Creamy Tomato Prawn Pasta (30 Minute Meal)

This quick and easy Creamy Tomato Prawn pasta is ready in under 30 minutes and is the perfect date night dinner option as it takes inspiration from the viral Vodka Tomato Pasta. A decadent, rich sauce made with tomato paste, white wine and lashings of double cream - this isn't a recipe for the calorie conscious, but it's a treat worth having!

A close-up of a plate filled with creamy pasta topped with pieces of chicken or seafood, garnished with herbs. The sauce appears rich and orange-colored, coating the wavy pasta evenly.

If you’re looking to impress someone with restaurant quality food - or you want a rich and indulgent prawn pasta - then this is the one!

Jump to:

What To Serve With Prawn Pasta
How To Make This Dish Family Friendly
Ingredients for Creamy Tomato Prawn Pasta
Prawn Pasta Variations
How To Prepare Fresh Prawns (Shrimp)
How To Make Creamy Tomato Prawn Pasta
FAQs
Preparation, Storage + Reheating
If you love Prawn Pasta then you might like these
Creamy Tomato Prawn Pasta

My husband is dieting at the moment; eating a restricted diet during weekdays and eating what he likes at the weekend. I wish that approach worked for me! We generally opt for takeaway one night and then I make a meal of his choice on the other. His choice this weekend was this super simple prawn pasta - he LOVES it!

What To Serve With Prawn Pasta

Side option include:

Homemade Airfryer Garlic Bread - always a solid choice in my house with any pasta! Pictured below with Prawn Pasta (using penne instead)
super simple rocket, red onion and tomato salad
light and fresh capers salad - sliced tomatoes and mozzarella with basil
crispy homemade deep dried chips (fries)
beef dripping roast potatoes (add a little rosemary salt)

A hand holding a piece of garlic bread with herbs, showcasing its crispy, golden crust. The background features a patterned curtain and a window.

A pile of golden, crispy homemade deep fried chips on parchment paper, with a glass bowl of ketchup placed to the side for dipping.

How To Make This Dish Family Friendly

Suitable from 6 months + (if you make the following alternations):

To remove the alcohol from the recipe, substitute 150ml white wine with 75ml boiling water (you could dissolve the stock in this before adding). The reason we reduce the volume is because alcohol volume is reduced during the cooking process.

Use no salt stock cubes and unsalted butter to lower the salt content and season with salt for adults (after removing children’s portion from the batch).

I would serve this (for Baby Led Weaning) with either large rigatoni or fusilli shaped pasta instead of noodles.

Ingredients for Creamy Tomato Prawn Pasta

A wooden surface with ingredients: a glass of white wine, dried lasagna noodles, raw shrimp in a bowl, a bottle of milk, tomato paste, a bowl of parsley, garlic cloves, a red chili, a bouillon cube, and a slice of lemon on a napkin.

Olive Oil
Butter: I use salted butter as I feel it adds to the flavour, but unsalted would work too.
Prawns: I use raw prawns. Cooking the prawns at the beginning and adding to the sauce later on ensures you don't overcook them. If you've got cooked prawns, chop them up and add them in at the end and simply heat through. See ‘How To Prepare Prawns (Shrimp)’ section below.
Chilli: you can use fresh chilli or dried chilli. If using fresh chilli, cut up with seeds if you like it hot orremove the seeds for a more subtle heat. If using dried chilli, start with a ½ teaspoon, and increase to 1 teaspoon if you prefer it hotter.
Garlic: I always opt for the fresh aroma of fresh garlic, but you can substitute for 1 teaspoon of garlic paste or ½ teaspoon of garlic granules if preferred.
Tomato Puree: this is what adds the deep rich, tomato flavour to the dish and can’t be substituted. My favourite brand to use is always Mutti.
Chicken Stock: I know it’s being paired with prawns, but chicken stock works really well flavour-wise in this dish. Substitute with vegetable stock if preferred. You could also use a Chicken Stock Pot instead of a crumbled stock cube too.
Cream: I use double cream (heavy cream) as it has a higher fat content which means it’s less likely to separate in dishes (as it can withstand a higher heat point). This is the equivalent (although it has approx 10% more fat) to heavy whipping cream in the US. You can opt for a lower fat cream if you want to reduce the calories. I would highly recommend Marks & Spencer Extra Thick Single Cream as it has the consistency of double cream, but half the calories – I love it!
Parsley: optional extra ingredient added for some freshness and colour contrast, so if you don’t have any then it’s not an issue.
Pasta: I love using Morrisons’s Manfredine but you can use any pasta you like (spaghetti and linguine work well).
Salt
Wine: any wine you like will do - you can also freeze any wine you're not using in icecube trays to reduce waste. It will keep your wine fresh until next time and use it at your own pace. Or you could opt for a white wine stock pot if you don't want to open a bottle.

Prawn Pasta Variations

Prawns (shrimp) are arguably my favourite protein source. But you could use:

chicken instead - I’ve made it with chicken before and it simply means I can add parmesan too ('cause cheese and shellfish aren't a great combo but it pairs perfectly well with chicken)
halloumi - to make the dish vegetarian
leave out the prawns and serve alongside a Chicken Milanese.

How To Prepare Fresh Prawns (Shrimp)

I generally always buy large king prawns from either a local Glasgow fishmonger, or from a van that stops close-by my house every Friday afternoon. To prepare prawns properly, you must first de-vein them:

A hand holding a raw shrimp while cutting it with a knife along the back to remove the vein. The shrimp appears translucent and slightly curved, with some water droplets on its surface. The background shows a dark kitchen counter. — cut straight line down inside of prawn

A wet hand holds a long, thin black and white object, resembling a piece of lint or thread, across the palm. The background is blurred. — cut straight line down inside of prawn

I then chop the prawns (you can leave them whole if you prefer) into 3 sections as I find it easier when eating the dish:

A hand holding three raw, translucent shrimp with visible veins. The shrimp are wet and appear slightly glossy, placed against a blurred background.

How To Make Creamy Tomato Prawn Pasta

Melt a knob of butter in a pan, with olive oil and chilli - cook to soften

A black frying pan on a stovetop with a single piece of butter melting in the center, creating a small pool of melted butter. — melt butter with olive oil

A black pan containing bubbling brown butter with small red chili flakes floating on the surface, creating a spicy and aromatic mixture. — melt butter with olive oil

Add garlic and chopped prawns - cook until prawns turn from translucent (slightly see-through) to opaque (pink).

Chunks of shrimp cooking in a round black pan with chopped red chili pepper, all sizzling in oil. — chopped prawns

A plate of pasta with wide noodles is covered in a creamy, orange sauce. The dish includes pieces of seafood, herbs, and small bits of tomatoes, creating a rich and appetizing appearance. — chopped prawns

Remove prawns from pan (ensure you leave as much of the butter/oil as possible), then fry off tomato purée for a few minutes before pouring in white wine (or using white wine stock pot).

Allow white wine volume to reduce by half before crumbling in vegetable stock cube.

Then pour in double (hecream, simmer on medium heat for 5-10 minutes and then add cooked prawns back into the sauce.

Stir in freshly chopped parsley before tossing through cooked al dente pasta

Season to taste, serve up & enjoy!

FAQs

Why do you use olive oil and butter?

This is simply for flavour. Use one or the other if you prefer or only have one available.

Can I substitute the prawns for anything else?

This dish would be great with chicken too. Cook it using the same method as the prawns - you will just need to cook for longer.

What can I do to reduce the calories?

See Ingredients section above where I offer a substitution, or simply use Single Cream instead.

Does the chilli make it quite hot/spicy?

It depends on your tolerance for heat. See Chilli notes above within Ingredients section for more information.

I don't have fresh parsley, should I use dried?

I personally don't feel like dried parsley has the same effect. So I would just omit it from the recipe.

Can I make this recipe without wine?

Yes you can - just remove it from the recipe. Substitute 150ml white wine with 75ml boiling water (you could dissolve the stock in this before adding).

Preparation, Storage + Reheating

If cooking in advance, I would suggest that you could make the sauce in advance. But cook the pasta and add to the sauce just before serving for optimum results.

Storage: Once cooked, the pasta can be stored:

in the fridge for up to 4 days.
the sauce can be frozen for up to 3 months.

Reheating: Due to the high dairy (cream) content, I would add the sauce to the hob and reheat slowly, until piping hot throughout, for optimum results.

If you love Prawn Pasta then you might like these

I have a range of seafood recipes to choose from, but if prawns are your fav:

A bowl of creamy tagliatelle pasta with prawns and chorizo, garnished with chopped parsley, sits on a wooden table with green leafy decorations in the background.

A black skillet filled with penne pasta in a tomato-based sauce mixed with shrimp and sprinkled with grated cheese. A grater and a block of cheese are placed beside the skillet on a wooden table.

If you have any questions please leave a comment and I'll get back to you. Or I would really appreciate it if you left me a review below.

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