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Grilled Shrimp Salad with Cilantro Verde Dressing is light yet filling, piled with plump shrimp and fresh, vibrant ingredients. A perfect summer lunch or supper!
Featured with this recipe
Grilled Shrimp Salad is my go to lunch when I want something simple but really tasty. This recipe has everything I love in a good salad: flavorful, savory shrimp, lots of delicious veggies, and flavor, but still low in calories yet high in protein. The shrimp is grilled to perfection with simple seasonings, served warm over vitamin packed baby spinach leaves, creamy feta cheese and juicy cherry tomatoes, and drizzled with a sweet cilantro verde dressing that blends all the flavors together beautifully. This delicious and light lunch is perfect for summer parties, early suppers on the patio, or just a quick lunch for yourself. You’ll love the taste of the savory shrimp mixed with the slightly tangy and sour dressing.
What Kind of Shrimp to Use for this Salad
For grilling, look for larger sized shrimp, like jumbo or colossal. You’ll want to find uncooked shrimp with the tail on, but ones that have been peeled and deveined. Fresh is obviously best; you can ask for peeled and deveined shrimp at your grocery store meat counter. But more often than not, I use bags of frozen shrimp found at Costco or any grocery store. Take it to the next level and marinate the shrimp in our grilled shrimp marinade before grilling.
Ingredients
- Spinach – any leafy green will work
- Shrimp – uncooked, tail on (shrimp marinade optional)
- Cajun seasoning
- Red bell pepper
- Feta or gorgonzola cheese
- Cherry tomatoes
- Cilantro Verde Dressing
Cilantro Verde Dressing
For the dressing, I used our delicious and healthy cilantro verde sauce It is the perfect mixture of spicy and savory that gives an extra little extra kick to this already savory and lightly spicy salad. This sauce can be used on everything from burritos to a chip dip to salads. Delicious!
Frequently Asked Questions
Something more carbohydrates focused would go well, like cornbread or a baked potato. Other variations could be corn on the cob, or even something like lemon pasta.
For this salad, I used a cilantro verde sauce, which has garlic, fresh cilantro, lime juice, cumin, salsa verde, mayo, ranch dressing mix, and sour cream in it. It’s really easy to put together, and it tastes delicious on the shrimp. It is savory as well as sour and slightly spicy. It gives the already spicy shrimp salad an extra kick. I love the layers of flavor!
Read More: 35+ Quick and Easy To Follow Dinner Ideas Your Family Will Surely Love
More Scrumptious Shrimp Recipes
Shrimp dishes are always a favorite around here, so try a few of our most treasured shrimp recipes:
- Creamy Cajun Shrimp Pasta
- Shrimp Alfredo Pasta
- Spicy Shrimp Tacos
- Shrimp Po Boys with Creamy Cajun Sauce
- Cajun Shrimp Foil Packets
- Shrimp Bites with Cilantro Cream Sauce
How to Make Grilled Shrimp Salad with Cilantro Verde Dressing
Grilled Shrimp Salad with Cilantro Verde Dressing
Video
Equipment
- Outdoor Barbecue Grill
Ingredients
- 4 cups spinach (any leafy green lettuce will work)
- 1 pound shrimp uncooked tail on
- 1 tablespoon cajun seasoning
- 1 red bell pepper
- feta or gorgonzola cheese
- cherry tomatoes
- cilantro verde dressing
Instructions
- Rinse the shrimp in cold water and pat dry with a paper towel. Place shrimp into a large plastic bag and add the cajun seasoning. Toss to coat.
- Warm a little oil in a small fry pan. Dice the red pepper and sauté in the fry pan until it begins to soften.
- Grill the shrimp over medium heat, it only needs a few minutes on each side. Shrimp should be pink and cooked through.
- Place lettuce into individual bowls and top with the roasted red peppers, cheese, tomatoes, grilled shrimp, and drizzle with cilantro verde dressing.
Notes
Nutrition Information
I love this Grilled Shrimp Salad with Cilantro Verde Dressing!
This is me and my husbands new favorite. I also cut the sugar in half and left out the cumin. Added diced avocado to the salad too. It was amazing.
So glad you liked it! Great idea to add avocado– yum!
I made this the other night for dinner and my husband was wild about it. I thought it was great too. I might cut back slightly on the cajun seasoning as it can be quite spicy. Other than that I made it exactly as written. My husband said to make sure I keep the recipe because he wants it again soon. I thought at first there was too much sugar in the dressing, but once the dressing combines with the spicy shrimp, it all evens out. I put a little extra feta on it. You just can’t have too much feta! Thanks girls. I ordered your recipe book too.
I’m glad it was a hit! That’s funny about the dressing, we actually cut the sugar a bunch from the original but I’m sure cutting a little more would still be good.
Glad you liked it and thank you so much for your support! Hope you like the cookbook!