Italian Shrimp Pasta Salad

This Italian shrimp pasta salad is delicious, colorful and flavorful summer dish. It is loaded with veggies, pasta and well-seasoned shrimp and topped with creamy homemade dressing. Perfect for an easy lunch, family dinner, or to take on picnics.

Italian Shrimp Pasta Salad

Oh man. This shrimp pasta salad is SO good; it is fresh, super easy, comes together in no time and is topped with a creamy and delicious homemade salad dressing.

Ah, it is super easy to customize to your liking (check the variations).

For me, on hot days, fresh salad like this shrimp pasta salad is the best choice for lunch or dinner. It is one of my go-to quick salad recipes.

Ingredients

Let’s take a look at all the ingredients you will need to gather to make this recipe:

Note: This is an overview of the ingredients. See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.

Salad

• Pasta: I prefer to use small pasta shapes like bow-tie or elbow pasta, so all the ingredients are the same size. I don’t recommend using big pasta shapes.
• Veggies: Cucumber, cherry tomato, avocado, baby corn, carrot, radish, parsley and bell pepper. However, you can add any veggies you like.

Shrimp

• Shrimps: Fresh or frozen shrimps will work in this recipe. I used fresh shrimp, to save time, you can use pre-cooked shrimp.
• Butter: Sometimes I use oil, but butter gives a better taste.
• Seasoning: Paprika, onion powder, black pepper and salt.

For the Dressing

• Mayonnaise and Greek yoghurt: This combination makes a deliciously creamy dressing. You can replace greek yoghurt with sour cream.
• Dijon mustard: It gives the dressing a strong and spicy flavour.
• Olive oil: For better flavour, use a good quality extra virgin olive oil.
• Cider vinegar: You can replace it with balsamic vinegar if you like.
• Seasoning: Salt, ground black pepper, cumin, and Italian herbs.

How To Make Italian Shrimp Pasta Salad?

One (Cooke The Pasta): Cook the pasta in salted water according to the package instructions to al dente. Drain and rinse with cold water, then set aside.

Two (Prepare The Veggies):

• Cook baby corn for 5 minutes in boiling water.
• Chop avocado, cucumber, carrot, and bell pepper.
• Cut the cherry tomato into halves.
• Slice radish and finely chop the parsley.

Three (Cook The Shrimp): Pat the shrimp dry with a paper towel and season with paprika, salt, black pepper, and onion powder. Next, heat the butter in a skillet over medium heat, then cook the shrimps for 2-3 minutes on each side, then turn off the heat.

Four (Make The Creamy Dressing): In a bowl, mix all the dressing ingredients well.

Five (To Serve): Arrange the veggies, pasta and shrimps on a serving plate, and top with the dressing.

Tips and Variations

• If you would like to add in extra veggies, you can add fresh spinach leaves, spring onion, broccoli, mushrooms, celery or peas.
• If you like seafood pasta salad, you can add crab meat to this recipe, making it even more delicious.
• Try adding olives, chopped mint, cilantro (coriander), chopped dill, spring onion or basil leaves to create a Mediterranean flavour.
• I love this salad also with feta, cheddar or parmesan.
• If I don't have shrimp in the fridge, I use other meat such as chicken, steak, crab meat or scallops as an alternative to shrimp.
• Storage: Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days.

How To Serve

For me, I usually serve this dish with Vegetable Stir Fry With Egg, Fried Chicken Thighs, Chicken Kofta or Chicken Bolognese for lunch.

Or serve with Indian Chicken Curry, Parmesan Crusted Chicken Breast or Creamy Garlic Chicken Thighs for dinner.

Recipe FAQs

Related Pasta Salad Recipes

• Smoked Salmon Pasta Salad
• Creamy Tuna Pasta Salad
• Creamy Vegetable Macaroni Salad

Thank you for checking out my recipe. If you don’t want to miss a recipe, follow me on Facebook and Pinterest to keep up-to-date with all new recipes. Also, you can subscribe to my Newsletter to recipe all the new recipes once published.

Recipe Card