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This grilled shrimp salad comes together in just 15 minutes and turns boring salad into a restaurant-worthy meal. Perfectly seasoned shrimp, crispy bacon, creamy avocado, and a tangy honey mustard vinaigrette that ties it all together!
When we need a quick dinner, shrimp tends to be one of our go-to options!
Salad with Grilled Shrimp For Summer!
Love shrimp for any night of the week, since it’s easy to keep on hand in the freezer and it cooks up in minutes! Pretty sure shrimp is a total life saver.
We make our garlic shrimp pasta and shrimp alfredo for quick weeknight meals quite a bit, but with summer approaching, we thought we’d share our grilled shrimp salad with the world.
This grilled shrimp salad recipe is a nutritious and tasty way to enjoy salad. Nothing boring about it, because we load our salad greens with all kinds of goodies, like cherry tomatoes, boiled eggs, crispy bacon, and creamy avocado!
We’re topping all this goodness off with a simple homemade honey mustard vinaigrette. It brings all the bright, citrusy, summer flavors that I’m craving right now and goes perfectly with the grilled shrimp!
Serve this with a slice of our beer bread or dutch oven bread for a heartier meal.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- It’s actually filling. This isn’t one of those salads that leaves you hungry in an hour. Between the protein-packed shrimp and all the hearty toppings, it’s a complete meal.
- Crazy quick to make. Shrimp cooks in about 5 minutes on the grill, and everything else is just chopping and assembling. Total time: 15 minutes.
- The honey mustard vinaigrette is perfect. Bright, tangy, and just sweet enough to balance out all the savory elements. Way better than anything from a bottle. Reminds me of my honey mustard dressing, but lighter.
Ingredient Notes:
Shrimp – Small to medium shrimp (25-30 count per pound) work best. Fresh or frozen and thawed both work perfectly.
Salad greens – Use whatever you like best. Mixed greens, romaine, spinach, or even sturdy kale all work.
For the vinaigrette – Fresh lemon juice and zest make a huge difference here. The bottled stuff just doesn’t have the same bright flavor. If you don’t have red wine vinegar, white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar work too.
Pro tip: You can marinate the shrimp in a bit of the honey mustard vinaigrette for 10 minutes before grilling for extra flavor.
Endless Topping Ideas
I’m using cherry tomatoes, avocado, bacon, red onion, and boiled eggs, but this salad is totally customizable:
Add some crunch: Grilled corn, bell peppers, cucumbers, or toasted nuts make a great addition.
Go Mediterranean: Olives, feta cheese, and cucumbers with a lemon vinaigrette.
Protein swaps: This works great with grilled chicken, steak, or even chickpeas for a vegetarian version.
Dressing Options:
And if you want to switch it up with a different dressing consider making one of my other favorite homemade dressing recipes! Some good ones for this salad would be:
Step by Step Instructions:
Season the shrimp by tossing it in the olive oil with some salt and pepper. If you have more time and would like, you can marinate your shrimp in a bit of the honey mustard vinaigrette before cooking. Just 10 minutes will add a bit of zippy flavor.
Grill the pan in a grill pan on the stove or in a basket on the grill for just 2-3 minutes per side. The shrimp will be pink and opaque when cooked through. Let them cool about 10 minutes while you work on the rest of the recipe.
This dressing is quick and easy to prepare. Just add all of the vinaigrette ingredients to a small bowl and whisk together until they are smooth and creamy!
Add your salad greens to a bowl, pile on your toppings, and drizzle the vinaigrette over the top. Add as much or as little dressing as you like.
My Favorite Grill Basket!
This grill basket makes grilling smaller foods, such as shrimp, chunks of chicken, or veggies, a total breeze. It’s dishwasher safe too!
FAQ’s:
If you’ve got leftovers you’ll want to try and store the salad separately from the dressing. The salad should last for a day or two in the fridge, and up to a few days for the dressing.
For the best results, we recommend fully thawing your shrimp before cooking it on the grill. Frozen shrimp can turn out a bit tough, chewy, and unevenly cooked.
Shrimp can be grilled with the shell on or off. In this recipe, we purchased peeled, deveined shrimp with the tails off to keep things quick and easy.
More Shrimp REcipes!
Grilled Shrimp Salad
Ingredients
For the shrimp salad:
- 1 lb small or medium shrimp peeled and deveined, tails removed
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 avocados thinly sliced
- 2 cups halved cherry tomatoes
- 8 slices bacon cooked and crumbled
- 1 red onion thinly sliced
- 4 boiled eggs halved
- 8 cups salad greens
For the honey mustard vinaigrette:
- Lemon juice from one large lemon
- Lemon zest from one large lemon
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 cloves garlic pasted see notes
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoons dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- ¼ cup olive oil
Instructions
- Toss the shrimp in the olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
For the salad:
- Heat the grill to medium high heat. Once hot add the shrimp to the grill and cook for 2-3 minutes per side, until shrimp is pink and opaque. Let the shrimp cool for 10 minutes while you prep the dressing and salad.
- To make the salad, divide and arrange the salad greens between 4 bowls. Top with the avocado, cherry tomatoes, crumbled bacon, onion, and halved (or diced) boiled eggs.
- Top the salads with the shrimp and drizzle with the dressing.
- Serve immediately.
For the dressing:
- To make the dressing, add all of the ingredients to a small bowl and whisk well until smooth and creamy.
SusieJ says
I don’t care for anything with lemon. No, not lemonades, lemon candy, nothing with lemon.
However I really wanted to try this Grilled Shrimp Salad. So I bought everything that was needed (if I didn’t have any, like lemons).
This salad and especially the dressing was the BEST EVER!! It was the best dressing I’ve had in a long time. Forget Ranch dressing. Delicious, delicious, delicious ? ?
I can’t wait for lunch tomorrow!!!
Karly Campbell says
Oh, I’m so glad you liked this so much and gave it a try! New love of lemons forming!! 🙂