in the kitchen · recipes

Shrimp and Quinoa Salad

Sara {Go Gingham}

Shrimp and Quinoa Salad

I love having a hearty pasta or whole grain salad on hand for a healthy lunch or dinner.  Who am I kidding?  Breakfast and after school snacks are a great time to eat a hearty salad, too, and unless I put a note on the food in our refrigerator that says “Keep Out!” with a mean face, it gets eaten around here!

When I talk about salad I don’t mean green lettuce salad, I  mean “salad”,  like pasta salad, chicken salad or potato salad, where it’s really a full meal in a dish, not just a green side salad.  This salad makes a satisfying meal and is still good the next day although you may need to add a little more dressing or a splash of olive oil and/or salt/lemon juice to freshen it up.  Make sure to keep the salad in an air-tight container.

Shrimp and Quinoa Salad
Recipe Type: Main
Cuisine: American
Author: Sara Tetreault
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 6-8
This is more of a meal than it is a salad. Add whatever vegetables you have on hand or that are growing in your garden.
Ingredients
  • 2 cups quinoa
  • 4 cups water
  • 1/2 cup red onion, diced
  • 2 cucumbers,diced
  • 3 tomatoes, diced
  • 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
  • 4 cups cooked, peeled and frozen shrimp
  • Dressing
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • zest of one lime
  • 1/3 cup olive oil
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon Old Bay
  • juice of 2 limes
  • juice of 1 lemon
  • Tabasco to taste
Instructions
  1. Cook quinoa with water according to instructions.
  2. Once cooked, cool quinoa completely in large bowl by stirring it and letting grains separate.
  3. Once cooled, add vegetables and shrimp, stir.
Dressing
  1. Mix ingredients together in glass jar with lid and shake.
  2. Pour over quinoa, shrimp and vegetables and stir until combined.
Notes
Citrus and spices make this really fresh and tasty! This recipe is great to take along for a potluck or make half and serve less. Very versatile!

I like to make lots of whatever I’m cooking so that there’s plenty of leftovers.  You can easily halve this recipe.

Quinoa hearty salad

Corn or black beans would be good in here, too.  Experiment with what you like and have on hand.  This is great as a meal but could also be served as a nice side-dish.  Enjoy!

Go Gingham related links:

All the recipes on Go Gingham are here
After school snack ideas can be found here
Three easy grains to cook
Exclamation point love and an example of mean faces on food containers are here!

Published by Sara {Go Gingham}

Sara, creator of Go Gingham, writes about real food, green living, and a healthy lifestyle - on fewer resources - {Stylishly Frugal Living}. She loves gingham - but tries to keep that in check.

6 thoughts on “Shrimp and Quinoa Salad”

  1. Looks really good! I find having something like this in the fridge helps me eat a good lunch. If I have to prepare something to eat, I am more prone to grab a cookie!

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    1. Annie, I totally agree. I like having stuff like this on hand for that exact reason. Also, when kids are hungry they’re REALLY hungry and need to eat quickly. These type of salads are what I want people to snack on!! Thanks!

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  2. Hi Sarah–
    This looks wonderful and I want to try it tonight! Quick question–I tried to Pin this (because that’s how I store recipes), and it said no pinnable images on this page. Wondering if its me or if your site isn’t allowing pins. Thanks–
    Rita

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    1. That’s great, Rita! Glad you liked it. We just had shrimp scampi last night that and I’ll need to share that one next….

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