Move over burgers and hotdogs, make room on the grill for a grilled Mexican shrimp salad to lighten up your summer meals without sacrificing flavor.
It’s a great way to fully embrace the outdoors this summer that’s guaranteed to be a crowd pleaser, will be ready in less than 30 minutes and is loaded with mega-flavorful ingredients.
This grilled salad recipe is also really versatile. You can use whatever your favorite vegetables and proteins are to keep re-creating it over and over with a different spin on it. Plus you can grill as many or as little of the ingredients as you want for another way to add a twist!
The first thing to do is make the marinade/dressing. I love using one mixture for both to save on time and dishes.
While the shrimp marinates, you can start getting together your veggies and toppings.
If you’ll be grilling many vegetables, start with the food that will take the longest. In this case that’s the red onion, then bell pepper, corn, romaine, tomatoes, then the shrimp.
When the shrimp are done marinating, it’s time to skewer and grill them. I just bought these fancy skewers for the TV segment, and they’re AWESOME! It makes it simple to flip every item on the skewer at the same time and evenly.
As things finish cooking, remove them from the grill, and assemble your salad.
Grilled Mexican Shrimp Salad Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pound of shrimp (Argentine Shrimp are my fav!), peeled and deveined
- 2-3 heads of romaine lettuce, slice in half lengthwise
- 1-2 ears of corn on the corn, shucked, cut off the cob (OR see instructions below)
- 1 orange bell pepper, chopped (OR see instructions below)
- 14 cherry tomatoes, chopped (OR see instructions below)
- ¼ red onion, diced (OR see instructions below)
- Topping Ideas: avocado, tortilla strips, shredded cheese, black beans, cilantro, salsa
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- Marinade & Dressing
- 2 limes, juiced
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- ¼ cup honey
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- ¼ - ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
Instructions
· Preheat grill and add ingredients for marinade into a medium mixing bowl and whisk. Pour HALF in smaller bowl and set aside to use for dressing. Add shrimp to bowl with remaining half to marinate for 15-30 minutes.
· Grill as many or as little of the ingredients as you want! Start with the food that will take the longest. Preheat grill for medium heat and lightly oil the grate.
· If grilling the red onion, slice it into 1/3” thick rounds and brush the slices with oil, add salt and pepper. Grill about 6 minutes per side. Chop when removed from heat.
· If grilling the bell pepper, slice into quarters and remove seeds. Place on grill skin side down and flip after about 5-6 minutes (should be blistered and a bit browned). Cook additional 3 minutes. Chop when removed from heat.
· If grilling the corn, sprinkle with salt and pepper and place on grill, turning every few minutes once it starts to brown, until all sides have some color on them (will take about 6-8 minutes). Cut off cob when removed from heat.
· If grilling romaine, drizzle olive oil over romaine lettuce and season with sea salt & pepper. Place lettuce cut side-down on preheated grill. Cook until lettuce is slightly wilted and charred, about 5 minutes. Keep whole for plating or chop when removed from heat.
· If grilling the tomatoes, add them to a metal skewer, drizzle with oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and grill about 2-3 minutes per side. Keep whole or slice in half when removed from heat.
· Grill the shrimp for 2 to 3 minutes per side until they are no longer translucent.
· Assemble your salad! Either keep the romaine halves in tact and divide the other ingredients and toppings up and put on top (as in the photos here) or chop the romaine and combine the ingredients in a more traditional salad-style presentation.
