We’ve thought of what vegetables go well with shrimp scampi to make this dish even more extra.
Shrimp Scampi is without a doubt a tasty dish. It’s packed with the natural flavor of shrimp aided with garlic and fresh creamery butter.
You’ve heard of it before. It’s one of the tastiest and most classic ways to prepare shrimp. Shrimp scampi is the epitome of shrimp, butter, and garlic together. Scampi means langoustines in Italian and although it isn’t really an Italian dish in origin, the Italian term was created because of its Italian-American roots.
All over the world, the mixture of butter, garlic, and some form of crustacean whether it is shrimp, langoustines, crabs, lobsters, or crawfish, is a typical way to prepare seafood.
The garlic is an obvious perfect flavor to add to crustaceans because it enhances the briny flavor of the seafood meat, and butter amplifies the richness of the crustacean.
Nowadays, butter isn’t just used for making scampi but other kinds of fat like sunflower oil or olive oil. Some people even add other flavors like parsley, chili and lemon to the dish.
In Spain, the closest dish they have to shrimp scampi is gambas al ajillo meaning shrimp with garlic. It is cooked in olive oil with a lot of garlic and white wine.
In Italian-American cuisine, shrimp scampi is typically served with pasta, particularly angel hair pasta. The delicate flavor of the shrimp is perfect with delicate noodles. The garlic, white wine and butter dress the noodles perfectly.
Now that it’s established how amazing this dish is, we want to make the meal even more extra by adding vegetables to it. We’ve thought of vegetables that go well with tasty shrimp scampi and here’s what we came up with.
Table of Contents
1. Asparagus
Asparagus is 100% the number choice of vegetable to have with shrimp scampi. It’s a mild-tasting vegetable that you can have with anything.
The delicious crunch of the asparagus is enjoyable to eat. Try deep-frying the asparagus and drizzling some truffle oil and Parmesan cheese on top.
2. French Beans
Serving shrimp scampi as a viand rather than a pasta dish? Add French beans to it to add texture and flavor. French beans are subtle in flavor with a delicious crunch to them. It’s nice to add it as an extender for a dish.
Not only does it add color to the dish but it’s also a great way to make use of seasonal products and turn it into something new.
3. Spinach
Spinach is a mild and fresh leafy green that easily goes well with any kind of dish. You can add some fresh leaves of spinach right before serving a shrimp scampi pasta dish.
The fresh bite of the spinach tastes refreshing with the butter and garlic. You can also opt to cook the spinach together with the shrimp.
4. Arugula Rocket
If you want to order a side salad with your shrimp scampi, we highly suggest ordering a side dish of arugula rocket. It can be mixed with other kinds of leafy greens for a more subtle flavor but we’re out for the nutty bitterness of arugula rocket.
It adds character to the rich flavor of the shrimp scampi and it’s even more perfect with a mild lemon vinaigrette dressing.
5. Tomato
Shrimp scampi tastes rich in general because of the butter or other kind of fat, shrimp, and strong garlic flavor. In order to cut through these rich flavors, it’s always a good idea to add tomato to counter that.
Tomatoes taste great in pasta all the time and to pair it with shrimp scampi is saving the consumer from getting tired of the rich dish so easily.
6. Broccoli
Thinking of a vegetable side dish to go with pasta isn’t an easy taste. You really have to make sure that it tastes great and compliments the pasta dish. If you’re having shrimp scampi pasta, a nice side of sour broccoli would go well with it.
Now you’re probably thinking why should it be sour and how will you cook a sour broccoli side dish.
Think vinegar! Choose your favorite vinegar and mix it with honey. Mix the broccoli in this sweet and sour mixture and roast it until it crusts the broccoli. The sweet and sour flavor will cut through the richness of the shrimp scampi dish.
7. Cauliflower
If the pasta doesn’t sound so appealing for you to have with your shrimp scampi, you can opt to have it with cauliflower rice instead. Cauliflower is a great alternative to rice.
It has fewer calories and it has a mild flavor that could be eaten with any flavored dish. It’s nice to pour the sauce of the shrimp scampi over the bed of cauli rice and plate the shrimp on top.
8. Carrots
If you’re adding vegetables to a shrimp scampi pasta, carrots would be one of the first choices of vegetables to add. The natural sweetness of the earthy flavor of carrots compliments the flavor of shrimp.
Carrots taste sweet and this is adapted by the buttery sauce for the dish. It also adds a delicious crunch to the generally tender dish.
9. Jicama
You might be wondering why this is on the list. Jicama can be eaten raw or cooked. It is typically eaten raw and it is usually added to Asian flavors. However, you can cook minced jicama with shrimp scampi to add texture to the dish. It’s a mild added flavor and it pleasantly works well with the dish.
If you choose to eat your jicama raw, you can eat your shrimp scampi pasta side by side with batonnets of fresh jicama. You can swirl each piece of jicama in the juices of the shrimp scampi.
10. Spring Onion
Spring onion is totally out of the flavor profile of a traditional shrimp scampi. However, we feel that the addition of chopped spring onion makes a delicious garnish for a rich crustacean tasting dish.
The mild onion flavor from the spring onions will add zing to the dish, cutting through the richness of the butter and the shrimp. It also balances the strong flavors of garlic.
