Shrimp Salad 

Shrimp Salad 
Bobbi Lin for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Eugene Jho. Prop Stylist: Christina Lane.
Total Time
15 minutes
Rating
4(584)
Notes
Read community notes

Using plenty of lemon —  both the zest and juice — is the secret to this tangy, creamy shrimp salad. If you’re using this to make sandwiches, chop the shrimp into pieces before adding them to the dressing. You can also leave the shrimp whole for an elegant salad, served with lettuce, avocado, and other vegetables if you like. If you’re starting with precooked shrimp, you can skip the first step entirely. The salad can be made and refrigerated for up to 6 hours before serving.

Featured in: 20 Easy Salads for Every Summer Table

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Ingredients

Yield:2 to 4 servings
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 2lemons
  • 1pound shelled large shrimp
  • ¼cup mayonnaise
  • 2tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • ½cup diced celery
  • ¼cup diced red onion
  • ¼cup chopped fresh dill, parsley or cilantro (or a combination)
  • Lettuce, avocado or other vegetables, for serving (optional)
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

279 calories; 19 grams fat; 3 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 8 grams monounsaturated fat; 8 grams polyunsaturated fat; 6 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 2 grams sugars; 24 grams protein; 524 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Bring a medium pot of salted water to a simmer. Slice one of the lemons and add to the pot, along with the shrimp. Simmer, never letting the water boil if you can help it, until the shrimp turn opaque, 2 to 4 minutes, depending on their size. Drain well, and discard the lemon slices. If you like, you can chop the cooked shrimp into smaller pieces.

  2. Step 2

    Grate the zest from the remaining lemon into a large bowl. Halve the naked lemon and squeeze the juice into the bowl. Whisk in the mayonnaise and oil.

  3. Step 3

    Add the celery, onion, herbs and cooked shrimp, tossing to combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate until ready to eat. Serve with lettuce and avocado, if you like.

Ratings

4 out of 5
584 user ratings
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Cooking Notes

I enjoyed this recipe and served it to family for a thank you dinner. Friendly heads up: do drain the shrimp thoroughly after simmering (do not boil), perhaps even set them on a clean kitchen towel and pat dry. I learned my lesson as my dressing was a bit watered down. #2 if you cannot find your microplane zester, use your vegetable peeler to remove the top layer of zest, avoiding the bitter pith or white part, then gently chop in every direction till you come up with a zest consistency

Not sure yogurt would be the way to go here, but you could try it. I would substitute a lemon vinaigrette made from the lemon juice specified in this recipe, 1/4 cup additional olive oil, Dijon mustard, garlic, salt, pepper, and a pinch of cayenne. Basically mayonnaise without the egg.

May be better to bake the shrimp for the salad, avoid any problem with watered down dressing. Baking shrimp, maybe even broiling them, dabbed with a bit of oil is so easy to do. A work of a few minutes.

Oh, and one more thing: def serve the shrimp salad on top a bed of greens with chopped European cukes and ripened avocado. A grated parmesan crisp or two would be lovely. (Between two slices of bread, my husband found it soggy and challenging to eat.)

I love a little Old Bay seasoning added with the mayonnaise.

I make a variation of this all the time in summer. Exact same recipe, save I add cooked orzo pasta, a pinch of curry and some red-pepper flakes--and of course, chop the shrimp into smaller pieces and use more mayonnaise.

If you have local crabmeat available, that's a great addition. I use scallions rather than red onion for a more subtle flavor that doesn't compete with the seafood's delicate sweetness. Yes to tarragon. If I want to make a fancy presentation, I go retro and serve in quartered tomato or halved avocado on lettuce.

I added the fresh chopped herbs into the dressing. Maybe a little cayenne added into the dressing will give it some zing. I used half a large avocado (not Haas), cut into bite-sized pieces. Romaine lettuce for a base. Delicioso! I’ll do this again and again.

Homemade mayonnaise would be even better. A dash of Heinz chili sauce would be nice too.

Made recipe as written but scaled down by 50% since I had half a pound of medium sized wild caught, super fresh shrimp to use and I wanted a recipe I could make easily at noon and serve at dinner that would let the shrimp shine. This filled that bill. Just right. Used parsley for the fresh herb since I had it on hand. I think fresh dill would be splendid here too. Keeper.

I use high quality tiny shrimp and leave out the onion. Really tasty and light for a summer dinner.

Added all of the herbs, plus finely chopped cucumbers and a little less mayonnaise. Lemon juice helps too. Really lovely.

Amateur tip: I used my salad spinner to dry the shrimp. Worked great! Also works for zucchini and generally when recipes call for drying something with paper towels. Maybe not bacon though. ;-)

At risk of sounding effete, the size of the celery dice makes a big difference. I go for a more minced cut, but some might enjoy a slightly chunkier cut.

Took this to a potluck where it was the clear favorite dish. Doubled the recipe, used cooked frozen shrimp, swapped in scallions for the red onion, and added a pound of orzo. It did not need extra dressing, although you could probably add a bit with no ill effect. Delish, and it came together so quickly!

Vary bland. Needs some seasoning or hot sauce. The herbs don't cut it.

I love this recipe. I like to add a bit of garlic and onion powder to the water before boiling the shrimp. Super refreshing and delicious.

Dust shrimp with onion powder and marinate in lemon juice. Poach in simmering lighly salted water with bay leaf, black peppercorns, maybe some whole allspice or coriander seeds. Lots of celery (peeled). No red onion. Go easy on mayo. Dash of cayenne or togarashi seasoning (better). Lots of chopped mint and/or Italian parsley.

Loved this recipe....did add cayennne pepper!

Great way to use leftover shrimp! Love the light mayo-lemon-olive oil dressing.

Made with frozen peeled, cooked shrimp, and thoroughly dried before adding to the salad. Used cilantro. A bit of extra olive oil instead of mayo. Mayo and shrimp grosses me out. It was very good.

Pantry hack: Pulled the tails off Costco cooked cocktail shrimp. Whipped bottled lemon garlic dressing into mayonnaise. It curdled. Whipped 1 t at a time into 1 t of Dijon mustard. Uncurdled. Added minced celery, parsley, scallions I had on hand. Served on chopped iceberg lettuce from the frig. It was delicious. The dressing was outstanding. Will be making this again

Use scallions cukes instead of celery dill cilantro & a touch of Dijon to the mayo.

try using jalapeño mayo for a small punch.

I found this to be rather bland. I might try again, chopping the shrimp (used them whole this time), and maybe aioli instead of mayo.

I also added 1/4 cup of fennel ( in season) it added some additional crunch and flavor

Perfect − a delicious, easy summer recipe. I've made it a few times, always using store-bought cooked shrimp as I value quick. Perhaps better if you cook the shrimp yourself, but honestly so good with cooked shrimp I doubt I'll try. Follow the recipe, using only dill and maybe a tad more lemon zest and juice. It is so good! And keeps in the refrigerator for at least three days. Highly recommended.

One of my favorite summer meals. Please remove the shrimp tail shells though; trying to extract those things at the dinner table is really annoying. I’ll never understand why they are left on, even in fine restaurants.

Yummy! Made this per the recipe. Served over shredded butter lettuce with sliced avocado on the side. A perfect hot weather salad entree. Leave the tails on the shrimp; they're edible.

Melissa has outdone herself! This is so delicious, so fast and easy; it's the perfect summer meal. I used store-bought cooked shrimp (certain it would be even better cooking the shrimp per instructions), cut them into bite-sized pieces, didn't use celery but increased the onion. It all came together in less than 20 minutes, It's lemony and fresh and delicious.

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