way too much talk about pucker power. Used baking soda to counter act it after I did a few tweaks was good.
Molly Pisula says
Glad you fixed it to your liking! I must admit, I am a big lemon fan myself!
Trudy Taylor says
I made this recipe exactly how it is except I cut the crust red peppers in half. Next time I think I will eliminate them as my mouth is still burning. I have Crohn’s disease and I normally do not eat anything spicy. I thought by reducing the amount it would help, but it did not. I must say this is the best recipe for shrimp scampi I’ve ever tasted. My shrimp was not rubbery or overcooked. It was absolutely delicious. Thank you for sharing Molly. I do believe this recipe will be in my rotation every week.
Molly Pisula says
glad to hear it! and yes, the red pepper really is spicy in any dose--especially if you have a fresh jar of it. totally fine to leave it out!