One Pot Meal in Minutes: Protein Pasta with Shrimp

There’s nothing worse than getting home late after a long day and realizing you have nothing in the fridge to eat. It’s times like this when a lot of us succumb to less than ideal food choices, or expensive takeaway. Having a backup plan for times like these is important. And it can be as simple as having nonperishable food items in your cupboards like pasta, rice, quinoa, canned vegetables, and frozen food in your freezer like seafood and vegetables, all of which can be cooked quickly in a pinch. And we’re going to show you how simple it is to throw together a delicious meal in minutes after a long day at work with this protein pasta and shrimp recipe!

We also chose this recipe because our BINgredient of the week is bean pasta. There are all sorts on the market right now and they’re a great way to add fiber and protein to your diet. You can find them made with chickpeas, lentils, black beans, and edamame. And you can get them in the form of linguine, rotini, elbows, and penne. They’re such a great alternative and they taste just like pasta.

One-Pot Meal in Minutes: Protein Pasta with Shrimp
Prep 5 min
Cooking 10 min
Servings 4

INGREDIENTS

• 8 oz uncooked bean pasta (I used Banza chickpea linguine)

• 4 cups spinach

• 1 1/2 lbs fresh medium shrimp, peeled, deveined and tails removed

• 3 cloves of garlic, chopped

• 2 tsp olive oil

• 1 cup diced tomatoes and onions (I grabbed a pico de gallo for the convenience)

• 1/2 cup dry white wine

• 1/4 cup low sodium chicken broth

• 1 tbsp butter

• Salt & pepper

• Parsley & red pepper flakes

INSTRUCTIONS

1. In a large saucepan or dutch oven, bring water to boil (follow the directions for the pasta you’re using)

2. If you’re using linguine, break in half and add to the boiling water, place a metal strainer or colander (whatever will fit) over the pot and add your spinach, place another strainer on top of that and add the shrimp. Cover and cook for 5-6 minutes (check the exact directions on your box of pasta)*

3. Remove the shrimp and spinach, then drain the pasta and add it to a large bowl and set aside**

4. Add the garlic, olive oil and diced tomatoes and onions to the pot and stir for 1 minute

5. Add in the wine, chicken broth, butter, salt, and pepper and cook for another 2 minutes

6. Top the pasta with the spinach, shrimp and sauce and season with parsley and red pepper flakes

*If you don’t have a strainer or colander that fits nicely over a large pot, you can cook the shrimp and spinach with your sauce.

**If your shrimp wasn’t fully cooked in the amount of time it took to cook your pasta, you can either add it back to the pot to steam longer or add it to the pot in step 4. with the garlic, olive oil, and diced tomatoes and onions to cook a bit longer. You want the shrimp to be pink and firm.

Nutrition Facts
Servings 4
Amount Per Serving:
Calories 440
Total Fat 10 g
Sodium 300 mg
Total Carbohydrate 38 g
Dietary Fiber 9 g
Sugars 7 g
Protein 50 g

Written By: Ashley Beaver