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Prawns with courgette, garlic and lemon spaghetti

Prawns and ribboned courgette through spaghetti with garlic and lemon.

By The foodose editorial team. Nutrition calculated from USDA FoodData Central. Checked on paper on 20 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 raw prawns turn opaque in 3 to 4 minutes
  • Confirm the pasta water emulsifies the sauce
  • Photograph the finished bowl
Time
About 27 min
estimated
Serves
2
see below
Energy
455 kcal
per serving
Protein
36 g
per serving
Jump to recipe
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:

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

Cooking steps

  1. Put the spaghetti on to boil in well salted water. Before you drain it, take out a mugful of the cooking water and keep it.

  2. Meanwhile peel the courgette into ribbons with a vegetable peeler, stopping when you reach the soft core.

  3. Soften the sliced garlic in the oil in a wide pan over low heat for 2 minutes, without letting it colour.

  4. Raise the heat, add the courgette ribbons and cook for 2 minutes, then add the prawns and cook for 3 to 4 minutes.

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

  5. Add the drained spaghetti, the lemon juice and a good splash of the pasta water, and toss hard over the heat for a minute until the liquid turns glossy and coats the strands. Finish with parsley.

The useful detail

Keep a cup of the pasta water. The starch in it is what turns oil and lemon juice into a sauce that clings to the pasta instead of pooling at the bottom of the bowl.

Make it work for you

One serving is Half the pasta with half the prawns and courgette. 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 instead of raw

    Firmer. Add them at the very end and only warm them through, or they go rubbery.

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

  • Wholemeal spaghetti

    Nuttier and firmer, with more fibre. Nutrition is not recalculated here.

  • Asparagus instead of courgette

    Firmer with more bite. Add it a minute before the prawns.

    Per serving: about 5 kcal more, about 1 g more protein, about the same fat.

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 prawns rather than the pasta decide the protein, and the courgette adds volume without weight.

Nutrition per serving
Energy455 kcal
Protein36 g
Fat9 g
of which saturates1 g
Carbohydrate58 g
of which sugarsnot calculated
Fibre4 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
spaghetti140 gFDC 169736Pasta, dry, enrichedFoodData Central records dry pasta as one entry rather than by shape.519 kcal18.3 g
garlic10 gFDC 169230Garlic, raw15 kcal0.6 g
olive oil14 gFDC 171413Oil, olive, salad or cooking121 kcal0.0 g
courgette200 gFDC 169291Squash, summer, zucchini, includes skin, raw34 kcal2.4 g
raw prawns250 gFDC 175179Crustaceans, shrimp, raw213 kcal50.3 g
lemon juice15 gFDC 167747Lemon juice, raw3 kcal0.1 g
parsley10 gFDC 170416Parsley, fresh4 kcal0.3 g
Whole recipeDivided by 2908 kcal71.9 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 and eat within 3 to 4 days, though pasta dishes are much better fresh.
Reheating
Reheat in a pan with a splash of water until 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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