Easy Shrimp Avocado Salad Boats

These Easy Shrimp Avocado Salad Boats are perfect for hot Summer nights or just enjoying a lighter meal. I love to serve these as an appetizer before serving Slow-Braised Spicy Brisket Tacos or my Two-Ingredient Grilled Tri-Tip Roast. This healthier shrimp salad is refreshing and crunchy, with a light lime tomato dressing nestled in a half-avocado boat. This salad is a perfect mix of delicious flavors and textures.

Tender jumbo shrimp, crunchy cucumber, red onions, and fresh cilantro all tossed in a light tomato avocado oil dressing. This delightful shrimp salad is then filled in a halved avocado for the ultimate healthy, filling, and perfect quick lunch or dinner. This is one of my absolute ways to enjoy shrimp. Shrimp is a great, low-calorie source of protein.  

This is the ultimate seafood keto diet or low-carb meal, and naturally gluten-free. It comes together in a few minutes. I like to poach the shrimp for this salad, but using pre-cooked shrimp makes it even easier to make. 

The flavor of this shrimp salad recipe is like a deconstructed Mexican shrimp cocktail. An authentic Mexican shrimp cocktail features a rich tomato sauce base, accompanied by bite-sized pieces of vegetables, a generous amount of shrimp, and a good squeeze of lime juice. This is typically served with crackers or corn tortilla tostadas and some good hot sauce. My recipe is a version of this, but with a super lightened-up tomato salad dressing and with all the taste and nutrition of creamy avocado. 

Ingredients

• Cooked, peeled jumbo shrimp 
• Cucumber, peeled & seeded  
• Roma tomatoes 
• Red onion 
• Cilantro
• Fresh avocados
• Tomato based vegetable juice (like V-8)
• Avocado oil or extra virgin olive oil (use good quality)
• Limes
• Garlic powder
• Onion powder
• Paprika (sweet not smoked)
• Kosher Salt
• Black ground pepper
• Hot sauce

Step-by-step directions

Total prep time for this recipe is a breeze! Chilling the salad is highly recommended for the best flavor. 

• Chop cooked shrimp into smaller pieces.
• Remove the seeds from the tomato and cube.
• Peel and seed the cucumber and cube.
• Finely chop red onion
• Finely chop cilantro leaves 
• Add the shrimp and veggies into a large bowl, set aside.
• In a small bowl, add vegetable or tomato juice.
• Zest one lime and add the zest to the vegetable juice.
• Add lime juice, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, kosher salt, and pepper. 
• Whisk the dressing ingredients together.
• Add the dressing to the shrimp and veggie mixture and toss gently. 
• Chill the salad in the fridge for at least an hour. 

• Once the shrimp salad is chilled, you are now ready to stuff the avocado boats.
• Cut the avocados in half, remove the pit, and remove the exterior peel.
• Arrange the avocado halves on a plate or platter.
• Fill the avocado cavity with the chilled shrimp salad. If the pit is small, carve out a slightly larger cavity to hold the salad. Don’t discard the extra avocado pulp; chop it up and toss it into the salad. 
• Garnish with more cilantro, lime wedges and a little hot sauce on the side.

Tried and true tips

• Use extra large shrimp.
• Make sure the shrimp salad is chilled before serving.
• Avoid using tomato sauce for the dressing; the dressing should be very light, without tomato sauce overpowering the shrimp. Use vegetable juice that is tomato-based.
• Use good quality Avocado oil (or extra virgin olive oil).
• Use ripe Roma tomatoes.
• Make it decadent and use cooked lobster or crab meat.

How to serve 

I photographed this recipe with the skin on the avocados, but when serving this as an appetizer, I peel and quarter the avocados and serve on a large chilled platter. When I serve this for lunch or dinner, again, I peel the avocados before serving. 

This recipe is wonderful to serve as a starter, but it’s not one that’s recommended to sit on a table for extended periods, as it contains seafood. Serve on a chilled platter and refrigerate leftovers as soon as possible. 

This recipe is excellent on bed of butter lettuce both in flavor and as a garnish. 

How to store 

This Shrimp Salad recipe can be stored in the fridge for up to one day without the avocado shell. Fill the avocado halves upon serving. If you have an avocado shell left over, chop it up and toss it into the salad. Enjoy the leftovers with crackers or tostadas. 

I don’t recommend keeping this salad more than a day in the refrigerator. 

More refreshing shrimp recipes…

Two of my FAVE shrimp recipes, are my Zesty shrimp avocado jicama salad and Shrimp ceviche style tostadas,  which are fabulous and perfect for entertaining or just a healthy, warm weather meal. 

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