This post may contain affiliate links.
Creamy Lemon Shrimp is the 15 minute skillet dinner that tastes like a white tablecloth restaurant, juicy shrimp swimming in a silky lemon garlic parmesan cream sauce with whole caramelized lemon slices, and the night I first made it on a frantic Wednesday Lizzie asked if we were celebrating something. If fast and fancy seafood is your weeknight cheat code, our cod fish piccata runs the same play.
One pan, ten minutes of cooking, and a sauce you will want to mop up with everything in the house.
Creamy Lemon Shrimp Quick Look
- 🕒 Prep Time: 5 minutes
- 🌡️ Cook Time: 10 minutes
- ⏳ Total Time: 15 minutes
- 🍽️ Serving: 6 servings
- ⚡ Calories: 283kcal
- 🌶️ Flavor Profile: Bright lemon and garlic in a silky parmesan cream sauce
- ✋ Difficulty: Easy, on par with our easy salmon patties
Quick Answer
To make creamy lemon shrimp, season the shrimp with salt and pepper, then saute them in butter for 2 minutes until they start to turn pink. Add garlic for 1 minute, stir in flour to coat, and add fresh lemon slices. Slowly pour in half and half, stirring until the sauce thickens, then finish with parmesan cheese and lemon zest. Serve over pasta, rice, or polenta.
Jump to:
Why This Recipe Works
Click to see the technique science
- Flour on the shrimp thickens the sauce. Coating the sauteed shrimp in flour before the dairy goes in builds a light roux right on the shrimp, so the sauce thickens in minutes with no lumps.
- Whole lemon slices melt into the sauce. Simmered slices release juice, oils from the peel, and a gentle bitterness that makes the sauce taste like it simmered far longer than 10 minutes.
- Half and half resists curdling. Its balanced fat content holds up to the lemon acid better than milk while staying lighter than straight heavy cream.
- Two minute saute protects the shrimp. The shrimp only par cook before the sauce stage, so they finish gently in the simmering cream instead of turning rubbery.
- Parmesan goes in off the heat zone. Stirring the cheese in at the end for under a minute melts it smoothly without breaking the sauce.
- Zest at the finish doubles the lemon. Fresh zest stirred in after cooking adds bright citrus oils that simmering would have dulled.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- It is a 15 minute dinner that genuinely tastes like date night out, one pan and done.
- The lemon parmesan cream sauce works over pasta, rice, polenta, or just crusty bread.
- It is lighter than alfredo but every bit as silky, and it sits right beside our Asian glazed Chilean sea bass in the fancy but easy seafood hall of fame.
Key Ingredients
Simple staples plus one beautiful lemon make this restaurant level sauce.
- Large Shrimp: Peeled and deveined, tails on or off. Large or jumbo shrimp stay juicy through the quick saute and short simmer.
- Half and Half: The backbone of the sauce, rich enough to go silky but light enough to let the lemon shine.
- Fresh Lemon: You will use the whole thing, slices simmered into the sauce and zest stirred in at the end.
- Parmesan Cheese: Melts into the sauce for salty, nutty depth. Grate it fresh for the smoothest melt.
- Butter, Garlic, and Flour: The flavor base and the thickener, working together to turn cream into a clingy pan sauce in minutes.
See recipe card for exact quantities.
Variations and Substitutions
This skillet adapts to whatever your crew is craving.
- Spicy: Add a 1/4 teaspoon of red pepper flakes with the garlic for a gentle heat.
- Extra herby: Stir in fresh basil or dill along with the parsley at the end.
- White wine version: Deglaze with a splash of dry white wine after the garlic, then proceed with the flour.
- Veggie boost: Add a few handfuls of baby spinach or steamed asparagus pieces with the cream.
- Surf and turf night: Serve it next to steak bites, or keep the seafood theme rolling with our classic shrimp boil for the weekend version.
How to Make Creamy Lemon Shrimp
- Toss the shrimp with the salt and pepper in a medium sized bowl and set aside.
- In a large pan over medium heat, melt the butter.
- Add the shrimp and saute for 2 minutes until they start to turn pink.
- Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute, stirring constantly until fragrant.
- Add the flour and stir to coat the shrimp.
- Add the lemon slices to the pan.
- Slowly pour in the half and half, stirring constantly and cooking until the sauce thickens, 2 to 3 minutes.
- Add the parmesan cheese and stir to incorporate. Cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute more, remove from the heat, then taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary.
- Stir in the lemon zest. Add more parmesan, cracked pepper, and chopped parsley as an optional garnish, then serve over pasta, rice, polenta, or however you wish.
Recipe Tips & Tricks
- Pat the shrimp very dry before seasoning so they saute instead of steam.
- Do not walk away from the saute. Shrimp go from pink to rubbery in about a minute of inattention.
- Slice the lemon thin, about 1/8 inch, so the slices soften and give up their flavor fast.
- Zest the lemon before you slice it. Zesting a slippery sliced lemon is a knuckle hazard.
- Warm the half and half slightly or add it slowly off a cold pour to keep the sauce from breaking.
- Grate the parmesan fresh. Pre grated cheese has anti caking agents that can make the sauce grainy.
- Sauce too thick? Loosen it with a splash of half and half or pasta water right before serving.
Serving Ideas and Suggestions
Our favorite way to serve it is over a tangle of angel hair pasta or buttery rice, where every drop of that lemon cream sauce gets caught. A side of cheese stuffed breadsticks handles the rest.
For a seafood feast, start with smoked crab dip and crackers while this skillet comes together, or serve smaller portions as a first course before southern fried catfish.
It also loves a crisp green vegetable, roasted asparagus, steamed broccoli, or a simple arugula salad with extra lemon all play beautifully against the rich sauce.
Creamy Lemon Shrimp FAQs
Creamy lemon shrimp is a quick skillet dish of sauteed shrimp simmered in a lemon garlic cream sauce with parmesan cheese and fresh lemon slices. It comes together in about 15 minutes and is usually served over pasta, rice, or polenta.
Yes, just thaw them completely first, either overnight in the refrigerator or in a bowl of cold water for 15 to 20 minutes. Pat them very dry before seasoning so they sear properly instead of steaming.
High heat plus acid is the culprit. Keep the pan at medium, add the half and half slowly while stirring, and let the lemon slices simmer gently. The flour coating on the shrimp also stabilizes the sauce against breaking.
Angel hair pasta, white rice, creamy polenta, and crusty bread are the classics, anything that soaks up the sauce. A crisp green salad or roasted asparagus rounds out the plate.
Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container for up to 2 days. Reheat gently in a skillet over low heat with a splash of half and half to bring the sauce back together, and stop as soon as the shrimp are warmed through so they stay tender.
Absolutely. Heavy cream makes the sauce richer and even more resistant to curdling. You can also go the other way with whole milk, just stir constantly and keep the heat gentle since milk breaks more easily with the lemon.
More shrimp on the brain? Our grilled shrimp skewers take the show outside to the grill.
For another quick shrimp dinner, whip up our crispy bang bang shrimp.
Creamy Lemon Shrimp
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds large shrimp peeled and deveined, tails removed
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 4 Tbsp butter
- 4 Garlic cloves minced
- 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1 Cup half & half
- 1 Lemon sliced
- 1/2 Cup parmesan cheese plus more for garnish
- Zest of 1 lemon
- Chopped parsley as a garnish
Instructions
- Toss the shrimp with the salt and pepper in a medium-sized bowl, set aside.1 1/2 pounds large shrimp
- In a large pan over medium heat, melt the butter.1 1/2 pounds large shrimp
- Add the shrimp and saute for 2 minutes until they start to turn pink.1 1/2 pounds large shrimp
- Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute, stirring constantly until fragrant.1 1/2 pounds large shrimp
- Add the flour and stir to coat the shrimp. Add the lemon slices to the pan.1 1/2 pounds large shrimp
- Slowly, pour in the half & half, stirring constantly and cooking until the sauce thickens, 2-3 minutes.1 1/2 pounds large shrimp
- Add the parmesan cheese and stir to incorporate. Cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute more and remove from heat. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.1 1/2 pounds large shrimp
- Stir in the lemon zest. Add more parmesan, cracked pepper and chopped parsley as an optional garnish. Serve over pasta, rice, polenta, or however you wish!1 1/2 pounds large shrimp
Nutrition
Love This Recipe?
Follow @ThisSillyGirlsKitchen on Instagram and @danadevolk on Pinterest for more!
VERY EASY and tastes great!!! My family enjoyed it!!! Can’t wait to try more recipes!