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Okay I have to tell you, this recipe is a keeper. My husband is a meat and potatoes kind of guy and he always turns his nose up when he hears “whole wheat” or “light”. But he loved this one. He even took the leftovers for lunch the next day. I added a little extra garlic because we love it, but other than that, I followed the recipe exactly and it came out great! Thanks for sharing.
Homemade Garlic Alfredo Sauce.
Would you mind if I just stopped there? Sighh.
There’s more.
Butter.
Garlic shrimp.
Fire roasted tomatoes.
Whole grain penne.
Parmesan? Extra? Sure.
And don’t you forget about that homemade garlic alfredo sauce. I know you didn’t.
Bake it, eat it, eat it again.
Make a mental note to double the recipe next time.
Make another mental note to stop at the store for some minty gum. Or tell Siri to make your mental notes for you. Or tell Siri to make a mental note for Bjork.
Train Siri to recognize “Bjork” instead of “New Yhork”.
Give up on Siri and eat more baked penne.
{Light} Garlic Shrimp Baked Penne
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
Description
This light garlic shrimp baked penne has a delicious and lighter homemade Alfredo sauce, penne pasta, tomatoes, garlic, and shrimp. Easy and healthy!
Ingredients
- 1 lb. raw, deveined tail-off shrimp
- 4 large cloves garlic, minced
- 1 1/2 tablespoons butter
- 6 ounces whole wheat penne pasta
- 1 can fire roasted tomatoes with garlic
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 6 ounces 2% evaporated milk (about half of a can)
- 1 ounce light cream cheese
- 1/3 cup chicken broth
- salt to taste
- 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese for topping
Instructions
- In a skillet, melt 1/2 tablespoon butter and add 1 clove minced garlic. Saute for 1 minute or until garlic is soft and fragrant. Add shrimp and cook about 3 minutes on each side, until no longer pink.
- Cook pasta as directed until al dente. Drain and return to pan. Drain tomatoes and add to the pasta. Add cooked shrimp.
- In a small skillet, melt 1 tablespoon butter and add 3 cloves minced garlic over medium-high heat. Saute for 1 minute. Add flour and stir until a soft, sticky mixture forms – about 1 minute. Add half of the evaporated milk and whisk until smooth. As it cooks, the mixture will start to thicken and bubble – when it does, add the rest of the evaporated milk. As the mixture thickens and bubbles again, add the cream cheese and whisk until smooth. As the mixture thickens, add the chicken stock to thin out the sauce. Season with salt to taste.
- Pour sauce immediately over pasta and mix gently. Pour into a small baking dish. Top with Parmesan cheese; bake at 375 degrees for about 10-15 minutes or until golden brown on top.
Notes
The sauce will start to really thicken within a few minutes of taking it off the heat. Make sure to mix it in with the pasta right away. When I made this, I used a 10×6 baking dish. You could also top this with seasoned breadcrumbs.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 45 mins
- Category: Dinner
- Cuisine: Italian
Keywords: baked penne, shrimp recipe, shrimp pasta
I think this big blue sky is the sign of a good week.
That, and Alfredo.
Ok that sky is just so beautiful! It reminds me of growing up in MN…where it can be so cold, but so pretty!
It feels a little weird not to have snow everywhere, but I can’t complain if it means better walking weather and a pretty view!
Ha! Siri needs a tutor. I think it is hilarious that you mentioned to make a double batch next time, because I was JUST thinking that it looked like either a tiny dish, or a monstrous spoon – but delicious, of course. I thought, “Huh, that must be the portion she cooks for just she and New Yhork”. Ahhhh. Too funny. Thanks for the morning chuckle – and the scrumptious looking dinner! I just can’t decide which yummy new dish to make this week – there are too many!
Um, yeah. It’s a giant spoon. 🙂
That pasta looks to die for. It’s made me hungry just reading your post. Yum.
Also, loving the use of wholewheat penne – my favourite too.
I like whole wheat penne even better than regular penne! The texture is awesome.
Light pasta dishes are the best – looks amazing!
Thanks Nicole!
My head tells me that it’s lightened up but my eyes tell me that it’s fully delicious – the best kind of combination. It looks awesome, I could dive into a big plate of that right now!
It was seriously so surprisingly good for being “light”. I would have never guess it was light, except that I made it so I knew it was. 🙂
Oh man, this looks delicious! Can’t wait to give it a try 🙂
You just about made me forget what I was going to say with that last picture of the blue sky (and the blazing white beneath it). It’s been in the 50s here. Where is there snow? 🙂
Yes, garlic alfredo sauce had my soul singing. Seeing the world {light} in front of it got the whole Hallelujah Chorus. It looks amazing.
Isn’t that a cool pic? I took that yesterday on our walk. 🙂
Yum!! I have a can of evaporated milk in the cabinet leftover from the holiday baking and I had no idea to do with it…. until now. Shrimp! Garlic! Light! Yeeeessssssss! This is making it onto the next menu with a quickness.
I’ve actually used evaporated milk in quite a few recipes lately… especially pasta. It makes for great creamy sauces.
Love that blue sky!! And you know what else I’d love? To see your grocery list each week!! I am such a horrible grocery shopper–I need some advice on how to show well for a full week!!
🙂
xoxo
I just downloaded this app called Grocery List and Bjork and I can both update to the list and then check the items off whenever we go to the store. I am generally a bad grocery shopper, too… I like to buy everything. But I really try to stick to budget and I usually make at least one super cheap thing each week. Frozen pizza, anyone? 🙂
tang is on the top of the list right? 🙂
Ew.
I meant shop. 🙂
Haha, Siri could definitely use some work on name recognition. My husband’s name is Ulysses and she struggles with that one, every.time.
I adore alfredo sauce and have never made my own. I love you for posting this. 😉
Ulysses? That’s got to be a tough one for her! Oh, Siri… she tries…
going on the meal plan for wednesday night. i knew i procrastinated meal planning until this morning for a reason. 🙂
YES you did. You’ll love it.
This sounds wonderful Lindsay! I love shrimp and pasta. 🙂
Meee too! I bet shrimp in LA is a little more fresh than shrimp in MN. But still. 🙂
I. Want. That. Right. This. Second.
Incredible 😀 I’m crazy for pasta right now, and with shrimp? And a creamy sauce?? Mmm 🙂 Love seeing the nutrition info!
I love seeing the nutrition info and then eating all the servings. At once. Ha. 🙂
This dish looks absolutely divine and a perfect winter meal. It doesn’t feel much like winter where I live, but since it gets dark at 5:00 it still feels ok to have those winter comfort dishes. My kids would love this dish as they are big shrimp fans.
Man, that early darkness is a bummer. But at least it gives a good excuse for some comfort food!
I am always in search of recipes for lightened cream sauces. A hint of cream cheese is such a good call!
Oh yes. It never fails me.
Hot damn, this dish sounds so fantastic! I’m always looking for Alfredo recipes that aren’t so high in fat and calories, and this one sounds totally spot on. I especially love that you paired it with shrimp. Kinda reminds me of Olive Garden but without the ensuing heart attack that typically happens occurs following a meal there. Way to be, girl, way to be.
Hope you have a fabulous Monday!
I’m with you on the OG thing. Except better, and minus that heart attack. 🙂
oh silly Siri!!! As for that pasta dish, there’s nothing silly about it – YUM!!!! I love garlic and shrimp and tomatoes together…over pasta, it’s one of my favorite pasta combos!
And those fire roasted ones (tomatoes) are my favorite! You have to try them if you haven’t.
Oh wow, I’m drooling. I love how low calorie it is too! (Assuming I don’t eat the whole dish…) Thanks for sharing this recipe 🙂
I know. When I made this, we got a little generous with our servings and ended up only getting 3 out of this instead of 4… but still. Light is light. 🙂
oh yum! i made some shrimp pasta tonight, but this looks much more indulgent. 🙂
How convenient that I have a bag of shrimp in the freezer…
Ahhh yes. Very convenient!
…and my day was just made better with this garlic alfredo sauce! What a beautiful dish!
Thanks Nikki!
Ohhhh that penne looks so irresistable, I am so drooling now
light baked penne?! count me in!