This is my favorite shrimp salad recipe. It’s absolutely delicious, thanks to perfectly cooked shrimp, fresh dill, and an out of this world homemade dressing.
This is the best shrimp salad I’ve made in a long time. Our easy poaching method guarantees perfectly cooked shrimp, and the simple lemon and dill dressing makes this salad insanely good.
This cold shrimp salad keeps in the fridge for three days, which is perfect since it is amazing for lunch the next day! I can’t wait for you to try this recipe. It’s a keeper! For more easy shrimp recipes, see my easy shrimp scampi or this fresh shrimp ceviche.
Key Ingredients
- Shrimp: For the best results, cook your shrimp. I poach shrimp for this salad and love how gently poaching keeps the shrimp succulent. I use large shrimp and have shown how to poach shrimp them below. (You can use pre-cooked shrimp, but cooking the shrimp yourself only takes a few minutes.)
- Bell pepper, celery, and green onion: Add flavor, color, and crunch. I especially love the added sweetness of the bell pepper in this salad.
- Mayonnaise: Is the base for our creamy shrimp salad dressing. Use a good-quality store-bought brand or make your own (here’s our recipe for homemade mayo).
- Lemon juice: Keeps our salad fresh and cuts through any heaviness of the mayo.
- Dill: A classic herb with shrimp. I add a lot of dill to this salad and love it!
Find the full recipe with measurements below.
Tips for Making Our Favorite Shrimp Salad
Tip 1: Poach your shrimp. You can use pre-cooked shrimp or cook them yourself. We highly recommend poaching the shrimp for the most flavorful and perfectly textured salad, it only takes a few minutes. To poach the shrimp, I follow a similar process to poaching chicken:
- Bring water to a boil with a few aromatics (garlic, lemon, and salt).
- Once it boils, turn off the heat and add the shrimp. The hot water will poach large shrimp, like the shrimp shown in our photos, to perfection in approximately 3 minutes. Note that in the photo below and in our video, I am using Patagonia pink shrimp, which are pink when raw and when cooked.
Tip 2: Let your salad sit. You will toss your poached shrimp with mayonnaise, lemon juice, drill, bell pepper, celery, green onion, salt, and pepper. If you are in a rush, enjoy the salad now but if you can wait an hour, the flavors will develop even more (I cover it and store in the fridge).
Serving Suggestions
I love serving shrimp salad with saltine crackers, but you can enjoy it in so many different ways. Add to buttered rolls for a sandwich (like a lobster roll), roll up in flour tortillas, or spoon into lettuce like we do for this shrimp salad on endive.
More Shrimp Recipes
- Cajun Shrimp
- Garlic Shrimp Scampi
- Shrimp Carbonara – seriously good!
- Shrimp Stir Fry
- 18 Easy Shrimp Recipes for Busy Weeknights
The Best Shrimp Salad
- PREP
- COOK
- TOTAL
This is the best shrimp salad we’ve made! It’s also very simple to make. You can use pre-cooked shrimp from the store or cook it yourself. We highly recommend cooking the shrimp for the most flavorful and perfectly textured salad, which only takes a few minutes.
Watch Us Make the Recipe
You Will Need
Shrimp Salad1 pound poached shrimp, recipe below
1/2 cup finely diced red bell pepper (Half of a large pepper)
1/2 cup finely diced celery (1 large stalk)
1/2 cup thinly sliced green onion (3 to 4)
1/2 cup (100 grams) mayonnaise, try homemade mayo
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup roughly chopped fresh dill
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
4 twists of pepper grinder
Poached Shrimp1 pound large raw shrimp (31-40 per pound), peeled and deveined
2 quarts water
1 lemon, cut in half
2 cloves garlic, peeled and gently smashed
1 bay leaf
3 twists pepper grinder
1 ½ tablespoon salt
1/2 teaspoon Cajun seasoning, optional
Directions
- Poach the Shrimp
1Add 2 quarts of water to a large pot and place it on the stove over high heat. Squeeze a little lemon juice into the water and drop the lemon halves into the pot. Add the garlic, bay leaf, pepper, salt, and Cajun seasoning. Bring the liquid to a rolling boil.
2Once the water reaches a rolling boil, remove the pot from the heat and immediately submerge the shrimp into the hot water. Poach them for three minutes.
3Using tongs or a slotted spoon, carefully transfer the cooked shrimp to a plate. Allow them to cool by placing them in the refrigerator.
- Make the Salad
1Once the shrimp have cooled, place them in a large bowl with the bell pepper, celery, green onion, mayonnaise, lemon juice, dill, salt, and pepper.
2Gently mix the ingredients until they are well combined.
3Allow the salad to sit in the refrigerator for at least one hour before serving, which allows the flavors to marinate and develop.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Storing: Shrimp salad lasts up to 3 days in the refrigerator. Store it in an airtight container. I love having this salad ready in the fridge for an easy lunch or dinner! We do not recommend freezing shrimp salad.
- Bell pepper substitute: If you do not want to add bell peppers, leave them out.
- The nutrition facts provided below are estimates.
What about substituting sour cream for mayo and cucumber for peppers.
You can try (some readers have substituted yogurt for the mayo with success). Personally, I prefer the flavor of the mayo. Cucumber would be lovely, just keep in mind that as they sit, they will release a little moisture.
This is a new recipe for my family, but it saved my love life on a Valentine’s Day.😁 Thanks a bunch 🩷
For Superbowl party, I cut the shrimp in smaller pieces to be “cracker friendly”. A little too much liquid but it was a keeper recipe for sure.