Impress your guests with a delicious and flavorful salad recipe at your next dinner party! We will walk you through a super easy recipe for a cilantro lime shrimp salad with lettuce that will wake your taste buds!
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This easy shrimp salad with cilantro lime dressing is made with marinated shrimp, rich avocados, juicy tomatoes, red onion, and iceberg lettuce, topped with a creamy cilantro lime salad dressing.
Why you’ll love this recipe
- SHAREABLE: Just like our zesty Italian pasta salad, red skin potato salad, Caprese pasta salad, this delicious salad is the perfect side dish to any meal and can feed a group!
- DELICIOUS: The shrimp is super tender and the creamy texture from the avocado and cilantro lime dressing is out of this world good. You won’t be able to put your fork down!
- QUICK AND EASY: This salad comes together in no time at all! The shrimp takes under 5 minutes to cook, and then everything gets tossed into a salad bowl.
Recipe Ingredients
- BUTTER: The butter is to cook and make the shrimp super flavorful.
- SHRIMP: For the shrimp, you can used already cooked or frozen. They both taste great and are easy to use!
- SPICES: The shrimp are marinated with salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika, chili powder, and just a tad of cayenne (but this is optional).
- YOGURT: Plain Greek yogurt is used as the base of the salad dressing, making it super creamy.
- LIME: The juice of one lime is squeezed into the salad dressing for some citrus flavor.
- FRESH GARLIC: A fresh garlic clove is minced or shredded for the salad dressing as it pairs well with the other ingredients.
- SALT: Salt is added to the salad dressing to enhance the flavor.
- HONEY: Some honey is added to the dressing to help balance the garlic and lime juice acidity.
- CILANTRO: Cilantro is added to the creamy dressing to make it a beautiful green color and for a fresh herb flavor.
- LETTUCE: A head of iceberg lettuce is used in this recipe for a crisp texture that compliments the creaminess of the avocados and the tender shrimp.
- AVOCADOS: Avocados add a beautiful color to this salad dish, making it rich and creamy.
- TOMATOES: Fresh and juicy tomatoes add a bright color and delicious flavor to the salad.
- RED ONION: The red onion adds a crunchy texture and a sharp bite to the salad.
See the recipe card below for the ingredient measurements.
Kitchen Equipment
- FRYING PAN: For sauteeing the shrimp.
- KNIFE: For chopping the ingredients.
- CUTTING BOARD: For safely chopping the ingredients and protecting your counters.
- CITRUS JUICER: For juicing the lime (alternatively, you can cut it in half and squeeze the lime to get the juice.
- BLENDER OR FOOD PROCESSOR: For making the salad dressing.
- SALAD BOWL: For serving the avocado & shrimp salad.
- MEASURING SPOONS AND CUPS: For measuring the ingredients.
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Cook the shrimp: In a frying pan on medium heat, add the shrimp ingredients and cook until the shrimp is curling and has turned pink, about 3-5 minutes. Remove from the heat once it’s cooked.
- Make the dressing: Add the dressing ingredients to a blender, and blend for about 1 minute until smooth and green in color.
- Put it all together: To a salad bowl, add the iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, red onion, avocado, and shrimp. Pour the salad dressing over the salad before serving.
Expert Tips
- Buy peeled shrimp. You can buy peeled or unpeeled frozen shrimp at the grocery store, and it will save you so much time if they’re already peeled!
- Quickly defrost shrimp. This recipe uses frozen shrimp but is cooked thawed. To defrost shrimp you can put it in the fridge overnight, or quickly defrost it by adding your bag of shrimp to a bowl of lukewarm water.
- Pick the right avocado. You can tell how an avocado is ripe in three main ways. It should be darker in color, have a bumpy exterior, and give a little when you gently squeeze it.
Recipe FAQ’s
You know shrimp is cooked when it starts to curl and has turned pink in color.
Depending on the size of the shrimp, it can take anywhere between 3-5 minutes. Not long at all, which is nice!
Overcooked shrimp is fine to eat, however it will have a tough, rubbery texture.
Fully cooked shrimp should turn a pink color.
If it's hard, it's not ready or ripe enough to eat. If it gives a little bit when you apply some gentle pressure, that means it’s good to go! Too squishy and it's overripened.
This salad is best eaten the day it's made. The lettuce will become soggy over time and the avocado will start to brown. If you do choose to store leftovers, you can do so by transferring it to an airtight container or covering the salad bowl with plastic wrap for up to 2 days.
Ingredient Alternatives
- Quinoa: Quinoa is a great option for a more hearty salad. It has a bit of a nutty flavor and it pairs great with the other ingredients. You can swap the lettuce base for quinoa instead, which will become a more hearty, filling option.
- Cucumber: Try adding some chopped cucumber to this recipe for a refreshing flavor and crunchy bite.
- Feta Cheese: Cheese always makes things better, right? Top this salad with feta cheese for added tanginess, creaminess, and saltiness. It’ll be delicious!
Serving Suggestions
This shrimp salad goes great with grilled steak and some roasted baby potatoes. It also tastes delicious with roasted chicken dinner recipes next to a side of creamy mashed potatoes.
Print📖 Recipe
Cilantro Lime Shrimp Salad with Lettuce
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 4
Description
Impress your guests with a delicious, fun, and unique cilantro lime shrimp salad with lettuce recipe at your next dinner party!
Ingredients
- Iceberg Lettuce, Chopped: 1 Head
- Tomato, Diced: 2
- Red Onion, Diced: ⅓ Cup
- Avocado, Sliced: 2
Shrimp Ingredients
- Butter: 2 Tablespoons
- Shrimp, Dethawed And Peeled, Cooked Or Uncooked: 1.5 Cups
- Salt: ½ Teaspoon
- Pepper: ¼ Teaspoon
- Garlic Powder: ½ Teaspoon
- Paprika: ¼ Teaspoon
- Chili Powder: ¼ Teaspoon
- Cayenne: ¼ Teaspoon (Optional)
Salad Dressing Ingredients
- Plain Greek Yogurt: 1 Cup
- Lime Juice: 1 Lime
- Garlic Clove, Minced Or Shredded: 1
- Honey: 1 Teaspoon
- Salt: 1 Teaspoon
- Cilantro: ½ Cup
Instructions
- Cook the shrimp: In a frying pan on medium heat, add the shrimp ingredients and cook until the shrimp is curling and has turned pink, about 3-5 minutes. Remove from the heat once it’s cooked.
- Make the dressing: Add the dressing ingredients to a blender, and blend for about 1 minute, until smooth and green in color.
- Put it all together: To a salad bowl, add the iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, red onion, avocado, and shrimp. Pour the salad dressing over the salad before serving.
Notes
You can buy peeled or unpeeled frozen shrimp at the grocery store, but it will save you so much time if they’re already peeled!
This recipe uses frozen shrimp but is cooked thawed. To defrost shrimp, you can put it in the fridge overnight, or quickly defrost it by adding your bag of shrimp to a bowl of lukewarm water.
You can tell an avocado is ripe in three main ways. It should be darker in color, have a bumpy exterior, and give a little when you gently squeeze it.
Nutrition facts are estimates only.
Scroll up to the full blog post for recipe FAQ’s and serving suggestions.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Category: lunch, dinner, side dish, salad
- Method: stove top
- Cuisine: american
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