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Made with creamy white cheddar cheese sauce, pasta shells, and sweet peas, this shrimp shells and cheese recipe puts a new spin on ordinary mac ‘n cheese, and the whole family will LOVE it!
You guys! I am writing to you from 35,000 feet in the air. I can’t sleep, even though this flight is 9 hours long, and I can’t really watch another movie, so what better thing to do than to whip out my Macbook here and talk to you all?!
AND revolve this whole conversation around my family’s new found mac-n-cheese love that involves shrimp.
This White Cheddar Shells and Cheese with Shrimp and Peas was dinner 2 nights in a row because, a) leftovers, and b) packing suitcases + making from-scratch, homemade dinners? Those two things just don’t go together. I tried and failed. Because of that, I forgot to pack up the kid’s bathing suits and was given the, “You don’t love me, you don’t think about me!” treatment because I also forgot to pack up their princess dresses… send wine, please!
Anywho! Have you ever tried shrimp with your shells and cheese? Good stuff, right?
The cheese sauce is so good here! Working off my very popular Chicken and Broccoli Shells and Cheese recipe, I lightened up the sauce by not using any cream and gave it an extra oomph by adding white cheddar instead of our good ol’ friend, sharp cheddar cheese.
I definitely wanted to include a vegetable in this recipe, and what better vegetable to choose than sweet and poppable green peas?! Seriously, they were the best choice for this shells and cheese dish.
Please hear me when I say that this is as simple as it is delicious. I mean like 30-ish-minute simple. YOU (WE) CAN TOTALLY DO THIS.
Step 1: Make pasta
Step 2: Melt butter
Step 3: Cook shrimp
Step 4: Add sauce
Step 5: Add pasta, peas, and cheese
Step 6: Eat Eat Eat!
ENJOY!
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Shells and Cheese with Shrimp and Peas
Ingredients
- 12 ounces small pasta shells
- 1½ cups frozen green peas
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound peeled and deveined shrimp
- 3 to 4 cloves garlic, minced, divided
- salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste
- 1 cup skim milk
- 1 cup low sodium fat free chicken broth
- ¼ cup all purpose flour
- ¼ to ½ teaspoon chili powder
- 1 cup shredded white cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to the directions on the box.
- Place peas in a colander. Drain pasta over peas in colander.
- In the meantime, add butter and olive oil in a large nonstick skillet and melt butter over medium heat.
- Add shrimp and half of the minced garlic; sauté 4 minutes or until shrimp is pink.
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together the milk, chicken broth, and flour.
- Add remaining garlic, salt, pepper, and chili powder to the mixing bowl; whisk until well combined.
- Stir the milk mixture into the pan with the shrimp.
- Cook 2 to 3 minutes or until sauce is thickened.
- Add pasta, peas, and cheddar cheese to the skillet; stir until cheese is melted and continue to cook for 2 minutes, or until heated through.
- Remove from heat and let stand 3 minutes.
- Stir and serve.
Nutrition
Nutritional info is an estimate and provided as courtesy. Values may vary according to the ingredients and tools used. Please use your preferred nutritional calculator for more detailed info.
Trying to make this gluten free. Can I use corn starch as a replacement for the flour.
Hi!
Yes, that will work.
By chili powder do you mean like the Mexican spice or cayenne?
Will be making this tonight for dinner. Can this be frozen?
I couldn’t print it either. Usually have no problem with this site. Had to cut and paste.
Simple and yummy recipe. I AM curious why the garlic is cooked in two steps. I’m a lazy cook so I’d be tempted to throw it all in at the beginning and get on with things. 🙂
This looks yummy. You mention adding garlic in steps 4 and 6 – how much at each step? Is it one clove at each step, resulting in the 2 cloves listed in the ingredient list?
Thanks so much for catching that! It’s supposed to be 3 to 4 cloves of garlic, minced and divided. So use half of it for the first step and then the rest. 🙂 Again, thank you for letting me know. 🙂
I’ve tried to print recipes from your page but the printer icon hasn’t worked for me. Any ideas?
Hi!! The “print” button should open up a different window with just the recipe in it. I take it that is not what you are seeing. Could you please tell me what browser you’re using and device?