At its most basic, cold pasta salad with shrimp is a simple, delicious treat that takes almost no time to make. It takes longer to chill it down than to actually cook it.
It is also very adaptable. First, a very solid recipe that is just hard to beat. I’ll follow that with some additional ideas that you might like to consider if you are thinking you would like a dressed-up shrimp and pasta salad.
Ingredients
- 1 pound cooked medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 1 (16 ounce) package of your favorite pasta
- 1 tomato, chopped
- 1 chopped bell pepper
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
- Salt and pepper to taste
Directions
- Cook the pasta — the basic ‘how-to’ is on the box or wrapper. This is how I prepare pasta water, though, if you would like to add a little more flavor to the pasta.
- The short version is, bring a large pot of salted water with half a lemon dropped in to a boil.
- Add pasta and cook until al dente. (Usually 2 to 3 minute shy of the package instructions.)
- Rinse under cold water and drain.
- In a large, cool bowl combine the shrimp and vegetables, mayonnaise and salt and pepper to taste.
- Add pasta and toss to coat. Chill for about an hour.
Alternate Ingredients
The easy little shrimp recipe above is the ‘little black dress’ of shrimp and pasta salad recipes. But if you are looking for something that might be a bit of a change of pace, try some of these as replacements or additions. I don’t think that all of the following together would be a good idea, but if it sounds good to you, go for it.
- Seeded peeled cucumber
- Chopped black olives
- Diced red onion
- A clove or two of garlic, minced or finely sliced (maybe even sauteed?)
- Fresh dill or dried dillweed
- Thinly sliced Zucchini
- Fresh mushroom slices
- Green beans, chopped
- Splash of white wine vinegar or a couple of teaspoons of lemon juice (fresh, please). Another thought, Italian dressing.
- Toss in a little lump crab meat and you’ll have a lovely shrimp and crab pasta salad. Can’t imagine that would be anything but perfect. Can you?
As always, keeping the fat (mayo) and the acid (vinegar, lemon juice, and to some degree the Italian Dressing) in the proportion that is pleasing to you will really add a lot of flavor. The most common ratio of fat-to-acid is 3 to 1. Some, including me, prefer a higher ratio of acid.
A suggestion? Since shrimp is relatively expensive, experiment with that ratio of fat-to-acid in other taste test settings — like salad dressings, for instance. Then apply what you have learned about your preference to this dish.
Enjoy!
Always feel free to leave your suggestions and ideas below.
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