If you're a fan of the TikTok baked feta pasta recipe, you're going to love this version with shrimp included! Baked Shrimp Feta Pasta is so simple to make and will become your new favorite easy weeknight dinner!
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I'm sure by now most of you have seen the TikTok pasta recipe everyone and their mother has been making. It's also known as baked feta pasta and it's pretty delicious.
But you know what makes the original recipe even more delicious? A little protein added in! Of course, you can use any type of meat or fish that you want, but I think there's something so delicious about shrimp with summer tomatoes and lots of creamy feta cheese.
Once you see how easy this baked shrimp feta pasta is, it's going to become your new favorite dish of summer! After you try it, be sure to make my other favorite TikTok hit, Gigi Hadid pasta.
❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
There are SO many reasons to love this shrimp feta pasta recipe. First of all, the ingredients are all delicious, but there's something about the combination of them together that makes them out of this world tasty.
It is a bit similar to Greek shrimp saganaki, but with pasta.
Also, this dinner requires barely any time to assemble, making it the perfect easy weeknight meal. But since it involves quality ingredients like shrimp and feta, it has a special feel to it.
It doesn't make many dirty dishes either, especially since you can cook the shrimp right in the casserole dish with the other ingredients.
I'm willing to bet, this baked shrimp feta pasta is the kind of meal your whole family will love.
If you have an abundance of tomatoes in your garden this summer, you're going to find yourself turning to this dish every week!
🗒 Ingredients
This recipe is made with simple ingredients and can also be adjusted based on your tastes or what you happen to have in your pantry.
Here is what I use to make it (be sure to check out the recipe card at the bottom of this post to see ingredient amounts and full recipe instructions):
- Cherry tomatoes (or grape tomatoes): I think the multi-colored tomatoes are so pretty!
- Garlic
- Extra-virgin olive oil
- Salt & pepper
- Red pepper flakes
- Feta cheese block: I recommend sheep's milk feta as it's creamier.
- Raw shrimp: I use frozen and typically medium size, but you can use fresh and any size you want
- Short pasta: like campanelle, fusilli, cavatappi, or penne
- Basil
🍤 What size shrimp to use?
I like to use medium shrimp for this pasta dish because they're basically bite-sized and easy to eat off a fork mixed in with the other delicious ingredients.
However, you are welcome to use any size you want and large shrimp would also work.
Note that this recipe only calls for 1 pound of shrimp, but you can certainly use more if you want. The dish serves 6 people and with roughly 45 medium shrimp per pound, that equates to 7 or 8 shrimp per person.
The larger the shrimp you use, the fewer each person will get.
🍝 How to make baked shrimp feta pasta
As I've said, this recipe is so easy to assemble and bake! To start, make sure your shrimp is thawed (if frozen), peeled, and deveined. I also remove the tails since it makes the pasta dish easier to eat.
Start by preheating the oven to 400 degrees.
Put the shrimp in a small bowl and toss with ¼ teaspoon salt and ¼ pepper.
In a 9x13 baking dish (or similar ~3 quart dish), toss together tomatoes, sliced garlic, olive oil, ¼ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon pepper, and ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes until combined.
I use 4 cloves of garlic, which seems like a lot because it is. But trust me, this dish is the best with lots of garlic cloves!
Don't you already want to gobble this up? And we're only getting started!
Place the block of feta cheese in the center of the tomatoes and drizzle it with remaining tablespoon olive oil and sprinkle with remaining ⅛ teaspoon pepper.
Pop it in the oven and bake for 35 minutes.
While the tomatoes and feta are roasting, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook pasta until al dente.
Drain pasta, being sure to reserve about ½ cup of the water. You might need it to thin out the pasta sauce a bit.
After 35 minutes, remove dish from oven and top with shrimp.
Place back in oven and cook for about 6-8 more minutes, until shrimp is pink and cooked through.
Using a wooden spoon, stir tomatoes, cheese, and shrimp together, using the back of the spoon to gently mash feta and tomatoes.
Holy moly. This is pretty much the best tomato sauce ever.
Stir the cooked pasta into the mixture until it's well coated in the sauce. Stir in chopped fresh basil, too.
If the sauce appears too thick, stir reserved pasta cooing water in 1 tablespoon at a time.
I like to top the whole dish off with more basil, but you can use any kind of fresh herbs you want. Thyme and parsley work well, too.
This baked shrimp feta pasta is a meal all on its own, but you can serve it with any sides you desire. It goes especially well with a nice crusty bread, but a side of broccoli works, too!
This pasta recipe covers all the bases for me. It's deliciously creamy and cheesy with fresh tomatoes and some good protein added in.
While I generally feel like seafood and cheese don't go well together, there's something about shrimp and feta cheese that are just *chef's kiss*.
It really is an amazing dinner and I can see why the basis for the dish has become a viral TikTok sensation!
⏲️ How to store leftovers
If you have any baked shrimp feta pasta leftovers, they should keep fresh in your fridge for 2-3 days. Just be sure to store them in an airtight container.
Some people don't love re-heated shrimp, but I've enjoyed the leftovers of this dish many times. I just pop it into the microwave for about 2 minutes.
🎉 Variations on recipe
Of course, there are so many different ways you can make this TikTok feta pasta recipe. That's one of the things that makes it so fantastic.
- Add chicken, salmon, or sausage. I recommend cooking any of these proteins separately from the tomatoes and feta and stirring them in when you add the pasta.
- Add a little cream or milk for a creamier pasta dish.
- For a healthier, low-carb dish, try using zucchini noodles instead of regular pasta.
- If you're not a fan of feta cheese, you can use a different kind of cheese to make this pasta dish. I recommend trying goat cheese!
- Sprinkle some parmesan cheese on top if desired.
- Mix in more vegetables, like baby spinach, bell peppers, or zucchini.
- Stir in Greek or Italian olives for extra umami.
- Add a little lemon juice and/or lemon zest for a nice zing. A splash of white wine will also add some acidity.
- If you think the dish has too much olive oil, you can certainly cut it down a bit.
👩🍳 More summer pasta recipes
When I want something easy for dinner, I often turn to pasta recipes. And the summertime is when I'm often looking for quick and easy dinner recipes! Here are some of my favorite summer pasta dishes:
- Mediterranean Pasta with Chicken Sausage
- Pasta with Green Vegetables, Herbs, and Feta
- Lemon Pepper Pasta with Shrimp
- Chipotle Corn Fettuccini
- Pasta with Turkey Meatballs and Mozzarella
- Salmon Fettuccini
- Summer Pasta Primavera (from Once Upon a Chef)
I hope this becomes your favorite pasta recipe of summer, just like it is mine! It's already been getting me through many "what the heck should I make for dinner??" conundrums!
Do you have a favorite easy pasta dinner?
📖 Recipe
Baked Shrimp Feta Pasta
Ingredients
- 2 pints (roughly 24 oz) cherry tomatoes (or grape tomatoes)
- 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- ⅓ cup + 1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes, plus more for topping
- 1 small block feta cheese, 7-8 oz. (I recommend sheep's milk feta)
- 1 lb. raw shrimp, peeled and deveined with tails off (I like to use medium, but you can use the size of your choice)*
- 12 oz. short pasta, like campanelle, fusilli, cavatappi, or penne
- ¼ cup chopped basil, plus more for topping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- In a small bowl, toss shrimp with ¼ teaspoon salt and ¼ pepper.
- In a 9x13 baking dish (or similar 3 quart dish), toss together tomatoes, sliced garlic, ⅓ cup olive oil, ¼ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon pepper, and ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes until combined.
- Place feta cheese block in the center of the tomatoes and drizzle cheese with remaining tablespoon olive oil and sprinkle with ⅛ teaspoon pepper.
- Bake for 35 minutes.
- While baking dish is in the oven, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook pasta until al dente. When draining, reserve about ½ cup of pasta water.
- After 35 minutes, remove baking dish from oven and top with shrimp. Place back in oven and cook for about 6-8 more minutes, until shrimp is pink and cooked through.
- Using a wooden spoon, stir tomatoes, cheese, and shrimp together, using the back of the spoon to gently mash feta and tomatoes.
- Stir pasta into the mixture until it's well coated in the sauce. Stir in chopped basil. If sauce appears too thick, add reserved pasta sauce 1 tablespoon at a time.
- Serve topped with more red pepper flakes and basil, if desired.
Notes
- *You can easily increase the amount of shrimp in this dish if you want.
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