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This Creamy Tuscan Butter Shrimp recipe is spicy and made with a light creamy sauce, garlic, and sun-dried tomatoes. A restaurant-quality recipe that’s easy to make, low in carbs, and the whole family will enjoy. Ready in just 20 minutes and it’s so good!
You may also like my creamy Tuscan salmon or my creamy Tuscan Chicken pasta.
This Creamy Tuscan Shrimp recipe is perfect for those who are on a high-fat and high-calorie diet and may not work for everyone.
Tuscan butter shrimp recipe is made with fresh garlic cloves, heavy cream, sun-dried tomatoes, fresh basil, chili, cayenne pepper, Italian seasoning, and a few other simple ingredients. It is so easy to make and all it takes is just 20 minutes to put this together. I love shrimp because they are high in protein and low in fat but you may swap it with any other protein of your choice.
You will also love my Shrimp Risotto Recipe if you prefer a one-pot shrimp meal.
Recipe Summary
- Quick and easy: If all you have is 30 minutes on hand to put something together then this shrimp recipe will come to the rescue because it only takes 20 minutes to make.
- Versatile: You can serve this creamy butter shrimp with anything. whether you choose to serve it with rice, pasta, potatoes, or mashed potatoes, you can’t go wrong.
- So tasty: You will love how tasty and delicious this dish turns out. You have to try it and come back and say it yourself.
Ingredients needed
- Shrimp: peeled and deveined. I recommend you use raw shrimp instead of cooked shrimp. They can be frozen and thawed ahead
- Butter or Ghee
- Garlic Cloves: use fresh garlic cloves, and this ingredient is a must,. Using garlic powder instead is fine but won’t be as tasty.
- Heavy Cream: or you may use canned coconut milk
- Gluten-free Flour: or any flour of your choice.
- Lemon Zest: that zesty addition gives it a nice touch
- Italian Seasoning Mix
- Red Pepper Flakes, optional
- Cayenne pepper Powder: make it as spicy as you can handle. Start with 1/2 teaspoon.
- Sun-dried Tomatoes Chopped, there are two types, canned in oil or packets. The ones in oil will have a more intense color and flavor, but either works.
- A handful of freshly chopped basil leaves picked and chopped
- Sea salt and pepper, to taste
How to make Tuscan Shrimp
- Melt butter in a large skillet or nonstick pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds, or until fragrant.
- Meanwhile, in a bowl, whisk flour and heavy cream until well combined, then pour it into the pan.
- Stir in the lemon zest, Italian seasoning, chili/red pepper flakes, cayenne powder, and sun-dried tomatoes. Lower the heat and simmer for about 3-4 minutes, or until the sauce starts to thicken.
- Add the shrimp and cook until becomes pink and curly. About 4-5 minutes.
- Take off the heat and stir in the basil. Season with salt and pepper if needed and enjoy!
Notes and tips
- The creamy Tuscan sauce is going to be high in fat because of the heavy cream, but this can be swapped with canned coconut milk, a combination of milk and cream cheese, or Greek yogurt and cream cheese.
- Consider adding some other veggies like chopped kale, green beans, broccoli, or asparagus.
- Do not overcook the shrimp so it doesn’t come out chewy and rubbery. You will know when the shrimp is cooked through when it curls up and turns pinkish. Which usually doesn’t take more than 4-5 minutes
Storage and Reheating
- Storing: Store leftovers in a container in the fridge for up to 4 days. I do not recommend freezing leftovers because once thawed, it may curdle and not be appetizing.
- Reheating: Reheat the leftovers in the microwave for 60-90 seconds until heated through.
Frequently asked questions
A Tuscan cream sauce is generally a creamy garlic butter-based sauce made with the addition of some seasonings and sun-dried tomatoes. Other additions that can be added to the Tuscan-inspired sauce are fresh basil, fresh spinach, and fresh cherry tomatoes.
This will all depend on the ingredients used to make the Tuscan shrimp and the size of the serving. The calories per serving will range between 200-400 calories per serving. A single serving of our creamy Tuscan shrimp is 270 calories, with 18g of protein and 7g of carbs. The calories can be cut down by using healthier swaps like using coconut milk instead of heavy cream.
If you would like to use frozen shrimp for this Tuscan Shrimp Recipe, you can. Remove the frozen shrimp from the bag and place it in a colander. Run cold water over the frozen shrimp for a few minutes. This will thaw out the crystals on the shrimp. Alternatively, you can also just place it in a bowl of cold water and wait a few minutes. Shrimps do not need too much time to thaw out.
What to serve with Tuscan Shrimp
- Plain White Basmati Rice
- A more flavorful rice like Cilantro Lime Rice
- Keep it low-carb and serve with some spaghetti squash, Cilantro Cauliflower Rice, or some Cauliflower Mash, or add some zucchini noodles over the creamy shrimp skillet. Here is How to make zoodles.
- Serve with some roasted veggies like these Garlic roasted vegetables or these Roasted Sweet Potatoes
- Try them with potatoes like these hot German Potatoes, or these Crispy Baked Greek Potatoes
- It will be great with this Cheesy Cauliflower Bake
- Serve with Garlic bread, crusty bread, or a simple homemade dinner roll
More shrimp recipes
- Citrus Garlic Butter Shrimps
- Easy Lemon Asparagus Shrimp Recipe
- Creamy Shrimp Pasta
- Shrimp Stir Fry Noodles
- Grilled Honey Lemon Shrimp
- Creamy Garlic Shrimp Skillet
- Healthy Shrimp Scampi
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Creamy Tuscan Butter Shrimp
Video
Equipment
- cutting board
- Sharp Chef's knife
- non stick skillet
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds Shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 2 tablespoons Butter, or Ghee
- 4 Garlic Cloves, pressed
- 1 Cup Heavy Cream, or coconut cream/milk in can
- 1 teaspoon Gluten-free Flour, or any flour of choice
- ½ tablespoons Lemon Zest
- 1 tablespoon Italian Seasoning Mix
- 1 teaspoon Red pepper flakes, or to taste
- 1 teaspoon Cayenne Powder, optional if you can't handle spice
- ¼ Cup Sun-dried Tomatoes, Chopped
- A handful of freshly chopped basil leaves picked and chopped
- Sea salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Melt 2 tablespoons Butter in a large skillet or nonstick pan over medium heat. Add the 4 Garlic Cloves (minced) and cook for about 30 seconds or until fragrant.
- Meanwhile, in a bowl, whisk 1 teaspoon Gluten-free Flour and 1 Cup Heavy Cream until well combined, then pour it into the pan.
- Stir in the l½ tablespoons Lemon Zest, 1 tablespoon Italian Seasoning Mix, 1 teaspoon Red pepper flakes, 1 teaspoon Cayenne Powder (optional), and ¼ Cup Sun-dried Tomatoes (chopped). Lower the heat and simmer for about 3-4 minutes, or until the sauce starts to thicken.
- Add the 1 ½ pounds Shrimp and cook until it becomes pink and curly. About 4-5 minutes.
- Take off the heat and stir in A handful of freshly chopped basil leaves picked and chopped. Season with Sea salt and pepper, to taste if needed, and enjoy!
Notes
- you can use avocado oil in place of butter
- I recommend you use raw shrimp and not pre-cooked. You can find frozen raw shrimp at most grocery stores. Just thaw and drain.
- There are two types of sundried tomatoes. The ones in the packet will work fine but won’t give that intense taste and orange color sauce. The sun-dried tomatoes in oil is what I used in my video. It will give a slightly different color and taste.
- Fresh basil works best, but if you can’t find any, use dried basil.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Absolutely delicious! This has become a favorite dish
Thanks for the feedback paul
Oh so good! Thank you!
Thank you for these spl recipe. They are delicious, i’ve tried it using our local seasonings and the result is also sumptuous licious!
love it. Thanks for the feedback
Has anyone tried coconut milk in lieu of heavy cream?
Perfect dinner! Easy to make
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it
I made this tonight and it was soooo good. Thank you for this recipe. We served it over Angel hair pasta and added grated parmesan cheese. WOW! I was thinking capers might be good in it also.
Capers sound so good! My kids always pick them out. Haha
Can you use regular flour instead of GF flour?
Yes you can use any flour.
New Family Favorite! We cut the spices in half and it was still too spicy for the toddler and my 6 year old but keeping this and making it over again just less spices. We did it over linguine!
So awesome! Thank you
This was amazing. I prepared it for Freinds abs they loved it. I posted a picture of it on social media and many of my Freinds were asking for the recipe. It is a great one!!!
Thanks for sharing and for the feedback.
This recipe was delightful! The flavors came together nicely, however the next time I make this, I will add a lot less cayenne. I could even consider adding 1/4 tsp. Other than that, I think the recipe was fantastic. With a little less spice, each forkful is an absolute delight!
Thanks. Yes, it may be too spicy for some. We will adjust the recipe and leave a note about the spice levels
Tried the modification with 1/2 Greek yogurt, worked great! Delicious recipe, thanks for sharing!
That’s awesome. We love it with yogurt too
Hello, can all purpose flour be used instead of gluten free flour?
Thank you in advance.
Yes. You can make the substitue
Are the calories counted for the full recipe or each serving?
Hi Jen. It’s Per serving.
Felt like I ordered it from a restaurant, super delicious and spicy. Used crushed red pepper instead of chili flakes.
Added red onion, broccoli and served with some spaghetti & french bread! Amazing, will definitely make again!