Bang Bang Shrimp Pasta

I love making Chinese food at home, and this healthy Bang Bang Shrimp pasta is one of my favorite shrimp recipes to make.

With just the right amount of sweet, spicy, and creamy, this Instant Pot Chinese food recipe will be a hit with the whole family. Plus, this great recipe uses a lower calorie Greek yogurt instead of mayo, cream cheese, or heavy cream, so you can keep the dish creamy while making it healthier.

My family requests that I make my Healthy Bang Bang Shrimp Pasta often, as it is one of their favorite pasta recipes. I especially love this shrimp pasta dish for busy weeknights because it’s quick and easy to make, whether you cook it in the Instant Pot, on the stove, or in a slow cooker.

Where’s the Recipe?

Readers with all levels of comfort and experience in the kitchen visit My Crazy Good Life for healthy and delicious recipes. To make sure you get great results, whether you just started cooking or have made this recipe before, I like to provide a ton of helpful information in my recipes.

However, if you’d like to skip over different variations for making this dish, as well as recipe tips and healthy eating plan information, please just scroll to the bottom of the post where you’ll find an easy-to-print version of this healthier Bang Bang Shrimp Pasta recipe!

Ingredients in Healthy Bang Bang Shrimp Pasta

• Dry whole wheat spaghetti noodles: Whole wheat noodles are packed with 3x the fiber and also contain protein, iron, and zinc. You can use angel hair pasta instead of spaghetti if you like. Just note that angel hair pasta doesn’t boil as long as cooked spaghetti noodles.
• Raw FROZEN jumbo, peeled and deveined shrimp: You’ll want to make sure you use raw frozen shrimp because using raw unfrozen or pre-cooked shrimp will affect your cooking times. Definitely make sure to use deveined and peeled shrimp, too. Do not let the frozen shrimp thaw before cooking.
• Minced garlic: Use fresh minced garlic if you can, as it will give a great punch of flavor to this dish. If you’re out of fresh minced garlic, though, garlic powder will do in a pinch.
• Coconut oil: Coconut oil will add a fresh, tropical flavor to this creamy pasta dish. If you don’t have coconut oil, you can swap it for olive oil (but remember that this will change the nutritional counts).
• Honey: A little honey adds just a touch of sweetness to this delicious dish!
• Fresno Pepper: A Fresno pepper is a lot like a jalapeño, but is slightly spicier with smokey undertones. It can add wonderfully complex flavor to a dish. If you prefer, though, a jalapeño will work well in this dish, too! If you don’t want your pasta too spicy or don’t have any peppers on hand, chili powder or red pepper flakes will do, but they will slightly change the flavor of the meal.
• Lime juice: Fresh lime juice will perfectly complement the coconut oil in adding a tropical zing to your pasta.
• Black Pepper: Fresh ground black pepper contrasts so well with the sweetness of the honey.
• Rice vinegar: Look for unsweetened or unflavored rice vinegar to add a bit of tang to this dish.
• Plain 2% Greek yogurt: Instead of using mayo or cream cheese, this healthy version of Bang Bang Shrimp pasta substitutes plain Greek yogurt. Be sure to purchase the 2%.
• Sriracha sauce or other hot sauce: Sriracha sauce is easy to get at most grocery stores, but other hot sauces such as Thai sweet chili sauce will work well, too.
• Green onion: I like using green onions to bring a bit of color and crunch to this pasta dish.

How to Make Healthy Bang Bang Shrimp Pasta in the Instant Pot

When calculating your total cooking time, don’t forget to allow a few minutes for your pressure cooker to come to pressure!

1. Turn the Instant Pot to sauté. Add the coconut oil and allow it to melt and heat up.
2. Next, add the garlic and Fresno peppers. Sauté for about 30 seconds until fragrant.
3. Break the spaghetti noodles in half and arrange in the Instant Pot. Pour the water over the noodles.
4. Toss in the frozen shrimp, salt, pepper, rice vinegar, honey, and lime on top of the noodles.
5. Close the lid and turn the pressure valve to sealing.
6. Cook on high pressure using the manual setting for 3 minutes.
7. Release the pressure using a controlled quick release method. To do this use a utensil to open and close the pressure valve so that only a little pressure releases at a time. This will prevent liquid from sputtering out the top.
8. Slowly mix in the Greek yogurt, sriracha, and green onions. If you like your pasta less creamy, use less yogurt.
9. Serve while still hot.

How to Make Healthy Bang Bang Shrimp Pasta in a Slow Cooker

1. In the slow cooker, combine all the ingredients except the Greek yogurt and green onions.
2. Add the lid to the slow cooker.
3. Cook on low heat for 2 1/2 hours or high heat for 1 1/2 hours.
4. Remove the lid and stir in the Greek yogurt and green onions.
5. Serve.

How to Make Healthy Bang Bang Shrimp Pasta on the Stove Top

1. Cook pasta until al dente in a large pot according to the directions on the box. Drain the cooked pasta and rinse in cool water.
2. In a large skillet, heat the coconut oil (or olive oil) on medium-high heat.
3. Sauté the garlic and Fresno peppers. Add the shrimp, lime juice, salt and pepper to the skillet.
4. Mix it up and allow the spices to coat the shrimp, and then cover and let cook for 2-3 minutes until the shrimp is defrosted.
5. Remove the lid. Mix the honey, rice vinegar, and Sriracha or other hot sauce in a small mixing bowl, and then add to the shrimp.
6. Cook for another 2-3 minutes until the shrimp are pink and opaque.
7. Turn off the heat. Add the hot pasta noodles to the pan with the shrimp. Mix in the Greek yogurt and green onions.
8. Garnish and serve immediately.

Recipe Tips

• This delicious recipe has shrimp. We love to eat shrimp, however cooking shrimp can be a little tricky the first time, but you’ll quickly get the hang of it. You’ll be looking for the shrimp to turn pink and a little bit white instead of gray and translucent or “clear.” Uncooked shrimp is usually gray and translucent, so if you are still seeing that color they are not cooked enough. If your shrimp are bright white, you may have overcooked them.
• The internal temperature of shrimp when fully cooked is 120º, as measured by a meat thermometer. You’re looking for the shrimp to form a C shape when they’re finished cooking. If you see an O shape, they’re overcooked.
• The Fresno peppers make this a spicy dish! You can use peppers with less spice or omit the peppers entirely if you’d rather not have spice in this dish, and it won’t affect the cooking time or quality of the dish.
• If, on the other hand, you’d rather this pasta be a bit spicier, I’d recommend using a spicer pepper like serrano instead of Fresno peppers, and adding a teaspoon or two more of red pepper flakes for some serious spice. Do note that using red pepper flakes will modify the overall flavors of the original sauce ingredients.
• This pasta can be made gluten free by using brown rice noodles or zucchini noodles. Both have a much shorter cook time, as do zucchini noodles, so keep that in mind while you’re making this recipe. The sauce recipe will stay the same as it is gluten free already.
• This dish is not dairy free because of the Greek yogurt. You can substitute plain greek yogurt with a dairy free yogurt if you have one that you like, or add an extra bit of olive oil for a dairy free Bang Bang Shrimp Pasta that isn’t dry.

Healthy Eating Plans

Portion Fix & 21 Day Fix

Entire recipe: 6 yellow containers | 4 red containers | 1/2 green containers | 1 tsp | 12 sweetener teaspoons

Per serving: 1 yellow container | Just over 1/2 red container | negligible green container | negligible teaspoon | 2 sweetener teaspoons

2B Mindset

This makes a great lunch, you’ll need to add some extra veggies to make sure you hit your percentages for those.

Weight Watchers

9 2023 Points | 9 Blue Plan Points | 10 Green plan Points | 3 Purple Plan Points per serving using sugar free syrup instead of honey, and fat free Greek yogurt.

More Healthy Recipes

• Spring Roll Salad
• Healthy Drunken Noodles
• Healthy Orange Chicken Instant Pot
• Instant Pot Chicken Lo Mein
• Instant Pot Tofu Pad Thai

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