A pasta casserole like you’ve never seen before. This shrimp tetrazzini with bucatini pasta features garlic, mushrooms, white wine, and more!
Send your tastebuds on a trip around the world with this bold main course full of sharp flavors of garlic and more, great texture, and everyone’s favorite ingredient – pasta!
You can never go wrong with serving pasta for any occasion! Looking for more pasta dishes to dig into? Check out some of my favorites like Southwest Pasta Salad with Shrimp, Low Fat Pasta Salad that Actually Tastes Good!!, and Crispy Southwest Air Fryer Pasta Chips.
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Shrimp Tetrazzini Recipe
It’s truly a match made in culinary heaven…
Garlic, mushrooms, and onions pair perfectly with shrimp, but even better with a bit of white wine!
This creamy shrimp tetrazzini with bucatini pasta is easy to make, perfect for entertaining, date night at home, and great to bring to a holiday gathering or potluck.
Now, although this dish sounds Italian, Tetrazzini sauce originated in the early 1900s in San Francisco and is named after famous opera singer, Luisa Tetrazzini.
Nevertheless, this Italian-inspired American pasta bake is absolutely creamy, cheesy, and ready to be eaten!
What is Shrimp Tetrazzini?
Shrimp tetrazzini is a main dish/entree made with diced or chopped up poultry or seafood and mushroom in a butter/cream and cheese sauce flavored with wine.
This dish is served hot over linguine, spaghetti, egg noodles, or some other type of pasta and topped with breadcrumbs.
Ingredients for Shrimp Tetrazzini with Bucatini Pasta
Shimp: Based on the size of the meal, I recommend using 2 lbs of medium-sized shrimp. If you can, get them pre-peeled and deveined.
Pasta: 1 lb of Bucatini pasta.
Vegetables: 2 cups of sliced mushrooms, ¼ cup of fresh minced garlic, and ½ cup of diced red onion.
Herbs and Spices: Spin those spice wracks and grab1 tbsp Italian Seasoning, ¼ cup Parsley Chopped Fresh, ¼ tsp Kosher Salt, ½ tsp Black Pepper
Dairy: 1 stick of butter, 1 cup of heavy cream, and 1 cup of shredded parmesan cheese.
Wine: 1 cup white wine for cooking.
Breadcrumbs: The perfect texture and taste! Grab 2 cups of panko bread crumbs. You can also use plain bread crumbs if that is what you have handy, and add seasoning to taste.
How to Make Shrimp Tetrazzini
Cook pasta. Cook the bucatini in a pot of salted water for about 8 minutes until slightly undercooked. Shock with cold water then toss with a tbsp of olive oil and set aside.
Saute. In a large saute pan or dutch oven saute ½ stick of butter with sliced mushrooms, diced red onion, and garlic for about 5 minutes until mushrooms are tender.
Cook Shrimp. Add shrimp along with cream, white wine, and Italian seasoning. Cook until shrimp are almost cooked then add 3 tbsp cornstarch mixed with equal parts water and ½ cup parmesan cheese into the sauce. Stir until the sauce thickens.
Stir in pasta. Add in cooked bucatini and stir until pasta is well coated. Set aside and preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Toast breadcrumbs. In a large nonstick skillet melt, half stick of butter then toss panko breadcrumbs and parsley toss and stir until breadcrumbs are golden then remove from heat and add parmesan cheese.
Bake. Spread out the parmesan breadcrumb mixture over the pasta and bake for 25-30 minutes until golden and the sauce is bubbling. Let the casserole rest for 5 minutes to thicken up before serving.
Recipe Tips, Tricks, and Variations
Shrimp: I like using shrimp without tails for this recipe, however, you can use any shrimp! Just remember, if they have tail shells, it is polite to serve this meal with an extra small dish or small bowl for each person to drop the shell into.
Cheese: I prefer parmesan cheese for this recipe, however, if you are looking to change things up you can use mozzarella cheese.
Poultry: If shrimp isn’t your style, consider making chicken tetrazzini or turkey tetrazzini.
Garlic and Onion: The secret to getting the best flavor out of this dish is to saute garlic or garlic cloves and onion before tossing them in!
Mushrooms: Fresh mushrooms are the way to go. If you are in a crunch and all you have is canned – go for it! However, if you’ve got time to prepare or run to the store – fresh is best!
Herbs and Spices: Shake things up by adding red pepper flakes or a teaspoon of lemon pepper seasoning to the top of the pasta.
Peas: Looking to add a vegetable and some color to this dish? Consider adding sweet peas!
Lemon Juice: Serve this dish with lemon juice on the side so that your guests can choose how much lemon they want to add to the dish and shrimp before enjoying!
What is the difference between Tetrazzini and Alfredo Sauce?
Although different, Tetrazzini and Alfredo sauces have similar ingredients.
Both sauces are made up of broth, cream, cheese, and flour to be used as a thickener.
This recipe uses cornstarch to thicken the sauce instead of flour but either method works great. just be sure to never add cornstarch directly into your sauce or you will have lumps.
Make a cornstarch slurry by combining equal parts cornstarch to water then add to your sauce.
The biggest difference between the two is the fact that Tetrazzini has panko breadcrumbs.
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Shrimp Tetrazzini with Bucatini Pasta
Equipment
- Large Dutch Oven
Ingredients
- 2 lbs Shrimp Medium, peeled and deveined
- 1 lbs Bucatini
- 1 stick Butter
- 2 cups Mushrooms Sliced
- ¼ cup Garlic Fresh Minced
- ½ cup Red Onion Fine dice
- 1 tbsp Italian Seasoning
- 1 cup White Wine
- 1 cup Heavy Cream
- 1 cup Parmesan Cheese Shredded
- 2 cups Panko Bread Crumbs
- ¼ cup Parsley Chopped Fresh
- ¼ tsp Kosher Salt
- ½ tsp Black Pepper
Instructions
- Cook the bucatini in a pot of salted water for about 8 minutes until slightly undercooked. Shock with cold water then toss with a tbsp of olive oil and set aside.
- In a large saute pan or dutch oven saute ½ stick of butter with sliced mushrooms, diced red onion and garlic for about 5 minutes until mushrooms are tender.
- Add shrimp along with cream, white wine and Italian seasoning. Cook until shrimp are almost cooked then add 3 tbsp cornstarch mixed with equal parts water and ½ cup parmesan cheese into the sauce. Stir until sauce thickens.
- Add in cooked bucatini and stir until pasta is well coated. Set aside and preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- In a large nonstick skillet melt half stick of butter then toss panic breadcrumbs and parsley toss and stir until breadcrumbs are golden then remove from heat and add parmesan cheese.
- Spread out the parmesan breadcrumb mixture over the pasta and bake for 25-30 minutes until golden and sauce is bubbling. Let the casserole rest for 5 minutes to thicken up before serving.
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