For the ultimate fusion dish, look no further than this spicy avocado pasta with tequila shrimp! Featuring an ultra creamy avocado sauce with the perfect spice kick and punch of citrus, this Tex-Mex pasta is simple enough for cooks of all levels to prepare, and it takes less than 30 minutes to whip up. After one bite, you'll have a new favorite pasta.
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Why You Need to Make This Recipe
Obsessed with avocados? Can't get enough pasta? This creamy avocado pasta is for you. Let's count the ways you need this dish in your life.
- Oh-so creamy. Despite not requiring a drop of heavy cream, this avocado sauce is ultra luscious and decadent.
- Quick and easy. Whip up the avocado sauce in under 10 minutes, cook the pasta and roast the shrimp. In less than 30 minutes, you have yourself one delicious, hearty meal.
- Different from your average pasta. We all love your typical tomato, pesto and cream sauce pastas, but let’s give our taste buds a change of pace.
- Tequila shrimp! After roasting, we pour tequila over the shrimp for an extra flavor boost. The margarita lover in you will rejoice.
Related: For more spicy pasta inspiration, check out my pumpkin-chorizo baked ziti and this creamy Cajun pasta from Pass the Sushi.
Ingredients
As you can see, the avocado pasta ingredients are straightforward and easy to find. How’s that for another reason to love this recipe?
For the pasta, I like fettuccine. Spaghetti also works. Since this is a thick sauce, I prefer a pasta with some body as opposed to an angel hair linguine.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Let's prepare our tequila shrimp for roasting by tossing them with olive oil and chili powder (photo 1). We pop the shrimp into the oven until they cook through (photo 2) and then pour tequila over the hot shrimp.
Step 2: Now we cook our pasta and prepare the avocado sauce while it boils. For the sauce, we toss avocado, garlic, olive oil, cilantro, cumin, cayenne, smoked paprika, lime juice, salt and pepper into a food processor (photo 3) and blend until smooth and creamy (photo 4).
Step 3: Once our pasta finishes cooking, we drain it, reserving some pasta water, and then toss with our avocado sauce (photo 5). The avocado sauce will be very thick, so after the initial toss, we pour in some of that reserved pasta water to give it the perfect consistency (photo 6).
Step 4: Now we top our spicy avocado pasta with our tequila shrimp and a little cojita cheese for an extra Tex-Mex kick. Go ahead and dig in!
Recipe FAQs
How can you tell if an avocado is ripe?
Choose a darkly colored avocado that yields to gentle pressure when squeezed without feeling mushy. We don't want avocados that aren't quite ripe. Even with a food processor, we won't get that wonderfully creamy texture if the avocados are still rock hard.
Another method is to remove the avocado stem. If the stem comes off easily and the area underneath it is green, you have yourself a ripe avocado.
Store your avocados in a paper bag with a banana or apple, fold the bag to seal and let it sit overnight. This produces ethene gas, which helps break down the cellular structure to ripen the avocado. While this still requires a night of sitting, it's much faster than waiting several days for a hard avocado to ripen on the counter.
Expert Tips
- Just before cooking, I like to pre-measure and prep my avocado sauce ingredients. This way, I feel less stressed while cooking, and it makes for low-key entertaining.
- To keep the avocado sauce from turning brown, I recommend making it fresh as the pasta cooks.
- Mix the pasta and avocado sauce as soon as you drain the pasta. Hot pasta makes it much easier to incorporate the sauce.
- When adding the pasta water, start with a little at a time. We can always add more water, but we can't fix it if we add too much. I find 2-4 tablespoons generally does the trick, but it comes down to personal preference.
- Feel free to add other mix-ins, such as bacon, sautéed spinach or roasted cherry tomatoes.
Perfect Pairing
With the creamy avocado and fettuccine, this isn't the lightest dish. A bubbly hefeweizen cuts through the spice and fatty avocado, and the citrus notes perfectly liven the tequila shrimp.
In that same spirit, a sauvignon blanc is a delicious match here. With its bright acidity, this crisp wine keeps our palate refreshed.
And, of course, we are talking Mexican-Italian fusion here. How about we get extra festive and enjoy this Italian margarita on the side? Trust me -- it's a good call.
For a dish like no other, I hope you try this spicy avocado pasta with tequila shrimp. You will love every decadent, creamy bite.
Cheers!
Love a Good Pasta Dish?
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Spicy Avocado Pasta With Tequila Shrimp
Equipment
- Roasting pan
- Food processor
- Large pot
- Strainer
Ingredients
For Tex-Mex Avocado Pasta
- 1 pound dried fettuccine
- 2 avocados
- 3 garlic cloves peeled and roughly chopped
- ½ cup olive oil
- ½ cup cilantro
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon cayenne
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 lime juiced
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 2-4 tablespoons pasta water adding more if needed
- ½ cup cojita cheese crumbled
For Tequila Shrimp
- 12 ounces jumbo shrimp peeled and deveined
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- ½ teaspoon chipotle chili powder
- 2 ounces tequila
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 425 degrees and boil a pot of salted water for the fettuccine. When the water is ready, boil the fettuccine.
- Meanwhile, place the shrimp in a baking dish and drizzle with olive oil, salt, pepper and chipotle chili powder. Mix to coat and spread the spiced shrimp in a single layer. Roast the shrimp in the oven for five to seven minutes, depending on size. The shrimp are ready when pink and opaque, but keep an eye open to avoid overcooking.
- While the shrimp roast, add the avocado, garlic cloves, olive oil, cilantro, cumin, cayenne, smoked paprika, lime juice, salt and pepper in a food processor. For the salt and pepper, start with about ½-1 teaspoon. Blend until smooth and scrape the side of the bowl if necessary. Once it's blended, taste and add more salt if needed.
- Remove the shrimp from the oven, pour the tequila over the shrimp in the hot baking dish and stir to coat as it sizzles.
- Drain the fettuccine, reserving the pasta water, and move to a mixing bowl. Pour the avocado sauce over the fettuccine and stir to coat. Add 2-4 tablespoons pasta water to attain desired consistency and continue to mix. If necessary, you can add more. Once the fettuccine is well-coated, divide among serving bowls and top with cojita cheese and shrimp. Bonus points for garnishing with more cilantro and lime. Enjoy!
Notes
- Just before cooking, I like to pre-measure and prep my avocado sauce ingredients. This way, I feel less stressed while cooking, and it makes for low-key entertaining.
- To keep the avocado sauce from turning brown, I recommend making it fresh as the pasta cooks.
- Mix the pasta and avocado sauce as soon as you drain the pasta. Hot pasta makes it much easier to incorporate the sauce.
- When adding the pasta water, start with a little at a time. We can always add more water, but we can't fix it if we add too much. I find 2-4 tablespoons generally does the trick, but it comes down to personal preference.
- Feel free to add other mix-ins, such as bacon, sautéed spinach or roasted cherry tomatoes.
- Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Nutrition
Recipe originally published in May 2018 and republished in June 2021.
Allyssa says
Super loved avocado! Thanks a lot for sharing this very easy to make and fantastic recipe! Really love how flavorful it turned out! I highly recommend this and I will make it again for sure!
Amanda McGrory-Dixon says
You're so welcome, and I'm glad you loved it!
Jere Cassidy says
Yeah, so glad to have a new pasta recipe to try. I tend to make the old boring recipes and need to spice it up some. Love the flavors and with shrimp makes this very tasty.
Amanda McGrory-Dixon says
It really is such a fun spin on your typical pasta! So glad you like it.
Ksenia says
I’m just drooling at the flavor combination here! It’s the perfect fusion between Mexican flavors and Italian pasta.
Amanda McGrory-Dixon says
The flavors go together so well!
Kushigalu says
Love avocado but never tried avocado pasta. Sounds amazingly delicious. I want to try this soon. Thanks for sharing
Amanda McGrory-Dixon says
You are very welcome!
Jacqueline Debono says
Love this Tex-Mex pasta recipe. It's a brilliant and tasty way to combine my favourite foods, pasta, avocado and shrimp!
Amanda McGrory-Dixon says
They’re just all so good together!
Mihaela | https://theworldisanoyster.com/ says
Gosh, it looks so good; I want it on the table now! You always bring the most beautiful recipes here and the best combinations of ingredients I love!
Amanda McGrory-Dixon says
Awww, thank you so much, Mihaela!
AISilva says
My mouth is watering just thinking about this dish. I love avocado pasta and my husband loves tequila shrimp. I can't wait to try this, I think we'll both love the spice too. Thanks for this amazing recipe!
Amanda McGrory-Dixon says
You are so welcome!
Nicole says
What a great dinner and menu option! I love this recipe!
Amanda McGrory-Dixon says
Thanks, Nicole!
Hayley Dhanecha says
What an incredible recipe of pasta, such delicious tex mex flavours with all things nice. Sharing this recipe with my friend who loves Mexican food.
Amanda McGrory-Dixon says
Y’all will love it!
Linda says
I'm currently drooling over this. Who can say no to a big bowl of comfort food like this?
Amanda McGrory-Dixon says
It’s the best!
Petro says
What an amazing recipe! Easy, quick and delicious, great for busy people!
Amanda McGrory-Dixon says
Absolutely! It really is a convenient recipe.
Jere Cassidy says
As always you have such wonderful recipes that are beautiful to look at and easy to make. I am always looking for a good shrimp recipe and I love all the spices you added to this Tex-Mex dish.
Amanda McGrory-Dixon says
Thank you so much! I really appreciate those kind words.
Marta says
I've been a lover of Tex-Mex for years. Your recipe looks amazing and will be on our table this weekend! Thanks for sharing!
Amanda McGrory-Dixon says
You are so welcome! I hope you all love it.