This lighter take on shrimp salad, made with lettuce and without mayo can be customized to your taste and ingredients you have on hand. The shrimp cooks in less than 15 minutes!
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Here's to a shrimp salad with lettuce that is crunchy, a dressing that is lemony, and add-ins that are fresh and briny and salty like the sea!
We are making this shrimp salad without mayo to keep it light and simple, using the garlicky olive oil that the shrimp cooks in to form the base of the dressing. Yum.
This recipe actually came about because I had leftovers of my garlic shrimp recipe and wanted to turn it into something new. So I've added zippy cherry peppers and feta, and created a lemony, garlic dressing (no mayo!) to turn it into a green salad with shrimp that's a flavor bomb!
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A shrimp salad with lettuce that's light, fresh, and easy to make!
- Fresh, crunchy romaine lettuce makes the perfect base.
- The salad dressing is made without mayo, so it's much lighter, to let the sweet flavor of the shrimp come through.
- Can be made any time of year—add seasonal veggies of your choice!
- Just poach the shrimp in a garlicky olive oil, then quickly chop a few things. You'll have a beautiful salad on the table in less than 30 minutes!
Ingredients you'll need
- Shrimp: Look for head off, tail-on shrimp, about 21-30 per pound. You can get shell on, or peeled and de-veined, whatever is most affordable. (Just so you know, the vein won't hurt you, and will have little to no effect on the taste of shrimp this small, so there's no real need to pay more.)
- Garlic: Big luscious slices of garlic will flavor the shrimp as it cooks and then get added to the dressing for a mellow, roasted garlic flavor.
- Olive oil: The olive oil does double duty, as the cooking agent for the shrimp and the base of the no-mayo dressing, so use a good one with good flavor.
- Red pepper flakes, parsley and kosher salt: This adds a little spice and a bit of freshness to the shrimp salad.
- Romaine lettuce: Romaine has such a wonderful crunch, it provides a great contrast to the tender shrimp and holds up to the lemony-garlic dressing.
- Feta cheese: The salty brininess of feta pairs well with shrimp. (This busts the rule about cheese and seafood, sometimes they do go together.)
- Cherry peppers: Cherry peppers are a bit spicy, but they're also sweet. You can find them in Italian markets or order them online.
- Pepitas (pumpkin seeds): I love the crunch, nuttiness, creaminess and lovely green color that these bring to the salad.
How to make shrimp salad without mayo
Step 1: Cook the shrimp
Remove shells from shrimp, leaving tails on. Toss in a bowl with 1 teaspoon kosher salt, let stand 10 minutes.
Add the garlic and olive oil to a large cast-iron or other heavy skillet over moderately low heat. You are gently and slowly infusing the olive oil with the garlic flavor. Poaching the garlic, really.
Stir occasionally, until the garlic is fragrant and has just barely started to brown. Throw in the pinch of red pepper flakes and give it a stir.
Add the shrimp to the skillet, keeping the heat moderately low. Keep them all in one layer, don’t pile them up.
When they are barely pink on one side, flip them all over and let cook for maybe a minute. When they have all barely turned pink, remove from heat immediately and allow to finish cooking in the warm oil.
Top with the parsley and set aside to cool.
Shrimp cooking time tip:
The cooking time will vary depending upon the size of the shrimp you buy. But it generally goes pretty fast. Don’t walk away! Just remember you don’t want to overcook shrimp, but you also should NOT be eating grey shrimp…
Step 2: Toast the pepitas
In a dry skillet over medium-low heat, toast pepitas for a couple of minutes until warm and fragrant. Transfer to a plate to cool.
Step 3: Chop the lettuce and peppers
Chop romaine lettuce into wide ribbons.
Slice cherry peppers into thin slivers.
Step 4: Make the salad dressing - no mayo! Yay!
Once the oil from cooking the shrimp has cooled a bit, make the salad dressing. Spoon off ¼ cup of olive oil from the shrimp into a bowl, making sure to grab a generous amount of the garlic slivers.
Squeeze the juice from half the lemon into the bowl and mix thoroughly. Taste and add a pinch of kosher salt and more lemon juice if necessary.
Step 5: Assemble the shrimp salad
Place chopped romaine lettuce onto serving plates and drizzle with salad dressing. Sprinkle the salad with feta, pepitas, and slivered peppers. Top with shrimp and drizzle with a bit more dressing. Serve the salad with lemon wedges on the side.
If you like, spoon more of the garlic olive oil left from cooking the shrimp into a bowl and serve with crusty bread for dipping.
Other lettuce to try with shrimp salad
I love the crunch of romaine lettuce, but try these other varieties to change things up!
- Iceberg lettuce will give you great crunch and stand up to the olive oil dressing.
- Butter lettuce is soft, tender, and looks pretty on the plate.
- Arugula would add a peppery bite!
Substitutions
- If you can't find cherry peppers or don't want the spice, you can substitute piquillo peppers or roasted red peppers instead. Fresh red bell peppers would be great, too!
- Instead of pepitas, you could try sunflower seeds, toasted almonds, or cashews.
More shrimp recipes
If you love shrimp, you'll love these recipes, too!
- Cilantro Lime Shrimp with Tequila Butter is a quick and simple dinner.
- Shrimp Scampi with Tomatoes, Corn and Fresh Basil is summer on a plate!
Recipe
Shrimp Salad with Lettuce, Feta and Lemon-Garlic Dressing
Ingredients
Salad
- 2 heads romaine lettuce or butter lettuce
- ¼ cup pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
- 6 cherry peppers
- ¼ cup feta cheese
Shrimp:
- 1 pound shrimp 21-30 per pound size
- 1 ¼ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup garlic thinly sliced
- ¼ cup parsley minced
- pinch crushed red pepper flakes
- kosher salt
Dressing
- ¼ cup olive oil that was used to cook the shrimp
- 1 lemon
- pinch kosher salt
Instructions
- In a dry skillet over medium-low heat, toast pumpkin seeds for a couple of minutes until warm and fragrant. Transfer to a plate to cool.
- Chop romaine lettuce into wide ribbons.
- Slice cherry peppers into thin slivers
- Remove shells from shrimp, leaving tails on. Toss in a bowl with 1 teaspoon kosher salt, let stand 10 minutes.
- Add the garlic and olive oil to a large cast-iron or other heavy skillet over moderately low heat. You are gently and slowly infusing the olive oil with the garlic flavor. Poaching the garlic, really. Stir occasionally, until the garlic is fragrant and has just barely started to brown.
- Throw in the pinch of red pepper flakes and give it a stir.
- Add the shrimp to the skillet, keeping the heat moderately low. Keep them all in one layer, don’t pile them up.
- When they are barely pink on one side, flip them all over and let cook for maybe a minute. When they have all barely turned pink, remove from heat immediately and allow to finish cooking in the warm oil.
- Once the oil has cooled a bit, make the dressing. Spoon off ¼ cup of olive oil from the shrimp into a bowl, making sure to grab a generous amount of the garlic slivers. Squeeze the juice from half the lemon into the bowl and mix thoroughly. Taste and add a pinch of kosher salt and more lemon juice if necessary.
- Place chopped lettuce onto serving plates and drizzle with dressing. Sprinkle with feta, pumpkin seeds, and slivered peppers. Top with shrimp and drizzle with a bit more dressing. Serve with lemon wedges on the side.
- Spoon more of the garlic olive oil from the shrimp into a bowl with crusty bread for dipping.
Notes
- You can make the shrimp up to two days ahead and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
- You can substitute piquillo peppers or roasted red peppers for the cherry peppers.
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