Shrimp Avocado Salad that comes together in 15 minutes. Bring to a potluck or enjoy for lunch, this salad is easy to make either way as it requires no cooking. Perfect summer dish.
Avocado makes any salad better! From simple avocado salad to corn avocado salad, this fruit is perfect for making salads!
Shrimp and Avocado Salad
This shrimp and avocado salad is perfect for summer or really year round side dish worthy. Think Easter and Holidays! It is cold and requires no cooking.
Shrimp avocado salad recipe takes only 15 minutes to make. Everything you need on a hot summer night – although shrimp boil might need to be included on that summer must do list, too! We ate ours over a course of 2 days, from taking to the beach to putting together a quick lunch.
Ingredients
- Cooked shrimp
- Avocado
- Tomatoes
- Bell pepper
- Cilantro
- Plain yogurt
- Simple spices
This shrimp and avocado salad is so versatile. Perfect for cleaning out the veggie drawers. Use what you have. Honestly.
How to Pick Ripe Avocados
First thing I want to share, if you care about buying organic vs. conventional produce, avocado is not where you should be spending your money. Because of its thick skin and because only 1% of avocados are actually sprayed, you can buy regular avocados and not organic. Avocado is #1 on Clean 15 list.
Choose avocado fruit that is dark green and a bit soft to the touch. Soft avocados with brown skin are over ripen. Which means they are mushy and have black spots inside.
You can also remove the brown nub of the stem. If it comes off easily and flesh is green underneath, your avocado is ripe.
Next, learn how to cut an avocado correctly.
How to Cook Shrimp
The best feature of this easy salad is that you don’t have to cook anything. Not even shrimp. But sometimes you have leftovers or not a bag of cooked shrimp, so there are a few options.
- Buy cooked shrimp – You can buy large size or tiny one cooked, peeled and deveined shrimp. Obviously large one will cost more, so will the wild (local) one. I personally think it is best to buy wild because it has not been contained in enclosed environment, fed antibiotics and etc. somewhere in Asia.
- Grilled shrimp – You can use leftovers of this recipe or if you happen to have a bag of raw and not cooked shrimp on hand.
- Sauteed shrimp – Here is how I like to cook shrimp in a pan. Just like I did for shrimp tacos. Saute in a hot pan in a bit of avocado oil seasoned with salt and pepper. That’s all you need but you can make shrimp spicy with chili powder or taco seasoning.
What’s the Dressing?
In this tasty salad, veggies and shrimp are dressed in scrumptious creamy and zesty yogurt dressing. This cold healthy shrimp salad is creamy without mayo. Regular or Greek yogurt do the job.
I kissed goodbye to mayo drenched salads long time ago. I don’t mind a few tablespoons of avocado mayo in healthy egg salad or healthy potato salad once in a while though.
Healthy Serving Ideas
Here is how our family likes to eat shrimp avocado salad.
- Put over a tostada. You can even make your own healthy tostadas.
- With quinoa or brown rice for those hungry boys and husbands.
- Over a bed of fresh crispy lettuce like Romaine, spinach or zesty arugula.
- With tortilla chips as an appetizer.
- Add 2 cups of cooked pasta to the salad. Or 1 cup quinoa.
Make Ahead?
Definitely. Just leave out avocado and cilantro. Pour dressing on a side but do not stir. Or refrigerate dressing in a separate container. Bring it with you if you are travelling with the salad. Dress right there.
Another option is to make dressing right before serving.
In either case, you can make this shrimp and avocado salad up to 2 days in advance.
Does It Go Bad?
Surprisingly enough, this yummy make ahead salad is also good for leftovers. Even all dressed, it keeps its shape pretty well for up to 2 days. Avocado may turn a bit brown but nothing catastrophic.
More Summer Salad Recipes to Try:
Shrimp Avocado Salad
Ingredients
Yogurt Dressing:
- 3/4 cup regular or Greek plain yogurt 2+% fat
- 2 tsp any light colour vinegar
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- Ground black pepper to taste
Shrimp Avocado Salad:
- 1 lb cooked frozen shrimp thawed & drained
- 1 pint grape tomatoes cut in halves
- 2 large bell peppers chopped
- 3 medium avocados chopped
- 1 1 lb long English cucumber, chopped
- 1/2 cup cilantro finely chopped
Instructions
- In a small bowl, add yogurt, vinegar, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Whisk with a fork and set aside.
- Chop vegetables and add them to a large salad bowl.
- Pour dressing on top and mix gently to combine. Serve chilled.
Notes
- If using thick Greek yogurt, thin it out with a few tbsp of water.
- Smaller size shrimp is great for this salad as it's cheaper. If using large shrimp, cut in half.
- Store: Refrigerate covered for up to 2 days (dressed is OK).
- Make Ahead: Just leave out avocado and cilantro. Pour dressing on a side but do not stir. Or refrigerate dressing in a separate container. Bring it with you if you are travelling with the salad. Dress right there.
- Another option is to make the dressing right before serving.
- In either case, you can make this shrimp and avocado salad up to 2 days in advance.
Nutrition
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Hi, I am Olena.
A mom to 2 boys, a wife to Alex, and soon-to-be Certified Nutrition Coach and Cornell University Healthy Living program graduate. Welcome to our easy healthy recipes blog! I grew up in Ukraine on real food. As an adult, I tried many diets without results. Now for over 10 years, I cook quick and easy healthy meals for my family. I can help you with “What’s for dinner?” too.
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