This creamy jerk shrimp pasta is an incredibly flavorful dish that's surprisingly easy to make. A homemade Jamaican jerk seasoning spice blend gives the pasta sauce a delicious and complex, spicy flavor. A little bit of brown sugar adds a hint of sweetness that's balanced by fresh and fragrant lime juice and zest.
Unlike its close relative rasta pasta, this jerk shrimp pasta dish doesn't have bell peppers. Instead, it focuses purely on the incredible flavors of the jerk seasoning spice blend.
Jerk seasoning spice blend ingredients and notes:
- Traditionally, the ingredient responsible for the heat in jerk seasoning is scotch bonnet, a pepper more than 10 times hotter than jalapeno. Since scotch bonnets aren't easy to find, I used crushed red pepper flakes in my seasoning blend. Red pepper flakes are readily available and are just as capable of adding a hefty amount of heat.
- This spice blend is great for recipes other than pasta sauce as well, like these bacon-wrapped shrimp with jalapeno.
How to make it:
See full ingredient amounts and instructions in the recipe card below!
- Add all jerk seasoning ingredients to a bowl and stir together until well combined.
- Mix in oil and shrimp. Cover and marinate in the fridge for 20 minutes.
- While the shrimp are marinating, cook the pasta.
- Heat oil in a pan and saute diced onion.
- Add the shrimp and cook until they begin to turn pink.
- Add chicken broth, tomato paste and heavy cream. Simmer to thicken, then stir in lime zest and lime juice.
How to serve it:
Mix the pasta into the sauce and season to taste with more fresh lime juice. Sprinkle with roughly chopped fresh thyme leaves (about 1 small sprig per portion) and serve.
Did you make this recipe? Please let me know how you liked it in the comments below! Thank you!
Full Printable Recipe
Jerk Shrimp Pasta
Equipment:
- measuring spoons and cups
- mixing bowl
- knife and cutting board
- rubber spatula
- plastic wrap
- large pot
- colander
- large non-stick pan
- citrus zester
- citrus juicer
Ingredients:
For the jerk seasoning:
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- ½ teaspoon grated nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon dark brown sugar
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
For the shrimp pasta:
- 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon neutral oil (such as vegetable oil, canola oil or light olive oil) divided
- ¾ pound raw shrimp,* thawed, peeled, deveined and cut into bite-size chunks
- 3 cups uncooked medium pasta shells (8 ounces)
- ¼ cup finely diced yellow onion (you need about ⅓ of a small onion for that)
- 1 cup chicken broth
- ¼ cup tomato paste
- 1 cup heavy cream
- ½ teaspoon lime zest
- ½ teaspoon lime juice, more to taste
- leaves from 4 small sprigs of fresh thyme, roughly chopped
Instructions:
For the jerk seasoning:
- In a large bowl, stir together all jerk seasoning ingredients.
For the shrimp pasta:
- Mix 1 tablespoon oil into the spice mix, then add the shrimp and stir around until well coated. Cover the bowl and marinate the shrimp in the fridge for 20 minutes.
- While the shrimp are marinating, bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook the pasta.
- Once the shrimp had 20 minutes in the marinade, make the sauce: Heat the remaining oil in a large non-stick pan, then add the diced onion and saute until translucent (about 2 minutes).
- Stir in the shrimp along with any marinade that's still in the bowl. Cook until the shrimp are just starting to turn pink (3 to 4 minutes).
- Stir in chicken broth, tomato paste and cream. Bring to a simmer and cook until the sauce has thickened a bit (about 5 minutes after it starts to simmer).
- Stir in lime zest and juice and season to taste with more lime juice. Mix the sauce with the pasta, sprinkle with roughly chopped fresh thyme leaves and serve.
Notes:
Recipe notes and questions:
Can I make this dish less spicy?
Yes, simply reduce the amount of red pepper flakes in the seasoning for a less spicy sauce.
Can I use a jerk seasoning blend from the store?
Yes, you can, if you want to. Just be sure to get the blend from a dedicated spice shop to ensure quality and freshness.
What pasta is best for this recipe?
This is a very saucy dish and I find that medium pasta shells are best suited for it. The shells are like tiny cups that can hold the sauce in them.
More delicious pasta recipes:
- Ground Beef Pasta Sauce (no tomato)20 Minutes
- Bacon and Chorizo Pasta Sauce30 Minutes
- Shrimp and Sausage Pasta Red Sauce30 Minutes
- Creamy Chicken and Chorizo Pasta (no tomato)30 Minutes
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