Shrimp pasta with spinach and tomatoes is an easy and healthy, balanced pasta dish. The sauce comes together while the pasta is cooking, making this a perfect weeknight meal.
This easy weeknight shrimp pasta with spinach and tomatoes is a healthy, balanced pasta dish that comes together in less than 25 minutes.
What makes a balanced pasta dish?
Pasta is of course, a source of carbohydrates. It is important to include carbohydrates at meals since they provide a source of energy but we also want our meals to include non-starchy vegetables and some lean protein. Since I am all about easy cooking, I prefer to make one dish at dinner that includes all these things, verse making pasta, a separate protein and cooked vegetables. A balanced pasta dish includes protein and vegetables all in one recipe.
Shrimp Pasta with Spinach and Tomatoes is a cheap dinner!
Frozen shrimp is a healthy and quick cooking protein source that is great to keep in the freezer. I stock up on bags when it is on sale and use it in pasta, stir-fry, and quesadillas. I have a great shrimp quesadilla recipe you can find here.
Grape or cherry tomatoes are so flavorful. This is a great recipe to make in the summer when you have tons of tomatoes growing in the garden or any time of year. Grape tomatoes tend to be cheaper than cherry tomatoes. While they may cost more than Roma or plum tomatoes, the flavour of them is worth it. A can of cherry tomatoes would also work just fine and the benefit is that you know the canned ones are always flavorful. Canned cherry tomatoes used to be hard to find but now they are readily available at most grocery stores.
Spinach – you can use cooking spinach or baby spinach in this recipe. Cooking spinach is cheaper but it is a bit more tough. If you use cooking spinach, just add it earlier in the cooking process so it has time to soften. You could even use half a block of frozen spinach, just make sure to drain it well or it will probably turn your sauce green.
Pasta – pasta is such an affordable food and is always a crowd pleaser. I used spaghetti in this recipe but any long pasta like fettuccine or linguine would work well.
Shrimp Pasta with Spinach and Tomatoes
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 cups halved grape or cherry tomatoes
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 tsp chili flakes
- 300 g frozen, thawed shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 2 cups baby spinach
- 1/2 lb spaghetti
- salt, to taste
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to package directions.
- While the pasta is cooking, heat olive oil a large skillet oven medium heat.
- Add the tomatoes and season with salt. Cook for about 5 minutes until they start to soften and release water.
- Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add chili flakes
- Add the shrimp and mix into the tomatoes. Cook shrimp until they are no longer pink, being careful not to over cook them. They only takes 3-4 minutes to cook.
- Turn the heat off and mix in the baby spinach. Stir it into the sauce.
- When the pasta is cooked, reserve some of the cooking liquid before draining.
- Add the pasta to skillet with the sauce. Mix to combine. Add about 1/2 cup of pasta water and more as needed so the pasta does not dry out.
- Serve immediately.
