jrose This is a guest post by Jeff Rose. Jeff Rose is an Illinois Certified Financial Planner(TM) and co-founder of Alliance Investment Planning Group. He is also the author of Good Financial Cents, a financial planning and investment blog. You can also learn more about Jeff at his website Jeff Rose Financial.

Okay, quick disclaimer: I am a financial planner, not a cook. I’m the typical guy that can throw a burger or chicken breast on the grill and work some magic. In the kitchen, I can make a mean peanut butter and jelly but that’s about it.  See, I wasn’t always this bad. I used to be a decent cook in college, but since marrying my wonderful wife; she as taken on the role of the master chef. So getting out of practice, I kind of lost my touch.

That is until until I stumbled Jeremy’s steak chili recipe. The whole steak chili cooking experience rekindled some of my enthusiasm in the kitchen. For those that are the clueless in the kitchen, that recipe is awesome. The pictures and step by step process are perfect for the typical clueless person in the kitchen. Yeah, that’s me.

In the spirit of simplicity, I wanted to offer a recipe that was 1. Easy 2. Good and 3. Easy. Face it. Easier the better and this is the easiest shrimp pasta recipe that you’ll ever make. I guarantee it! How can I guarantee it? Because I made it, of course. First, let’s take a sneak peak of the finished product. Hungry yet?

easiest-shrimp-pasta-youll-ever-make

Ingredient List and Cost

ingredients-for-shrimp-pasta

  • Bag of Cocktail Shrimp – $8.99
  • Butter
  • Olive Oil
  • Pasta of Your Choice (We use Vermicelli) – $1.19
  • Minced Garlic
  • Italian Seasoning
  • Garlic Powder
  • Real Parmesan Cheese – $3.49
  • Salt and Pepper
  • Big Sized Appetite – priceless

We already had most of the above mentioned ingredients in our kitchen.  If you have to buy some of the items mentioned, rest assured that they will last much longer that just this meal. Overall, I can’t see you spending more than $15 on the whole list with the exception of buying a large container of olive oil.  Now that we’ve seen the ingredients, let’s look at preparation.

frozen-shrimp easy-shrimp-pasta

Cooking The Shrimp and Pasta

To defrost the shrimp, you will need to just run them under cold water for a bit.  After that, you’ll add the butter, olive oil, garlic and seasonings to a skillet on medium heat.   Then just add the shrimp into the mix.  It will look like this this below.  How much of the ingredients do you add?  Well, as I mentioned above, I’m a big fan of olive oil and garlic.  So more the merrier.

shrimp-pasta-easy

While you’re cooking the shrimp, you can be boiling your pasta.  To feed 4 people, you will probably only need a half box of pasta.  Feel free to cook a bit more, but I’m almost certain you’ll have extra.  I didn’t include a picture of the pasta boiling.  I hope that isn’t necessary.  If it is for you, stop reading now and head straight to your local Italian restaurant, because you don’t stand a chance.

The shrimp will cook for 10-15 minutes, just stirring occasionally.  And guess what?  That’s it.  Seriously, it’s that simple.

Serving The Pasta

By using the appropriate amount of olive oil and butter, there should be enough that will be the sauce of the pasta.  Just scoop and spread over the cooked pasta.  The finishing touch is one of my additional favorites — parmesan cheese.  Not the powdered stuff that you’ll find on the table at Pizza Hut.  I’m talking about the real stuff that has to be refrigerated.  Kraft will do.  Just sprinkle on and you are ready to eat.

For this particular evening, we ate the pasta with a side of green beans.  Always good to have a vegetable! Typically, we like to eat this with asparagus that we prepare in a separate skillet.  Next time, I’m even considering adding the asparagus with the pasta directly.

serving-shrimp-pasta

sprinking-the-cheese-on-shrimp-pasta

Eating The Pasta

Well, hopefully the pasta was success and your plate looks like mine did below.  I have to admit this was after my second serving ;-)    Overall, with the bag size of shrimp that we purchased it will make about 4 “man-sized” portions.  We almost always have leftovers which is even better!

Hope this was helpful.  If you like it, let me know.  If you don’t, blame Jeremy :)   If you added anything or changed up the recipe a bit, share with all.  And if this recipe wasn’t enough, I also have a simple and easy chicken pasta recipe as well. Love to hear some feedback. Enjoy!

shrimp-pasta-all-gone