Shrimp Pesto
Spaghetti Squash
Seasoned roasted spaghetti squash topped with fresh shrimp, sautéed red bell pepper, onion, cherry tomatoes, and garlic — finished off the heat with vibrant pesto and a shower of Parmesan. A restaurant-quality dinner that comes together while the squash roasts and looks stunning on the plate. One of the most elegant recipes in this collection.
- Spaghetti Squash
- 1 large spaghetti squash, halved & seeded
- 1 tsp olive oil
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- Shrimp & Vegetables
- 1 lb raw shrimp, peeled & deveined
- 1 red bell pepper, sliced
- ½ yellow onion, sliced
- ½ cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- Finish
- ½ cup pesto
- — Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
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1
Roast the spaghetti squash
Preheat oven to 400°F. Halve the spaghetti squash lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. Brush the cut sides lightly with olive oil and season with garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Place cut-side down on a foil-lined baking sheet and roast for 35–40 minutes until a knife inserts with almost no resistance. Remove and let cool for 10 minutes.
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2
Sauté the vegetables
While the squash roasts, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sliced onion and red bell pepper and sauté for 4–5 minutes until softened. Add the garlic and cherry tomatoes and cook for 2 more minutes until the tomatoes begin to blister and the garlic is fragrant.
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3
Cook the shrimp
Push the vegetables to the sides of the skillet and add the shrimp in a single layer. Season with salt and pepper. Cook for 2 minutes per side until the shrimp are pink, opaque, and just cooked through — shrimp are done fast, pull them the moment they're no longer translucent. Toss everything together and remove from heat immediately.
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4
Add the pesto off the heat
With the skillet off the heat, add the pesto to the shrimp and vegetable mixture and toss gently to coat. Adding the pesto off the heat preserves its bright green color and fresh herb flavor — both cook off quickly in a hot pan.
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5
Scrape & serve
Use a fork to scrape the spaghetti squash flesh into long strands directly into the squash halves or into a serving bowl. Spoon the shrimp pesto mixture generously over the squash. Finish with freshly grated Parmesan and serve immediately.
- Season the squash halves: Brushing the cut sides with olive oil and a dusting of garlic powder, salt, and pepper before roasting adds flavor that carries through to the finished dish — plain unseasoned spaghetti squash tastes noticeably bland as a base.
- Pesto goes in off the heat: This is one of those recipes where the rule really matters — pesto loses its vibrant green color and bright herb flavor almost immediately when added to a hot pan. Always add it last with the heat off and toss quickly to coat.
- Shrimp cook in 2 minutes per side: Fresh shrimp go from raw to perfectly cooked to rubbery in a very short window. Pull them the moment they're opaque and pink throughout — they'll continue cooking slightly in the residual heat of the skillet even after you remove it from the stove.
- Serve in the squash halves: Scraping the squash strands and leaving them in the shell, then spooning the shrimp pesto mixture on top makes for a genuinely beautiful presentation — the halved squash acts as a natural bowl and looks like something from a restaurant menu.
- Cross-reference: Love pesto with spaghetti squash? Our Pesto Zoodles uses the same pesto-off-the-heat technique with spiralized zucchini — a lighter, faster weeknight version of the same flavor combination.