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Spicy Calabrian Shrimp with White Beans
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Sautéed shrimp are served in a spicy Calabrian chili white wine and garlic sauce with creamy cannellini beans. Enjoy this unique and fiery take on classic shrimp scampi with plenty of bread for soaking up the sauce. While it seems like a lot of Calabrian chili, the creaminess of the white beans cuts down and balances the heat. This dish comes together quickly making it perfect for an impressive, yet easy, weeknight dinner that can be doubled or even tripled to feed a crowd. For another take on scampi try these shrimp scampi toasts or summer shrimp scampi pasta.
Key Ingredients in This Recipe
- Shrimp – Terms used to refer to shrimp like “jumbo” and “extra jumbo” and “colossal” actually aren’t standardized terms within the industry. Rather than looking at the key word, look at the number of shrimp per pound labeled as the count. I like the 16/20 count shrimp for this recipe, it means there will be between 16 and 20 shrimp per pound. In this recipe each person will get 4 to 5 shrimp.
- Calabrian chili – Calabrian chilis are fruity and spicy Italian peppers typically sold chopped or crushed and packed in a neutral oil. Trader Joe’s bomba sauce also works well.
- Garlic – I recommend using fresh cloves of garlic. Pre-minced jars of garlic don’t taste the same. It loses a lot of the powerful garlic flavor when it’s jarred. Sautéing the chopped garlic mellows the flavor and makes it incredibly fragrant.
- White wine – A bit of white wine is used to deglaze the pan so that any browned bits from the shrimp infuse the sauce with flavor. The wine also simmers the beans so they are extremely tender.
- Beans – Cannellini beans, also known as white navy beans, help cut down the heat from the Calabrian chilies. These small white beans can be used interchangeably with great northern beans. I love using them in this dish for their smooth, slightly nutty texture.
- Lemon zest – The lemon zest adds a wonderful brightness that perfectly balances the spice from the chilies.
A full ingredient list with exact amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
Swaps and substitutions
- Other shellfish like scallops or steamed clams would also pair well with this sauce and preparation.
- While I like serving this with toasted bread, you can also serve it over your favorite pasta shape.
pro tip
When you’re cooking shrimp keep an eye on their shape to make sure they are cooked to perfection. Look for them to go from a U shape to a C shape, indicating they are perfectly cooked. Once they form a tight O they are overcooked.
How to thaw frozen shrimp
If you didn’t plan far enough ahead of time for a dinner that needs to be on the table in an hour, don’t worry. To quickly thaw frozen shrimp, fill a bowl with cold water. Add the shrimp and replace the water every 5 to 10 minutes until completely thawed, about 20 minutes. Warm water will change the texture of the shrimp so make sure your water is cold! Pat dry with paper towels and use as needed.
How to Make Spicy Calabrian Shrimp with White Beans (Step-by-step)
Pat the shrimp dry with a paper towel. Season the shrimp on both sides with salt and pepper. Heat a large sauté pan over medium heat, add the olive oil and heat through. Working in batches if needed to not overcrowd the pan, add the shrimp to the pan.
Cook the shrimp until pink and no longer translucent, about 1½ minutes per side. Remove the shrimp from the pan to a plate or bowl and cover.
Return the pan to medium heat, add the butter and allow to melt, then add the garlic and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the Calabrian chili paste.
Deglaze the pan with the white wine, then add the white beans and stir to combine. Continue to cook over low heat until the beans are soft, about 10 minutes. Add the lemon zest and half the herbs, stirring to combine.
Return the shrimp to the pan, stirring to combine. Divide among serving bowls, garnish with the remaining herbs and serve with bread.
FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions
Calabrian chilis are spicy, fruity peppers from southern Italy. They’re usually sold jarred in oil and can be found at Italian markets, specialty grocers, or online.
While they are becoming more widely available (Trader Joe’s Bomba sauce is a good substitute) if you can’t track down Calabrian chili paste then I’d recommend finely chopping fire roasted red peppers and stirring them together with crushed red pepper flakes to form a paste. It won’t have the exact same flavor but it will do in a pinch. If you can only find whole jarred Calabrian chilies, simply remove the stems and finely chop them.
It has a moderate heat level from the Calabrian chilis, but you can adjust the amount to suit your spice tolerance.
Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2–3 days. Gently reheat over low heat to avoid overcooking the shrimp
Other Recipes to Try
If you enjoy this Calabrian shrimp recipe, give these a try:
Thanks for cooking with me! If you made this recipe for spicy calabrian shrimp with white beans, leave a 🌟 rating and share your thoughts or tips below. I’d love to hear from you!
Spicy Calabrian Shrimp with White Beans
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Ingredients:
- 1 pound peeled and deveined extra-jumbo 16/20 count shrimp
- Kosher salt, as needed
- Freshly ground black pepper, as needed
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 6 cloves garlic, chopped
- 3 tablespoons crushed Calabrian chili
- 1 cup dry white wine
- 1 (15.5-ounce) can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley, divided
- 1 tablespoon chopped chives, divided
- Toasted sourdough bread, for serving
Instructions:
- Pat the shrimp dry with a paper towel. Season the shrimp on both sides with salt and pepper. Heat a large sauté pan over medium heat, add the olive oil and heat through. Working in batches if needed to not overcrowd the pan, add the shrimp to the pan.
- Cook the shrimp until pink and no longer translucent, about 1½ minutes per side. Remove the shrimp from the pan to a plate or bowl and cover.
- Return the pan to medium heat, add the butter and allow to melt, then add the garlic and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the Calabrian chili paste.
- Deglaze the pan with the white wine, then add the white beans and stir to combine. Continue to cook over low heat until the beans are soft, about 10 minutes. Add the lemon zest and half the herbs, stirring to combine.
- Return the shrimp to the pan, stirring to combine. Divide among serving bowls, garnish with the remaining herbs and serve with bread.
Nutrition:
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a lovely dish! legumes are a plus for me too, white beans, great, really any of them, supposed to get more into my diet and shrimp always works for me, thank you!
So happy to hear it!! Thank you for sharing Sabrina!
I like this recipe especially because of your use of Calabrian chile. I think it adds flavor as well as heat, as opposed to red pepper flakes as some suggest. The only thing I would add is some anchovy to the garlic mix.
So happy to hear you enjoyed! Oh love that idea! You’re right, anchovy would be a great addition.
Great dish! My husband is sensitive to garlic, so added less. Same with the Calabrian Peppers. Still, a wonderful dish that I look forward to serving again.
I’m so happy you were able to make accommodations and enjoyed the dish! Thank you for sharing!
Great dish, and a good way to add beans to our diet. My husband is a bit sensitive to heat so I added about half the Calabrian chiles to the recipe. Next time I’ll try adding a bit of anchovy paste. I bought my chiles at Trader Joe’s, too! Looking forward to making this again.
I’m so happy you were able to adjust as needed and enjoy the dish! I love the idea of adding anchovy paste – it will complement it wonderfully! Thanks so much for sharing Ellen!
Great dish with amazing Flavor!! However next time we’ll do it with less peppers! Just a bit over the top with the heat level!
Thank you!! So glad you enjoyed it! The great thing is you can always adjust the peppers to your spice preference — such an easy tweak to make it just right for you.
Excellent! It did take me more than 5 minutes to prep- I had to thaw & peel shrimp & chop up all that garlic & chilis. I doubled the shrimp but not the garlic – 6 big cloves were perfect and I only had Calabrian peppers, not paste. I chopped up 3 tablespoons worth of them & the heat was perfect. I also added kale near the end to get my greens in. SOOOOOOOOO GOOD!
So glad you loved it Serena! Your swaps and additions sound great —I bet the kale was perfect in there. Thanks for sharing!!