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Prawn and courgette linguine

Linguine with prawns, tender courgette and a light parsley sauce.

By The foodose editorial team. Nutrition calculated from USDA FoodData Central. Checked on paper on 12 September 2026; not yet cooked in a test kitchen or photographed, so the times and yield are estimates. How we develop our recipes
What still needs a real kitchen
  • Confirm the prawns cook through in 3 to 4 minutes
  • Photograph the finished plate
Time
About 30 min
estimated
Serves
2
see below
Energy
395 kcal
per serving
Protein
35 g
per serving
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Not yet photographed. The panel names the dish’s main ingredients rather than showing a picture we have not taken.

Ingredients for 2 servings

2 servings

Check off ingredients as you go.

Contains crustaceans, gluten. Check the labels on packaged ingredients:

  • linguine. Most dry pasta is just wheat and water, but some contains egg; check the packet.

Cooking steps

  1. Cook the linguine in boiling water, following the packet. Before draining the pasta, keep back a mugful of the cooking water.

  2. Meanwhile, warm the oil in a wide pan over medium heat. Add the courgette and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, until soft and lightly coloured.

  3. Add the garlic and cook for a minute, then the prawns. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, turning, until they are opaque and firm right through.

    Cooked when: opaque and firm right through, with no glassy flesh left.

  4. Add the drained linguine, the parsley and the lemon juice, with a few spoonfuls of the cooking water, and turn everything over the heat until the sauce coats the strands.

The useful detail

Pasta water brings the sauce together without making it oily. Its starch binds the oil and lemon into something that clings, which more oil alone would not do.

Make it work for you

One serving is Half the pan: 60 g of pasta (dry weight) with half the prawns. You can switch to a smaller portion in the ingredients above; it is three quarters of this, and it contains correspondingly less energy and protein. It is an option, not a goal.

  • Cooked prawns

    Add them at the end, only to warm through.

    Per serving: about 20 kcal more, about 5 g more protein, about the same fat.

  • Green beans instead of courgette

    Firmer and greener; boil them with the pasta for the last 4 minutes.

    Per serving: about 20 kcal more, about 1 g more protein, about the same fat.

  • Gluten-free pasta

    Works, though it gives up less starch, so the sauce is looser. Nutrition is not recalculated.

    Allergens: Removes gluten.

Estimated nutrition

Per standard serving, calculated from the ingredients above. Nutrition changes with substitutions, brands and how much oil stays in the pan.

A pasta dinner where the sauce is oil, lemon and pasta water rather than cream, and the prawns keep the protein high for the energy.

Nutrition per serving
Energy395 kcal
Protein35 g
Fat7 g
of which saturates1 g
Carbohydrate50 g
of which sugarsnot calculated
Fibre3 g
Sodium160 mg
Show calculation notes

Each ingredient’s weight is multiplied by its USDA FoodData Central values per 100 g. The whole recipe is added up and divided by 2. Raw weights are used for meat, fish and vegetables; beans and lentils are drained weights. All of the oil is counted as eaten. Added salt is not included; sodium from stock, bread, cheese and tinned food is.

Calculation, whole recipe
IngredientWeight usedSourceEnergyProtein
linguine120 gFDC 169736Pasta, dry, enrichedFoodData Central records dry pasta as one entry rather than by shape, so linguine, lasagne, cannelloni and shells all use it.445 kcal15.6 g
olive oil9 gFDC 171413Oil, olive, salad or cooking80 kcal0.0 g
courgette250 gFDC 169291Squash, summer, zucchini, includes skin, raw43 kcal3.0 g
garlic5 gFDC 169230Garlic, raw7 kcal0.3 g
raw prawns250 gFDC 175179Crustaceans, shrimp, raw213 kcal50.3 g
parsley5 gFDC 170416Parsley, fresh2 kcal0.1 g
lemon juice10 gFDC 167747Lemon juice, raw2 kcal0.0 g
Whole recipeDivided by 2792 kcal69.4 g

Per serving the energy is rounded to the nearest 5 kcal, grams to the nearest whole gram and sodium to the nearest 10 mg. of which sugars could not be calculated, because one ingredient’s record does not cover it; the row above says which. Calculation method 1.0, September 2026. How the calculation works.

Storage and reheating

In the fridge
Cool, cover and refrigerate within 2 hours of cooking. Eat within 3 to 4 days. Prawns toughen when reheated; this is much better eaten fresh.
In the freezer
The FDA chart gives cooked fish 4 to 6 months in the freezer for best quality.
Reheating
Reheat until it reaches 74°C / 165°F, steaming hot throughout.

Checked against US Food and Drug Administration, Refrigerator and Freezer Storage Chart, USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service, Leftovers and Food Safety, FoodSafety.gov, Safe Minimum Internal Temperatures and FoodSafety.gov, Cold Food Storage Chart. UK guidance from the Food Standards Agency is shorter, at two days for most leftovers.

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