Calabrian Chili Pasta with Shrimp Recipe - Little Spice Jar (2024)

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Garlicky Calabrian Chili Pasta with Shrimp is an easy pasta recipe that you can make in around 30 minutes! It starts with a homemade Calabrian chili butter that we’ll sear the shrimp in then toss with pasta! So easy and so delicious!

Fiery and so flavorful in the best way!

Calabrian chili pasta is seriously one of the easiest pasta dinner recipes.

It starts with an easy homemade Calabrian chili butter. The best part about making the chili butter is that you’re in the driver’s seat, and you get to control how spicy you make this. We like to use a generous amount of chili paste; however, you could easily sub with a little more tomato paste and a little less chili to make this milder. It starts with Calabrian chili paste, a squeeze of tomato paste, and a few other pantry staple ingredients. Then, we’ll sear the shrimp in this incredibly flavorful butter and toss it all together with pasta!

Voila! It couldn’t be easier!

Ingredients for Calabrian Chili Pasta:

• Butter: Softened butter is the main ingredient in homemade Calabrian chili butter. I prefer to use salted butter for this recipe because we’ll eliminate the need for salting the shrimp altogether that way.
• Seasonings: big pinch of black pepper and hot paprika are used to flavor the chili butter.
• Garlic cloves: This is a garlic lovers dream! Use as much or as little garlic as you’d like. Our sweet spot was 5 cloves, which gave it really delicious flavor.
• Pastes: You’ll need two kinds: tomato paste and Calabrian chili paste. I found Calabrian chili paste as Trader Joes, and a lot of grocery stores carry it too now in the international aisle. You can also purchase it online.
• Herbs + Lemon: You’ll need a bit of fresh parsley, lemon zest, and a tablespoon of lemon juice. These ingredients all add freshness to the chili butter.
• Shrimp: I use a pound of peeled and deveined shrimp. I suggest patting the shrimp completely dry before cooking them in the chili butter. I find they sear much better that way!
• Pasta: I prefer to use linguine for this recipe, however, fettuccine, spaghetti, or even bucatini would be delicious here if you happen to have those on hand.
• Parmesan Cheese: Grated or shaved parm make this cheesy and delicious!

How to Make Calabrian Chili Pasta:

1. Make Calabrian chili butter: Start by adding the butter, garlic cloves, tomato paste, chili paste, parsley, lemon zest, lemon juice, pepper, and paprika to the bowl of a food processor. You want to pulse the ingredients until the garlic breaks down and the butter is whipped and combined. Remove the whipped butter to a bowl and set aside for now. If you’re making the pasta later, cover the butter and refrigerate until needed. You want to start boiling a large pot of water for the pasta while you get the shrimp going.
2. Sear the shrimp. Grab a deep skillet and heat it over medium-high heat. Once hot, add two tablespoons of the chili butter and immediately add the shrimp in a single layer. Sear the shrimp on one side before flipping and cooking the other side. Remove the shrimp to plate and keep warm for now.
3. Cook the pasta, save the water. When the water is boiling, salt it generously and cook the pasta according to package directions. Remove 1 cup of pasta water before you drain. Immediately add the pasta to the skillet that you cooked the shrimp in over medium-low heat. Add three tablespoons of the prepared butter along with a splash of pasta water. Toss the pasta to combine. Taste and add more chili butter to taste. We like it with about 4 tablespoons. Add the shrimp, toss together, and serve warm topped with shaved parmesan.

If you like this recipe, you might also like:

• Creamy Paprika Chicken Pasta
• Spicy Shrimp Pasta with Tomatoes and Garlic
• Crazy Good Garlic Noodles
• Creamy One Pot Mushroom Pasta
• Easy Cacio E Pepe

originally published on Sep 7, 2021 (last updated Aug 5, 2022)

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