Lunch can be a tricky meal, you are hungry but you don’t want to eat anything too heavy and be tired the rest of the day. It is because of that each week I try to create at least one light meal prep recipe that can be incorporated into my meal plan. I also do my best to take into account my macro goals and those of others, hoping to create something that is light, nutritious, and easily adjustable! This week I came up with my zucchini noodles and lemon shrimp. I hope you’ll give this recipe a try!
Lemon Shrimp and Zucchini Noodles
Ingredients
- 500 g Zucchini noodled, (about 4 medium squash)
- 18 oz Shrimp, uncooked fresh, uncooked, peeled and devained
- 1 Lemon juiced
- 1 tsp Black Pepper
- 1 tsp Garlic Powder
- ¼ tsp Old Bay Seasoning
- ½ tbsp Unsalted Butter
- ¼ tsp Salt
- 1 tbsp Italian Parsley
Instructions
- Start by peeling and devaining your shrimp. Then place the shrimp in a medium bowl and season with juice from half of the lemon, half of the black pepper and garlic, and all of the old bay. Toss together and allow to soak up the flavors while you noodle your zucchini.
- Using a spiral slicer, slice your zucchini into thin noodles. Then season the noodles with salt and the remaining half of lemon.
- Heat a large saute pan to medium low heat. Add the shrimp and juice to the pan. Spread the shrimp out into an even layer. Allow to cook for 3 minutes, then flip and cook for another 2 minutes on the other side.
- Now add the zucchini noodles and the butter to the pan with the shrimp. Toss everything together and season with the other half of the pepper and garlic powder. Then cover with a lid and cook for 5 minutes, removing the lid halfway thru and tossing.
- Serve with a sprinkle of fresh parsley and a lemon wedge. Or, portion out into meal prep containers.
Nutrition
QUESTION:
- Are you trying to get better at meal planning?
- Do you find your self eating the same recipes every few weeks?
- Are you having trouble finding recipes for meal prep?
- Or are you counting macros?
If you are bored of eating the same recipes every week and answered yes to any of these question, then you are going to want to check out my notes below. Tips on how you can incorporate this zucchini noodles and lemon shrimp into your meal plan and meal prep. If you are counting macros this is a low carb, low fat recipe, and honestly isn’t like most of my recipes. This recipe is a little trickier to adjust. However, it does pack TON of protein!
NOTES FOR MEAL PLANNING:
Meal planning doesn’t have to be hard or take a lot of time. In fact, meal planning can be fun when you are provided with easy new recipes each week. Meal Planning can also help save money, prevent food waste, and save you time.
The best things about this recipe is it is great reheated, satisfies your craving for pasta, and can be adjusted to fit just about any macro goals.
NOTES FOR MEAL PREP:
This zucchini noodles and lemon shrimp is a wonderful recipe for meal prepping.
- You can store each serving in the fridge for up to 4 days.
When its time to reheat:
- Heat in the microwave for 45 – 75 seconds. Stirring halfway thru.
NOTES FOR COUNTING MACROS:
PROTEIN:
The majority of the protein in this recipe comes from the shrimp. You can easily adjust the amount of shrimp without changing the flavor of this recipe.
- For every 1 ounce of shrimp you can increase or decrease the protein macro by 6 grams.
So go ahead, add as much or as little protein as you would like to this recipe.
CARBOHYDRATE:
This dish only has 9.8 grams of carbs, which makes this a great lunch recipe as it won’t leave you feeling sluggish mid day! The main carbohydrate in this recipe is the zucchini. While you could increase the amount of zucchini used in the recipe, you would need to add A LOT to make an impact on the amount of carbs.
Example:
- For every 100g (about 1 large zucchini) the carbs are only increased or decreased by 3.1 grams.
In addition to this dish being low in carbs, it is also low in fat. The fat in this recipe comes from the butter that the noodles are cooked in. However, being so low in fat, I would not recommend reducing the fat. Your body does need some fat to help it absorb the nutrients supplied by other foods.
If you are looking to increase the fat, I would not recommend adding more butter or you will end up with a slimy dish.
I would suggest to take this opportunity to enjoy the lower fat recipe, which will allow you to incorporate higher fat snacks throughout the day.
When making adjustments to the macros in this zucchini noodles and lemon shrimp recipe, you will want to keep in mind the number of servings you are making.
Are you on a low carb low fat diet? Love shrimp?
Check out my Spicy Shrimp and Sautéed Spinach