This easy cilantro-lime shrimp salad is bright, fresh, and spicy with just a hint of sweetness to offset the spice. It’s a flavorful, low-carb dream dinner.
How stunning is this cilantro-lime shrimp salad? Don’t you want to just pile these beautiful ingredients high on your plate and dive right in? You’ll love the cilantro-lime dressing too – it’s so bright and beautiful and the combination of honey, jalapeños, lime, and cilantro creates an absolutely perfect summer dressing recipe!
For this shrimp salad, I used summer ingredients, like tomatoes and watermelon radishes, and cucumbers. Depending on what season (or mood!) you’re in, you can try this with avocado, asparagus, or edamame, or charred corn. Whatever you throw on this salad is going to work like a dream with the incredible dressing and tender greens.
You can make modifications to the protein, too, depending on what you have on-hand. Flaked white fish, such as cod or tilapia would work well. You could use shredded chicken or even seared skirt steak. Looking to keep this vegetarian? Try it with a can of black or navy beans! You can dress the beans in oil, salt, pepper, lime juice and cilantro before piling them on top of the salad!
The cilantro-lime dressing works so well on both the shrimp and the salad, so you will use half the dressing on the shrimp as a marinade and half the dressing on top of the finished salad.
Looking for more salad recipes? Check my archives!
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Easy Cilantro-Lime Shrimp Salad
Ingredients
Cilantro-Lime Dressing
- 1 cup fresh loosely-packed cilantro
- 1-2 jalapeños trimmed and chopped into thirds
- 4 cloves garlic peeled
- 1 lime juiced
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons honey plus more to taste if desired
- Salt and pepper to taste
Shrimp Salad
- 1 pound large shrimp peeled and deveined (tails left on or removed, depending on preference)
- 1 tablespoon neutral cooking oil
- 3 Roma tomatoes small-diced
- 1 jalapeño trimmed and minced
- ⅓ cup fresh cilantro finely chopped
- ½ English cucumber finely chopped
- 1 watermelon radish or 3 red radishes, trimmed, peeled and thinly sliced into rounds*
- 1 lime juiced
- 4 ounces baby greens
- 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Prepare the Cilantro-Lime Dressing:
- In a food processor, combine all the ingredients for the cilantro-lime dressing and pulse until well-combine. If the dressing seems too thick, add a bit more oil or lime juice. Season with salt to taste. Set aside.
Marinate the Shrimp:
- Transfer the shrimp to a bowl or Ziplock bag and pour half the cilantro-lime dressing on them and toss to combine. Transfer to the refrigerator for 15-20 minutes.
Prepare the Tomato-Cucumber Salad:
- In a bowl, combine the tomatoes, cilantro, minced jalapeño, diced cucumber, lime juice, and radishes and toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Dress the Greens:
- Transfer the greens to a large bowl and drizzle with the extra virgin olive oil. Add a sprinkle of salt and a touch of black pepper and use your hands to dress the greens with the oil. Divide the greens between plates and set aside.
Cook the Cilantro-Lime Shrimp:
- Heat the neutral cooking oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until very hot. Add the shrimp in an even layer, cooking in batches if necessary, and pour 1-2 tablespoons of the marinade from the bag over the shrimp. Cook for 1-2 minutes and then flip the shrimp and cook for 2-3 minutes more or until the shrimp are opaque and cooked through. Turn off the heat.
To Serve the Cilantro-Lime Shrimp Salad:
- Pile the tomato-cucumber garnish on top of the salad greens and arrange the cooked shrimp on top. Drizzle with the remaining cilantro-lime dressing. Enjoy!
