Grilled Shrimp Summer Salad – Grilled shrimp is placed on top of a bed of romaine lettuce, sliced avocado, and sprinkled with grilled corn cut off the cob and a homemade green goddess dressing.
Grilling and summer go hand and hand. And so does yummy fresh produce. But what if I told you I could combine all of those into a delicious refreshing, yet smoky salad? Didn’t think it was possible? Think again!
This Grilled Shrimp Summer Salad is loaded with grilled treats to give it just the right amount of char and smoky flavor. First we grill some of the romaine. Then comes the grilled corn and the grilled shrimp. It’s all tossed in a homemade green goddess dressing made with tons of green herbs. It’s tangy and flavorful and most-definitely my favorite part of this whole salad.
Before we dive more into this recipe, let’s look at this gorgeous salad!
Making this salad
Green goddess dressing
The first thing you want to do when making the salad is the dressing. It tastes best when the ingredients have time to sit and develop flavor together.
This dressing is a green goddess dressing, which simply means it’s a creamy dressing made with tons of herbs, including green onions (scallions), parsley, and basil. It also has lemon juice and anchovies, which give the dressing a slight resemblance to Caesar dressing.
To make the dressing, you simply blend the ingredients together in a food processor.
Grilling the ingredients
One of the key characteristics of this salad are the charred marks from the grill. Instead of simply grilling the protein in this salad, we’re also grilling the corn and some of the romaine lettuce.
To grill each of the components of this salad, we must turn the grill heat on super high. This ensures we get those gorgeous grill marks without overcooking the food. This is especially important for the romaine because we are just grilling it for the char marks, which should only take about 1 minute. Any longer and the lettuce will wilt too much.
Next, we grill the corn and the shrimp. Before adding them to the grill, they are brushed with a little olive oil and sprinkled with salt and pepper. The corn will take about 8 minutes to cook but the shrimp only takes 3 minutes MAX.
Once the dressing is made and the salad is grilled, it’s time to toss everything together and enjoy!
Tips & Tricks
- The dressing gets better as it sits and the flavors develop. If you can, make it a few hours before needing it.
- In order to get great grill marks, leave the food undisturbed until you need to flip it. And only flip it once!
- The bigger the shrimp, the easier they are to grill. Imagine having to flip a bunch of those teeny shrimp? Super small shrimp will also cook very quick and they could fall in-between the grates. So get the jumbo size for this recipe!
- Do not grill the romaine ahead of time. It needs to be eaten right after grilling because it will start to wilt once it gets warm.
Grilled Shrimp Summer Salad
Ingredients
For the green goddess dressing:
- 6 scallions roots removed
- 1 cup fresh parsley leaves
- 1 cup fresh basil leaves
- ½ cup mayo
- ½ cup greek yogurt
- 5 fillets canned anchovies (about ½ ounce)
- ⅓ cup fresh lemon juice
- 1 clove garlic
- 1½ teaspoons salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
For the salad:
- 4 heads romaine lettuce
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 3 ears corn husks removed
- 1 pound jumbo raw shrimp peeled, deveined
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 medium avocado
- green goddess dressing recipe above
Instructions
- Add all green goddess ingredients to a food processor and blend until smooth. Cover and refrigerate while you make the rest of the salad.
- Turn on grill super high – 550 degrees. Brush grates with a little olive oil. Cut 1 head of romaine in half, lengthwise. Brush the grilled side with olive oil and place onto hot grill to get some char. it should take no more than 2 minutes to get there. Remove from heat and set aside to cool. Cut the rest of the romaine heads into pieces and place into a large bowl. Set aside.
- Brush corn with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill for 8 minutes. In the meantime, prep the shrimp. Place raw shrimp into medium bowl. Add 1½ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon ground black pepper and 2 tablespoons olive oil. Toss together. Place shrimp onto hot grill grates to cook for 2 minutes. Flip and cook for 1 more minute. Remove shrimp and set aside to cool. Remove corn. Turn off grill.
- Cut corn off the cobb and toss into salad. Split the salad among 4 large plates. Top each with shrimp. Cut grilled romaine halves into half again to give you 4 pieces. Place one grilled piece onto each plate. Cut avocado and place some on each plate. Split grilled shrimp among each plate. Drizzle each salad with the green goddess dressing.
Notes
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I made this and it was delicious. I didn’t have anchovies and the dressing was still amazing. The salad was a huge hit.
This salad looks so vibrant and tasty. I love the dressing and how it ties everything together so well!
This summer salad sounds so good, a perfect side dish for any grilled dishes. Loved the dressing recipe.
This is definitely my new go-to summertime salad! I LOVE the green goddess dressing!
Good tip on the dressing! I always appreciate those tips that way I can make sure to get the best out of the recipe!
I’ve always been a bit fan of adding shrimp to salads, but this recipe sounds next-level delicious! Cannot wait to try the combo of the corn and green goddess dressing!
I’ve always been a bit fan of adding shrimp to salads, but this recipe sounds next-level delicious! Cannot wait to try the combo of the corn and green goddess dressing 🙂
This looks delicious and like something that my husband and I would love! I make a very similar dressing and it’s SO good!
I love shrimp, and having it in a salad is amazing! The sauce was spectacular, and I loved the use of yogurt and mayo.
Wow, this was such a perfect summer salad.. very creamy and delicious.!I need to pack this for my lunch more often!
Fire up the barbecue, this is a must-have salad of the summer! Love me some shrimp.
This is one of our favorite salads to make! The dressing is SO DELICIOUS!
This looks like a salad I would really like! So flavorful and fresh, thanks for the recipe.
Yum! I’ve been obsessed with grilling shrimp this summer. Usually we just dip them in garlic butter and call it a day, but this salad looks so good, I will have to try it next time.
I’m always looking for new salads to eat during summer, and this grilled shrimp salad looks amazing! I can’t wait to try it!
oh my gosh yum!!! I love shrimp I need to make this!1 thanks for sharing this recipe
Oh My!! With the grilled shrimp and avocado this looks ahhhh-may-zing!!! Gotta hit the grocery store and make this ASAP!
Thanks a lot for this recipe! Will surely have this again! Perfect for the fam and gatherings! Highly recommended!
Love everything about this salad. The dressing is also so good and the avocado slices truly make it a delectable option. Plus those grille shrimps are heavenly.
This looks like a perfect summer salad. My kids would be all about it since they love shrimp.
This was wonderful. Especially loved the dressing.
Definitely will be my go shrimp salad.