This shrimp scampi sauce is a luscious garlic butter sauce with the addition of crisp white wine. While it’s typically served over cooked shrimp and pasta to make the dish that is its namesake, this white wine sauce can act as an amazing upgrade for any meal.
The best part of this easy recipe is how quickly you can make it. It takes mere minutes to cook it, and there’s very minimal prep time.
The next time you’re looking for a buttery sauce to kick your seafood, bread, or even pizza up a notch, try this super-simple shrimp scampi sauce.
What is Shrimp Scampi Sauce?
Shrimp scampi sauce is a garlic-infused butter sauce with a hint of white wine. While it’s traditionally tossed with angel hair pasta and juicy shrimp to make the classic pasta dish, it can be paired with other proteins, vegetables, and starches.
Why You’ll Love Shrimp Scampi Sauce
You don’t have to make classic shrimp scampi to enjoy this savory sauce.
- Quick and easy – It only takes a couple of minutes to cook up this delicious sauce, making it perfect for a weeknight dinner.
- Versatile – There are so many things you can do with this buttery sauce. From being a great sauce for pasta to one of the best savory dipping sauces, it pairs well with nearly any savory dish.
- Convenient – The simple ingredients are readily available at most grocery stores.
Shrimp Scampi Sauce Ingredients
It takes just a handful of ingredients to make this sophisticated sauce.
- Butter – I prefer to use unsalted butter with this recipe and then adjust the flavor once I add the salt at the end of the cooking process.
- Cloves of garlic – I’ve given a measurement on the recipe card of how much garlic to use, but feel free to adjust it to your preferences.
- Medium shallot – Slice the shallots very thinly and uniformly.
- White wine – Wine adds depth of flavor to this garlic butter sauce. Choose a variety of dry white wine that you like to sip, as well — pinot grigio and sauvignon blanc are two good options.
- Fresh lemon – Just a little bit of fresh lemon juice brightens the entire sauce.
- Kosher salt and black pepper – These two essential ingredients balance the sauce. You can substitute any variety of salt that you prefer.
- Minced parsley – Fresh parsley imparts herbaceous flavor that works well with the other ingredients.
What To Serve Shrimp Scampi Sauce With
While tossing this sauce with shrimp and pasta is an obvious option, there are plenty of other uses for this easy, buttery sauce. Try using it as a dipping sauce for steamed shrimp, grilled fish, or lobster.
You can also use it as a dip for a big piece of crusty bread. Rosemary garlic focaccia is a perfect pairing — or dunk your pizza crusts into it.
Or, toss the sauce with your favorite type of pasta (or even zucchini noodles) for an upgrade on simple buttered noodles. Or, elevate veggies like broccolini, asparagus, or carrots.
How to Make Shrimp Scampi Sauce
You’ll be surprised by how much flavor this easy-to-make sauce has.
- Melt butter. Place butter in a preheated large skillet and allow it to melt.
- Add shallots and garlic. Sauté the shallots briefly in the butter. Add the garlic and stir.
- Add white wine. Once the garlic becomes aromatic, add the white wine.
- Season. Remove from heat, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and stir in a small amount of lemon juice.
- Enjoy. Serve immediately, garnished with parsley.
Variations
There are easy ways to adjust this recipe’s flavor or to save on time.
- Garlic cloves – Instead of fresh garlic, use a jarred, minced garlic. Or, for additional garlic flavor, add a few dashes of garlic powder.
- Wine – Instead of wine, mix together chicken stock or vegetable broth with an acidic component like vinegar or citrus. You can also substitute cooking wine.
- Butter – For a vegan version, replace the butter with a dairy-free alternative.
- Zest – For brighter flavor, shave some lemon zest from fresh lemons over top.
- Heat – If you’re looking for a bit of spiciness, add a few dashes of red pepper flakes.
- Cheese – For a big of nutty flavor, sprinkle in some fresh parmesan cheese.
- Seasoning – Add Italian seasoning, or your favorite seasoning blend.
- Herbs – Substitute other fresh herbs for some or all of the parsley.
Storage and Freezing
When storing this sauce, it’s best to store it separately from pasta (if using) to avoid having the pasta become soggy.
Refrigerator: Store shrimp scampi sauce in the refrigerator for 3-4 days in an airtight container.
Freezer: Store the sauce in a resealable plastic freezer bag for up to 3 months.
Common Questions About Shrimp Scampi Sauce
The sauce that’s tossed with shrimp and pasta to make shrimp scampi consists primarily of butter, wine, and garlic.
If you want to omit the wine, you can combine lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, or white wine vinegar with a bit of chicken broth or vegetable stock.
If you’d prefer to have a thicker sauce, you can make a creamy version by adding heavy cream. You can also thicken it using cornstarch, but be sure to create a slurry (a smooth mixture of equal parts cornstarch and water) to avoid creating clumps in the sauce.
Other Savory Sauces
Shrimp Scampi Sauce
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pound shrimp raw, peeled with tails on
- ½ cup butter
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 medium shallot thinly sliced
- ¼ cup white wine
- 1 lemon cut into wedges
- Salt and Pepper for seasoning
- Parsley minced, for garnish
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a large skillet.
- Stir in the shallots, cooking 2 minutes and stirring. Add the garlic, cooking an additional 1 minute.
- Add the shrimp, cooking 3-4 minutes or until shrimp turn pink and curl. Pour in white wine, cooking 1 more minute.
- Serve shrimp scampi sauce over freshly cooked pasta, seasoning with sea salt, freshly cracked black pepper and a spritz of fresh lemon, protein, starches or veggies.
- If you tried this recipe, come back and let us know how it was in the comments or star ratings.
I can hear this shrimp calling my name. It’s saying, “Beth, eat me. I’m delicious!” You know what? I believe what it’s saying!
This was such a quick and easy sauce that does not disappoint! Enjoyed this over dinner last night and it added the perfect amount of flavor; easily, a new favorite recipe!
This was literally SO EASY and cooked up so quickly – we all loved it, and I’m keeping it on the menu for busy days!
This sauce was amazing. Just the right amount of garlic. So good!
This is such a simple, yet flavorful sauce to make! I know it would be amazing with grilled chicken. 🙂