Healthy Shrimp Salad with crunchy veggies and creamy Greek yogurt dressing in only 30 minutes! It’s the perfect healthy salad recipe to enjoy at BBQs, picnics, or year round holiday potlucks.
This is just one of my favorite seafood salads including shrimp avocado salad, healthy tuna salad, and smoked salmon salad!
Table of contents
Amidst healthy Instant Pot recipes we seem to make every other day, I like to vary our menu with classics like healthy shrimp salad. It adds variety and flexibility to our menu.
This healthy cold shrimp salad recipe is fantastic on a hot summer day followed up by grilled shrimp skewers or Instant Pot shrimp boil. Serve it as an appetizer during winter months, or meal prep it for lunch year round.
It is relatively affordable for healthy shrimp recipes, takes 15 minutes to prep, and satisfies all your creamy salad cravings with a lightened up Greek yogurt dressing.
Why You Will Love This Salad
- Healthy: With a simple yogurt dressing that has just a touch of mayo for a healthy balance.
- Full of flavor: Zest and zing from the Greek yogurt plus mustard balances perfectly with tangy green apple and crunchy celery.
- Easy to make: Add ingredients to a bowl and stir to combine, easy peasy!
I love shrimp! Whether it’s in a one skillet meal like shrimp tostadas or shrimp and vegetable stir fry, my family can’t get enough!
Ingredients You Will Need
This healthy shrimp salad ingredients list is short and to the point!
- Shrimp: You will need 1 lb of cooked small shrimp, that is average of 31-40 count. A little about me and where I live on Vancouver Island, we often get local wild small in size shrimp for a good price. It is perfect.
- Greek yogurt: Keeps the recipe creamy while also keeping it low calorie.
- Green apple or cucumber: Either will add crunch, use Green apple if you like tart and crispy or cucumber if you like fresh and crisp taste. Use a combo to get a little of both!
- Celery: Adds a mild crunch with earthy undertones that you just can’t get from another veg! It’s a must for healthy chicken salad, too.
- Mayo: Just a touch adds the right balance while still keeping this light and healthy.
- Mustard: Either yellow or Dijon mustard can be used. Dijon will add just a slight more tang.
- Garlic powder: Seasons your healthy shrimp salad.
- Salt and pepper: To season and taste.
Looking for a dish that’s a little less creamy, try shrimp ceviche!
How to Make Healthy Shrimp Salad
You need only 15 minutes to make this salad with shrimp which makes it perfect for healthy lunch ideas!
You start with shrimp. I highly recommend to buy cooked shrimp vs. raw shrimp. It saves so much time. Look for small in size shrimp otherwise you will need to chop it.
Then dice your veggies. The smaller the better. You can use apple or cucumber to add a crunch and freshness. I do not peel either but you can. You can also seed cucumber to avoid extra moisture if you plan on meal prepping the salad.
Add shrimp salad yogurt dressing ingredients. For best results, use plain Greek yogurt with at least 2% fat content. Then I like to add a touch of mayo because yogurt is not same taste as mayo. And simple seasonings like garlic powder, mustard, salt and pepper.
If you see whey separated yogurt when you open the container, it’s perfect. Less liquid in your salad. Just scoop and measure the yogurt part.
Stir gently. Finally, you will stir all your ingredient together. I like to use a spatula to ensure each ingredient is mixed together, but not disturbed too much.
Refrigerate. For best taste chill your shrimp salad for 15 minutes to allow flavor to meld together.
I make many of my creamy salads healthier by either reducing or eliminating the mayo content and adding Greek yogurt. Try it in Thai chicken salad or even canned salmon salad recipe!
Recipes Notes and Tips
- Bite sized shrimp: If you do not have small shrimp, chop them into smaller pieces. This makes it easier to eat in a salad. Use those larger shrimp for shrimp tacos recipe!
- Use what you have on hand: The day I made this, I was out of celery and fresh dill to use in healthy shrimp salad. And it still turned out fantastic. You really can mix and match to what you have on hand.
- Mix and match: You can add a bit of minced red onion or fresh garlic. I do if I make salad for home use. Swap shrimp for the tuna in healthy tuna egg salad!
FAQs
Refrigerate shrimp salad in an airtight glass container for up to 3 days. I do not like to store creamy food in plastic. Full disclosure – wild shrimp salad smells. It doesn’t mean it went bad, it’s just shrimp smells. So, tight seal helps.
More likely you will see liquid accumulated at the bottom on day 1-2. Could be from not seeded cucumbers and yogurt. It’s normal. Just drain it.
No. Shrimp and yogurt do not freeze well.
Yes, just use all Greek yogurt.
While fresh will always provide the best taste, frozen works. Just thaw in the refrigerator overnight or in a bowl of cold water, then pat dry.
There are so many ways to cook shrimp for salad! I love to use leftover air fryer shrimp, but you can also steam, pan fry, or grill shrimp, too.
What To Serve With Healthy Shrimp Salad
While shrimp salad might not be an obvious family meal, I love a good shrimp salad for its versatility. We just can’t be caring about the children all the time, right?!
- Sandwich: Add healthy shrimp salad on top of toasted whole grain bread lined with as many romaine lettuce leaves as you can handle.
- Cucumber bites: Serve as an appetizer on top of cucumber slices with a sprinkle of Old Bay seasoning, follow my cucumber appetizers method.
- Pasta salad: Cook 1 cup of whole wheat or gluten free pasta and mix with shrimp salad. Or just add it to healthy pasta salad.
- Avocado: Cut avocado in half, fill openings to the brim, and add a squeeze of lime for a low cal, low carb shrimp salad.
- Crackers: Pick up whole grain crackers and serve salad as an appetizer.
- Tomato: Hollow out tomato and stuff with healthy shrimp salad.
More Simple and Healthy Salads
- Avocado egg salad
- Cauliflower potato salad
- Simple avocado salad
- Healthy egg salad
- Asparagus salad
- Browse all salad recipes
Browse all my healthy shrimp recipes to discover a few more new shrimp favorites!
Healthy Shrimp Salad with Greek Yogurt Dressing
Ingredients
- 1 lb cooked shrimp small or chopped
- 3 celery stalks diced
- 1 small apple or 1/3 English cucumber diced
- 3/4 cup plain Greek yogurt, 2% fat and higher
- 2 tbsp mayo
- 1 tbsp Dijon or yellow mustard
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- Ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, add shrimp, celery, apple, yogurt, mayo, mustard, garlic powder, salt and pepper.
- Stir gently to combine.
- Refrigerate at least 15 minutes before serving.
Notes
- Store: Refrigerate shrimp salad covered for up to 3 days. Drain liquid accumulated at the bottom if necessary.
- Shrimp size: Small size is best, around 31-40 pieces. If larger, chop into smaller pieces.
- Frozen shrimp: Can be used, thaw in refrigerator or bowl of cold water and pat dry.
- Mix and match ingredients: Use what you have on hand, add red onion, fresh garlic or dill.
Ooooh, this turned out so well! Creamy and delicious!
I tweaked it by adding green onion, a little extra garlic powder, a teaspoon of dill relish, and a dash of smoked paprika in top. I served it on lettuce with avocado and tomato on the side and a croissant. I loved it, and it was a hit with my husband as well.
Thanks for sharing this recipe!
So glad you enjoyed it, yum on the serving option as well!
This was so easy and super delicious. I used both apple and cucumber, and added some chipotle seasoning as well. I also bought ingredients for one of your other salads. Thank you, Olena!
I am so happy to hear this, Siobhán! This healthy shrimp salad is one of my fave summer salads, perfect for hiking and boating.
I loved this recipe – especially using Greek yogurt as the main dairy, with significantly reduced use of mayo! I didn’t have celery, so I used the apple and added celery seed to get a little flavor. Can’t wait to make it again, with celery and will add some onion, as suggested in the comments below. Thank you for the recipe!
You are very welcome Christine!
Added some Tabasco for a little kick! Used cucumbers instead of apple, and diced red onion. Filled plates with chopped romaine lettuce. Thick slices of tomato and avocado. Topped it all off with the shrimp salad. Magnificent! Thanks for sharing this recipe. 🙂
You are very welcome Terri!
Shrimp ? is on sale at my local store this week! Yay ?& I already have most of the other ingredients. I love the idea of some apple ? in the salad! I hope to make this recipe this week! Thanks ?
YAY! Hope you enjoy the salad!
Very good.