Creamy Garlic Seafood Pasta Recipe
This seafood pasta with creamy garlic sauce is the perfect dinner recipe, whether you need to get dinner on the table fast or impress guests.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Seafood: I used shrimp/prawns, calamari, squid heads and mussels. Scallops and clams are also good additions.
- Butter.
- Fresh garlic. If you like garlic-heavy sauces, this pasta would be delicious with our garlic butter sauce recipe too.
- Lemon juice.
- White wine.
- Cream.
- Parsley.
- Salt and pepper.
- Chilli flakes (optional).
- Pasta. The best pasta for seafood in my opinion is linguine (the classic choice) but spaghetti, tagliatelle, fettuccine and pappardelle are all good options.
Can You Add Fish To Seafood Pasta?
Absolutely. Firm white fish like hake, cod or sea bass works best. I would recommend searing the fish separately and placing on top of the pasta so that it doesn’t break up too much while tossing.
How To Make Seafood Pasta with Frozen Seafood Mix
You can substitute fresh seafood with a frozen seafood mix, you just need to follow a few additional steps. Firstly, thaw the seafood mix completely (overnight in the fridge) and drain properly then pat down with paper towels to avoid a water sauce. Frozen seafood mix will cook quicker so use a large pan set over high heat and flash-fry the seafood until just-cooked.
How to make seafood pasta
- Cook the seafood: In a large pan, add a splash of oil and allow to heat up. Season the seafood with salt and pepper then cook in batches until golden brown. The shrimp/prawns should take no more than a minute per side (depending on size) and the calamari and mussels will take only a few minutes to cook. Take care not to overcook the seafood as they will go tough and rubbery. Rather undercook slightly as it will cook a little more while being tossed with the sauce and pasta.
- Make the sauce: Remove the seafood from the pan and set aside. In the same pan, melt the butter and add the garlic and chilli flakes. Cook until fragrant then pour in the lemon juice and wine. Bring to a simmer and allow to reduce by half. Pour in the cream and allow to come to a simmer. Allow to cook for 5 minutes or until the sauce coats the back of a spoon. Add the seafood (and any of its resting juices) and parsley and stir to combine.
- Combine and serve: Toss the sauce with cooked pasta and a splash of the pasta cooking water and toss to coat the pasta. Serve sprinkled with parsley.
Can you reheat seafood pasta?
The easiest way to reheat seafood pasta (and any pasta, really), is to place it in a pan set over medium-low heat with a splash of liquid. Water, stock or cream can be used. Slowly reheat then gently. I wouldn’t recommend freezing this pasta as the sauce might split once thawed. Leftovers can be kept covered in the fridge for up to 2 days.
Serving suggestions
Seafood pasta is delicious with crusty bread to mop up any leftover sauce or a big side salad with a zesty dressing to cut through the richness.
Video
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 250 g (½lb) shrimp / prawns peeled and deveined
- 150 g (5oz) mussel meat (approximately 500g with shells)
- 150 g (5oz) calamari tubes / squid heads
- 2 tbsp butter
- 4 garlic cloves crushed
- ½ tsp chilli flakes
- ½ cup white wine
- 1-2 tsp lemon juice
- 1 cup cream
- salt and pepper to taste
- ½ cup parsley finely chopped
- 500 g (1lb) pasta cooked + 1 cup cooking water reserved
Instructions
- In a large pan, add a splash of oil and allow to heat up.
- Season the seafood with salt and pepper then cook in batches until golden brown.
- The shrimp/prawns should take no more than a minute per side (depending on size) and the calamari and mussels will take only a few minutes to cook. Take care not to overcook the seafood as they will go tough and rubbery. Rather undercook slightly as it will cook a little more while being tossed with the sauce and pasta.
- Remove the seafood from the pan and set aside.
- In the same pan, melt the butter and add the garlic and chilli flakes. Cook until fragrant then pour in the lemon juice and wine.
- Bring to a simmer and allow to reduce by half.
- Pour in the cream and allow to come to a simmer. Allow to cook for 5 minutes or until the sauce coats the back of a spoon.
- Add the seafood (and any of its resting juices) and parsley and stir to combine.
- Toss the sauce with cooked pasta and a splash of the pasta cooking water and toss to coat the pasta. Serve sprinkled with parsley.
Nutrition
FAQ
You can substitute the cream with full-fat coconut cream for a dairy-free version. The flavor will be slightly different but still delicious. Use nutritional yeast in place of Parmesan for a cheesy flavor.
If your sauce is too thick, add a splash of the reserved pasta water to thin it out. If it’s too thin, let it simmer for a few extra minutes to reduce or add an extra tablespoon of butter to help it thicken and emulsify.
Absolutely! Mussels, scallops, crab meat, or white fish all work well. Just adjust cooking times accordingly – scallops only need 2-3 minutes per side.
Don’t overcook it! Shrimp should be cooked just until pink and opaque (2-3 minutes), and calamari needs either very quick cooking (1-2 minutes) or long, slow cooking. Anything in between makes it tough.
You can make a creamy marinara sauce or seafood carbonara sauce instead of the creamy garlic pasta sauce.
Chicken or seafood stock works well or even a splash of lemon juice mixed with water. The wine adds depth, but the dish will still be delicious without it.
Good recipe, I used mussels, shrimp and scallops as well as adding lemon zest and shallots and a little more garlic.
Going to try freezing some. Have a little too much to store in the fridge. Was delicious though.
This really is the perfect creamy seafood pasta dish, with just the right depth of flavour – not too much garlic or chili (both of which we love!). I used scallops instead of calamari.
So pleased to hear that, Kirsten. 🙂
Can you use oyster instead of mussels.
You could, yes.
Easy to make and delicious results
Went down a real treat. Next time for personal preference I might add a touch more garlic. Really felt like I made something quite exquisite. Thank you for the recipe. Will definitely use again.
Excellent recipe! I grabbed a bag of frozen chowder mix from my local seafood store here on PEI, and this was just delicous. Will be making it again and experimenting with different kinds of seafood.
This gave us a delicious dinner tonight. We are so glad we found this recipe.
Absolutely Lovely
I used coconut cream, turn out good.
What white wine do you recommend?
I used a Sauvignon Blanc.
Fantastic recipe! So quick and easy to make and super tasty. Was a ?? from the family
Absolutely fine dining quality and taste so easy to make was a fantastic hit with the family
Made the cheesy garlic loaf for a side
Yummy
Excellent, easy, tasty, well-explained, to the point! thank you!
What kind of cream? I’ve never cooked with cream. The only cream I use is in my coffee.. thanks!
Unsweetened heavy cream or whipping cream.
I just used the normal double cream adding little by little until I got my required consistency
Very nicecwould have it again
Love it very nice
How much Lemon juice we talking here ?
2-3 teaspoons, to taste.
I was a fan of this recipe but I followed the recipe to a T and it came out quite runny and watery. Next time I’ll add more flour or less oat milk.
This recipe doesn’t call for oat milk. Cream (as stated) will result in a thicker, luxurious sauce without the need for flour.
The recipe works if you follow it to a t. As in t for troll.
I don’t think you know what “following to a T” means if you used flour or oat milk…
I tried cooking this yesterday and my girlfriend and I both loved it. And it was easy to make too. Thank you very much for this recipe .. I’ve added some bits of fish (smoked salmon and smoked haddock) and I added dill to the sauce to bring down sour taste from a cheap wine I bought . It worked well. Again thank you Alida ..it was yummy