Super Fast Lemon Garlic Butter Shrimp Thing with Zucchini Strings

One pan shrimp scampi with zucchini noodles that only take 20 minutes and taste so good you're gonna make it all the time

So this food looks really fancy and stuff, but you can make it way faster than waiting for pizza delivery. It's light and good for you, and tastes really bright and fresh.

How Come This Food Is Good:

• It's Fast: Shrimp don't take long to cook, and the zucchini strings only need to get warm real quick in the pan. The whole thing is done in like 20 minutes or something.

• It's Not Hard: The steps are easy, and even if you have never cooked before, you can do this. No weird hard stuff you gotta learn.

• Easy Cleanup Time: You cook all the things in just one big pan.

• Good For Your Body: It doesn't have a lot of carbs, has tons of protein in it, and has vegetables and the good kind of fats.

The Stuff You Need To Know

• Time to Get Ready: 10 minutes

• Time to Cook: 10 minutes

• All The Time: 20 minutes

• How Many People: 2

• How Hard: Really easy

What You Put In It

The Shrimp & The Vegetables:

• 1 lb of big shrimp (that's like 450g): Take the shells off and that weird vein thing. Fresh ones work or frozen ones work too, but you gotta let them get not frozen first. Make them really dry with a paper towel so they cook better.

• 2 zucchinis that's medium size: This gonna be your fake pasta.

• 1 tbsp of olive oil: To cook stuff.

• 4 or maybe 5 garlic pieces: Cut them into tiny pieces. Use a lot of garlic cause garlic is the best!

• 1/4 cup of white wine that's dry OR chicken broth: Wine is good, like Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Grigio, for the real taste, but if you don't want alcohol, just use chicken broth instead.

• The juice from 1 lemon: You gotta squeeze it yourself for it to taste the best.

• 2 tbsp butter with no salt: This makes it taste rich and makes the sauce all smooth.

• 1/4 tsp of red pepper flakes if you want: For a little bit of spicy. Put more or less, depending on how spicy you like.

• Salt and pepper that you grind yourself: However much they taste good.

• 2 tbsp parsley that's fresh: Cut it up really small to put on top at the end.

Extra Stuff You Can Have:

• Parmesan cheese that you grated up

• Crusty bread: So you can eat up all that amazing sauce.

The Things You Need

• Big Pan: 12 inches is the best size. The kind that doesn't stick or cast iron both work well.

• Spiralizer Thing OR Vegetable Peeler: To make the zucchini into noodle shapes. You can also buy zucchini noodles already made at the store if you want.

How To Make It Step By Step

Step 1: Get Your Stuff Ready First

This is how you don't get all stressed when you're cooking. Get everything ready before the stove is even turned on.

• Fix The Zucchini: Use the spiralizer and make your zucchini into noodles people call "zoodles." If you don't have one of those, just use a vegetable peeler and make long, thin strips of zucchini. Put the zucchini noodles over to the side.

• Make the Shrimp Dry: Get your shrimp that aren't frozen anymore and make them totally dry with paper towels. This part is super important! When it's dry, the shrimp can get brown and pretty instead of just getting all steamy and wet.

• Put Seasoning On The Shrimp: In a bowl, put the dry shrimp with some salt and black pepper.

• Cut Stuff Up: Cut the garlic really tiny and cut up the fresh parsley. Squeeze your lemon juice into a little bowl.

Step 2: Cook Up The Shrimp

• Make The Pan Hot: Put your big pan on the stove with medium-high heat and put in that 1 tbsp of olive oil.

• Make The Shrimp Brown: When the oil looks shimmery and hot, put the shrimp in the pan carefully, but make sure they are all lying flat, not on top of each other. If they don't all fit, cook some, then cook the rest. Let them cook for 1 or 2 minutes on each side til they are pink and not see-through and a little bit golden.

• Take Out The Shrimp: Right away, take the shrimp that's cooked out of the pan and put them on a plate. This stops them from cooking too much and getting all rubbery and gross.

Step 3: Make The Really Good Garlic Butter Sauce

• Cook The Garlic: Turn the heat down to medium. Put the tiny garlic pieces and red pepper flakes, if you're using them, in the same pan. Cook it for like 30 seconds or maybe 60 seconds til it smells really good. Don't let the garlic get burned, cause that tastes bad!

• Put Liquid In The Pan: Pour the white wine or chicken broth in there. Use a wooden spoon or the spatula thing and scrape all them brown tasty bits that stuck on the bottom of the pan, cause that's where all the flavor lives! Let the liquid bubble and cook down til it's about half, which is gonna take 1 or 2 minutes maybe.

• Make The Sauce Done: Mix in the lemon juice you squeezed and the 2 tbsp of butter. Move the pan around til the butter is all melted and the sauce looks good together.

Step 4: Put It All Together And Eat

• Put Zoodles & Shrimp Back: Put the zucchini noodles and the shrimp you cooked back in the pan that got the sauce.

• Mix It Up: Use tongs and mix everything gentle for like 1 or 2 minutes. You just want the zucchini to get warm and get sauce all over it. Don't cook it for a long time, or it's gonna get all watery and mushy, which is nasty. You want it still a little bit crunchy.

• Make It Look Pretty and Eat It: Take the pan off the hot stove. Put in the fresh parsley. Taste it and add more salt and pepper if it needs it.

• Put It On Plates: Split up the shrimp and zoodles into two bowls. Put some Parmesan cheese on top that you grated and eat it right away with some crusty bread on the side so you can soak up all that sauce, cause it's so good.

Different Ways To Make It & Tips So It Turns Out Good

You Don't Have Zucchini? This recipe tastes amazing with regular spaghetti noodles or linguine instead. Just cook the noodles like the box says and mix them in the sauce when it's done. You can also put the shrimp scampi on top of quinoa or rice, and that works too.

Put More Vegetables: Throw in a cup of cherry tomatoes you cut in half, or a bunch of fresh spinach, or some asparagus you steamed when you put the zucchini noodles in.

Use Different Meat: This sauce is really good with scallops you seared up or pieces of cod fish that's flaky or chicken breast you cut thin. Just remember that different meats take different times to cook.

Want More Lemon Taste? Use the grater thing and grate some lemon peel in there with the lemon juice to make it taste even more lemony and citrus.

Make It Creamy: Some people like to put in a splash of heavy cream or half and half in the sauce to make it richer and creamier. Just add it when you put the butter in.

The Garlic Thing: If you really, really love garlic, you can put even more than 5 cloves, cause why not? Some people even put like 8 cloves, and it tastes incredible.

Frozen Shrimp Tips: When you buy frozen shrimp, the best way to thaw them is to put them in a bowl with cold water for like 15 or 20 minutes. Don't use hot water cause it starts cooking them weirdly. And remember to make them super dry after, cause wet shrimp don't brown good, they just steam.

About The Wine: If you're scared to use wine cause you think it has alcohol in it, don't worry, cause when it cooks, the alcohol basically all goes away and just the flavor stays. But chicken broth works fine, too, if you just don't want wine in there.

Zucchini Water Problem: Zucchini got a lot of water in it, so if you cook it too long, it gonna make your sauce all watery and thin. That's why you only warm it up quick and don't cook it forever. Some people even like to put a little bit of salt on the zucchini noodles before they cook and let them sit for like 10 minutes, then squeeze out the extra water, but you don't gotta do that if you just cook them quick.

Pan Tips: If you have a non-stick pan, this recipe is easier cause stuff doesn't stick as much. But cast iron works really good too, cause it gets really hot and makes the shrimp brown and pretty. Just don't use a small pan cause everything needs room to cook properly.

Serving Ideas: This food goes really good with a simple salad that has a light dressing on the side. Or you can make some roasted vegetables like broccoli or green beans. And definitely get some good bread, cause that sauce is too good to waste, and you're gonna want to soak it all up.

Why People Love This Recipe: It's got everything people want these days. It's fast cause nobody has time to cook for hours. It's healthy cause it's got vegetables and protein and good fats, and not a bunch of carbs. It tastes fancy, but it's easy to make. And it doesn't make a big mess cause it's all in one pan. Plus, shrimp is special, so it feels like a treat even though you're just making it on a regular Tuesday night or whatever.

Storage Stuff: This food is best when you eat it right away while it's hot and fresh. But if you have leftovers, you can put them in the fridge in a container with a lid for maybe 2 days. When you heat it up again, just do it gentle in a pan on low heat, cause if you microwave it, the shrimp get rubbery and weird. The zucchini is gonna be softer when you heat it up again, but it still tastes good.

Making It For More People: This recipe says it feeds 2 people, but if you need to feed more, just double everything or triple it, or whatever. Just remember, if you're making a lot, you might need to cook the shrimp in batches so they're not all crowded in the pan.

The Secret To Good Shrimp Scampi: The real secret is don't overcook the shrimp, cause they get tough and rubbery really fast. Shrimp cook super quick, so pay attention and take them out as soon as they turn pink and curl up a little bit. And make sure your pan is hot enough before you put the shrimp in, so they sear and get a little brown instead of just sitting there getting steamed.