A lighter, healthier, oven-to-table shrimp scampi casserole that’s sure to become a family favorite!
One of my favorite dishes to order at a restaurant used to be shrimp scampi, but I finally gave up because I’d almost always be disappointed. The shrimp was usually drowning in a sea of butter and the taste of garlic waaaaay too strong. As is so often the case in restaurants, these dishes were simply too heavy. So, I came up with a lighter, healthier version of shrimp scampi and it’s become a family favorite. 15 Minute Light and Lemony Shrimp Scampi Florentine is simple to prepare and is terrific served over Lemon Rice or pasta.
15 Minute Light and Lemony Shrimp Scampi Florentine has bright, fresh, lemony flavor that lets the star of the dish – shrimp – really shine. You use the juice of an entire lemon in this recipe, along with the zest, and I even throw the juiced and zested lemon halves into the casserole dish before baking. This might seem like a lot of lemon, but the other ingredients in this dish all benefit from the extra lemon flavor.
The recipe for 15 Minute Light and Lemony Shrimp Scampi Florentine calls for extra-large shrimp. Most stores and fish markets consider “extra-large” shrimp a 26/30 count. That is, each pound will have between 26 and 30 shrimp. Having said that, there is no standard sizing for shrimp. What one store/fish market calls “large” another might call “jumbo”, so when you shop for shrimp don’t go by the named size only (i.e. medium, extra-large, jumbo). Check the count per pound as well to make sure you’re getting exactly what you want. I like the 26/30 count size for this recipe because the dish is done in only 15 minutes and each cooked shrimp is one bite – no cutting necessary! Feel free to use larger shrimp if you want but adjust the cooking time upward.
15 minutes of cooking time is lightning quick for a meal of this caliber, but one of the other things I love about 15 Minute Light and Lemony Shrimp Scampi Florentine is the ease with which it comes together. No mixing bowl required! Simply combine all the ingredients in a casserole dish and bake. You can even do it ahead of time and store it in the fridge until dinner. 255 calories per serving of light and lemony deliciousness, oven to table in 15 minutes. You can’t beat that!
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons white wine
- 2 large (or 3 small) cloves of garlic, minced
- Juice and zest of 1 lemon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 1 lb. extra-large shrimp (26/30 count/lb.), peeled and deveined
- 5 ounces (about 3 cups) baby spinach, finely chopped (see notes)
- 1 pint (10 ounces/2 cups) grape tomatoes, halved
- ¼ cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 tablespoons capers
- Shaved or shredded Parmesan cheese
- Lemon wedges
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a large, shallow casserole dish, whisk together the butter, olive oil, white wine, garlic, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Add the shrimp, spinach, tomatoes, Parmesan cheese, capers, and lemon zest. Stir to thoroughly combine all the ingredients.
- Bake on the bottom rack of the oven for 15 minutes.
- Serve with Parmesan cheese and lemon wedges. Great over pasta or rice.
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This shrimp scampi looks so good and I love the idea of serving it over lemon rice! Yum!
Thanks Lauren!
The rest of my family loves shrimp dishes-looks like an easy weeknight meal