Shrimp Salad with Creamy Dill Dressing

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This is a very tasty cold shrimp salad with creamy dill dressing. Pretty simple ingredients but the flavors are outstanding. Make a summery, light dinner that’s no guilt, but packed with protein…and Dill. The dressing is packed with dill and lemon flavors and it pairs so well with the poached shrimp. Use whatever salad ingredients you want and serve the dressing on the side for dipping. If you like shrimp you’ll want to make this several times this summer.

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Ingredients for the Dill Shrimp Salad

The dressing is really the star of this dish. I wanted to keep it light so it contains; yogurt, mayonnaise, fresh chopped dill, lemon juice, and a little salt and pepper. The recipe makes enough for 3 salads and by itself is just around 100 calories per serving.

The dill I used is from the local Farmer’s Market. I bought 2 good-sized clumps and prepared the dill for freezing.

First, rinse the dill in cold water then lay it on some towels to dry. When pretty dry, just use your hands to pull off the fronds, discarding the thicker stems. Place individual servings of the dill into small plastic bags and freeze. The Spruce Eats website has the details of how to freeze dill.

You’ll have lots of dill to use in the months ahead and won’t have to buy those $3.00 packages from the grocery store.

MaryJo has been making our yogurt which is whole milk. I like the whole milk variety rather than the low fat. The low-fat yogurt seems to have a chalky texture which is off-putting. 1/3 of a cup is used.

Next is 1/4 cup of mayonnaise, 1 tablespoon of chopped dill, the juice from half a lemon, and a few pinches of salt and pepper. Mix this all together and you’ll have a creamy dill dressing.

Prepare the Shrimp

For this recipe, use raw shrimp. You could use pre-cooked in a pinch if you wanted to. I just think that fresh cooked is the best. Peel and devein the shrimp and take the tails off for easier eating.

The shrimp are poached in a large pot that contains lemon juice and zest, bay leaves, salt, sugar, and some black peppercorns. Place the aromatics in the pot with 2 quarts of water and bring to a boil. Once you have a rolling boil, remove the pot from the heat and add the shrimp.

Have a kitchen spider or strainer ready because the shrimp will be poached in no more than 2 minutes. I started to take the shrimp out at around 1 minute and 45 seconds, and these were big 16 to 20 size shrimp. Smaller shrimp would take less time. You want to stop the cooking once the flesh is turning all white.

Place the shrimp and zest on a paper towel-lined plate then place this into your freezer for 8 to 10 minutes to cool. I like this method of cooling rather than an ice bath which seems to wash away some of the flavors that have developed.

Assemble the Salad

It’s up to you what you want to include in your dill dressing salad. Anything you would use in a green garden salad would be great. I kept it simple with leaf lettuce, tomato, cucumber, and radishes. I recommend that you also keep the shaved lemon zest…it is quite tasty. A few capers added a bit of zesty flavor.

FAQ’s

How long can the dressing be stored in the refrigerator?

Since the dressing contains a good amount of citric acid, it should last a week in the refrigerator. Fresh squeezed juice will start to oxidize and lose it’s flavor after this.

I’m allergic to shellfish. What else could I use in the salad?

You may want to use seared chicken breast, ham, cheese, or even fried tofu. The dressing will enhance any of these.

If you like good shrimp recipes, here are some more to try:

Give this shrimp salad with creamy dill dressing a try. Hope you guys like it.