This seafood salad is a blend of imitation crab and shrimp in a creamy dill dressing with fresh vegetables. An easy high protein lunch option that takes just minutes to make!
I love a good salad for lunch, I often whip up a quick orzo salad, ramen noodle salad, or this irresistible seafood salad. This salad can be served in so many different ways and it always gets rave reviews.
I love a good seafood salad, and it’s actually so easy to make at home! I used to stop by my grocery store deli to pick some up, but now I just whip up a batch in minutes whenever the craving strikes.
How do you make seafood salad?
The base of this salad is shrimp and imitation crab meat. The seafood is combined with celery, red onion, fresh dill, Old Bay seasoning, lemon juice and mayonnaise. Everything gets tossed together to make an ultra creamy and flavorful salad.
What is imitation crab?
Seafood salad is often made with imitation crab, because it’s inexpensive, available year round, and can be found in almost every grocery store. Imitation crab is made of mild white fish, typically Alaskan Pollock, which is blended with other ingredients to form a product that looks and tastes similar to real crab. You can use real crab in your seafood salad if you prefer, but it’s definitely easier to go with imitation crab.
Tips for seafood salad
- I use imitation crab flakes because they’re already cut into bite sized pieces. You can also buy the stick-style imitation crab and slice it yourself.
- I highly recommend using fresh dill, the flavor is superior to dried dill. If you need to use dried dill, you can substitute 1/2 teaspoon of dried for fresh.
- You can use low fat mayonnaise if desired.
- I like to use small salad sized shrimp so that they’re bite sized, look for shrimp that are 51-60 count per pound.
- It’s best to use raw shrimp which are then briefly boiled and cooled in an ice bath. This will give your shrimp the best flavor and texture. You can use pre-cooked shrimp in a pinch.
- I recommend making sure your red onion is finely chopped so that you don’t get large pieces in each bite. You can also use sliced green onions instead of red onion for a milder flavor.
- This seafood salad can be kept in the fridge for up to 2 days.
- You can use any combination of seafood that you like in this salad, just be sure that the total weight is one pound of seafood. Other great options include bay scallops or diced lobster meat.
WAYS TO SERVE SEAFOOD SALAD
You can eat this seafood salad as-is, or serve it in a variety of different presentations.
- Lettuce: Spoon your salad into a butter lettuce cup.
- Crackers: Serve your salad with a side of buttery crackers.
- Sandwich: Add your seafood to a toasted and buttered roll along with some green leaf lettuce.
- Avocado: Spoon your seafood into an avocado half.
- Pasta: Add 8 ounces of cooked short pasta to make a pasta salad.
- Cucumber: Spoon onto cucumber slices for an easy party snack.
- Puff Pastry: Fill up cooked puff pastry shells with the salad.
- Tomato: Hollow out a tomato and fill it with seafood salad.
No matter how you serve your crab and shrimp salad, it’s sure to be a hit! I always get requests for the recipe when I serve this salad at events, people go crazy over it!
More great salad recipes
Seafood Salad Video
Seafood Salad
Ingredients
- 8 ounces imitation crab meat flaked style or sticks cut into slices
- 8 ounces raw shrimp I use 51-60 count for this recipe
- 1 lemon quartered
- 1/2 cup celery finely diced
- 3 tablespoons red onion minced
- 1/2 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh dill chopped, plus more for garnish
Instructions
- Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add the quartered lemon.
- Add the shrimp to the pot and cook for 1-2 minutes or until pink and opaque. Transfer the shrimp to a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process.
- Drain the shrimp then pat dry.
- Place the shrimp, imitation crab, celery, red onion, Old Bay seasoning, lemon juice, salt, pepper, mayonnaise and dill in a bowl. Toss gently to coat.
- Garnish with additional fresh dill and serve, or cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days.
Dennis N says
You forgot the best method to eat this: scoop it right into my mouth, spoon optional!
Kathy says
I plan to make this today! I’m going to stuff the salad into cooked and cooled pasta shells. I ate at a friend’s house and it’s amazing. She sprinkled shell with cheese, but think I’ll sprinkle with peprika!
Kathy says
Elegant, easy, delicious. I didn’t have Old Bay seasoning, or fresh dill. I skipped the Old Bay, and used dried dill, still a very light and delightful salad. Also, substituted limes for lemon juice. Added tiny tender garden cucumber, chopped fine. Lined the salad bowl with fresh picked grape leaves. Very pretty!
Debbie Ferman says
This was really good! I did use lest mayo. I served it on a bed of mixed greens for a bridal shower and everyone loved it!
Chris says
Can I also make this a warm dish for the main meal? My husband loves the one he gets at our local Hibachi buffet..but I can’t seem to find a recipe for it to be made warm. Any ideas? Could it be baked? I have seen it when he has it on his plate but it doesn’t look creamy instead buttery. Help want to try to make this dish for him.
Sara says
I’m not familiar with the dish you have in mind, so it’s hard to say. This recipe is meant to be eaten as a cold salad. I’m sorry I can’t be of more help!
Pat says
Add some finely chopped jalapeños for a spicier variation
Chris says
It’s ok Sarah I appreciate the reply. I ended up finding a recipe for baked dish and I tweaked the recipe a lot and it ended up being really good. Hubby and two friends had it and said I needed to make this dish more often…even my picky friend who won’t eat anything ate a second serving..
Cinnamon Flowers says
By replacing the imitation crab with real crab it would make it a gluten-free salad as well. Because imitation crab has wheat in it. Thankfully we live near the ocean so subbing real crab will be easy. It sounds amazing I love seafood salad and I can’t wait to try making this👍👍
Jacque Hooper says
This was such a light and deliciously refreshing salad! Sweet and perfectly crunchy too. I will be enjoying this all summer long, indeed!
Marie Czarnecki says
Jacque: That is just exactly what I say. I is a meal in it self..
Mary Bostow says
This looks fabulous. Reminds me of childhood summers 🙂 one of my favorites! I would devour this!
Chris Collins says
This has to be one of the most glorious looking seafood salads I’ve ever seen! So delicious!!!
Marie Czarnecki says
AGREED!!! When i saw this salad it turned my chemistry upside down, and I have to make it soon.
Katherine says
Gosh, I never knew imitation crab was Pollock! This is such a tasty looking salad.
Emily says
So THAT’S what imitation crab is made of. I’d always half wondered about that. Great seafood salad! Thanks for posting.
Marie Czarnecki says
Not to be critical but use have not half, it just looked funny to read but I knew what you meant. Don’t get upset just some people will be nasty and say nasty remarks, just saying, I try to be nice about issues. Hope you understand..
Heather says
Every time I make this salad it reminds me of the beach! Such a great summer recipe!
Chelsea says
This is the perfect summer salad!! Such a hit with everyone! Thanks for sharing!
Kristyn says
What a great, summer salad! Love the colors! I will have to take this to my next BBQ!
lauren kelly says
This is such a delicious recipe! The leftovers are even better! Thank you!
Marie Czarnecki says
Lauren: Yes, because they marry the flavors together, and I was thinking about lettuce roll ups, or even in a crispy burrito….
Stephanie says
This salad was perfect! Such a great salad for summertime.