We could live off this Shrimp Avocado Salad. It tastes crazy good! It’s also really pretty served as a chopped salad. Put it on the table and watch everyone’s eyes light up. This shrimp salad has all of the best flavors of summer.
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This shrimp salad is loaded with avocado, cucumbers, tomatoes and corn all over a bed of bright romaine. It’s so fresh and extremely satisfying with a light and easy cilantro dressing. Trust me; your first thought won’t be, “oh this is such a healthy salad.”
You’ll just sit there chewing with a big goofy grin on your face and run for a refill before you’ve even finished your bowl.
Note: Freshly boiled corn or grilled corn makes all the difference in this salad. Use canned in winter but fresh is best and adds a sweet burst of flavor. If you aren’t into shrimp, this salad is still amazing served vegetarian.
Ingredients for Shrimp Avocado Salad:
1/2 lb (3 to 4 medium) Roma tomatoes, chopped
1/2 English cucumber or 3 smaller garden cucumbers, sliced
1/2 medium red onion, thinly sliced
2 avocados, peeled, pitted and sliced
1 cup corn kernels (from 2 fresh cobs or canned drained corn)
1 medium romaine lettuce (5 to 6 cups chopped)
For the Cajun Shrimp:
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 lb large raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 tsp cajun spice
2 cloves garlic, pressed
Pinch of salt
For the Zesty Cilantro Lemon Dressing:
3 Tbsp olive oil (mild or extra virgin)
Juice of 1 large lemon (about 3 Tbsp) (it’s ok to sub lime juice)
1/2 bunch cilantro, (1/2 cup chopped)
1 tsp sea salt or 3/4 tsp table salt
1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper
How to Make Shrimp Avocado Salad:
1. Place shrimp in a medium bowl, sprinkle with 1 tsp cajun spice, 2 pressed garlic cloves and a pinch of salt. Stir to combine.
2. Heat a large non-stick pan over medium high heat. Swirl in 2 Tbsp butter. Once butter stops sizzling, add shrimp in a single layer and sauté about 2 minutes without disturbing. Flip shrimp over and sauté another minute or just until fully cooked through. Don’t overcook shrimp or they can become rubbery. Remove to a plate and set aside to cool.
3. Chop, rinse and spin dry your romaine lettuce. Line the bottom of a large salad platter/bowl with 5 to 6 cups of chopped romaine lettuce. Add remaining ingredients in rows over the top of your romaine: chopped tomatoes, sliced red onion, sliced cucumber, cajun shrimp, avocado and boiled or grilled corn.
Yum Yum! Everything about this shrimp salad is good!
4. To make the dressing, in a small bowl, whisk together 3 Tbsp olive oil, 3 Tbsp lemon juice, 1/2 cup chopped cilantro, 1 tsp sea salt and 1/8 tsp black pepper.
Drizzle dressing over the shrimp avocado salad then toss to combine and serve.
More Avocado Recipes to Fall in Love with:
If you enjoyed this salad, you must be an avocado fan (or shrimp or both!!), you will love these avocado recipes.
- Avocado Shrimp Salsa (major reader and personal favorite!)
- Cucumber Tomato Avocado Salad (a classic improved with avocado)
- Avocado Chicken Salad (currently our #1 recipe)
Shrimp Avocado Salad Recipe

Ingredients
For the Chopped Salad:
- 1/2 lb 3 to 4 medium Roma tomatoes, chopped
- 1/2 English cucumber or 3 smaller garden cucumbers, sliced
- 1/2 medium red onion, thinly sliced
- 2 avocados, peeled, pitted and sliced
- 1 cup corn kernels, from 2 fresh cobs or canned drained corn
- 1 medium romaine lettuce, 5 to 6 cups chopped
For the Cajun Shrimp:
- 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 lb large raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 1 tsp cajun spice
- 2 cloves garlic, pressed
- Pinch salt
For the Zesty Cilantro Lemon Dressing:
- 3 Tbsp olive oil, mild or extra virgin
- Juice of 1 large lemon, about 3 Tbsp (it's ok to sub lime juice)
- 1/2 bunch cilantro, (1/2 cup chopped)
- 1 tsp sea salt or 3/4 tsp table salt
- 1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Place shrimp medium bowl, sprinkle with 1 tsp cajun spice, 2 pressed garlic cloves and a pinch of salt and stir to combine.
- Heat large non-stick pan over medium high heat. Swirl in 2 Tbsp butter. Once butter stops sizzling, add shrimp in a single layer and sauté about 2 min without disturbing. Flip shrimp over and sauté another minute or just until cooked through. Don't overcook shrimp or they can become rubbery. Remove to a plate and set aside to cool.
- Chop, rinse and spin dry romaine lettuce. Line the bottom of a large salad platter/bowl with 5 to 6 cups of chopped romaine lettuce. Add remaining salad ingredients and shrimp in rows on top of romaine.
- To make the dressing, in a small bowl, whisk together dressing ingredients. Drizzle dressing over the salad then toss to combine and serve.
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
We are completely and utterly in love with this salad. Try it and you’ll make it again and again! 😉
Q: What’s your favorite summer time salad?
Wow!!! Thats all I can say, I made this salad to try something new for New Years and it totally exceeded my expectations, everyone loved it!!! Thank you Natasha for an amazing recipe!
Also I substituted parsley for cilantro because my family is not a fan of it and it worked really well.
You’re welcome Katusha! I’m so glad to hear how much you enjoy the recipe. Thanks for sharing your wonderful review with other readers!
Can I buy cooked shrimps ?
Hi Lilia, you could make that work but it is definitely best to use uncooked shrimp or they will be overcooked and rubbery and just won’t have the same flavor as cooking shrimp from raw.
Can you make the shrimp avocado salad the night before it is to be served and just put dressing on just before serving?
Hi Pam, that would work well :). For the shrimp, you might use half oil and half butter so the butter doesn’t firm up on the cooked shrimp overnight. I hope you love the salad!
Hi Natasha, finally I made this salad, sooo good!!, my family loved it!!! When I had the shrimps ready on a plate, my husband couldn’t resist to steal one, the shrimps flavor was awesome!!
Thank you for sharing! I notice that I always write down recipes, but I never made them, but yours is different, I made lot of them and they are sooo good!!
Many blessings for you and your family!
Hello Cristina! I’m glad your family enjoys the recipe as much as mine does! Thanks for following and sharing your excellent review!
Natasha, I love your recipes!! We are from completely different countries, but we share the same taste of food! I am from Chile, and I think your recipes are not too different from chilean food or spanish culture.
Hugs and blessings!!
I’m glad to hear how much you are enjoying the recipes Cristina! Thanks for following! 🙂
Natasha, I made the chicken and avocado salad and it was DELICIOUS!!!! My family wanted more! Today I’m making the shrimp salad and I’m sure it will equally great! I don’t like the taste of cilantro but I think I will use parsley ! Do you ink it will be ok? Thank you for your awesome recipes. I love them!!!!
Hi Kassiani, I’m so glad you loved the recipe! You could use finely chopped parsley or use chopped dill or chives :).
Love corn, but for some reason I can’t picture it tasting all that good with shrimp and avocado. I’m going to make this recipe, but I will go a little easy on the red onion and substitute the corn with maybe some cucumber or zucchini. Maybe even add some pine nuts.
Thoughts?
Hi Eddie, we love corn in our family and the sweet fresh corn was a really good match with the rest of the salad. Fresh corn really makes it though so use fresh if you can. You could substitute and just add more cucumber or a little more of everything else.
Hi! I am a big fan of your mouthwatering recipes! I’ve done a lot of experiments of mix and match ingredients, it’s really cool..If you could help me make a unique recipe it would be of great help! i am to enter a competition in salad making..Thanks!
Hi Jacky, I would suggest taking a look at our other salad recipes for inspiration.
~Yummazing~
The BEST combination of ingredients for a salad! The dressing is a super bonus, so don’t leave that part out. My house smelled heavenly after making this. Family favorite for life!
Thanks for sharing
You’re welcome Kimberly! I’m glad to hear how much everyone loves this recipe! Thanks for sharing your awesome review! 🙂
I will be making this salad for an out bbq- Looks Delicious! Would it be ok to make the Cilantro Dressing the night before and chill?
Hi Joan, yes that would work fine to pre-make the dressing, cover and refrigerate. I hope you love it! 🙂
This looks fantastic! Would it be ok to use precooked shrimp or is it better to cook it myself for best flavor. I have both in the freezer 🙂 Thanks!!!! Crystal
Crystal, I highly recommend to cook shrimp instead of using precooked shrimp. Precooked shrimp might taste rubbery.
Is this salad spicy?
Hi Gina, I didn’t feel this salad was spicy at all :). I hope you love it!!
Made it this evening and it’s a perfect summer salad – light, fresh and delicious!!
I’m happy to hear you enjoy the recipe Tina! Thanks for sharing your great review!
It’s really good. I would just add more lemon and less oil in the dressing to give it more zest.
I’m glad you enjoy the recipe George! Thanks for sharing your tip with other readers!
Delicious!!
I’m glad we agree Marianne! 🙂
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Thank you so much!
I loved it, i would cut back on salt, thats all😋
I’m happy to hear you love the recipe! Thanks for sharing Ellie 🙂
What are the calories/macros for this? Thanks!
Due to time constraints, I don’t typically include nutritional info, but check out this nutrition analyzer – you can plug in the ingredients from any recipe, select the serving size and it will give you nutritional info, calories, etc. I hope that is helpful to you Perla!
A M A Z I N G!!! will never go back to greens only salad. Truly, each bite fantastically different. Used cilantro – YUM!
Olivia, thank you for such a rave review, I’m all smiles 😬!
This salad is absolutely delicious! Served it tonight for our daughter’s birthday dinner and everyone raved about it. All the best flavors of summer blended together! We will definitely be making this again. I used frozen shrimp and thought it was great, but after reading your suggestion I will buy fresh shrimp next time to make it even better.
I’m happy everyone love this salad recipe! Thanks for sharing your fantastic review Debbie!
This is the best salad I have ever had. I was full but wanted to eat more, but I didn’t. I can’t believe this salad, it leaves you full and not missing anything else. Very satisfying and extremely delicious and would recommend it to everyone, even if you don’t care much for salad, you’ll love this.
I’m happy to hear how much you love the recipe Marilyn! Thanks for sharing your fantastic review!