Grilled Shrimp Salad

Grilled shrimp salad with quinoa, broccoli and roasted asparagus! Prepare everything ahead of time and throw it into a bowl for a quick and easy lunch or dinner.

Busy summer weeknights don’t have to mean a quick stop at the drive-thru. With a bit of meal prep, this shrimp salad – with marinated and grilled shrimp, hearty quinoa, blanched broccoli and roasted asparagus – will be on your table in no time!  It’s a healthy, protein-packed, flavorful meal that will fill you up without taking a ton of time to prep.

Why You’ll Love This Salad

• It’s a perfect meal-sized salad that is filling enough to be served for dinner, but also great for lunchtime.
• This recipe is loaded with flavor and is packed full of protein thanks to shrimp and the quinoa.
• You can easily prep parts of this salad ahead of time for quick assembly.

Ingredients Needed

• grilled shrimp – the main protein in this salad. The shrimp is marinated and grilled for 2-3 minutes per side for an easy addition to this salad.
• blanched broccoli – blanching keeps some of the crunch, but softens the broccoli a bit, making it easier to digest. Plus it brightens the color and eye appeal!
• roasted asparagus – roasting the asparagus caramelizes it a bit, elevating the flavor and texture, and making it nice and crisp, especially the tips. If you have an air fryer this air fryer asparagus is a great option as well.
• shredded red cabbage – provides extra crunch and color.
• sliced cucumber – for fresh flavor and more crunch.
• grape tomatoes – bite-sized pieces of tomato add color throughout the salad.
• sliced avocado – for a creamy texture and added healthy fats.
• quinoa – add extra protein, flavor and healthy carbohydrates with cooked and chilled quinoa! Check out my full post on how to cook quinoa. Instead of quinoa, you can totally swap in another grain like farro or rice.
• spring mix – the base of this salad! It’s a combo of mild, baby greens that pair well with the rest of the ingredients, but you can swap for any leafy green you have on hand if needed.
• lemon vinaigrette dressing – the perfect light and fresh dressing for this salad. It combines apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, olive oil, water, dijon mustard, maple syrup, dried oregano, garlic, salt and pepper.

How to Make Grilled Shrimp Salad

Prep your quinoa: I like to make my quinoa a day in advance, let it cool and chill it in the fridge overnight and then use it for the salad the next day. Prepping it in advance helps bring this salad together even quicker and so the quinoa doesn’t heat up the other salad ingredients. Of course it’s fine to cook it the same day and just let it cool a bit before using. I do this all the time when I’m in a rush! 

Prep your veggies: Shred cabbage, dice tomatoes and slice cucumber and avocado.

Blanch your broccoli: Cook in a pot of boiling water for 1 to 2 minutes, just enough time for it to tenderize and turn bright green. Scoop out and immediately place in a bowl of ice water for about 30 seconds to stop the cooking. Drain and set aside.

Roast your asparagus: Follow this recipe for the roasted asparagus. Set aside.

Grill your shrimp: Follow this recipe for the grilled shrimp.

Assemble your salad: To a base of spring mix, layer on shrimp, broccoli, asparagus, cabbage, cucumber, tomato, avocado and quinoa. Drizzle with dressing and enjoy! Add

Customize Your Salad

The beauty of this grilled shrimp recipe is that you can easily tweak it by using your favorite grains, vegetables and protein. I’m sure grilled salmon or tofu would work great instead of the shrimp. Here are some ideas for switching things up:

• Use a different grain: Instead of quinoa, swap in another grain like farro, rice or cauliflower rice.
• Use raw veggies: Blanching and roasting take little to no time, but you can totally use raw broccoli and raw asparagus for this recipe.
• Use a different protein: I love the grilled shrimp in this salad, but you can totally swap it for another protein. This grilled tofu or grilled BBQ tempeh are both great options for a vegan version. For a non-vegan version this air fryer chicken breast or balsamic glazed salmon would both be delicious options instead of the shrimp.
• Swap your veggies: Feel free to use whatever vegetables you have on hand. I like to add veggies that provide color and crunch but aside from that have at it! Corn, bell peppers, red onion and zucchini would all be great options.
• Use a different green: Feel free to swap the spring mix with your favorite green. Spinach or romaine lettuce would be my second choice.
• Use a different dressing: I love the simple lemon dressing, but you can totally switch it up! This salad would also be delicious with my apple cider vinaigrette dressing, white balsamic vinaigrette dressing, balsamic vinaigrette or just a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil

Prepping Grilled Shrimp Salad Ahead of Time

This salad is super simple to throw together, and prepping it in advance helps it come together so quickly! Here’s what I recommend to do the day before:

1. Chop cabbage, dice tomatoes and slice cucumber. Store in an airtight container in fridge.
2. Cook your quinoa and store in a container in fridge.
3. Whisk together dressing and store in a mason jar or separate container in the fridge.
4. Roast asparagus. Cool and store in fridge.
5. Blanch broccoli. Although it only takes minutes, this could still be done in advance. Store in fridge in an airtight container.
6. Grill shrimp and once cooled store in a separate container.
7. When you’re ready to serve – place spring mix in two bowls, add all prepared ingredients evenly between bowls, slice and add avocado and drizzle with dressing.

More Shrimp Recipes to Try

• Easy Coconut Shrimp Curry
• Lemon Pepper Shrimp Skewers
• Shrimp Salad
• Easy Shrimp Cocktail
• Cauliflower Grits with Blackened Shrimp
• Almond Pesto Spaghetti Squash with Shrimp
• Caesar Salad with Shrimp
• Shrimp Scampi Sheet Pan Meal

Popular Salad Recipes

• Kale Caesar Salad
• Jennifer Aniston Salad
• Mediterranean Salmon Salad
• Superfood Salmon Salad
• Blackened Chicken Cobb Salad
• Cheeseburger Salad
• Strawberry Kale Salad

Be sure to check out all of the shrimp recipes as well as the full collection of salad recipes here on EBF!