Creamy Lemon Garlic Shrimp and Gnocchi is a dish you might feel like you don’t deserve, but oh, boy you do! Creamy, garlicky, buttery, plump shrimp and soft, tender, pillowy gnocchi come together in a lemony cream sauce that’s simply divine, and in just 30 minutes!
For more delicious shrimp recipes, try my popular posts for Shrimp Boil Foil Packs, Cajun Shrimp and Rice Skillet, and my Lemon Herb Shrimp and Rice Skillet.
Oh man, this dish is so darn delicious I have to stop myself from eating the whole thing. And, I hesitate to double it because 1) I’ll literally eat the entire thing, even doubled and 2) even if there were any leftovers, I don’t think shrimp reheats that well. (I’d probably eat it anyway though.)
There’s just something about lemon and shrimp together with that pillowy gnocchi that’s just like eating a bit of heaven in every bite. If you don’t like shrimp or can’t eat seafood or just whatever reason you’d like to sub it out, this dish will work great with chicken as well.
WHAT INGREDIENTS ARE IN LEMON GARLIC SHRIMP AND GNOCCHI?
One quick little trip to the store later and you’ll have everything you need to make this scrumptious dish!
- Medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
- Potato gnocchi
- Olive oil
- Butter
- Minced garlic
- Low sodium chicken broth
- Heavy cream or fat free half and half
- Lemon
- Salt and cracked black pepper
- Grated parmesan cheese
- Fresh thyme or parsley
HOW DO YOU MAKE CREAMY LEMON GARLIC SHRIMP AND GNOCCHI
The best part about this healthy lemon garlic shrimp dish (other than the flavor and texture of course) is that you can buy the ingredients already ready for you, and that means a quick-and-easy meal that tastes like it took hours!
The first thing you’ll do is cook the gnocchi. In order to do so, you’ll bring a large pot of water to a boil, then add the gnocchi and boil for three minutes, and remove it with a slotted spoon into a large bowl. (Don’t dump it into a strainer, to keep the gnocchi from clumping, you’ll want to scoop it out and place it into a bowl.) Then, toss the gnocchi with some olive oil to keep it from sticking. Set it aside.
Move the cooking over to a large skillet. Melt the butter over medium-high heat, then stir in the garlic, cooking until fragrant. Add back in the gnocchi and shrimp, stirring and cooking for about 2-3 minutes. Add the broth, lemon juice, and heavy cream to the shrimp and gnocchi.
Reduce the heat on the skillet and simmer for 5-10 minutes, or until the sauce is reduced by half and becomes thick and bubbly and creamy. Season the dish with salt and cracked black pepper and garnish with parmesan and/or fresh thyme or parsley, if you like.
HOW DO YOU MAKE LEMON GARLIC CHICKEN AND GNOCCHI?
As I mentioned earlier, you can make this dish with chicken too, if you prefer.
Cut up two boneless, skinless chicken breasts into one-inch pieces. Brown in the skillet in step 3 BEFORE adding the gnocchi. Add the gnocchi after all sides of the chicken are browned, then continue with the remaining steps.
Alternately, you can add pre-shredded chicken (either cooked and shredded earlier or from a rotisserie chicken) in at step 3, to the gnocchi sauce.
WHAT ARE GNOCCHI MADE OF?
Gnocchi translates to “lumps” in Italian. Fun, right? So should we call this dish Creamy Lemon Garlic Shrimp and Lumps? Do you think anyone would want to make that? Probably not. But you might check it out out of curiosity right?
Anyway, these “lumps” are basically small dumplings made with flour, potatoes, and eggs. So, gnocchi isn’t technically a pasta in the way that you typically think of pasta, but it’s a delicious dumpling that goes so deliciously with so many different foods! Like this Gnocchi in Tomato Cream Sauce for example.
WHAT SHOULD I SERVE WITH LEMON GARLIC CHICKEN AND GNOCCHI?
What goes great with this garlic shrimp dish? So many things, but mainly, I confess, I like to serve veggies with this dish because I feel like it just needs a little green, know what I mean?
- A side salad is always easy to put together and goes nicely with Italian gnocchi.
- Roasted broccoli, asparagus, or green beans will cook in the oven while you do your thing on the stove.
- In addition to veggies, you can serve this dish with garlic bread, rolls, or a fresh baguette (cut into pieces, of course).
Creamy Lemon Garlic Shrimp and Gnocchi
Ingredients
- 1 pound medium shrimp - peeled and de-veined
- 1 pound potato gnocchi
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 3 teaspoons minced garlic
- 1 cup low sodium chicken broth - (or vegetable broth)
- ½ cup heavy cream - or fat free half and half
- 4 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon salt - or to taste
- ¼ teaspoon cracked black pepper - or to taste
- cracked black pepper, grated parmesan cheese, fresh thyme or parsley - optional toppings
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add gnocchi, boil three minutes, then remove with a slotted spoon and place in a large bowl. Toss with 1 teaspoon olive oil and set aside.
- In a large skillet over medium-high heat, melt butter. Stir in garlic for 1 minute until fragrant.
- Stir in gnocchi and shrimp for 2-3 minutes.
- Stir in broth, lemon juice and heavy cream.
- Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 5-10 minutes until sauce is reduced by half and thickened to a nice, creamy consistency.
- Season with salt and pepper and garnish with optional toppings (herbs, cracked black pepper, parmesan cheese) and serve.
I haven’t made this yet, but overall it sure sounds yummy. We’re not fans of Potato Gnocchi, so I plan to use my favorite brand of small Spinach Tortellini, instead, along with topping this dish with a sharp cheese of our choice, I’ll also top it with some finely minced Italian parsley. BTW, I sometimes substitute Evaporated Milk for Heavy Cream in order to cut the fat & calories. It works well for us
I used cauliflower gnocchi from Trader Joes….really good, gave it a tnagy flavor. Sauce took20-25 minutes to thicken, so plan accordingly.
Thanks for your feedback!
Can you use frozen cooked shrimp?
I recommend thawing first.
Sounds amazing and want to make this for my family for my mother’s birthday. The only catch is 2 of 6 of us are lactose. I don’t want to give away the “creaminess” of this dish. Do you have a suggestion on an alternative to heavy cream / half-and-half?
Hi Michelle, I have only tried this recipe as written BUT if I were to attempt to make this lactose-free my first strategy would be to try full-fat coconut milk. It shouldn’t alter the flavor *too much* but will give it a nice, creamy richness. 🙂
I added broccoli and mushrooms to this recipe, came out delicious. Take out a TBLS of lemon juice if you’d prefer it to be less lemony.
Thanks for your feedback!