Grilled Shrimp Salad
Published May 19, 2025
Grilled shrimp salad with large, seasoned grilled shrimp added to a bed of lettuce mixed with fresh veggies and a creamy homemade dressing.
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My Grilled Shrimp Salad is So Good!
When it’s grilling season, I’m all about this grilled shrimp salad recipe. The shrimp get a quick toss in a spicy seasoning before cooking on the grill for ONLY 4 minutes! The salad itself has lots of fresh vegetables, and I make a homemade creamy dressing with lime, Greek yogurt, and a few spices. If you don’t have a grill, you can use a grill pan or, really, any skillet!
This recipe is part of our monthly Cooking Challenge for June 2025!
Grilled Shrimp Salad Ingredients
- Shrimp: I recommend large shrimp; they work better for grilling. You can use fresh or frozen (thawed) shrimp. Either is totally fine.
- Oil: You’ll use olive oil to coat the shrimp and in the dressing.
- Spices: I call for a handful of spices for this recipe, including smoked paprika, garlic powder, and chili powder.
- Greek yogurt: I like the flavor of full-fat greek yogurt, but plain, low-fat yogurt works, too.
- Lime: You’ll need 2 tablespoons of lime juice, which is usually one lime!
- Honey: A little sweetness for balance! You could also use a teaspoon of maple syrup.
- For the salad: I usually make the salad with romaine lettuce, cherry tomatoes, corn, sliced red onion, cucumber, avocado, and feta cheese. Try it my way once and then make your own substitutions, like sliced green onion instead of the red onion!
How to Make a Grilled Shrimp Salad
Grilled Shrimp Salad Recipe
Ingredients
For the Shrimp
- 1 pound large shrimp peeled & deveined
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
For the Dressing
- ½ cup Greek yogurt
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 lime juiced
- 1 teaspoon honey
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
For the Salad
- 1 head romaine lettuce chopped about 6 cups
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes halves
- 2 cups frozen corn thawed
- ½ red onion sliced
- 2 Persian cucumbers sliced
- 1 avocado chopped
- ¼ cup crumbled feta cheese
Instructions
- In a bowl, toss shrimp with olive oil, smoked paprika, garlic powder, salt, and black pepper. Let sit for 10 minutes while preparing the grill. Grill shrimp for 2 minutes per side until pink and opaque. Remove from grill.
- In a large bowl, whisk together Greek yogurt, olive oil, lime juice, honey, garlic powder, chili powder, salt, and black pepper.
- Add the lettuce, tomatoes, corn, and red onion and toss to combine.
- When ready to serve, top with grilled shrimp, cucumbers, avocado, and feta, and serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information provided is an estimate. It will vary based on cooking method and specific ingredients used.
Recipe Tips
- Devein the shrimp. I use a paring knife to do this, slicing along the underside of the shrimp to remove the vein. You can see how I do it here!
- Preheat grill. Not only does this give you 10 to 15 minutes for the shrimp to marinate, but a hot grill cooks food faster, adds better flavor, and prevents food from sticking to the grates.
- Toss the lettuce and dressing right before serving. Romaine—unlike, say, kale—gets soggy when it sits in salad dressing.
- Use a grill basket or skewers to cook the shrimp. That’s if you’re worried about the falling through the grates! I use large shrimp to avoid this altogether.
FAQs
If you’re planning on making this salad ahead, I would use store all of the components separately (the dressing, shrimp, and salad ingredients) and assemble it when you’re ready to eat. They should last in the fridge for 2-3 days.
Yes, you do! If you don’t, the water on the shrimp will stop it from absorbing the oil and spices—and they’ll take longer to cook.
You can marinate the shrimp for 2 hours ahead of time! Shrimp starts to get mushy if it’s marinated beyond that.
Comments
Could I use regular paprika instead of smoked?
Yes, absolutely!
So refreshing and delicious!
Thank you, David! So happy you liked it!
This was so good! Everything that I love about summer cooking! Light and fairly easy.
Love that! So happy you enjoyed it, Rachel! Thanks!!
Really, really good, Yumna! I appreciate the simplicity because I don’t cook a lot of seafood. I I could devour all of this shrimp, and I love how fresh and summery it tastes in the salad. I added a bit more spice to the dressing. I will definitely be making this again! Thank you for sharing.
Aww, so glad you love it!! That makes me so happy to hear! Thank you, Emiley!!
Loved the salad. I added red grapes to mine
Aww, so glad you loved it! Thanks!
This was a huge hit in our house. I made this salad for Father’s Day. I used fresh corn that I cut off the cob but it would work with any other type of corn. Also, I added a little red wine vinegar to the dressing as the lime I used wasn’t very juicy (of course, I only had 1 lime). But, it came out great and everyone (even the little ones) was raving about it. I would also like to try this recipe by swapping out the shrimp for grilled fish or chicken.
Aww, so glad even the kids loved it!! That’s a big win! Thank you so much, Jamie!
Another goodie! I love grilled shrimp and this salad is perfect for it! And the dressing is super tasty! The only modification I made was to add pickled red onions instead of raw because I don’t love raw onion. Such a nice lunch or light dinner!
Yay, so happy you love it!! Thank you so much!
Such a light and flavorful shrimp salad. The salad dressing was so delicious that I made more of it for eating vegetables and dipping it in.
Love that!! So glad you liked the salad and dressing. Thank you!
My new favorite summer dinner! Light, flavorful, refreshing – this checks all the boxes! I will say that I did just boil my shrimp and then give them a good seasoning with the dry spices (sans the olive oil) rather than marinating and then grilling them. Still super delicious and can’t wait to make again!
Yay, so glad you liked it!! It’s a great salad for hot summer nights. Love the tweaks you made for the shrimp! Thank you for sharing!!
Our fam loved it!
Yay, I’m so glad!! Thanks!
Question: Do you find the frozen corn to be tough?
I don’t but you can use fresh corn if you prefer!
That looks absolutely delicious! I am adding it to my favorites (even though I haven’t made it yet)! My family will love this salad! Thank you so much for sharing!
I hope you and your family enjoy the salad, Theresa!