Shrimp Pasta Salad is a super simple, cold pasta dish that’s perfect for potlucks, BBQ’s and parties!
Shrimp Pasta Salad is filled with crisp cucumbers, juicy tomatoes and bite size shrimp, all tossed in a creamy and tangy sauce!
This is going to be a special week for me (and you). I’m sharing some family recipe from my sweet Aunt Nancy!!
Growing up in Arizona, my Aunt Nancy lived just two blocks away from me. She was always whipping up the most delicious food, and I thoroughly enjoyed stopping by her house to pick up a snack on my way home from school. She worked from home so I was always guaranteed a tasty snack, a cold drink of water, and of course a hug and a kiss every time I visited. She’s the best Aunt ever.
One side dish that was ALWAYS requested during family gatherings was her infamous Shrimp Pasta Salad.
Shrimp Pasta Salad
I am giddy with excitement, because I have loved this salad ever since my childhood. When I was mixing up the dressing and folding it into the pasta, I was instantly transported back to my Aunt Nancy’s kitchen; watching her mix up this salad, and waiting eagerly to take a bite.
Nancy was (and still is) a very proper lady. She wouldn’t let us kids go anywhere without teaching us a lesson or two in manners first. I remember one summer when my sister and I stayed with her for a few days and she taught us all sorts of things, like how to properly set a table, and how to have a conversation while eating.
There are so many wonderful things I could share about her, but I’ll save it for later this week with the other family recipes, like Monkey Meat and Vinegar Cucumbers and Onions. I will say this though, she is one of my major inspirations for putting on that apron and getting in the kitchen.
Let’s talk about this Shrimp Pasta Salad – The dressing is simple. It’s mayo based, but I imagine you could use half mayo, half greek yogurt to reduce some calories. Nancy’s original recipe calls for the addition of ketchup, a little salt, a little sugar and just a touch of milk to thin out the dressing. I wanted to add just a little zip to the dressing, so I added a tablespoon of horseradish, which gave the dressing a creamy cocktail sauce flavor. AMAZING!
Also – little shrimp! These shrimp are found by the canned tuna. Just look for the cans of shrimps in “medium” size. Trust me, they are there, and be sure to splurge a little on the better quality, name brand for this. It makes a difference.
UPDATE: Over the past few years, I’ve started using the frozen baby shrimp instead of the canned version. It’s a little fresher and the taste is great!
Nancy says the pasta is called D pasta, but the package I found was called Ditalini Pasta. Basically “little tubes”, or little pasta shells would work too.
If you’re looking for a pasta salad to share with friends and family that nothing can compare to, then you’ve got to try this one out! You’ll love it!
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Shrimp Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 4 cups Ditalini Pasta, uncooked
- 10 oz canned shrimp, found by the canned tuna OR 1 1/2 cups frozen cooked baby shrimp, thawed
- 1 ½ cups english cucumber, diced
- 1 large tomato, diced
For the dressing:
Instructions
- Boil the pasta in a large pot of salted water according to package instructions. Drain the pasta and run under cold water, until cool, drain and place in a large bowl.
- Drain and rinse the shrimps under cool water, add them to the bowl of pasta along with the diced tomato and cucumber. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl whisk together the ingredients for the dressing, adding more milk if necessary to reach desired consistency. Pour the dressing over the pasta and gently stir together, to coat and mix the pasta salad. Chill until ready to serve.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Originally published 8/18/2014. Updated 4/17/2018.
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In the photos it looks like you used halved cherry tomatoes but in the recipe it says one large diced tomato… which is better???
Can this be made the night before???
Hi,
I would really like to try this but is there something I can use other than ketchup? I can’t eat ketchup because of a stomach issue, very sensitive and even this little amount would cause problems.
I appreciate your help with this.
Tank you.
You could probably get away without using the ketchup. I’m assuming it’s tomato-based things that cause the issue for you? If not, I would substitute with a tsp or two of tomato paste.
I made it two ways one with baby frozen shrimp, two I used canned white tuna, two cans drained rest of ingrediencies were the same as your recipe. Both were very good hard to tell the one I liked more. So, I will keep making both. Lots of I want the recipe, At the family picnics. Thanks for a great recipe, N.J.- Don…..
Just made this…used halved cherry tomatoes and avacado mayo (which is pretty good and half the fat of regular mayonnaise). I don’t have one expired thing in my refrigerator but what do you think was, of course the horse radish so I couldn’t use it. But I was already on the fence about it anyway. I just couldn’t see it paired with the cucumber but it’s delicious without it. Love the sauce and could use with other salads. Would be awesome with a lot of grilled shrimp in it.
Really good! I added a little more horse radish for zip along with a little squeeze of fresh lemon juice instead of milk to thin it and a little dill into the dressing. It was a hit!
Love your recipes. So easy to make. Now that I’m older I really like simple and easy. Thankyou very much for sharing.
I’m so glad you’re enjoying them Loretta!
Loved this recipe! We had leftover shrimp kebobs and cut up the shrimp with these ingredients. Very tangy and delicious
What a great idea! So glad you enjoyed it!
This salad is incredible!
So glad you enjoyed it Tess!
Can I use Krab meat instead of shrimp?
Definitely!
This is “delish”! Two minor changes I made were to add 2 or 3 chopped scallions, and used Kirby cucumbers rather than the English cucumber. I did use cocktail sauce in place of the ketchup/horseradish combo. Very, very tasty. I’m trying hard to stay away from eating more and then more yet!
Love the modifications you used! Glad you enjoyed it!
I Love this recipe! I’m going to double it and I’m going to use my home grown tomatoes and cucumbers. This is perfect for our Sunday potluck lunch. Thanks Lady Bugg!
Enjoy your Sunday potluck! Sounds fun!
Just made this salad and it is the bomb! Store was out of English cucumbers so I used regular…. still amazing!!! Thank you for sharing!
Woohooo! So glad you enjoyed it Tami!
Can you substitute chicken for shrimp
.as I’m doing BBQ wings
everyone of your recipes can be shared on Pinterst. I shared 2 macaroni salads there . will they be pulled off of Pinterest because I did that? I don’t want to be. that is the only place besides facebook that I can remember them all. I would like to Pin some more only if you give me permission otherwise I will remove the 2 I have. instead of putting this out can you just send the answer in my ebox?
I am wondering if you can substitute cherry tomatoes for the chopped tomatoes…looks like they were used in the photo??
Definitely!
What a great idea to use cherry tomatoes, making this later.
could you use cocktail sauce to sub for the ketchup and horseradish?
Definitely!
I’m glad I was surfing through your recipes and found this! Years ago while living in Okatie S C, a neighbor brought this salad over for a Pot Luck Lunch and I loved it. Made it many times, but through our moves from SC to Calif to Fl I lost the recipe! This is almost the same, mine called for frozen peas used at the last min. before serving, no ketchup, and fresh shrimp. Can’t wait to try yours with the ketchup.
How wrong would it be to make this now? If I had the shrimp, I would…and if I hadn’t changed for bed, I’d be off to but shrimp!!
Can frozen shrimp be used? I love to make use of the frozen, cooked, no tail shrimp!
The tiny frozen precooked shrimp can definitely be used for this recipe, I do that all the time. 🙂
This pasta salad looks great. Ditalini is one of my favorite styles of pasta, so much you can do with it.
great idea to get some protein in a pasta salad!
loving the look of this shrimp pasta salad! definitely need to recreate the recipe, looks delicious.
Gah! This looks fabulous Shawn and I am the queen of shrimp – I love them so, so, so much and use them in nearly everything. To have a shrimp pasta salad – perfect. Pinned!
Thank you Kristi! It’s a delicious recipe, I hope you try it sometime! 🙂
You have me totally craving pasta now!
Give in to those cravings Rachel! 😉