Our cold, succulent shrimp salad with Old Bay seasoning on butterhead lettuce makes for the perfect light lunch or dinner. The creamy dressing is indulgent yet bright. Ready in less than 30 minutes this salad is perfect for serving a crowd, they'll definitely think it's a Whole Lotta Yum!
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Shrimp Salad with Old Bay
Raw shrimp is so easy to cook at prepare at home in whatever recipe you make it in. We love cooking shrimp in various forms all the time. This classic shrimp salad especially, with the kick given to it with the Old Bay seasoning.
The tender shrimp is complemented by the crisp celery and zesty red onions. To make sure you get an evenly flavored bite, cut those veggies into very fine dice. I promise this will be a salad you'll want to make all summer long!
Summer holidays like Memorial Day, Mother's & Father's Day, or even Independence Day are all gatherings worthy of our shrimp salad. Not only this one, but these tasty Shrimp Spring Rolls and Shrimp Avocado Salad are just as delicious.
Why You'll Love This!
- Perfect for summer - Fresh and bright this dish is great at any BBQ, brunch, or gathering.
- Super yummy- Pops of dill, red onion, and old bay seasoning.
- Quick and easy! For quick and easy prep, buy pre-cooked shrimp or shrimp that has been peeled, deveined, and with the tails off.
- Perfect for a healthy diet - Fresh shrimp and vegetables make this dish healthy and light, perfect for lunch.
🥘 Cold Shrimp Salad Ingredients
The ultimate fresh salad with shrimp being the star. Our addition of Old Bay seasoned shrimp brings these ingredients together in a delicious bite.
- Raw shrimp - Fresh shrimp or frozen shrimp. Smaller bite-sized pieces are ideal. If you have jumbo shrimp, you can cut them into smaller pieces after boiling them. Pre-cooked shrimp can be used as well, this excludes the need to boil them.
- Finely chopped red onion - Green onion can be used in place of chopped red onions.
- Celery stalks - In place of celery, use diced cucumbers or pickles.
- Mayonnaise - To swap some of the mayo for Greek yogurt (no-fat or any you prefer), replace ¼ cup of the mayo with Greek yogurt. Because yogurt is tart, reduce the lemon juice to 2 tablespoons, and also add a pinch of sweetener to the dressing.
- Lemon juice - Fresh lemon juice or bottled lemon juice will both work.
- Chopped fresh dill - Fresh herbs like chopped parsley will also do.
- Dijon mustard - Provides a nice tangy flavor, use regular mustard if you don't have Dijon.
- Minced garlic - Fresh garlic cloves or jarred minced garlic is best. Garlic powder can be used in place of fresh.
- Fine sea salt & ground black pepper
- Old Bay seasoning - If you don't have Old Bay seasoning, you can use a mixture of celery salt, black pepper, paprika, and cayenne pepper. While you won't get the same complex flavor profile as Old Bay, it will do in a pinch.
- Garnish - Fresh chopped dill
** Please see the recipe card at the bottom of the post for the exact quantities **
Variations
- Southwest flare: Add roasted corn and black beans, and serve in lettuce leaves.
- Shrimp avocado salad: Serve with slices of avocado, or serve in a halved avocado.
- Add shrimp salad to meals: Eating shrimp salad on its own is great, but you can also add the salad to your meal prep plan, on top of bowls, or make your own version of a seafood shrimp taco.
Equipment
- Large pot for boiling shrimp
- Large bowl for an ice water bath
🔪 How to Make Healthy Shrimp Salad
For the easiest preparation, purchase shrimp that has already been peeled, deveined, and with the tail off. Our classic shrimp salad is as easy as boiling the shrimp and mixing it with the veggies and seasoned dressing.
Prep Dressing
Fill a large pot with water and bring it to a boil.
Start on the dressing while the water boils. In a small bowl, combine the mayo, fresh lemon juice, fresh dill, mustard, garlic, salt, pepper, and Old Bay seasoning. Set it aside.
Cook Shrimp
Make an ice bath: In a large bowl add cold water and a couple of handfuls of ice.
Once the water is boiling, turn the heat down to medium and add the shrimp. Cook it for 1-2 minutes until the shrimp turns pink. Add the shrimp to the ice bath immediately to stop the shrimp from cooking.
Remove the shrimp and drain them.
Assemble
In a medium-sized bowl, stir together the cooled shrimp, the chopped red onion, the celery, and the dressing. Garnish with more fresh dill.
Serve the shrimp salad on lettuce leave or by itself. Serve immediately and enjoy!
🥗 Dietary Substitutions
As written our shrimp salad with Old Bay is dairy-free, keto, and gluten-free.
- Whole30: Make sure the mayonnaise you're using is whole30 compliant.
💡 Recipe Tips
- You can also cook the raw shrimp from frozen without defrosting it first, just add an extra minute to the cooking time and cook the shrimp until pink.
- When serving, don't keep the shrimp salad out at room temperature for too long as the mayonnaise will start to spoil.
🥡 Storing and Reheating
- Storing: Store your shrimp salad in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.
- Freezing: I wouldn't recommend freezing our shrimp salad as the freezing process will start to break down the structure of the fresh ingredients.
❓ FAQ's
You can serve this shrimp salad on its own or with other delicious sides like corn on the cob, baked regular or sweet potatoes, fried rice, or this Creamy Baked Mac and Cheese.
Shrimp salad should be served in butter lettuce leaves. You'll find butter lettuce leaves typically in a plastic container still containing its root system. Alternatively, you can serve shrimp salad on top of any crisp lettuce salad like chopped romaine lettuce.
Cooked shrimp can absolutely be eaten cold. This salad is best served cold. However, it's important to not let the shrimp salad sit out at room temperature for too long.
😋 More Shrimp Recipes
Looking for more easy shrimp recipes, check out these new recipes that make shrimp the star of the dish!
- Shrimp Avocado Salad
- Boiled Frozen Shrimp (How to Cook Frozen Shrimp)
- Vietnamese Shrimp Spring Rolls
- Air Fryer Shrimp with Old Bay
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Cold Shrimp Salad with Old Bay
Our cold, succulent shrimp salad with Old Bay seasoning on butterhead lettuce makes for the perfect light lunch or dinner. The creamy dressing is indulgent yet bright. Ready in less than 30 minutes this salad is perfect for serving a crowd, they'll definitely think it's a Whole Lotta Yum!
Ingredients
- 2 lbs Raw shrimp, peeled and deveined, tails off
- ¼ cup Finely chopped red onion
- 2 Celery stalks, finely chopped
- ½ cup Mayonnaise (see note below to use ½ Greek yogurt)
- 1 Lemon juiced (3 tablespoons)
- 2 tablespoons Chopped fresh dill
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon Minced garlic (2 cloves)
- ½ teaspoon Fine sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon Fresh ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
- Garnish - Fresh chopped dill
- Serve with butter lettuce leaves (from a living lettuce head)
Instructions
- Fill a large pot with water and bring it to a boil.
- Start on the dressing while the water boils. In a small bowl, combine the mayo, fresh lemon juice, fresh dill, mustard, garlic, salt, pepper, and Old Bay seasoning. Set it aside.
- Make an ice bath: In a large bowl add cold water and a couple of handfuls of ice.
- Once the water is boiling, turn the heat down to medium and the shrimp. Cooke it for 1-2 minutes until the shrimp turn pink
- Add the shrimp to the ice bath immediately to stop the shrimp from cooking. Remove the shrimp and drain them.
- In a medium-sized bowl, stir together the cooled shrimp, the chopped red onion, the celery, and the dressing. Garnish with more fresh dill.
- Serve the shrimp salad on lettuce leave or by itself. Enjoy!
Notes
- To swap some of the mayo for Greek yogurt (no-fat or any you prefer), replace ¼ cup of the mayo with Greek yogurt. Because yogurt is tart, reduce the lemon juice to 2 Tbsp, and also add a pinch of sweetener to the dressing.
- Green onions can be used in place of the chopped red onions.
- You can also cook the raw shrimp from frozen without defrosting it first, just add an extra minute to the cooking time and cook the shrimp until pink.
Nutrition Information
Yield 6 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 246Total Fat 15gSaturated Fat 3gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 12gCholesterol 198mgSodium 1254mgCarbohydrates 4gNet Carbohydrates 3gFiber 1gSugar 1gProtein 22g
The nutrional information is just an estimate and was calculated by an automated calculator. If you're on a restricted health program please manually calculate this information using the brands of ingredients you have since brands can vary.
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