Creamy shrimp pasta salad made with a handful of ingredients and homemade prawn cocktail sauce. This is a quick dinner recipe that is perfect any weeknight especially when time is of the essence. That said, it is a great side dish for your summer potlucks, picnics, and parties. The salad is fresh and delicious!
Homemade Creamy Shrimp Pasta Salad Recipe
You will love this simple summer pasta salad recipe, it is easy to put together without breaking a sweat. You only need to cook the pasta as the recipe calls for pre-cooked frozen shrimps. If you are not in a hurry, you can cook your own shrimp by boiling it in slightly salted water for few minutes until the shrimp is well cooked.
Today’s recipe is a copycat of ASDA’s (in the UK, Walmart in the USA) prawn salad with my twist. My only reservation about the store-bought is that the ratio of lettuce to the rest of the ingredients is much. That took out the fun in enjoying the salad
This gave me no choice but to be making mine at home, the family enjoys it too, it is affordable, more importantly, I can control the ingredients that goes into it and can make it my own.
Homemade definitely needs to taste better than store-bought right? Especially if it something as simple as a salad. This pasta salad is fresh, light, and delicious, not forgetting it is low in calories too, what is not to love. Right, let’s cook!
Ingredients
Short pasta: I used elbow pasta for this salad but any other types of short pasta will work too. Fusilli is another favourite pasta for salad.
Shrimps: I used pre-cooked frozen shrimp.
Red bell pepper
Cucumber
Shallot
Sweetcorn
Lemon juice
Ingredients Variations
here are list of other veggies and herb you add to your salad.
Celery
Dill
Chive or green onions
Jalapeno for some heat
Shrimp salad dressing (Prawn cocktail sauce ingredients)
Mayonnaise: I am using low fat mayonnaise to keep this recipe as healthy as possible without compromising on taste
Ketchup
Worcestershire sauce
Salt and black pepper
Smoked paprika, substitute for sweet paprika
How to make creamy pasta salad
Make the salad creamy dressing: to a small mixing bowl, add mayonnaise, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper, pinch of paprika and mix to combine. Place the sauce in the fridge and continue to prep the rest of the ingredients. Alternatively, skip this step, and make the dressing when you have mixed the veggies with the pasta.
Chop the other ingredients: chop lettuce, carrots, and cucumber into any sizes of choice then set aside covered or place in the fridge.
Defrost the shrimp: best way is to thaw the shrimp overnight in the fridge but if time is of the essence, simply rinse the frozen shrimps in a colander under cold running water until completely thawed. Allow the shrimp drain before adding it to the salad.
Cook the pasta 1 minute longer than the time specified on the packet instruction, drain and run under cold water to stop it from cooking any longer or sticking together. Leave to cool completely
Combine: to a large mixing bowl, add cooled pasta, vegetables, a squeeze of lemon juice and mix to combine. Add shrimps, salad dressing and carefully mix to combine. Taste and adjust salt and black pepper. Sprinkle some smoked paprika on the salad, cover with a clingfilm and place in the fridge for at least 20 minutes for the flavours to develop.
Serve and enjoy!
What to serve with shrimp pasta salad
I mostly eat this pasta salad on its own as it is since it is bulked up with shrimps. That said if you are serving this as side dish then it would be perfect with any grilled proteins. Here are few serving suggestions you may like
Crispy oven baked chicken wings
Air fryer boneless chicken thighs
Simple oven baked chicken drumsticks
Air fryer honey soy drumsticks
How to store
Leftovers can be stored in the fridge for up to 24 hours, shrimp salad can’t be frozen. For best result, if serving to guest or would not be needing it immediately, add the dressing and shrimp just before serving. The pasta and veggies can be made 24 hours ahead of time.
Watch how to make it
More summer salad recipe
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Creamy Shrimp Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 300 g short pasta I used elbow pasta for this salad but any other types of short pasta will work too.
- 450 g pre-cooked frozen shrimps
- 1 medium red bell pepper finely chopped
- 1 cup English cucumber finely chopped
- 1 ½ tablespoon Shallot finely chopped
- 198 g Sweetcorn drained
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
Shrimp salad dressing ingredients
- ¾ cup mayonnaise
- 2 teaspoon Ketchup
- ½ tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- Salt and black pepper to taste
- ⅛ Smoked paprika substitute for sweet paprika
Instructions
- Defrost the shrimp – see note 1
- Make the salad creamy dressing: to a small mixing bowl, add mayonnaise, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper, paprika and mix to combine and place in the fridge until needed.
- Cook the pasta 1 minute longer than the time specified on the packet instruction, drain and run under cold water to stop it from cooking any longer or sticking together. Leave to cool completely.
- Combine: to a large mixing bowl, add cooked pasta, chopped vegetables, lemon juice and mix to combine. Add shrimps, salad dressing and carefully mix to combine. Taste and adjust salt and black pepper to preference. Cover with a clingfilm and place in the fridge for at least 20 minutes for the flavours to develop.Serve and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional data: Please note that the nutrition label provided is an estimate based on an online nutrition calculator. It will vary based on the specific ingredients and brands you use. Under no circumstances will thedinnerbite.com be responsible for any loss or damage resulting for your reliance on nutritional information.
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