Shrimp salad
Classic shrimp salad with celery, dill, lemon and Old Bay, dressed mostly in Greek yogurt with a little mayonnaise. 25 g of protein and 2 g of carbohydrate a serving.
- 190
- kcal
- 25g
- protein
- 9g
- fat
- 2g
- carbs
- Prep
- 45 min
- Cook
- 5 min
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
- 1 lb (450 g) large raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 1 lemon, zested and juiced
- 3 tbsp mayonnaise
- 1/3 cup plain 2% Greek yogurt
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tsp Old Bay seasoning
- 2 ribs celery, finely diced
- 2 tbsp finely chopped red onion or shallot
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh dill or chives
- Salt and black pepper
Method
-
1
Poach the shrimp
Bring a pot of well-salted water to a boil with half the squeezed lemon in it. Add the shrimp, take the pot off the heat, and leave them 3 to 4 minutes, until pink and just opaque in the middle.
-
2
Chill them
Drain the shrimp and drop them into a bowl of ice water for 5 minutes. Drain again and pat them very dry. Wet shrimp make a watery salad.
-
3
Make the dressing
Mix the mayonnaise, yogurt, mustard, Old Bay, lemon zest and 1 tbsp of the lemon juice in a large bowl.
-
4
Mix
Cut the shrimp into bite-size pieces and fold them into the dressing with the celery, onion and dill. Taste and add salt, pepper or more lemon.
-
5
Chill and serve
Refrigerate 30 minutes before serving, on lettuce, in a roll or with crackers.
Cook the shrimp yourself
Pre-cooked shrimp from the seafood counter is convenient, but it is almost always overcooked, and the extra cooking makes it rubbery. Raw shrimp poached off the heat, in water that is no longer boiling, cooks gently and stays tender. It takes 4 minutes. Most "fresh" shrimp in American supermarkets has been frozen and thawed anyway, so a bag of frozen raw shrimp is just as good. Thaw it overnight in the fridge, or in a bowl of cold water for 15 minutes.
Large shrimp, sold as 26/30 or 31/40 count per pound, work best. Smaller shrimp overcook more easily, and jumbo shrimp have to be cut into so many pieces that you lose the point of buying them.
Dry them well
The most common problem with shrimp salad is a puddle at the bottom of the bowl. Shrimp hold a lot of water after cooking and chilling, and it thins out the dressing. Pat them dry with paper towels, and do it again after cutting them. Salting the celery is not needed: diced small, it gives off very little water.
Lighter dressing
A classic shrimp salad uses only mayonnaise, often 1/2 cup or more for a pound of shrimp. Using mostly Greek yogurt, as here, cuts the fat by more than half and adds some protein, and the tang of the yogurt goes well with the lemon and dill. For a salad with no mayonnaise at all, use 1/2 cup Greek yogurt and 1 tbsp olive oil. It is a little sharper, but still good.
Variations
- Avocado shrimp salad: leave out the mayonnaise and fold in a diced ripe avocado with a little more lemon juice. Eat it the same day.
- Pasta shrimp salad: toss with 8 oz of cooked and cooled small pasta and double the dressing.
- Chesapeake-style: use more Old Bay, a dash of hot sauce, and serve it on a split-top roll.
- Keto: it is already low-carb, at 2 g a serving. Serve it in lettuce cups or halved avocados in place of bread, or on toasted keto bread.
Keeping it
Shrimp salad keeps 2 days in the fridge, in a sealed container. Do not leave it out for more than 2 hours, or 1 hour on a hot day. It does not freeze.
What it is worth nutritionally
A serving has about 190 kcal, with 25 g of protein, 9 g of fat and 2 g of carbohydrate. That is a lot of protein for the calories, and a filling lunch. Bread or a roll is not included; a split-top roll adds about 110 to 150 kcal, more if it is buttered and toasted. Shrimp is a good source of selenium, vitamin B12 and iodine. It is also high in dietary cholesterol, but for most people dietary cholesterol has only a small effect on blood cholesterol, and shrimp is very low in saturated fat. US dietary guidelines no longer set a specific daily limit for dietary cholesterol. The salad is gluten-free. For a cheaper lunch on the same plan, our tuna salad uses canned fish and the same yogurt dressing.
