Olive Garden Sicilian Scampi

Olive Garden Sicilian Scampi is a delicious appetizer of shrimp with creamy, cheesy garlic white wine sauce on toasted bread. Topped with black olives, tomatoes, and green onion, this dish is a feast of flavors.

homemade Olive Garden Sicilian Scampi on a plate


Originally Olive Garden Sicilian Scampi was served as an appetizer. We also suggest serving this over pasta instead of bread.

While you can no longer find this decadent appetizer on Olive Garden’s menu, long-time guests of the chain may still fondly remember this remarkable Olive Garden bruschetta recipe. After all, who can forget the delectable taste of shrimp drenched in a wonderfully creamy, cheesy sauce, topped with tangy tomatoes, briny olives, and served on top of a freshly toasted slice of Italian bread. If you still have dreams of the last time you had this Sicilian scampi, you are in luck. You can now make this Olive Garden shrimp scampi appetizer at home. Although this isn’t the type of recipe you will want to throw together at the last minute, for those special occasions when you want to serve something that is guaranteed to impress, this is unquestionably going to get the job done.

Mastering the Mornay Sauce

The creaminess in this dish depends on the quality of the cheese sauce or more traditionally referred to as a Mornay sauce. Proper sauce-making technique means the differences between a smooth, creamy consistency and a lumpy sauce tasting of uncooked flour.

  1. After cooking the shrimp entirely, remove them from the pan, but leave behind any remaining liquid and aromatics.
  2. If there is a fair bit of liquid left pan, you can sprinkle a tablespoon of flour directly over the surface and give it a good stir. If little liquid remains in the pan, create a paste by mixing the flour with a tablespoon of water and adding it to the pan. Doing this will help prevent the flour from darkening as the raw flour flavor cooks out.
  3. When you start to smell an aroma like fresh bread, add half a cup of heavy cream. You can use half-and-half or even whole milk if you prefer.
  4. Continue to stir until the sauce thickens slightly.
  5. Reduce the heat to low and add the finely shredded cheese a bit at a time while continually stirring.
  6. When all the cheese melts, remove from heat and cover to keep warm.

Tips for Making and Serving Olive Garden Shrimp Scampi Appetizer

  • Add wine and lemon juice to the pan when it is off the heat. Adding liquids with high acidity levels to a hot pan is dangerous and can cause splatter. To reduce the chance of getting burned, never add wine or lemon juice while the pan is over the heat. When you return the pan to the stove, make sure to adjust the heat to medium-low before adding the shrimp.
  • Use fresh Italian bread. Cut the bread approximately a quarter-inch thick and toast until the outside crisps up. The softer bread in the center of the toast will act as a sponge to soak up any excess Mornay sauce. Garlic lovers can rub a raw garlic clove on the cut sides of the bread for more flavor.
  • Select plum or grape tomatoes. You may want to include various red, yellow, and purple tomatoes for a more attractive-looking bruschetta. Scrap out all the pulp and seeds from all the tomatoes before using them in this recipe to avoid diluting the Mornay sauce.

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Ingredients

Here’s a list of what you need:

  • Shrimp
  • Olive oil
  • Onion
  • Garlic
  • Dry white wine
  • All-purpose flour
  • Water
  • Fresh lemon juice
  • Garlic salt
  • Heavy cream
  • Shredded asiago cheese
  • Shredded mozzarella
  • Shredded Romano cheese
  • Black olives
  • Green onion
  • Tomato
  • Italian bread
  • Crushed red pepper
Olive Garden Sicilian Scampi ingredients

How to Make Olive Garden Sicilian Scampi

  1. Slice and toast Italian bread.
  2. Heat olive oil in a saucepan. Add wine and lemon juice.
  3. When olive oil starts to boil, place shrimp in the pan and cook on medium heat until shrimp curls. Remove shrimp but leave wine mixture in the pan.
    six shrimp in a skillet
  4. In the same saucepan, add onion, minced garlic, and garlic salt. Sauté until the onions are transparent.
  5. Mix flour with water to make a paste.
  6. Add flour paste to the saucepan. Stir and cook until sauce is thick.
  7. Pour cream in the sauce, stir, then add the cheeses one at a time, whisking constantly after each addition. The sauce should be a medium-thick consistency and smooth. If the sauce is too thick, add a little water and whisk. Remove from heat.
    Olive Garden Sicilian Scampi sauce in a skillet
  8. Place toasted Italian bread slices on a serving tray in an X.
  9. Arrange shrimp in the middle of the bread.
  10. Spoon sauce in the middle of the bread, covering the shrimp.
  11. Sprinkle with sliced green onions, olives, tomatoes, and crushed red pepper on top. Sprinkle more Parmesan cheese on top if you would like.
homemade Olive Garden Sicilian Scampi appetizer on a plate

More Olive Garden Copycat Recipes

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You can find more easy appetizer recipes and the best Olive Garden recipes at CopyKat.com, the web’s most popular destination for copycat restaurant recipes.

homemade Olive Garden Sicilian Scampi on a plate

Olive Garden Sicilian Scampi

Enjoy this classic Olive Garden Sicilian Scampi at home.
5 from 8 votes
Print Pin Rate Add to Collection
Course: Appetizer
Cuisine: Italian
Keyword: Olive Garden Recipe, Scampi, Shrimp, Sicilian Scampi
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Servings: 4
Calories: 401kcal

Ingredients

  • 6 shrimp
  • 1/8 cup olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon onion finely diced
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic minced
  • 1/2 cup dry white wine Chablis
  • 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 1/4 cup water if needed
  • 1/2 cup asiago cheese + 1 tablespoon finely shredded
  • 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese finely shredded
  • 1 tablespoon Romano cheese finely shredded
  • 4 black olives sliced
  • 1 tablespoon green onion sliced
  • 1/4 cup diced tomato
  • 4 Slices Italian bread (4-6" long, 1 and 1/2" thick, cut diagonally), lightly toasted
  • 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper

Instructions

  • Heat olive oil in a saucepan; add wine and lemon juice. When olive oil starts to boil, place shrimp in the pan and cook on medium heat until shrimp curls. Remove shrimp but leave wine mixture in the pan.
  • In the same saucepan, add onion, minced garlic, and garlic salt. Saute until the onions are transparent.
  • Mix 1 tablespoon flour with 1 tablespoon water to make a paste.
  • Add flour paste to the saucepan. Stir and cook until sauce is thick.
  • Pour cream in the sauce, stir, then add the cheeses one at a time, whisking constantly after each addition. The sauce should be a medium-thick consistency and smooth. If the sauce is too thick, add a little water and whisk. Remove from heat.

PRESENTATION:

  • Place Italian bread on a serving tray in an X.
  • Arrange shrimp in the middle of the bread.
  • Spoon sauce in the middle of the bread, covering the shrimp.
  • Sprinkle with sliced green onions, olives, tomatoes, and crushed red pepper on top. Sprinkle more Parmesan cheese on top if you would like.

Nutrition

Calories: 401kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 10g | Fat: 30g | Saturated Fat: 14g | Cholesterol: 78mg | Sodium: 628mg | Potassium: 126mg | Fiber: 0g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 670IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 236mg | Iron: 1mg

About Stephanie Manley

I recreate your favorite restaurant recipes, so you can prepare these dishes at home. I help you cook dinner, and serve up dishes you know your family will love. You can find most of the ingredients for all of the recipes in your local grocery store.

Stephanie is the author of CopyKat.com's Dining Out in the Home, and CopyKat.com's Dining Out in the Home 2.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Robin

    5 stars
    Once again a perfect 5 star recipe. It’s very close to my Sicilian Great Great Grandmother’s recipe. Bravo. This should be a 10. Grazie and many blessings, Sicilian Grandmom Robin.

  2. Joy

    5 stars
    We use to go there on Saturday for this and salad. It was our favorite. I wonder why they took it off the menu. Absolutely delish!!! We make it all the time now. We also make it with the tomatoes, olives and onions marinating in Italian dressing and we serve it on Garlic bread. so good!!

  3. Jennie

    We don’t use alcohol in our home. Can you please suggest a substitute for it in your recipes? We love your recipes.

  4. Pam

    I have been looking for this recipe! It was my all time favorite dish and I never understood why they removed it from the menu. I can’t wait to try this recipe this weekend. Even if its not exactly the same, if it comes mildly close, I’m gonna be a very happy forever fan!

    • Emily

      Olive Gardengarden used to have this on thier appetizer manue and now they removed it I’m not sure why it was my fav

  5. HushMi Darlin

    My daughter made this for me (and she’s just learning to cook) and it was SOOOO good I’m making it this weekend. ..please try it, just quickly cover with a lid after you add the wine and lemon juice to the oil and wait for it to simmer down. ..

  6. Yorkc39

    This was nothing like the real thing. For one, I almost got burned adding the wine and lemon juice as it sizzled and popped EVERYWHERE, making a mess of the entire stove, floor, and other areas. I tried this twice, putting it on low heat and adding the ingredients before it got too hot, but it still happened. I finally added those ingredients with a splash guard on top of it, but I also took the pan off the heat before I did this. Also, there was soo much cheese that it took away the flavor, and got me sick so I couldn’t eat my entire meal. I would not do this again!

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