Southwestern Shrimp Salad
Southwestern Shrimp Salad is a chopped romaine salad with corn, black beans, tomatoes, avocado, grilled chili lime shrimp, and a homemade cilantro dressing. It's great for meal prep or a light summertime dinner!
We've been on a salad kick in our house, and this just might be my favorite, yet! I love a good chopped salad and this Southwestern Shrimp Salad is no exception. In addition, I'm a huge fan of seafood - especially shrimp! Shrimp are super easy to prepare and cook so fast, which I love. They're also great enjoyed cold, which makes them perfect for salads.
Jump to:
Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Great For Meal Prep - this salad is perfect to prep ahead of time and keep for an easy lunch or light dinner!
- Filled with Protein - Between the shrimp, black beans, and Greek Yogurt, this salad packs a protein punch.
- Full of Flavor - this salad is so full of flavor from all of the different salad components along with the delicious Cilantro Yogurt Dressing.
Ingredients
Romaine Lettuce - I buy romaine hearts and finely chop them up. I like them chopped into pretty small pieces, but you can chop it to your liking.
Tomatoes - I use cherubs, but cherry tomatoes and grape tomatoes would work well, too.
Corn - Frozen, fresh, or canned work. In addition, if corn on the cob is in season, you can cook the cobs and then cut off the corn kernels for the salad.
Black Beans - black beans are a classic southwestern salad ingredient and add delicious texture and flavor.
Avocado - I love avocado - especially on salads. The creamy texture and healthy fats are a great addition to this salad.
Cilantro - I love love love cilantro and it is perfect in the dressing for this shrimp salad!
Plain Greek Yogurt - this makes the cilantro dressing super creamy!
Garlic
Olive Oil
Honey
Jalapeno - this adds a hint of spice to the dressing. If you want to omit, feel free!
Lime - fresh lime juice goes into the cilantro dressing.
Spices - chili powder, cumin, garlic powder,
Shrimp - I use tail-off, deveined and peeled shrimp. If you like tail-on shrimp, that works as well!
Variations
Different Greens - not a fan of romaine? you can use any of your favorite greens here. Kale, spinach, arugula, iceberg lettuce, or any type of green would work. I think crunchy greens would be best.
Different Protein - you can definitely use shredded chicken, grilled steak or chicken, or grilled fish instead of shrimp, if you'd like. This salad recipe is super easy to adapt.
Different Veggies - you can add or subtract some of the vegetables if you'd like. I think this would be delicious with a bell pepper diced up in it, or red onions, pickled onions, or a different kind of tomato, like Roma tomatoes.
Add Cheese - I don't have cheese written in this recipe, but feel free to add some if you like. I think shredded cheddar, Colby jack, cotija, queso fresco, or feta would be delicious.
Step by Step Instructions
Photo 1. Add the shrimp, olive oil, spices, and salt to a medium bowl. Marinate the shrimp for 10-20 minutes
Photo 2. Cook the shrimp in a skillet or on the grill until the shrimp are no longer translucent, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
Photo 3. Add the cilantro, Greek yogurt, jalapeño, lime juice, garlic, honey, olive oil, and salt to a blender. Blend or process until creamy. You can set this aside for now.
Photo 4. Prep all of the remaining salad ingredients. So this would be chopping the romaine, heating up the corn if using frozen, chopping the tomatoes, cutting up the avocado, and straining and rinsing the black beans.
Photo 5. Add the romaine, tomatoes, corn, beans, avocado and shrimp to a large bowl.
Photo 6. Add the dressing and then toss to combine. Serve and enjoy!
Expert Tips
Meal Prep - If you are going to make this for meal prep salads, you can add the various ingredients to each tupperware/meal prep container, without the dressing. Then add the dressing when you are ready to eat it. If you are making this as a large salad, add all of the salad components to a large bowl where you can toss it all up with the dressing.
Serving Suggestion - I love serving this salad with some tortilla chips. You can either use the tortilla chips to scoop up the salad or crush them up on top.
Recipe FAQs
This can be confusing, but I typically look for large (30-40 shrimp per pound) to XL shrimp (26-30 shrimp per pound). Sometimes I buy tail-on and sometimes tail-off. I think it's a personal preference.
Yes it's fine to use frozen shrimp, just thaw prior to cooking.
Other Salad Recipes to Consider
If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating on this recipe below and leave a comment, or take a photo and tag me on Instagram with #greensnchocolate.
Southwestern Shrimp Salad
Ingredients
For the Shrimp:
- 3 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 teaspoon chili powder
- 2 tablespoon lime juice
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 16 ounces shrimp peeled, deveined, tail-off
For the Salad:
- 6 cups (approximately) finely chopped romaine lettuce
- 15 ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 2 cups frozen corn, cooked and cooled
- 2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 avocado, diced
For the Cilantro Dressing
- 2 cups fresh cilantro about one bunch of cilantro - I use the stems and leaves
- ½ cup plain Greek yogurt
- 1 jalapeno, stem and seeds removed
- 3 tablespoon lime juice
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 teaspoon honey
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
For the Shrimp:
- In a small bowl and the olive oil, lime juice, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, and salt and stir well to combine.
- Add the shrimp to a large bowl and toss with chili lime mixture. Let marinate until ready to cook, at least 10 minutes.
For the Dressing:
- Place all of the dressing ingredients in a food processor or blender, and puree until blended.
- Prep the rest of the salad ingredients.
- Preheat grill to medium-high heat. (If not using a grill - heat a skillet over medium-high heat over the stove)
- Place the shrimp on the grill/skillet and cook 3 minutes on each side, until pink and cooked through. If you find putting each shrimp individually on the grill tedious, you can cook them in a grill pan.
- Add the shrimp to the salad and drizzle with dressing. Toss to combine.
- Serve and enjoy!
Notes
- If you know you won't eat the entire salad immediately, don't put all of the dressing on. Store leftovers undressed in airtight containers and add dressing immediately prior to serving.
