This fresh pasta salad is a perfect side dish or light entree for the summer!
As a side dish or as a light main course, this Avocado Shrimp Pasta Salad is healthy, satisfying, and incredibly delicious. Our entire family enjoyed it for two nights in a row!
This recipe for Avocado Shrimp Pasta Salad was originally posted in July, 2014. The photos were updated in July, 2018.
I’ve been working hard to serve my family fresh, nutritious meals and the summer season makes that so much easier!
There is tons of tasty produce available, and a cold salad for dinner sounds very appealing. Even the dressing on this salad is light and refreshing made with olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice and fresh herbs!
Some Of My Favorite Ingredients To Put In A Pasta Salad Are;
- bell peppers
- tomatoes
- cucumber
- avocado
- mozzarella or feta cheese
- spinach
- leftover roast meat/ smoked sausage / fish
My Kids Love This Shrimp Pasta Salad
I was interested to see how my boys would feel about this dish when I served it for dinner recently. Well let me tell you: this is 100% kid-approved!
We ate it as our main course on a Saturday evening and Casey had 4 servings! Gibbs also finished his. The very next night we polished off the left-overs as a side dish with some grilled steaks — surf n’ turf, style! It’s that good.
You’ll be the hero at your next potluck with this shrimp pasta salad in hand, and you’ll make your weekly meal prep simple by spending just a few minutes in the kitchen on Sunday afternoon.
Whether you enjoy it for packed lunches all week or for a healthy dinner on the weekend, I hope that you love the perfect combination of shrimp, avocado, and fresh vegetables just as much as we do!
It’s also the perfect pasta salad for taking on picnics, serving at barbecues or having as a side in the summer. What ever way you’ve just got to try it!
Tips For Making This Avocado Shrimp Pasta Salad;
- I used frozen cooked and peeled shrimp, which I thawed in the refrigerator overnight before using. It’s easy to do this prep the night before.
- I used rotini pasta but any short pasta would work
- This pasta salad uses fresh parsley which works really well with the shrimp but fresh basil or cilantro would work great too
More Shrimp Recipes and Pasta Salads You Might Like;
- Grilled honey lime shrimp
- BLT pasta salad
- Creamy Italian pasta salad
- Dump and bake crispy garlic butter shrimp
- Light and creamy Greek pasta salad
If you’ve tried this Avocado Shrimp Pasta Salad or any other recipe on The Seasoned Mom, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave me a comment below! You can follow me on Facebook, on Instagram, on Pinterest, and on Twitter!
Shrimp and Avocado Pasta Salad
This fresh pasta salad is a perfect side dish or light entree for the summer!
Ingredients
For the Salad:
- 12 ounces cooked, peeled shrimp (I used frozen cooked and peeled shrimp, which I thawed in the refrigerator overnight before using)
- 8 ounces dry rotini pasta (about 2.5 cups dry pasta)
- 1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
- 2 tablespoons sliced fresh chives or sliced green onions
- 1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and diced
- ½ cup fresh or frozen corn kernels
- 1 avocado, diced
For the Dressing:
- 2/3 cup olive oil
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley or 1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon honey
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- Pepper to taste
Instructions
-
Cook pasta according to package instructions. Drain and rinse under cold water until pasta is cool.
-
While the pasta cooks, prepare the dressing:
-
Combine all dressing ingredients in a jar with a tight lid and shake until completely combined.
-
In a large bowl, combine shrimp, cooked pasta, tomatoes, chives, bell pepper, and corn. Drizzle with dressing, to taste, and toss to coat (I used about 1/3 cup of dressing, but you can use more if you prefer). Reserve remaining dressing in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
-
Cover and refrigerate salad until ready to serve.
-
Just before serving, stir in diced avocado. Garnish with fresh parsley, if desired.
Recipe Notes
Cooking Just for Two? Cut all of the ingredients in half. The rest of the instructions remain the same.
This really looks good! Shrimp and pasta with avocado, sounds great. Pinning to my Summer Salads board. Stopping by from Happiness is Homemade.
Thanks so much, Shirley. It’s SO perfect for this time of year, especially. 🙂
Do you think this salad would be okay without the mustard? I’m not big fan of mustard in salads for some reason, but I do like the idea of all the other ingredients. Thanks again for sharing your wonderful recipes on Merry Monday
Hi, Erlene! You could probably use something else instead…maybe a little bit of mayo? Or just olive oil and vinegar? You might try the mustard, though — it’s so subtle that even my 3 year old loved the salad, and he’s definitely not usually a mustard eater. 🙂
Congrats on being our most viewed link this week at Freedom Fridays!!! Pinned and will be sharing on social media!!
Hugs and thanks for sharing at Freedom Fridays
Thank you, thank you, Evelyn!
I Love the sound of this salad, I’d definitely serve it at barbecues..yum!
Thanks, Emily!
Have you tried this with other vinegar flavors, like ACV or salad vinegar? I can’t wait to make this! I am not a mustard fan either, but sometimes it’s worth adding.
Yes, the other vinegars will work perfectly fine. Just pick your favorite!
I use the mustard in the vinaigrette as an emulsifier (to hold the other liquid ingredients together) so that it doesn’t separate. If you don’t like Dijon, you can try mayonnaise instead. 🙂
I’m making this right now! Smells amazing!
Enjoy, Rachel! 🙂
This recipe was very good but the dressing was a little bland and was really perked up with the addition of a minced clove of garlic and a teaspoon of dried oregano. Also it actually makes 8 main course servings, if you were serving it with other sides. I doubled it for a 7person dinner with other sides and I had tons left over. Finally, because I bought avocados, the avocado mixed into the salad was lost in it. It added absolutely no flavor. Next time I will slice the avocados and lay them across the top of the salad and lightly salt them before I serve it. Really liked this: it’s definitely a keeper!
Thanks, Jo Lynne! I’m glad that you enjoyed it, and your suggestions sound great!