Noodle Zoodle Shrimp Alfredo

Noodle Zoodle Shrimp Alfredo- Mixing pasta with zucchini noodles is the perfect to way to turn a heavy comfort meal into a light summery dish.

July 22, 2025 by Nicole Collins

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Today, we’re making Noodle Zoodle Shrimp Alfredo!

I don’t know what it is, but I’ve never been able to eat pasta in the summertime. With the exception of my shrimp and macaroni salad (because obvi that’s the pasta salad of summer), it’s always just felt way too heavy to eat in the humid summers we get here on the east coast.

But this summer, I’ve found myself craving pasta. It’s very unusual for me, but it is what it is. I got smart this summer though with a 2 for 1 recipe hack. I’ve started cutting my pasta noodles with zucchini noodles! Not only am I getting a full serving of veggies in my pasta dish every time I do this, I’m also lightening up the overall meal so I don’t feel so weighed down afterwards. It’s win win!

So, that’s what we’re doing today.

Let’s start with the shrimp. We all know I could eat shrimp every day of my life and it still wouldn’t be enough for me. I just love it so much. And shrimp reminds me of warm, summery days. So, that’s the protein of choice here. We’ll start by seasoning our shrimp with a simple blend of salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder then sautéing them in a skillet for just a few minutes until they’re no longer pink. Pull them out of the skillet to set aside for a few minutes while we work on our sauce.

For our sauce, we’re making the lightened up shortcut alfredo sauce that we’ve made here many times before. This alfredo recipe is probably my favorite thing that came out of the pandemic. I make it alllllll the time! It very simply starts by melting a little butter in the same skillet that we used to cook the shrimp. And, we’ll saute a little garlic in that butter until it’s fragrant.

Next, we’ll add in our creamy ingredients. So, we need some milk, heavy cream, cream cheese, and parmesan cheese. To make this even lighter, I use 1% milk and light cream cheese, and the sauce is still the perfect consistency every single time. We also want to make sure we freshly shred our parm instead of buying preshredded, because it will melt a lot easier into our sauce that way. After we have the base of our sauce together, we’ll season it with a pinch of salt and pepper, then let it simmer gently until it starts to thicken up a bit.

While the sauce is cooking, we can work on our pasta. I like a 50/50 split of pasta and zucchini noodles, so I use half the amount of pasta that I’d normally make for one serving. I also like to use whole wheat pasta, but that’s just personal preference and totally optional. We’ll let the pasta cook until just al dente while the sauce is simmering, so multitasking is the way to go with this one.

As the pasta and sauce are cooking away, it’s also the perfect time to zoodle our zucchini. There are a couple different ways to turn zucchini into noodles, but I think the simplest way is using a spiralizer tool. You can get them online for just a couple dollars, and they’ll help shred the zucchini into long strands that are similar in size to spaghetti noodles. You can also use certain settings on a mandoline, veggie peeler, rotary grater, or even a food processor to achieve the same results. But, I prefer my little handy dandy spiralizer.

Once the sauce is done simmering and the pasta is done cooking, we’re going to add the drained pasta noodles, the uncooked zucchini noodles, and the set aside shrimp all back to the skillet. We’ll toss everything together until everything is coated in that glorious sauce, and that’s all there is too it. The heat from the sauce softens the zoodles just enough so that they resemble a texture similar to pasta without being mushy but still having a little bite, so there’s no need to pre-cook them at all.

The finished result is the most decadent, comforting, summery, delicious bowl of happiness you could ever imagine. The shrimp are savory and succulent. The sauce is rich and creamy. The noodle zoodle combo blends so well together, you don’t even know which is which. Mmmm I’m drooling just thinking about it.

Alright, everyone! I can’t believe we’re in the final stretch of summertime. It feels like it’s flown by so fast! But don’t worry, we’re not anywhere near finished with yummy, summery recipes.

I hope you guys enjoy! And, let’s eat!

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Noodle Zoodle Shrimp Alfredo

Serves: 2          Print

Ingredients:

• ½ lb shrimp, deveined, peeled, and thawed if frozen

• ½ tbsp olive oil

• ¼ tsp salt

• ¼ tsp pepper

• ¼ tsp garlic powder

• ¼ tsp onion powder

• 1 medium-large sized zucchini, spiralized

• 2 oz whole wheat spaghetti

• 1 tbsp unsalted butter

• 1 garlic clove, minced

• ½ cup heavy cream

• ½ cup milk (I used 1%)

• 2 oz cream cheese (I used low fat)

• ½ cup freshly shredded parmesan

• Salt and pepper, to taste

• Minced parsley, for garnish

Directions:

1. To a small bowl, add shrimp, olive oil, ¼ tsp salt, ¼ tsp pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder. Toss well to coat the shrimp.

2. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add shrimp, and cook for 2-3 mins per side until shrimp are opaque and fully cooked through. Remove shrimp from the pan, and set aside.

3. To the same skillet, add butter and melt. Add garlic, and saute about 30 seconds- 1 minute until fragrant. Add heavy cream, milk, cream cheese, parmesan, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Stir constantly until cheeses are melted and incorporated. Reduce heat to low, and simmer sauce for 5-6 mins, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is slightly thickened.

4. Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions in salted water until al dente. Drain.

5. Add cooked pasta, zucchini, and cooked shrimp to the sauce. Toss to coat. Cook for about 1-2 minutes more. Transfer to a serving dish, garnish with minced parsley, and enjoy!
   

Recipe notes:

*Be sure to use freshly shredded cheese so it melts better into the sauce. 

*I prefer using whole wheat pasta, but of course you can use regular pasta, as well.