By Grocery List Plus Editorial Staff | Published on June 12, 2026
Serves 4
622 cal · 27 min
Shrimp Pesto Pasta
Recipe GLPRb5dca060e2627e
A vibrant Italian-inspired pasta dish combining tender shrimp with a fresh basil pesto sauce, hearty chickpeas, and bright plum tomatoes. This light yet satisfying main course is ready in under 30 minutes and makes for an elegant weeknight dinner or impressive gathering.
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Ingredients
1 lb. fusilli pasta
1 lb. large shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 can (15 oz.) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
3/4 cup basil pesto
4 plum tomatoes, halved lengthwise
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Directions
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the fusilli and cook according to package directions until al dente. Drain and set aside.
While the pasta cooks, pat the shrimp dry with paper towels. Season with salt and pepper.
Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the shrimp and cook for 2-3 minutes per side until they reach an internal temperature of 145°F and are opaque throughout. Remove from the skillet and set aside.
In the same skillet, add the drained chickpeas and halved plum tomatoes. Sauté for 2-3 minutes until the tomatoes soften slightly and the chickpeas are warmed through.
Add the pesto to the skillet with the tomatoes and chickpeas, stirring gently to combine.
Return the cooked shrimp to the skillet and mix with the pesto and vegetables.
Combine the cooked pasta with the shrimp-pesto mixture in the skillet, tossing gently to coat all the pasta evenly. Serve immediately while hot.
Comments
Shrimp and pesto pasta delivers good value at roughly $3.50 per serving when you use grocery-store pesto and frozen shrimp from any Charlotte chain—Harris Teeter, Food Lion, Kroger, or Walmart all stock these reliably. The 27-minute claim is honest if you use jarred pesto and thaw shrimp beforehand; fresh-made pesto costs an extra 15 minutes, and the recipe should disclose that. North Carolina's coastal access makes fresh or frozen shrimp a natural fit here, and the dish reheats decently in a pan with a splash of water, though pesto pasta never fully recover its first-night brightness. The only mild drag is that chickpeas feel like filler rather than a complementary protein, and plum tomatoes are least appealing in winter—spring through fall, this becomes a more cohesive seasonal dish.
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