Easy, Healthy Zucchini Noodles With Shrimp and Mint Pesto

These easy, healthy zucchini noodles with shrimp and mint pesto are a light, fresh dinner perfect for spring! With just a few simple ingredients, they can be on your table in under 20 minutes. (gluten-free, dairy-free)

This post was originally published March 2016 and has been updated.

It's almost the time of year when fresh herbs and zucchini are abundant, and I couldn't be more excited! After months of hearty soups, stews, and comfort foods, I'm ready for warmer weather and lots of freshness. One of the things I crave in the spring is a light, healthy seafood dish, like these zucchini noodles with shrimp and mint pesto.

Why These Zucchini Noodles With Shrimp and Mint Pesto Need To Be On Your Table

• First, they're delicious. The lightness of zucchini noodles bathed in a springy pesto made from fresh mint and pistachios and tossed with lemony garlic shrimp and peas is springtime on a plate. 
• They're super healthy! This dish is packed with veggies, lean protein, healthy fat, and flavor! It's gluten-free, dairy-free, low carb, and paleo-friendly, if any of those are your jam.
• They're so easy to make. With just a few simple ingredients and a super short cook time, this dish can be on your table in under 20 minutes. It's also meal prep-friendly and flexible with the ingredients you can use.
• Finally, this dish is great for using two spring/summer things that grow like weeds - mint and zucchini! If you have a garden, you know how easy it is for mint and zucchini to pile up, so use them both in one delicious dish!

How To Make Mint Pesto

I Love this mint pesto with just a few simple ingredients. To make it, simply blend pistachios, mint, parsley, garlic, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and olive oil in a food processor. (I love this KitchenAid Mini Chopper!) Stream in extra water as needed to thin it out and reach your desired consistency.

How To Make Healthy Zucchini Noodles With Shrimp and Pesto

Once the pesto is made, the rest of this dish comes together super quickly. 

1. Toss the shrimp with fresh chopped garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper, and spiralize a few zucchini (I use this small spiralizer). 
2. Cook the shrimp for a few minutes per side, then add in the zucchini noodles and peas. 
3. Toss it all with pesto and serve!

Ingredient Substitutions

One of the great things about this dish is that it's so flexible:

• Don't have zucchini noodles? Use regular cooked pasta!
• The herbs can be swapped out fro whatever you have on hand, such as basil or arugula. 
• You can use any nuts you prefer for the pesto, like walnuts or almonds. 
• If you want to make this dish super quick and fuss-free, just use store-bought pesto!
• To make this dish vegan, omit the shrimp and eat as-is or use your favorite plant protein. 

Did you make this recipe? Please leave a star rating in the comments!

Easy, Healthy Zucchini Noodles With Shrimp and Mint Pesto

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These easy, healthy zucchini noodles with shrimp and mint pesto are a light, fresh dinner perfect for spring! With just a few simple ingredients, they can be on your table in under 20 minutes. (gluten-free, dairy-free)

• Author: Kaleigh
• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 5 minutes
• Total Time: 20 minutes
• Yield: 2-3 servings 1x
• Category: main dish
• Method: stovetop
• Cuisine: Seafood

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 1 lb medium-large shrimp, peeled and deveined
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• Sea salt and black pepper, to taste
• 3 large zucchini, spiralized
• 1 cup frozen green peas
• 1 recipe mint pesto (see below)

For Mint Pesto:

• ¼ cup pistachios, shelled
• ½ cup fresh mint leaves
• ¼ cup fresh flat leaf parsley
• 2 cloves garlic
• Juice from ½ large lemon
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp water, or more as needed
• Pinch of sea salt and black pepper

Instructions

1. In a medium sized bowl, combine shrimp, garlic, lemon juice, oil, salt and pepper. Set aside. Place peas out to thaw.
2. Prepare pesto: In a food processor (I love this one!), combine pesto ingredients. Blend until smooth, streaming in water as needed to reach a paste-like consistency.
3. Spiralize zucchini and set aside.
4. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Once hot, pour in shrimp with marinade. Cook until shrimp is pink, about 2 minutes per side. Add peas and zucchini to skillet and continue to cook until warmed through, about 3 minutes.
5. Remove skillet from heat and stir in pesto. Serve immediately.
6. Leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container.

Notes

• I prefer to et leftovers cold.
• Swap out any fresh herbs or nuts you like in the pesto, or use store-bought pesto for more ease.
• This recipe can be made with regular pasta instead of (or in addition to) zucchini noodles.
• Do all the prep work first (spiralizing zucchini, marinating shrimp, and making pesto) as this dish comes together very quickly.

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