Love big main course salads? Then you'll love he shrimp louie salad. It's a classic salad from California with crisp Romaine leaves, cucumbers, tomatoes, avocado, and hard boiled eggs with a terrific creamy dressing. It's a great entree salad for lunch or dinner and one salad you'll be eating all summer long. Gather your ingredients the day before, hard boil a few eggs, make the dressing and you’re practically ready. Cook shrimp or use already cooked shrimp to make it easy.
She taught me to scramble eggs, make perfect white sauce, and chicken soup. How I miss being in the kitchen with my mom. In her memory, I recreated her favorite shrimp louie salad for Mother’s Day.
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Why You'll Like This Recipe
- A shrimp louie salad is a terrific entree salad for a high protein lunch or dinner.
- Components are easily made ahead and either cooked or purchased.
- The dressing works for more than just this salad.
Recipe Ingredients
Often done with pricey Dungeness crab, bay shrimp is an economical option for this salad. Cooked bay shrimp are available at most seafood counters and markets. They also come cooked and frozen, ready to go by quick thawing under cold water. If you can't find bay shrimp, use small cooked and shelled shrimp.
Shrimp Louie Salad
- Lettuce: Hearts of romaine lettuce or romaine are what to buy.
- Shrimp: Already cooked bay shrimp are both tasty and economical. Find that at many seafood counters or frozen, or buy the smallest cooked shrimp that you can.
- Eggs: Buy fresh raw eggs and hard boil them. For perfect easy peel hardboiled eggs follow these directions.
- Tomatoes: Buy either sweet grape tomatoes or Roma tomatoes.
- Avocado: Optional but a terrific addition to a shrimp louie salad.
- Cucumber: Use either an English cucumber or Persian cucumbers.
- Asparagus: Another optional but delicious addition.
- Lemon: Serve wedges with the salad for a fresh zing of flavor.
Louie Salad Dressing
- Mayonnaise: Use a light, clean flavored mayonnaise. This is my favorite mayo.
- Ketchup: Read labels and watch the unhealthy ingredients. Look for unsweetened ketchup.
- Celery: For a little crunch and texture. Optional.
- Garlic: Either a fresh garlic clove or garlic paste in a tube.
- Lemon: You need lemon juice to bring the acid and freshness.
- Hot sauce: Your favorite hot sauce, try Frank's original, Sriracha or Tabasco. Horseradish provides a nice kick too. If you like the heat, use a little of both.
- Milk: To thin the louie dressing if needed.
- Onion: Use either chives or scallions (traditional).
Recipe Instructions
Step 1: Start by making the dressing. Add all of the ingredients to a small bowl and whisk until smooth. If you are making quantity (alway good to have leftover dressing), use a blender.
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This dressing is so good that while I was shooting the photo I couldn’t stop dipping cucumber slices in it and eating them, so it works as a good dip for raw veggies too.
Step 2: Start by hard boiling the eggs. Here are my directions for easy peel eggs. You can make them 2-3 days ahead of time and refrigerated. When eggs are done and ice cold, peel.
Step 3: While eggs are hard boiling, get the lettuce leaves, tomatoes, cucumbers, and asparagus (if using) ready. Slice the avocado right before serving.
Step 4: When all ingredients are ready, assemble the shrimp louie salad, add the shrimp, and serve dressing on the side.
Serving Suggestions
Shrimp louie salad is a meal unto itself. If you'd like, serve with a crusty roll, garlic toast, crackers, or crostini. The classic San Francisco thing would be a slice of real California sourdough bread. If course, there is always dessert!
Recipe FAQs
For a shrimp louie salad, most seafood counters sell pre-cooked shrimp, from tiny bay shrimp (perfect for a shrimp louie salad) to larger sizes to make it easy for you. To cook your own, buy whatever size shrimp you prefer and either broil, poach, or even grill the shrimp. Buy cleaned and shelled shrimp or clean and peel them yourself to save money.
More Terrific Fresh Salad Recipes
Salads are so wonderful, variable, and flavor-filled. There are so many ways to make them!
⭐️Did you Make This Recipe?
If you make this shrimp louie salad, please add your comment. I appreciate your feedback and enjoy hearing from you. If you loved it, please give it a 5-star rating! They really help other readers.
📖 Recipe
California Louie Shrimp Salad
Ingredients
Louis Dressing
- 1 cup Vegenaise or your favorite mayonnaise
- 3-4 tablespoons ketchup
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped celery
- 1 large garlic clove finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1-2 teaspoons hot sauce, Sriracha or Tabasco horseradish works too
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons milk of choice to thin the dressing if desired
Salad
- 3 hearts of romaine lettuce
- 1 pound cooked small shrimp
- 4 hard boiled eggs
- 16 sweet grape tomatoes or 4 Roma tomatoes quartered
- 1 large avocado quartered and sliced
- 3-4 Persian cucumbers or 1 English cucumber sliced thin
- 12 spears of asparagus optional, but nice
- 1 lemon cut into wedges
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped chives
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Instructions
- Make the dressing a day ahead, cover and refrigerate. Hard boil eggs, cool, peel and refrigerate.
- Wash romaine leaves and wrap loosely in paper towels placed in a zip bag to remain crisp. For asparagus spears, snap off the ends. Drop into boiling salted water and cook for 2 minutes depending on their thickness, or until crisp but tender when pierced with a sharp paring knife. Chill in a bowl of ice water immediately to stop the cooking process. Drain and refrigerate.
- The day of serving, chop romaine leaves across for the salad base. Save a few leaf tops for a nice presentation if desired. Place romaine on a plate or in a shallow bowl. Top the greens with sliced avocado, tomatoes, egg quarters, and asparagus spears. Toss the shrimp with a little dressing. Place on top of the salad. Serve extra dressing on the side. If you want to thin the dressing for pouring, use a little milk.
Leslie says
This is a lovely recipe! I cannot get enough of it. I am sad that asparagus is not in season Linder so I can continue to enjoy this deliciousness!
Richard Vocke says
I was born and raised in San Francisco and this is by FAR the best Louie dressing I have ever had. I made it exactly as printed and it was amazing. Will become a regular in our dining rotation.
Sally Cameron says
Wow Richard!Thanks for making my day! So glad you're enjoying it!
Tom Devine says
Excellent recipe, easy to make and great to eat. Thanks!
Your mom would be proud of you!
Sally Cameron says
Thanks Tom!
BARBARA MEDLIN says
I am a transplant from the S.F. bay area and LOVED Crab Louie's!! I recently was given some canned Crab and made some Louie Dressing. Can I freeze it?
Sally Cameron says
Hi Barbara, i would say not. This is one thing best made and enjoyed fresh. Such a good salad with either crab or shrimp!
Rachel says
Surprising my hardworking beautiful daughter with this dish tomorrow on her day off. thankyou lord.
Sally Cameron says
How sweet of you Rachel! Hope you have a wonderful day together tomorrow.
Madonna says
My nephew orders this anytime we can find it on a menu. Guess I will have to make it for him. Sriracha is a nice touch. Yum.
Jamie says
I don't even know where to start with this lovely post. What a beautiful thought to make this dish your mom loved...and what a fantastic recipe. As a shrimp lover, this dressing is amazing! I wish I lived close enough to my mom to be able to share a dish like this with her.