Cold Shrimp and Cucumber Salad

This creamy shrimp and cucumber salad relies on a few really good, basic ingredients…fresh dill, chives, a squeeze of lemon, and crisp English cucumbers. It’s cool, refreshing, and comes together with about fifteen minutes of prep. 

This is a great recipe to prep ahead for lunches for a couple of days, but my favorite way to eat it is tucked into a sandwich with bacon and tomato to serve for dinner on that first truly unbearably hot day of summe. I love the freshness and brightness of this salad and I hope you do too.

what You’ll Need

I never, ever, EVER make this with plain Greek yogurt but if you insist I’m sure it will be fine.

The Dressing

• ⅓ cup mayonnaise for a lighter version, plain Greek yogurt is a great one-to-one substitute for the mayo (or the sour cream).
• ⅓ cup sour cream
• 2 tablespoons fresh chives (chopped)
• 2 tablespoons fresh dill (chopped)
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• ½ teaspoon salt (plus a little extra for boiling the shrimp)
• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

The Salad

• 1 pound raw large shrimp (peeled, deveined, tails off) — To save even more time, you can buy pre-cooked shrimp and skip the boiling step completely.
• 1 English cucumber (thinly sliced) (These are ideal because of their thin skin and lack of seeds. If you use a regular cucumber, just make sure to peel it and scoop out the seeds before slicing.
• 2 celery stalks (finely chopped)

Instructions

Step 1: Cook and Chill the Shrimp

Bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil and drop in your shrimp. You have to watch them closely here. If your shrimp are thawed, they literally only need about 90 seconds. If they’re frozen, give them about 3 minutes. As soon as they turn pink and opaque, get them out of the hot water so they don’t turn rubbery.

Drain them well and lay them out on a paper-towel-lined plate. Here is the most important part: put them in the fridge to cool down completely. If you mix warm shrimp into a mayo-based dressing, the heat will melt the fats and leave you with a watery, separated mess.

Step 2: Mix Up the Creamy Herb Dressing

While the shrimp is cooling off, grab a large mixing bowl. Make sure it’s big enough to comfortably toss everything together later without spilling over the sides. Add your finely chopped celery, mayonnaise, sour cream, chives, dill, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, salt, and pepper. Give it a really good stir until it’s completely smooth and combined.

Making sure the dressing is well-mixed means every bite will have the bright, fresh flavor of dill and lemon.

Step 3: Bring It All Together

Once your shrimp is fully chilled to the touch, add it to the bowl with your dressing. Toss in your thinly sliced English cucumbers. You want to make sure the cucumbers are sliced nice and thin so you get a little bit of crunch in every bite, without them totally overpowering the shrimp.

Gently fold everything together with a spatula until the shrimp and cucumbers are completely coated.

Step 4: Taste and Adjust

Here is where you need to trust your own preferences. Grab a fork and give the salad a taste. Does it need a little more salt? A heavier crack of black pepper? Maybe an extra squeeze of lemon to wake it up?

Step 5: The Mandatory Chill Time

I know it’s tempting to just serve it right now, but cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, or up to an hour.

Don’t skip this step! It’s best when really nice and cold.

Storage Instructions

Store your leftover salad in an airtight container in the fridge, but make sure to eat it within two days since we’re dealing with fresh seafood and dairy. It’s actually a great dish to prep a few hours ahead of time, but the cucumbers will naturally release some water as it sits, so just give everything a quick stir right before serving.

Let me save you a headache right now: absolutely do not freeze this, or the dressing will separate into a watery mess and the cucumbers will turn completely to mush!

Serving Ideas

• On thick-cut toast: Spoon a generous helping of this over a thick slice of fresh sourdough. The hearty bread holds up perfectly to the creamy dressing, and it makes for a lunch that packs enough protein to actually keep you full all afternoon.
• Over a bed of greens: If you want to keep things light, just scoop it right over some crisp butter lettuce or mixed greens. You don’t even need extra dressing; the mayo, sour cream, and lemon mixture coats the lettuce perfectly.
• With a sleeve of crackers: When you just need to get food on the table fast, grab a box of buttery crackers and let everyone scoop their own. It’s perfect for a quick weekend lunch or when the kids are hovering around the kitchen looking for a snack.
• Stuffed in an avocado or tomato: If you have some ripe avocados or large tomatoes sitting on the counter, hollow them out and stuff them with the shrimp salad. It looks like you put in a lot of effort, but it takes zero extra work.

Simple Variations to Try

Nothing crazy.

• Bump up the citrus: If you love a bright, punchy flavor, add a little extra squeeze of lemon juice or even some freshly grated lemon zest to the mayo mixture.
• Toss in more veggies: A handful of halved cherry tomatoes or some finely diced red onion work perfectly here. They add extra crunch and stretch the salad a bit further if you need to feed a bigger crowd.
• Add a little heat: If you prefer a spicier kick, just whisk a pinch of cayenne pepper or a few dashes of your favorite hot sauce right into the dressing before you mix in the shrimp.
• Fold in avocado: Gently stir in some diced avocado right before serving. Just make sure you wait until the very end to add it. (If you toss it in before the salad goes into the fridge to chill, it will just turn brown and mushy.)

In Case You’re Wondering

Printable Recipe