Avocado Shrimp Salad - Easy and Refreshing Summer Salad (2024)

Amazing cold shrimp salad that is perfect for a variety of summer meals. This shrimp salad is made with delicious boiled shrimp, fresh avocado, fresh dill weed, green onions, and some celery for added crunch.

SHRIMP SALAD

Shrimp salad is a classic summer dish that you can serve any time of the day and for any occasion. It’s a refreshing, cold shrimp salad made creamy with avocado and a little bit of mayo. Fresh dill weed and green onions are the perfect compliments to this salad. Add a little citrus with fresh lime juice to make the flavors pop.

This cold salad is a nice summer dish and you can have it as a sandwich, as a salad, or as a side dish. You can also try it in tacos, lettuce wraps, and tortilla wrap sandwiches. It’s a perfect salad to serve at barbecues because it will add a beautiful fresh touch to hot, smoky meats and vegetables.

HOW TO CLEAN SHRIMP

You can get whole shrimp in a shell or you can get shrimp that have already been cleaned and peeled. If you choose to get whole shrimp, make sure to take time to peel, devein, and clean shrimp first, before starting to cook.

Shrimp has to be cleaned and deveined before cooking because that dark “vein” that you see running along the back of shrimp is actually shrimp’s digestive tract. It’s important to clean that out because there might be traces of sand and dirt in it along with whatever the shrimp ate.

First, take the shell off the shrimp, including the tail. It’s easy to take the shell off by starting to peel at shrimp’s feet.

Make a slight incision with a paring knife along the back of shrimp, just deep enough to slice the outer skin. This will expose the “vein.” Rinse out the cavity with cold water, taking out the “vein” and any dirt, leaving shrimp nice and clean.

It’s now ready to cook.

(You can read all about cleaning the shrimp and watch a video in my post on How To Peel and Devein Shrimp.)

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CAN I USE PRECOOKED SHRIMP?

I got this question asked a couple of times and the answer is “yes, but I don’t you will lose some of the flavor.” Cooking shrimp yourself in seasoned water will infuse shrimp with flavor. If you get the pre-cooked plain shrimp that is meant for being served with co*cktail sauce, the salad won’t have as much flavor.

So of course, you can use pre-cooked shrimp but you will lose some of the flavor.

HOW TO MAKE SHRIMP SALAD

Cook the shrimp in seasoned water until shrimp turns pink and opaque. Take it out immediately and let it cool to room temperature.

Cut, pit, and peel avocado. Dice avocado meat and add it to the bowl along with diced celery, green onion, and dill weed. Squeeze in lime juice, add salt, and gently mix.

Add mayo and mix until all evenly coated. Cool for about 30 minutes to an hour in the refrigerator and serve.

Store in the refrigerator, in an air-tight container for about a day but after that, the avocado will be getting dark and soft.

HOW TO SERVE SHRIMP SALAD

Lettuce wraps – use romaine lettuce leaves, iceberg lettuce leaves, or butter lettuce leaves to wrap the salad.

Sandwich – you can serve this shrimp salad on soft brioche buns or crescent rolls.

Salad – top off your dinner salad with some shrimp salad for a refreshing light dinner.

Tortilla wrap – make a sandwich wrap by wrapping this salad with some lettuce, tomatoes, and feta cheese in a large flour tortilla.

Tacos – you can also use hard or soft taco shells to make cols shrimp tacos.

Some More Salad Recipes To Try:

Avocado Shrimp Flatbread Sandwich

Balsamic Strawberry Chicken Salad

Shrimp and Pesto Panzanella Salad

Shrimp Corn Salad

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Originally published on Will Cook For Smiles on June 29, 2017. Updated May 28, 2020.