Pumpkin Pasta with Shrimp is a great meal prep staple. It’s creamy, savory, and of course filled with pumpkin flavor. This recipe is quick and easy and it tastes amazing!
Pasta for a Meal Prep?
After my total thyroidectomy, I gained a lot of weight. I thought the answer to my problems was to eat less, around 1,000 calories a day, and to do more cardio. Unfortunately, I had to learn the hard way and I ended up getting burned out.
After going through my own trial and errors, I realized what works for me, which was actually eating more than I currently was consuming.
When women say they’re restricting their calories and only eating an apple and a hard boiled egg for the entire day, know that it's truly unnecessary to do so. You do not need to extreme diet to be able to loose weight.
That’s where this recipe comes into play. This Pumpkin Pasta with Shrimp recipe is a great meal prep staple. It’s creamy, savory, and of course filled with pumpkin flavor. It’s a great single serve healthy meal, perfect for those days you really don’t feel like cooking because it’s a quick and easy meal with over 20 grams of protein!
What’s in the Pumpkin Pasta with Shrimp?
- Pasta: For anyone that loves pasta but hates all the carbs with no benefits, Eat Banza is a great brand to try. Banza pasta is made from chickpeas, which also gives you a boost of protein.
- Protein: Another protein boost in this dish comes from the shrimp, but feel free to substitute it for whatever protein you like.
- Veggies: I also threw in some spinach because we could all use a little more veggies.
- Pasta Sauce: I topped the Pumpkin Pasta with Shrimp dish off with the Cucina Antica Tuscany Pumpkin Sauce, I found it at my local Whole Foods or Target stores. If you cannot find this product at your local store, you can also make the sauce from my Tuscan Pumpkin Herb Sauce dish, which would taste great as well.
More Pasta Options:
Any regular or whole-wheat pasta works just fine. I chose to use Banza Chickpea pasta. Some other options to consider are:
- Penne
- Linguini
- Bow Tie
- Zucchini Noodles
- Brown Rice Pasta
- Gluten-Free Pasta
How to store and reheat:
- To store: place leftovers in an airtight storage container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days
- To reheat: reheat the leftovers in the microwave with a splash of dairy-free milk, or regular milk, to loosen the sauce and keep it from drying out.
More Pumpkin Recipes:
Pumpkin Pasta with Shrimp
Ingredients
- 2 ounces rotini pasta dry
- 3 ounces shrimp peeled, deveined, tail-off (i used frozen in a bag)
- 1 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/3 cup onion diced
- 1 1/2 cups baby spinach packed
- 1/8 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
- Freshly ground pepper to taste
- Sea salt to taste
- 1/3 cup Cucina Antica Tuscany pumpkin sauce or favorite pumpkin marinara sauce
- Red pepper flakes optional
- 1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese optional
Instructions
- Boil the Rotini pasta according to the directions on the box.
- While your pasta is boiling, defrost the shrimp in the sink under cold water.
- Once defrosted, toss them into a skillet with the olive oil. Cook them on medium-high until they turn a nice light pink.
- Then add the onions into the pan and cook them until the begin to turn translucent, continuously moving them around.
- Once the pasta is done, remove it from the heat and drain the water from them using a strainer.
- Add the spinach into the skillet on the stove with the shrimp and top with onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper.
- Remove from the pan from the heat just as the spinach begins to wilt. It will continue to wilt from the remaining heat in the pan.
- Add the past to the skillet and top with the Cucina Antica Tuscany pumpkin sauce or your favorite pumpkin sauce. Toss everything together in the skillet until well combined.
- Serve with a pinch of red pepper flakes and Parmesan cheese on top of you like.
Nutrition
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