Mediterranean Shrimp Salad is a lovely and light fresh salad that combines fresh avocado, tomatoes, bits of tangy purple onion, and delicious cooked shrimp with a light homemade lemon vinaigrette.
This seafood salad recipe makes enough for six servings, but you may not want to share any at all after you taste it!
A bit back, I made a lovely cucumber, avocado, and tomato salad that was just so light and fresh. Honestly, I can think of an excuse to eat avocado every day of the week.
It’s the one veggie that is good in tacos, salads, on top of chicken, or smashed up into guacamole.
Literally, avocado might be the perfect food. I always think of that salad as a fresh summer salad, a great side dish at a picnic. It’s not too filling; it has fresh veggies; This salad is also a totally low-carb recipe.
But recently, at a friend’s, we overhauled the old fresh summer salad recipe into a perfect side dish—with Shrimp!
Whole 30 and keto-friendly, this no-fail, no-cook shrimp side dish can be served year-round and, with the added shrimp protein, also makes a delicious guilt-free dinner!
Shrimp Salad Ingredients
✔Cold Salad ✔ Fresh Vegetables ✔ Seafood Recipe
This shrimp salad is good…SOOOOOOOO good.
- 1 cup cooked fresh shrimp
- 3 Roma tomatoes, chopped
- 2 avocados, chopped
- 1/2 cup red onion, chopped or sliced
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice salt and pepper
- Fresh cilantro to taste (I used 1/3 cup chopped leaves)
RELATED SEAFOOD RECIPES: Shrimp Pasta Salad, Shrimp Dip, Shrimp Pesto Pasta, Air Fryer Salmon, Tuna Casserole
How to make Mediterranean Shrimp Salad.
- Prepare your shrimp. I know that shrimp can come in a can, but please do not use canned shrimp for this salad. I buy fresh shrimp right at the Seafood counter of my local grocery store, and in this case, to make it easy, I buy the peeled and deveined shrimp. Toss a little bit of olive oil and about a 1/2 a tablespoon of butter right in your pan and sauté your shrimp till cooked. The shrimp turn the glossy uncooked color to white once ready. Do not overcook. My shrimp took approximately 6 minutes to sauté.
- Put shrimp in the fridge to cool down.
- Chop your veggies – First, you need to peel your avocados and then chop down your avocados and tomatoes into bites. You can really adjust the level of bite you like to tiny bits or large chunks. I like changing it depending on what I am serving this salad for. If it’s a side salad, I like the smaller bits of veggies, but I like bigger bites if I am serving shrimp salad as a meal.
- Pull your shrimp out of the fridge and remove shrimp tails. You can easily slide tails off if you pay attention to how they are on, and this reserves a lot of shrimp meat. If you cut the tales off, you are missing extra shrimp. It doesn’t take too long to take the tails off, just a few extra minutes.
- Chop your shrimp down into bites; I usually cut each shrimp into 3 pieces.
- Add lemon juice, olive oil, and spices in a separate bowl
- Combine the veggies and shrimp in one bowl.
- Pour your olive oil mixture onto your salad and stir.
- Add optional fresh cilantro- I would not add dried herbs to this salad.
- Season the entire salad generously with salt and pepper.
Reasons to Fall in Love with Cold Shrimp Salad!
- This salad is a great lettuce-free option that gets down to the nitty-gritty of the most delicious ingredients. No need to hide between spinach leaves here!
- You can easily whip up the shrimp ahead of time and just prep the rest of your salad when you are ready to serve.
- No Carbs! This is a pescatarian-friendly, keto friendly (if you eat tomatoes), and low-carb/high-fat way to serve your body some nutrition
- This salad has no mayo or heavy dressing. I like to keep it simple with some olive oil and lemon and just let the rich flavors of the veggies and shrimp do the talking
- Easily adaptable! Add cucumbers, sweet red peppers, or fresh summer corn to alter taste and color for a more robust salad.
Mediterranean Salad with Shrimp Preparation Tips
- Easily add veggies: I really love avocado and tomatoes, and my original recipe included cucumbers, which is very common in Mediterranean dishes, but to be honest, even though they were chopped up, I forgot to add them in! What resulted was a salad without them, BUT it tasted great, so I’ll consider it a blessing in disguise.
- Do not cut your avocados till you are ready to serve. Avocado oxidizes in the air after a bit and starts to turn brown. If you have ever had a bowl of guacamole sit out more than an hour, you already know that. Because brown food is typically unappetizing, you don’t want to make this ahead of time and cause your avocado to change colors. While it TASTES the same, it’s not as pretty as a presentation. Thankfully this is a cut-and-go shrimp salad recipe, so the prep time is minimal.
- However, you can still prep your shrimp and tomatoes. While I do not recommend that you prep that avocado till the last minute, you can easily make up your shrimp and cut and store your tomatoes up to a day ahead of time.
- Creating a whole Mediterranean Meal? Serve with a side of Greek Style Potatoes with Lemon.
Let’s Eat More Salad!
Need more amazing salad recipes to chow down on? Make sure you try:
- Light Caprese salad with Cherry Tomatoes
- Fresh sliced Ensalada Caprese with Pear Slices
- Pea salad with red onions and mayo dressing
- Shredded Carrot salad with Raisins and Pineapple Chunks
Mediterranean Shrimp Salad
Ingredients
- 1 cup cooked fresh shrimp
- 3 Roma tomatoes chopped
- 2 avocados chopped
- 1/2 cup red onion chopped or sliced
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice salt and pepper
- fresh cilantro to taste I used 1/3 cup chopped leaves
Instructions
- Prepare your Shrimp– I know that shrimp can come in a can, but please do not use canned shrimp for this salad. I buy fresh shrimp right at the Seafood counter of my local grocery and in this case, to make it easy, buy the peeled and deveined shrimp. Toss a little bit of olive oil and about a 1/2 a tablespoon of butter right in your pan and saute your shrimp till cooked. The shrimp turn the glossy uncooked color to white once ready. Do not overcook. My shrimp took approximately 6 minutes to saute. [mv_img id="7412"]
- Put shrimp in fridge to cool down
- Chop your veggies – First you need to peel your avocados and then chop down your avocados and tomatoes into bites. You can really adjust the level of bite you like to tiny bits or large chunks. I like to change it up depending on what I am serving this salad for. If its a side salad, i like the smaller bits of veggies but if I am serving as a meal, I like bigger bites[mv_img id="7413"]
- Pull your shrimp out of fridge and remove tails. You can easily slide tails off if you pay attention with how they are on and this reserves a lot of shrimp meat. If you cut the tales off, you are missing extra shrimp. It doesn’t take too long to take the tails off, just a few extra minutes.
- Chop your shrimp down into bites, I usually cut each shrimp into 3 pieces[mv_img id="7414"]
- In a separate bowl, add your lemon juice, olive oil and spices
- Combine your veggies and shrimp into one bowl
- Pour your olive oil mixture of your salad and stir
- Add optional fresh cilantro- I would not add dried herbs to this salad
- Season with salt and pepper[mv_img id="7415"]
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer: The nutritional data provided here is auto-calculated and intended for your convenience only. As it’s generated via automation, its accuracy may be compromised. For precise nutritional insight, please compute the values utilizing the actual ingredients in your recipe through your chosen nutrition calculator or application.
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