Summer Shrimp Salad
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🔎 Here’s a Quick Look at this recipe
- What It Is: A fast, light summer dinner built around chilled shrimp, crisp vegetables, sweet fruit, crunchy nuts, and a bright lemon dressing.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Servings: 4 servings
- Calories: 269 per serving
- Cook Method: Stovetop
- Good For: Summer lunches and light dinners, quick prep meals, potluck summer parties.
🌟 Why this recipe works
Shrimp is one of my summertime ingredient best friends – it’s easy to find, easy to cook, and you can make it about a million different ways.
And while I love a warm shrimp supper, now that summer is officially here, I’m all about the cool suppertime salad.
There is something about the slightly tart but mostly sweet taste of pears in this salad that I love.
We’ve also got some cucumbers and cashews for crunch, some chopped scallions for a little sass, a zippy lemony dressing, and to make the whole thing just summertime perfect, a generous handful of fresh mint.
You can find mint both in your supermarket and your friendly local farmer’s market. And if you plant your own, it will come up faithfully every year and you will have mint FOREVER. Fresh mint tea for everyone!
💡 More ingredient substitution ideas
Missing something or want to swap in something different? Check out the links below to find more ingredient substitution ideas. 👇🏻
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities and nutritional information.
👩🏻🍳How to make this recipe
STEP 1: Bring a pot of water to a boil. (You can use this time to peel your shrimp!)
STEP 2: Add your shrimp to the boiling water and cook until they are just done, about three minutes. Run them under cold water until they are nice and cool.
STEP 3: Now make the dressing! Put some lemon juice and lemon zest, some olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper in a small jar, cover it tightly and shake shake shake to combine.
STEP 4: Add some chopped cucumbers, sliced pears, chopped scallions, cashews, and the cooked shrimp to a bowl. Drizzle on the dressing and toss it up to combine.
STEP 5: Divide the salad among plates, garnish it with cement leaves, and serve it up!
🧐 Recipe FAQs
You can! You can find cooked shrimp at your supermarket seafood counter, and while it’s a little more expensive, it’s a definitely time-saver if you are in a hurry for this scrumptious salad.
Now, you don’t HAVE to take the vein (that dark line up the back of the shrimp) out, but lots of folks prefer their shrimpies that way. Pull off the shell by wiggling it apart at the bottom of the shrimp. Once the shell is off, cut a shallow line along the top of the shrimp where the vein is, pull it out with the tip of the knife and…you’re done! Put the shrimp shells in a zippered plastic bag when you toss them out, because if they sit in your trash can for more than a few hours…well, I’ll let you use your imagination.
Yep, except for the pears. They will still taste just fine, but like apples, pears have a tendency to turn a little brown once they are cut. So make everything else ahead, and then just cut up and add the pears at the last minute.
Pop your question in the Comments section below the recipe card and I will answer pronto!
I’m thinking next time I whip up this recipe, I might be swapping out the pears for pineapple. And maybe sprinkling some shredded coconut on top. Oh, the possibilities…happy summertime salad-eating, my friends!
Equipment we used for this recipe
These are some of my favorite kitchen tools! These are Amazon affiliate links, which means I get a little something if you buy through my links at no extra cost to you. (Which helps pay for all that bacon I keep buying! 😄) And I only share things I use and love. I’m so grateful for your support!
- Measuring Cup: We love these angled cups that show the measurements on both the inside and outside of the cup.
- Measuring Spoons: These handy magnetic spoons are not on a ring, so you can just pick the one you need.
- Cutting Board: These sturdy, dishwasher-safe cutting boards come in all different sizes.
🍽️ What to serve with this recipe
This salad is a meal in a bowl, but that doesn’t mean we wouldn’t like some grilled flatbread or sheet pan focaccia on the side.
A cool glass of strawberry lemonade would be amazing, and for dessert? Let’s have some brownie cookies!
😍 Other main meal salad recipes we love!
⭐️ We want to know what you think!
If you try this recipe, we would love to hear how it came out for you! I’d be super grateful if you could leave a star rating (you pick how many stars! 🌟 ) and your thoughts in the Comments section below the recipe card.
Summer Shrimp Salad
This speedy summer shrimp salad tosses pears, cucumber, cashews and fresh mint with a lemony dressing for a refreshing light seafood supper.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: Lunch
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Low Calorie
Ingredients
- 1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
- Juice and zest from one lemon
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Pinch each of salt and pepper
- 1 cucumber, cut lengthwise and chopped
- 4 pears, sliced
- 2 scallions, chopped
- ¼ cup chopped cashews
- Fresh mint for garnish
Instructions
- Bring a pot of water to a boil and add the shrimp. Cook until just done, about three minutes. Run under cold water until cool, then put in a mixing bowl.
- Put the lemon juice and zest, the olive oil and the salt and pepper in a small jar, cover and shake well to combine.
- Add the cucumber, pears, scallions and cashews to the bowl with the shrimp. Drizzle on the dressing and toss to combine.
- Divide among plates, garnish with mint and serve!
Notes
- Shrimp: We like extra large shrimp for this recipe, but you can use any size you like! Adjust the cooking time up or down a minute or two depending on the size.
- Pears: We like Bartlett pears because they are just the right combo of sweet and firm, but any pear will be just fine!
- Cashews: You can swap in a different nut, or leave them out altogether if you need a nut-free meal.
The flowers look like varieties of coreopsis. I’ll be making this shrimp salad soon!
Thanks Martha! I’m just so happy with how the flowers are thriving. And I hope you love the shrimp salad as much as we do! :)