This Shrimp Pasta Salad is creamy, herby, light, and refreshing. It’s an easy salad recipe you can make in under 30 minutes. Perfect spring and summer side dish for picnics, barbecues, and dinners al fresco.
If you need a summer salad that is fast and delicious, make this Shrimp Pasta Salad.
As the sun starts to shine, we love to take our meals together outdoors, and there’s no better side dish for almost any meal than a solid summer pasta salad.
This one combines two of my personal favorites in one: seafood and pasta. It’s creamy yet light and refreshing, full of bright herbs and spring peas, with a tangy dressing.
This is the kind of summer salad that tastes even better the next day, but you can serve it after it’s chilled even just for 30 minutes. Simply give it a good stir or mix before serving to redistribute the dressing before serving. Then get ready for everyone to fall in love with this delicious spring and summer goodness in a bowl.
Table of Contents
Why you’ll love this family favorite recipe!
Get ready to whip up your new favorite summer pasta salad!
- Easy – it comes together SO quickly.
- Elevated – this is no ordinary pasta salad. The crunch of the celery, the tanginess of red onions, the sweet shrimp and the hearty pasta take this pasta salad to the next level.
- Make-ahead – make this salad the night before your next barbecue or pool party for a stress-free celebration.
- Satisfying – With protein-packed shrimp and pasta shells, this is a hearty and satisfying pasta salad that still feels light and refreshing.
- Packable & portable – This dish is easy to pack up and transport for beach days, road trips, BBQs, picnics, and summer lunch boxes.
Ingredient notes
Here’s what you need to make this easy shrimp pasta salad:
- Shrimp – you can use medium or large shrimp, then chop into smaller pieces. Or you can use small bay shrimp. Just be sure the shrimp is fully cooked and cooled before adding it to the salad.
- Pasta – Use small to medium shapes that will hold the dressing, such as shells, rotini, farfalle, or large macaroni elbows.
- Celery – Adds lovely crunch to the dish!
- Peas – The ultimate spring veggie adds color, fresh flavor, and extra little bit of protein to this pasta salad.
- Red onions and garlic – both add a zippy tanginess to the dish, and so much flavor.
- Mayonnaise, mustard, lemon juice – This is the creamy factor to the dressing. You can easily substitute your favorite plant-based mayonnaise here. Use Dijon mustard (not plain yellow) and freshly squeezed lemon juice for the best flavor.
- Worcestershire sauce – I’ve made this both with and without Worcestershire sauce and really think it is SO much better with even just a tiny bit of this umami ingredient.
- Cocktail sauce – Just a small amount adds color and bright flavors to this dressing.
- Paprika – I love the added depth you get from the addition of paprika. You can substitute Old Bay Seasoning since it goes well with seafood, but if you do so, lower the additional salt, as Old Bay tends to have quite a bit of salt to it already.
- Salt and pepper – feel free to add more as needed.
Step-by-step instructions
Like many of our summer salads, this shrimp pasta salad is easy to make! Here are a few quick overall instructions and step-by-step photos.
You’ll find the full list of ingredients along with measurements, and more detailed instructions in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Start by cooking the pasta according to package directions.
- In a large bowl, whisk together all of the dressing ingredients until well combined and smooth.
- To the bowl of dressing, add the cooked shrimp, cooked pasta, celery, red onions, and peas.
- Toss together with a wooden spoon until all of the pasta and shrimp are well coated with the dressing.
- Cover and chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before serving.
Marlynn’s Tip
Recipe Tip
This is a great salad to add your favorite spring or summer veggies to. In addition to peas, consider adding some chopped asparagus, sliced zucchini, or some spinach leaves.
Recipe FAQs
Like many mayonnaise-based pasta salads, I do not recommend freezing this dish. The dressing will most likely separate and turn grainy. And the shrimp, celery, and pasta will lose their texture, becoming mushy or rubbery.
This particular recipe is best made with shrimp. However, you can make the same dressing and salad base with cooked crab or chicken.
Store leftover shrimp pasta salad in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days.
Serving suggestions
This shrimp pasta salad is perfect for almost any spring or summer meal!
It’s great as a light lunch all on its own, or as a side dish for dinners on the back patio, BBQs, picnics, and more. Serve it along with Tandoori Chicken Skewers, Bang Bang Chicken Skewers, Hawaiian BBQ Chicken, or Chicken Inasal.
And, since it’s easy to pack and transport, this is a great road trip dish! Just be sure to keep it cooled with ice packs throughout the journey.
🍷 🥂 Wine pairings
This creamy shrimp pasta salad has bright herb flavors that pair well with a crisp, light white wine. Serve it with an unoaked Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc, or Sauvignon Blanc.
Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to leave a 5-Star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 rating in the recipe card, and if you really loved it, please leave a comment further down on the page. Thank you!
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Shrimp Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 12 ounces small or medium pasta shells
Dressing
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1 juice from one lemon
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 2 Tablespoons chopped fresh dill
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon cocktail sauce
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ¼ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Salad ingredients
- 1 pound cooked shrimp, diced, or use bay shrimp
- 1 cup peas
- ½ cup diced celery
- ¼ cup finely diced red onion
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon cracked black pepper
Instructions
- Cook the pasta according to package directions. Drain, rinse under cold water, and allow to cool.
- In a large bowl, whisk together all of the dressing ingredients.
- Once the pasta is cooled down, add to the bowl with the dressing and toss to coat.
- Add the shrimp, peas, celery, red onion, salt, and pepper, then toss to combine all of the ingredients until everything is coated with the dressing.
- You can serve immediately, but this salad is best when it has chilled in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
