Shrimp Puttanesca Rice Bowl Recipe - Healthy Dinner Idea (2024)

Published: · Modified: by Dara · This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. · 19 Comments

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Easy rice bowl recipe! This classic Italian puttanesca sauce is simmered with shrimp and ladled over rice for an easy, healthy meal. 336 calories and 5 Weight Watchers SP
Shrimp Puttanesca Rice Bowl Recipe - Healthy Dinner Idea (1)

Shrimp Puttanesca Rice Bowl Recipe

The beauty of an easy rice bowl recipe is that you can make top it with almost anything to suit your tastebuds. This shrimp rice bowl, with the briny, salty taste of a classic puttanesca sauce, easily slid onto the "make again" list in our house. Truth be told, my family will take bowl meals almost any way they come. My Avocado Salmon Poke Salad Bowl is a favorite with my boys (and me!), while my husband would opt for a Chicken Burrito Bowl almost any day of the week.

Always easy, always flavorful - rice bowl recipes are the way to go when you need to put a healthy dinner on the table quickly.

If you're following a low sodium diet, puttanesca sauce likely isn't doctor-approved. However, if you can afford to make the indulgence once in awhile, the capers, olives and anchovies add a wonderful depth of flavor, along with the garlic and tomatoes.

What if I hate anchovies?

For all of you anchovy haters out there, the anchovy flavor isn't detectable. Rather, it's add a wonderful layer of briny flavors to the sauce. In fact, they sort of "melt" into the olive oil when cooked in the first step of this recipe. My kids make all sorts of dramatic gagging sounds when I order anchovies on a pizza, but they gobble up this sauce with abandon.

Shrimp Puttanesca Rice Bowl Recipe - Healthy Dinner Idea (2)

Tips for making this rice bowl recipe:

  • Start by heating the olive oil in a large nonstick skillet. When cooking the garlic, anchovies and red pepper flakes in the olive oil, use the back of a wooden spoon to break down the anchovies as they cook.
  • The next step is to add the canned diced tomatoes, capers and kalamata olives. If you prefer a smoother sauce, use canned crushed tomatoes in place of the diced tomatoes. San Marzano tomatoes (affiliate link) have the best flavor and they'll truly make a difference to your sauce. However, other brands of canned tomatoes will work well, too.
  • Wait until the end of cooking to add the shrimp to the sauce so that they don't become overcooked and rubbery. It will just take about 3 minutes for them to cook in the simmering sauce.
  • I like to use brown rice for these bowls, but white rice, quinoa (affiliate links) or even cauliflower rice are great substitutions. If you make and freeze quinoa as part of your weekly prep session, this dish will be even easier to make! Just pull out some portions of frozen quinoa, pop it into the microwave and you're done.

Shrimp Puttanesca Rice Bowl Recipe - Healthy Dinner Idea (3)

This is definitely making it onto our list of easy weeknight recipes. If you are constantly looking for new healthy weeknight meal ideas (like me!), be sure to follow my Healthy School Night Recipe board on Pinterest. It's full of fantastic ideas from many of my favorite bloggers.

Shrimp Puttanesca Rice Bowl Recipe - Healthy Dinner Idea (4)

Other shrimp recipes:

{Cookin' Canuck}
{Cookin' Canuck}
Salt & Pepper Prawns with Creamy Avocado Dressing {Supergolden Bakes}
Grilled Shrimp Salad wit Honey Lime Vinaigrette {Joyful Healthy Eats}

Shrimp Puttanesca Rice Bowl Recipe - Healthy Dinner Idea (5)

Printable Recipe

Shrimp Puttanesca Rice Bowl Recipe - Healthy Dinner Idea (6)

Shrimp Puttanesca Rice Bowl Recipe

Easy rice bowl recipe! This classic Italian puttanesca sauce is simmered with shrimp and ladled over rice for an easy, healthy meal. 336 calories and 5 Weight Watchers SP

4.80 from 5 votes

Print Pin Rate

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 22 minutes minutes

Total Time: 32 minutes minutes

Servings: 4 Servings

Calories: 336.1kcal

Author: Dara Michalski | Cookin' Canuck

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Heat the olive oil in a large skillet set over medium heat.

  • Add the garlic, anchovies and crushed red pepper flakes. Break the anchovies down with the back of a wooden spoon. Cook for 2 minutes.

  • Add the diced tomatoes, capers and kalamata olives. Bring to a boil, then simmer until the sauce thickens slightly, 10 to 15 minutes.

  • Add the shrimp and simmer until the shrimp are just cooked through, turning partway through, about 3 minutes. Stir in the parsley.

  • Divide the brown rice between 4 bowls. Top each portion with ¼ of the shrimp mixture.

Notes

Weight Watchers Points: 5 (Freestyle SmartPoints), 8 (Points+)

Nutrition

Serving: 1Bowl | Calories: 336.1kcal | Carbohydrates: 36.2g | Protein: 28.2g | Fat: 8.7g | Saturated Fat: 1.2g | Cholesterol: 174.8mg | Sodium: 974mg | Potassium: 334.8mg | Fiber: 5.6g | Sugar: 7.1g

Tried this recipe?If you make this recipe, I'd love to see it on Instagram! Just use the hashtag #COOKINCANUCK and I'll be sure to find it.

This post was originally published on September 9, 2013, and was updated on August 12, 2019.

Disclosure: I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

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  1. Laurie {Simply Scratch}

    Perfect weeknight meal! Love it!

    Reply

  2. Jersey Girl Cooks

    Easy weeknight meals are the best. Great dinner!

    Reply

  3. Rachael @ Set the Table

    This is just lovely! Perfectly comforting and full of delicious flavors I'm sure. Thanks for another great recipe! -Rachael

    Reply

  4. Kristi @ Inspiration Kitchen

    BTW, pinning! I can't stand it - it looks SSSOOO TASTY!

    Reply

  5. Kristi @ Inspiration Kitchen

    Oh my - could this look any more delicious??? I think not! My mouth is watering, and I want this right now!!! Seriously, I want to pick that little shrimpy off the top, pop it in my mouth and then dig in for all the rest of that goodness. Yummo, yummo, nummy in a bowl. Count me in!

    Reply

  6. Donna

    Just changed my dinner plans!

    Reply

  7. Renee - Kudos Kitchen

    YUM! This looks delicious. I'm turning more and more to shrimp lately as my favorite form of protein. I love how quick cooking and tasty it is.

    Reply

  8. Kiran @ KiranTarun.com

    I could devour these in bowls. Seriously 😀

    Reply

  9. Lauren @ Climbing Grier Mountain

    I adore puttanesca!! I'll take a big bowl, PA-LEASE?! 🙂

    Reply

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Shrimp Puttanesca Rice Bowl Recipe - Healthy Dinner Idea (2024)

FAQs

What to eat with puttanesca? ›

Chicken Puttanesca is a full meal on its own, but you'll likely want something to soak up all the sauce. Crispy homemade Rosemary Focaccia, hot and fresh out of the oven is a special treat. Plain noodles tossed with olive oil or crusty bread are also worthy contenders.

Why is it called puttanesca sauce? ›

Etymology. Because puttana means roughly 'whor*' or 'prostitute' and puttanesca is an adjective derived from that word, the dish may have been invented in one of many bordellos in the Naples working-class neighbourhood of Quartieri Spagnoli as a quick meal taken between servicing clients.

What wine goes with salmon puttanesca? ›

My favorite Italian red grape, Sangiovese, which is used in familiar Chianti and Rosso di Montalcino, is a great example of a medium-bodied red wine that works well with food. And certain, lighter, fruitier wines made from sangiovese are perfect with spicy saucy tomato-based dishes like a Puttanesca.

How many calories in a bowl of puttanesca? ›

Spaghetti puttanesca
NutrientUnit
kcal495
fat19g
saturates3g
carbs66g
4 more rows

What are the health benefits of puttanesca? ›

Quick, inexpensive and filling, puttanesca pasta is an Italian favorite. You'll enjoy this recipe for its simplicity, savory taste and health-promoting benefits, including lycopene from the tomatoes, which helps prevent cancer and heart disease, heart-smart garlic and vitamin-rich herbs.

Why is puttanesca so good? ›

What's so special about puttanesca sauce? While I love the added briny flavors from kalamata olives and capers in this tomato-based pasta sauce, I consider anchovies to be the secret ingredient. They're what distinguishes puttanesca from any other red sauce you may be familiar with.

What is puttanesca sauce made of? ›

Puttanesca sauce is a sweetly simple sauce made from a delicious combination of tomatoes, black olives, capers, anchovies, onions, garlic, and Italian herbs. The recipe is easy to make, not requiring too much cooking time while still developing a spicy and fragrant taste.

What can I use instead of anchovies in puttanesca? ›

The garlicky olive-and-tomato pasta sauce is perfect just the way it is, but a simple can of tuna really adds to the final Puttanesca pasta dish. Tuna gives your pasta a more hearty, filling presence. If you don't like anchovies this may be a good substitute.

What drink goes with puttanesca? ›

With hot spicy sauces such as arrabbiatta, aglio olio e peperoncino (garlic, oil and chilli) and puttanesca (anchovies, capers and olives) try either a sharply flavoured dry white wine or a rustic Italian red: a Primitivo or Sicilian red, Zinfandel or Valpolicella Ripasso.

What wine goes with shrimp puttanesca? ›

Top pairings
  1. Sicilian and southern Italian reds such as nero d'avola, negroamara and primitivo.
  2. Inexpensive zinfandel (you don't want one that's too extracted or high in alcohol with this punchy pasta sauce)
  3. Barbera - from Northern Italy or elsewhere - always a good wine with a rustic dish.
May 24, 2021

What wine pairs with shrimp? ›

Wines with citrus, herbaceous, or tropical fruit flavors like Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio, Grüner Veltliner, or Viognier pair beautifully with shrimp. These wines complement the delicate sweetness of shrimp without overpowering them. They provide bright acidity and minerality to lighten the dish.

What is traditionally served with pasta? ›

Pasta is often served as a primo (first course), with a meat, seafood or vegetable course called a secondo coming after that. To do as the Italians do, try serving a smaller portion of pasta as a primo for an Italian-inspired dinner party, or as precursor to a meat, fish or vegetable main.

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