Shrimp Pasta Salad

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This cold shrimp pasta salad with peas, bell pepper, celery and a creamy dressing is tasty, crunchy and refreshing and perfect for picnics and summer parties.

Prep Time5

Cook Time10

Total Time15

Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients

For the salad:

8 oz. elbow macaroni
1 lb. frozen, cooked salad shrimp or other small shrimp, thawed
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
¾ cup diced celery
2 green onions, sliced

For the dressing:

¾ cup plain nonfat Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
Few dashes of hot sauce (optional)

Instructions

Cook the pasta according to package directions. Drain and then rinse with cold water to cool it down. Transfer the cooled pasta to a large bowl.
Add the shrimp, bell pepper, peas, celery and green onions to the bowl with the pasta.
In a separate small bowl, whisk together all of the ingredients for the dressing until well combined.
Pour the dressing over the pasta salad and stir well to get everything coated. Cover and chill for an hour (if you have the time) to help the flavors come together. Serve chilled and enjoy!

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Notes

Pasta: I always use elbow macaroni for this pasta salad; it’s the only one I’ve ever seen used. However, you could try this with a small shell pasta if you prefer.

Shrimp: Use salad shrimp if you can find them. If not, use a very small shrimp (like the 71-90 size) and just cut them in half. The shrimp do need to be cooked as well as thawed if you use frozen, so plan accordingly.

Drain well: Be sure to drain the pasta very well, drain the shrimp well if you’re thawing them and same goes for the peas. You don’t want a lot of extra water on any of those that could water down the salad dressing.

Greek yogurt: You could try swapping in mayonnaise or sour cream for the Greek yogurt if you’d like. I just like the healthy boost from the Greek yogurt.

Herbs: Some people use chopped fresh dill in their shrimp pasta salad, so feel free to add some if you’d like. (I’m not a big fan so I skip it.)

Hot sauce: I use a few dashes of hot sauce in the dressing to add a little extra flavor, but not really much heat. Feel free to skip if you’d rather.

Leftovers: Leftovers will keep, covered, for up to 2-3 days in the refrigerator.

Nutrition

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