26 High-Protein Shrimp Recipes for Weeknight Dinners
Make a healthy and flavorful dinner with these high-protein shrimp recipes. Keep a bag of frozen shrimp on hand for an easy protein that cooks quickly for weeknight dinners. Look for shrimp that's already been peeled to save yourself prep time, but keep an eye out for added sodium. Recipes like Shrimp Risotto with Asparagus and Spicy Shrimp Tacos make for a filling meal with at least 15 grams of protein per serving.
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Spicy Shrimp Tacos
These spicy shrimp tacos owe their kick to a smoky chipotle shrimp seasoning blend. Cooling avocado and tangy pico de gallo round out the flavor. This vibrant, easy dinner comes together in a flash, making it perfect for busy weeknights.
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Shrimp Cauliflower Fried Rice
Cut down on carbs and amp up your veggie servings with this healthy cauliflower fried rice with shrimp, broccoli, bell peppers and garlic. Everything is cooked in one wok or skillet, but in stages, so each element keeps its integrity in the finished dish instead of being all mushed together--it may seem fussy, but it's worth it and actually quite easy. Resist the urge to stir the cauliflower rice right away; letting it cook undisturbed for a few minutes allows it to brown and develop sweet, nutty flavors. This better-than-takeout healthy dinner comes together in just 25 minutes, so it's perfect for busy weeknights.
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Shrimp and Cauliflower Bake
This quick and easy seafood casserole gets bright flavor from fresh dill and feta cheese.
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Shrimp Scampi
Shrimp scampi is a favorite dish at many Italian restaurants but our version takes just 20 minutes to prepare, so it's perfect for a weeknight dinner at home. Large shrimp are cooked with garlic and then served over linguine pasta with a buttery-wine sauce--it's so good your family may think you ordered takeout!
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Shrimp Risotto with Asparagus
Asparagus, snap peas and a touch of lemon zest bring fresh spring flavor to this riff on classic risotto made with a whole-grain rice blend.
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Stir-Fried Shrimp & Sugar Snap Peas
This shrimp stir-fry has bright flavors from sugar snap peas, garlic and ginger and comes together in less than a half-hour for a quick, healthy meal.
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One-Pot Garlicky Shrimp & Spinach
Shrimp, spinach and garlic brown and cook quickly for a simple one-pot weeknight dinner. A fast pan sauce gets life from zesty lemon juice, warm crushed red pepper and herby parsley. Serve with a slice of whole-wheat baguette to swipe up every last drop of sauce.
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Charred Shrimp & Pesto Buddha Bowls
These shrimp and pesto Buddha bowls are delicious, healthy, pretty and take less than 30 minutes to prep. In other words, they're basically the ultimate easy weeknight dinner. Feel free to add additional vegetables and swap the shrimp for chicken, steak, tofu or edamame.
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Shrimp-Stuffed Pasta Shells
When choosing dry white wine for enhancing this deluxe dish, pick a Sauvignon Blanc or Chardonnay in the $8 to $10 range.
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Easy Shrimp Stir-Fry with Green Pepper, Pineapple & Bacon
This sweet, spicy and super-easy shrimp-and-vegetable stir-fry starts with a very small amount of bacon in the wok, which creates drippings that add tons of smoky flavor to the vegetables and shrimp that go in next. Keep the salt in check by using reduced-sodium tamari sauce. To complete this easy healthy dinner, add cooked brown rice.
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Smoky Shrimp, Corn & Pea One-Pot Pasta
Make your sauce and pasta all at once with this fast weeknight pasta dinner recipe. By using the exact amount of water you need to cook the pasta--no colanders here--the starch that cooks off into your pasta water, which you usually drain away, stays in the pot, giving you delectably creamy results.
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Quick Shrimp Puttanesca
Because refrigerated fresh pasta cooks much faster than dried pasta, this Italian pasta dish will be on the table lickety-split! Puttanesca, traditionally made with tomatoes, olives, capers, anchovies and garlic, gets a makeover with shrimp for extra protein and artichoke hearts to boost the vegetable servings (and the fiber!). If you can't find frozen artichoke hearts, sub in drained canned artichoke hearts.
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Curried Shrimp with Cauliflower and Chickpeas
In this delicious main dish, cauliflower is slow-cooked with curry powder and aromatic vegetables, and shrimp and chickpeas are added in towards the end of the cooking time. Served over brown basmati rice and sprinkled with cilantro and peanuts, this dish will get a thumbs up from anyone eating it!
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Creamy Cajun Shrimp Pasta
This creamy Cajun shrimp pasta dish packs plenty of veggies to lighten up the creamy sauce. The Cajun spice gives this dish a little kick, and the sour cream adds a nice tang to the cream sauce that coats the shrimp.
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BBQ Shrimp with Garlicky Kale & Parmesan-Herb Couscous
In the U.S., dry whole-wheat couscous has been partially cooked, making it a quick-cooking (5 minutes!) whole-grain weeknight dinner champ. And when you buy peeled shrimp, plus a bag of prechopped kale and bottled barbecue sauce, the savings in prep time helps to get this healthy dinner done in a jiff.
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Shrimp-&-Grits-Stuffed Peppers
Shrimp and grits are stuffed inside bell peppers and baked in this healthy stuffed peppers recipe. Add the optional hot sauce if you want to give the filling some kick. Look for bell peppers--use any color--with even bottoms, so that they stand upright on their own when they're cooked.
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Dan Dan Noodles with Shrimp
Skip takeout and make these delicious, healthy dan dan noodles with a sesame-soy sauce, shrimp and peanuts in just 30 minutes. The Sichuan preserved vegetables add a bright pop of tangy, slightly fermented flavor. Look for them at an Asian market if you want the most authentic flavor or use more commonly available kimchi.
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Sautéed Shrimp with Mango Salsa & Coconut Cauliflower Rice
Shrimp and rice get a tropical makeover in this healthy 400-calorie dinner. Instead of rice, we've combined riced cauliflower and coconut milk for light coconut rice topped with spicy shrimp and a juicy mango-avocado salsa to cool it all down. Squeeze on some fresh lime juice before digging in to take this easy meal to the next level.
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White Bean Soup with Tomato & Shrimp
With capers and olives, this heart-healthy soup draws inspiration from Italian puttanesca sauce. Serve with crusty whole-grain bread to soak up the broth.
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Shrimp Poke
Not a fan of raw fish? No problem--this poke (pronounced poke-ay) recipe substitutes cooked peeled shrimp instead. This fast, veggie-loaded dish includes seasoned brown rice for a hearty boost of fiber.
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Fisherman's Stew with Roasted Garlic Crostini
This Fisherman's stew recipe is loaded with cod, shrimp, and mussels and will warm you right up on cold winter days. The crostini served alongside are made with homemade roasted garlic, and perfect for soaking up every last morsel of the stew.
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Coconut Shrimp Curry with Instant Ramen Noodles
A splash of coconut milk and some curry powder elevate ordinary ramen soup into a memorable bowl of noodles. Add protein with cooked shrimp or cubed tofu and a pop of freshness with cilantro and lime juice. To cut back on sodium, look for ramen varieties with less than 600 mg sodium per serving or use less of the seasoning packet.
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Sheet-Pan Shrimp Fried Rice
Classic shrimp fried rice gets amped-up flavor with sambal heat. The textures are pretty spot on with hits of crispy and tender rice and are the same as you'd get if you prepared it in a wok or skillet. This sheet-pan shrimp fried rice recipe is a great way to use leftover rice, but you could also use pre-cooked microwave rice so that it can be coming to room temperature while you chop the veggies.
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Fennel & Shrimp Fra Diavolo
Sweet shrimp and fennel pair perfectly with the spicy, garlicky tomato sauce in this healthy Italian pasta recipe. If you're not a fan of heat, adjust the amount of crushed red pepper to taste. Serve with a green salad and red-wine vinaigrette or sautéed green vegetables.
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Shrimp Pad Thai Salad
Transform pad thai into a healthy salad by swapping sliced cabbage noodles for the rice noodles--and save more than 100 calories. Look for sustainable shrimp certified by an independent agency, such as the Marine Stewardship Council. If you can't find it, wild shrimp from North America is likely to be sustainably caught.
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Shrimp and Avocado-Cream Pasta
This recipe has a tasty secret: the creamy sauce is made with nutritious avocado! Mix it together with multigrain pasta for a healthy dinner option.