Happy Memorial Day!
And I guess 15 Minute Spicy Shrimp with Pesto Noodles Day, too!
Today I’m doing the unthinkable and cutting myself off from my usual habit of writing every word known to man in one single post. I KNOW. I literally woke up this morning and wrote, like, 8 paragraphs of my usual blabber, like I normally do. But then I read it, and to be honest, it just felt weird and not right to talk about regular life stuff in light of the seriousness of this holiday. So I deleted it. And we’re going short and sweet instead, hopefully to encourage us to spend some time today both honoring the people who have served our country, and making some Spicy Shrimp with Pesto Noodles for the ones we love.
Namely, ourselves.
Okay. So this meal comes together in a snap and the flavor is rockin. The shrimp cook so fast – something I always love about shrimp! – and those spicy little guys are piled high atop a bed of raw zucchini noodles that are coated with the BEST ever pesto that’s not actually pesto (it’s all plant-based and it’s SO addicting). I know it sounds weird with the raw zucchini thing, but please. You must try before judging the zoodles fad. I LOVE IT, other than the name zoodles. Bleh.
Plus this recipe will give you more of that healthy green pesto than what you need for the zucchini noodles, which you will thank me for later, because it goes with anything and everything much like our favorite Magic Green Sauce.
It’s light, flavorful, colorful, nutritious, and full of flavor.
IT WANTS YOU.
HOW TO MAKE OUR PESTO ZOODLES (45 SEC):
If you need a spiralizer, I highly recommend the Paderno! <– this is an affiliate link.
Hand slicing the noodles works just fine, too, but that Paderno makes it so easy. Wows!
15 Minute Spicy Shrimp with Pesto Noodles
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
Description
15 Minute Spicy Shrimp with Pesto Noodles – a light, healthy, quick and easy meal with zucchini noodles! Light, flavorful, nutritious, and full of flavor.
Ingredients
For the Pesto:
- 1 cup kale
- 1 cup spinach
- 1 cup mixed basil and/or parsley (more basil is better, but sub parsley if you don’t have enough)
- 3/4 cup almonds
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 cloves garlic
- juice of one lemon (or 2 if your lemon isn’t very juicy)
For the Shrimp and Noodles
- 1 tablespoon butter or oil
- 1 lb. shrimp
- 1–2 teaspoons each chili powder and cumin, plus any other spices you like
- salt and pepper
- 4 medium zucchini
Instructions
- For the pesto, pulse all the ingredients in a food processor or blender until mostly smooth (or until you reach desired consistency). This will make about 2 cups of pesto. Set aside one cup for this recipe and save the other cup for something else later (you can freeze it, but we just keep it on hand in the fridge because it goes really well on just about anything).
- Heat the butter or oil over medium high heat. Add the shrimp and toss with the spices – I usually just do this right in the pan to save myself a dish, and I don’t really measure the spices – I just eyeball it until they get pretty well coated with spices. Sauté the shrimp until they evenly coated with spice and fully cooked (they will no longer be translucent).
- Cut the zucchini into long noodle-like shapes – the best way to do this is with a spiralizer but you can also use a peeler. Toss the zucchini noodles with the reserved pesto and top with the shrimp.
Notes
The zucchini noodles will seep out water as they sit coated in the pesto, so I recommend tossing the noodles right before serving. If you have leftovers, just store everything separately and assemble before serving.
I prefer to serve the noodles raw rather than sautéed – I like the soft-crunchy texture. But if you don’t like that idea, just toss them in a pan and saute them with some oil, garlic, salt, pepper, etc. for a few minutes.
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Category: Dinner
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: spicy shrimp, pesto noodles, pesto zoodles
Since it is Memorial Day, it’s the perfect time for me to say THANK YOU to those individuals and families who have given everything by serving our country. ♡
I used my spiralizer for super easy veggie shreds/noodles in this recipe! For more spiralizer ideas, check out this post:
8 Life-Changing Ways To Use a Spiralizer
One More Thing!
This recipe is part of our collection of easy zucchini recipes. Check it out!