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Shrimp Pasta Salad is one of our family’s favorite go-to recipes when we have a cookout, enjoying a football game or just yummy comfort food to enjoy at home. This recipe is full of zesty Italian flavors and easy to make! All you need is 30 minutes to prep the ingredients listed below and about 1 hour to chill in the refrigerator before serving.
Before making our famous Angel Hair Shrimp Pasta Salad, there are a few cooking tips I want to share with you to make this dish a sure success.
Shrimp Pasta Salad Prep and Cooking Tips
- Clean and dice all of your ingredients before cooking.
- Buy shrimp that is already peeled, deveined, with tail removed or do this yourself prior to cooking. Leaving the tail on shrimp creates a beautiful dish presentation, but it’s more work for those who want to eat and enjoy your salad.
- Do not overcook your shrimp. Shrimp can cook very quickly, so I recommend sautéing on high heat for a quick sear. Cooking shrimp for too long will cause shrimp to taste chewy, and no one wants chewy shrimp pasta salad.
- Do not discard the shrimp sauté butter mixture. This sauce is full of flavor, which pairs perfectly with your pasta salad dish.
- Add olive oil to your pasta water with a decent amount of salt. The salt will flavor your pasta. I know adding olive oil breaks traditional rules of cooking pasta to absorb sauces, but in this instance, adding olive oil is needed since the olive oil will prevent the pasta from sticking together. If you bring the pasta water to a rolling boil before adding the pasta, this will allow the noodles to freely roll within the water exposing it to both the olive oil and salt. This rule applies to any pasta dish.
- Use Ken’s Zesty Italian Salad Dressing (I’ve included a link to this salad dressing here). I’ve used Kraft Italian Salad Dressing, Kraft Zesty Italian Salad Dressing, and Ken’s Italian Salad Dressing. After trial and error, Ken’s Zesty Italian Salad Dressing is by far THE BEST for Shrimp Pasta Salad! I am not sponsored by Ken’s, so I’m telling you what I know!
- A secret ingredient I’ve discovered over the years to make my pasta salad’s pop is the McCormick Perfect Pinch Salad Supreme Seasoning! This combination of seasoning adds the most amazing flavor to any pasta salad. I’ve listed 1 tbsp in this recipe, but feel free to add more since it’s so good when combined with other ingredients!
Shrimp Pasta Salad Recipe:
Shrimp Pasta Salad
This is a zesty and delicious shrimp and pasta salad recipe from our family. We enjoy making this for cookouts, games days, or as a savory salad to enjoy with friends. You will find this recipe easy to make and a hit with all of your friends. Enjoy!
Ingredients
- 24 oz Peeled and deveined small sized raw shrimp (previously frozen is okay)
- 16 oz Package Angel Hair Pasta
- 1 Cucumber, finely diced (peel is optional)
- 3 Roma Tomatoes, diced with seeds removed
- 1 Bell Pepper, finely diced (pepper preference is optional)
- 1/2 tsp Old Bay Seasoning
- 1/2 tsp Onion Powder
- 1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
- 1 tbsp McCormick Perfect Pinch Salad Supreme Seasoning
- 1 tbsp Butter
- 1.5 tbsp Olive Oil
- 1.5 Bottles Ken's Zesty Italian Salad Dressing (be sure it's Zesty Italian, not just Italian)
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Begin by prepping your salad ingredients. Wash and finely dice 1 cucumber, 1 bell pepper, and 3 Roma tomatoes with seeds removed. Set aside in a bowl. Clean shrimp by ensuring tail, shell, and veins are removed. Set shrimp aside.
- On the stove top, fill a pot with water, add salt, and 1.5 tbsp of olive oil. (The olive oil will prevent the pasta from sticking together). Bring water mixture to a rolling boil, add pasta and cook until al dente. Angel Hair Pasta is very thin, so the pasta should cook quickly within 3-5 minutes.
- While pasta water is coming to a boil, take a fry pan or sauté pan and melt 1 tbsp of butter. Once butter is melted, add shrimp. Season shrimp with 1/2 tsp old bay seasoning, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp onion powder. Sauté and cook shrimp until it is pink and done. Set cooked shrimp aside. Do not discard butter sauce in pan since you will add this to the pasta salad later for extra flavor.
- Once pasta is done, remove from heat, drain, and add to a large mixing bowl. To the mixing bowl add cooked shrimp and butter sauce, diced cucumbers, tomatoes, and peppers, sprinkle 1 tbsp of McCormick Perfect Pinch Salad Supreme Seasoning, and 1 bottle of Ken's Zesty Italian Salad Dressing. Toss salad until fully combined. Store in refrigerator to chill. Before serving, take a second bottle of Ken's Zesty Italian and add to taste or to loosen any noodles. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Calories: 213kcalCarbohydrates: 32gProtein: 13gFat: 3gSaturated Fat: 0.5gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0.01gCholesterol: 71mgSodium: 335mgPotassium: 256mgFiber: 2gSugar: 3gVitamin A: 309IUVitamin C: 11mgCalcium: 68mgIron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
This is such a great recipe. I love the shortcut of using the Italian dressing to get all that great flavor.
This looks so yummy! I love the ease of this recipe. I’m a big fan of cooking, but I prefer recipes that are simple and delicious.
I never would have thought to use Italian dressing. Great recipe hack!
I love anything with shrimp in it! Great tips about the seasoning thank you.
Oh my husband would LOVE this! I bet my kids would too!
What an interesting pasta salad. Sounds so delicious, and it is pretty too.
I love the sound of a shrimp salad. I’ll eat this every day.
I’ve never tried shrimp with pasta before and even the Salad, but it looks so good. I would love to try it.