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Citrus Shrimp and Avocado Salad

Avatar photoby Updated: May 13, 2025

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This simple but totally flavorful shrimp avocado salad makes the perfect meal-prep meal for lunch or dinner thanks to pan-seared citrus-flavored shrimp, creamy avocado, and the crunch of sliced almonds.

A bowl of shrimp and avocado salad with mixed greens

I grew up with a mother who 99% of the time ordered two things when we ate out at finer dining establishments. It was like she didn’t even need to look at the menu, yet she always did and still does.

So when it’s my mom’s turn to answer the usual round of “What are you going to have?” questions because we all want to be 100% sure we’re ordering just the right thing on the menu, my husband and I always share a knowing grin when we hear her reply, “Oh, I think I’ll try the shrimp. Or maybe the scallops.”

My mom. She’s predictable that way. And to prove we share the same DNA, I unapologetically share her menu-choosing tendencies. Man, I LOVE shrimp!

That’s why when I made my friend Robyn’s Pan-Seared Citrus Shrimp I was totally stoked there were leftovers to be had, because that meant that I could repurpose the leftovers into a perfect weekday salad.

Heidi’s Tips for Recipe Success 

  • Use smaller shrimp in this salad to ensure every forkful is packed with protein. Just remember that the smaller the shrimp, the faster they cook. 
  • If you don’t have enough leftover citrus sauce from the batch of shrimp, use quality olive oil and a generous squeeze of fresh lemon or orange to finish off this simple salad. There will be plenty of gusto from the shrimp to carry it through.
  • Consider this avocado shrimp salad a blank canvas for your favorite salad fixings. I kept things light and breezy, but you can load it up with croutons, nuts and seeds, veggies, and more.
Citrus shrimp in a pan

What’s in This Recipe?

The full recipe, with amounts, can be found in the recipe card below.

  • Citrus shrimp — The shrimp serves as the protein source, and the citrus sauce serves as the salad dressing. 
  • Greens — The greens in this shrimp and avocado salad could very well vary on your tastes and what you have available. Spring mix salad greens offer a neutral-flavored bite, arugula lends some peppery flavor, baby spinach leaves are earthy and tender, and romaine lettuce gives a substantial crunch. 
  • Extra virgin olive oil — Use regular olive oil, or buy a bottle of lemon-flavored olive oil for an extra dose of citrus flavor. 
  • Lemon juice — Can be swapped with freshly squeezed orange juice for a different flavor profile. 
  • Avocado — Press the top of the avocado (gently!) with your thumb. If it gives a little, it’s nice and ripe. 
  • Shallot — For a salad as simple as this, a little onion is always a favorite addition of mine. I used minced shallots this time around, but you could always use red onion or even green onion if that’s what you have on hand.
  • Sliced almonds — I typically toast my almond slices to give them a little more oomph in flavor, but I was lazy so I just tossed them on naked. Guess what? They still tasted great.
Halved avocados, seen from above

How to Make Shrimp Avocado Salad

  1. Make the shrimp. The citrus shrimp can be made in under 30 minutes so if you haven’t made it for meal planning, or have leftovers in the fridge, it really doesn’t take much doing to cook up a fresh batch. A quickly-prepared protein is one of the essential parts of composing a salad like this.
  2. Prep the dressing. I had plenty of sauce left over after making the shrimp and because there’s no butter or cream in the sauce, it doesn’t coagulate into a gooey goop, but instead stays rather liquified when refrigerated, making it a perfect solution for creating a salad dressing. I drizzled a bit of olive oil on the greens and then mostly used the dressing I had to finish off my salads.
  3. Toss to combine. Add the avocado, almonds, and shallot to the shrimp and leafy greens and toss to coat everything in the dressing. 

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was DELICIOUS! I admit, I was skeptical because it seemed simple- not a lot of ingredients and nothing premade. The sauce from the citrus shrimp with some avocado oil was a perfect dressing this salad and the citrus shrimp will be in my meal rotation. Soooo yummy. Thank you for both recipes.

~Lisa Forbes, FoodieCrush reader

Avocado shrimp salad in a bowl

What to Serve With This Shrimp Avocado Salad

This shrimp salad could easily be served all on its own because it really does make a meal. But sometimes a little extra something is nice to nibble or slurp alongside. 

If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating on this recipe below and leave a comment, take a photo and tag me on Instagram with #foodiecrusheats.



Citrus Shrimp and Avocado Salad from foodiecrush.com on foodiecrush.com
4.41 from 525 votes

Citrus Shrimp and Avocado Salad Recipe

Juicy citrus shrimp, leafy greens, and creamy avocado combine to make the perfect meal prep salad that can be enjoyed for lunch or dinner. Feel free to make this recipe your own by adding your favorite salad fixings, or trust the process by keeping it super simple like I did.
Print
Course Salad
Cuisine American
Keyword shrimp avocado salad, shrimp salad
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Servings 4 salads
Calories 374kcal

Ingredients 

  • 1 pound medium Pan-Seared Citrus Shrimp , (I use 31/40 shrimp)
  • 8 cups greens , (such as arugula, spinach, lettuce, or spring mix)
  • Extra virgin olive oil (I prefer a fruity or lemon-flavored oil)
  • Juice of ½ lemon or ½ orange
  • 1 avocado , sliced or diced
  • 1 shallot , minced
  • 4 ounces sliced almonds , toasted
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

  • Prepare the recipe for the Pan-Seared Citrus Shrimp, or gently warm the leftover shrimp. Or, if you prefer, serve the shrimp chilled.
  • Toss the shrimp with the salad greens in a large bowl.
  • Lightly drizzle with olive oil, and if desired, some of the sauce remaining from the shrimp with a generous squeeze of citrus, and toss lightly to coat.
  • Add the avocado, shallots and sliced almonds and then season with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper and serve.

Notes

Use some of the citrus sauce from the shrimp as a double duty dressing.
Or, if you don’t have enough sauce for the dressing, simply use a good extra virgin olive oil (I like the lemon flavored varieties) with an additional squeeze of citrus.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 374kcal | Carbohydrates: 14g | Protein: 31g | Fat: 23g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 286mg | Sodium: 906mg | Potassium: 693mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 982IU | Vitamin C: 29mg | Calcium: 256mg | Iron: 4mg
Citrus Shrimp and Avocado Salad in a bowl

More Salad Recipes with Shrimp

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Heidi of FoodieCrush

Hi! I’m Heidi and I cook real good, real food I hope you’ll love to make, too.

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Comments

    4.41 from 525 votes (502 ratings without comment)

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    Recipe Rating




  3. Anne

    5 stars
    Oh my goodness, this was wonderful and so easy to make. My husband loved it. I can’t wait to try it with linguini. Thank you for sharing.

    Reply

  6. Lilli Olvera

    5 stars
    I am not a saad person, I only eat them a few times a year. But I love shrimp so this recipe intrigued me. I’m so glad I tried it, this salad was amazing!!! Wow I love it and will make it often! Thank you for the recipe!

    Reply

    • Hayley

      We’re so glad you gave it a try, Lilli! We appreciate you taking the time to rate and review the recipe and we’re glad it’s a keeper for you. :)

      Reply

    • Hayley

      Awesome, thanks Angela! And kosher salt is a type of salt that contains sodium chloride but not iodine. Just note that not all kosher salts are the same. For example, if using Morton’s brand, it’s a lot more concentrated, so you’d actually want to cut the salt amount in half. We like using Diamond Crystal brand because we like the size and consistency of the salt crystal. Hope this helps!

      Reply

      • Angela Marian Silverwood

        Hello again, Heidi, I am not aware of the Morton or Diamond Crystal brands because, I take it, they are American brands, right? I am from New Zealand. I have table salt (fine) and Sea Salt (crystals) in the pantry. Can you tell me from this which is which?

        Reply

        • Avatar photoHeidi

          Hello Angela from NZ! Yes, both are American brands. Look for Kosher salt in your area. If you can’t find that, sea salt would be closer than the fine table salt. If using table salt, add less since the crystals are finer and make food a lot saltier.

          Reply

  8. RICHARD

    Hi Heidi,
    Your recipe ingredients show “juice of 1/2 lemon or 1/2 orange”, but nowhere in the instructions does it specifically show when to add this juice. Could you clarify please. Thank you

    Reply

    • Hayley

      Hi there Richard—it’s in step 3: Lightly drizzle with olive oil, and if desired, some of the sauce remaining from the shrimp with a generous squeeze of citrus, and toss lightly to coat.

      We hope you enjoy!

      Reply

  11. Lisa Forbes

    5 stars
    This was DELICIOUS! I admit, I was skeptical because it seemed simple- not a lot of ingredients and nothing premade. The sauce from the citrus shrimp with some avocado oil was a perfect dressing this salad and the citrus shrimp will be in my meal rotation. Soooo yummy. Thank you for both recipes

    Reply

    • Hayley

      You certainly can! We like leaving the tails because the impart more flavor, but that’s totally optional. Hope you enjoy the recipe!

      Reply

  14. Sarah

    5 stars
    I used this recipe as the basis to cook some shrimp in a hurry as well as get an idea of what to put in it to make a salad. I used far less orange juice since I didn’t have time to cook it down. I used the extra sauce as a salad dressing and the flavors were so delicious! I’m definitely saving this recipe and making it again. It took less than 10 minutes to have my lunch ready to go! Thank you so much for sharing.

    Reply

  15. Nina

    HI Heidi!
    recipe looks great! I am having a dinner party and plan on making this along with steaks and chicken. do you think this recipe could be tossed with orzo to incorporate a starch into the dinner menu?
    Thank you!

    Reply

  17. Christi

    5 stars
    I made this salad woth a couple variations…Added fresh garlic and pepper while making the citrus shrimp. I didnt have any shallots on hand so I used thin sliced red onions in place of that. Skipped the nuts just as our preference. Perfectly ripe avacado was perfect in this dish as was arugula lettuce. Very refreshing and light meal that was full of flavor!

    Reply

  18. Carlee

    5 stars
    This recipe was absolutely delicious! My husband said it was better than anything we could have gotten at a restaurant. Will definitely make this again.

    Reply

  19. Wilson

    I get so frustrated when I cook. Sweat begins dripping from my brow and the panic sets in.
    I literally just made this for my wife and it was the easiest cooking I’ve ever done; and it tastes great. Everyone loved it! And the shrimp recipe is not hard to find. It’s right there; one click away. Thank you for this easy, delicious recipe. Very refreshing

    Reply

  22. Jessica

    I’m annoyed that you felt the need to be critical and went out of your way to leave a comment about how you won’t be “researching” the citrus shrimp recipe. Then had the nerve to misspell “research!”Girl, how are you going to be loud AND wrong?! If you can’t read, just say that… LOL

    Reply

  24. Tiana

    5 stars
    This was delicious and easy to make. I love the citrus shrimp and will be making this recipe more often. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply

  26. Wenjem

    5 stars
    We love this salad. I am marinating the shrimp in the dressing for about an hour to see if it gives it even more yummy flavor. We live in Florida, and a cold salad like this for dinner is perfect! Thanks for a great recipe!

    Reply

  30. Jessica

    5 stars
    Hey! Thanks so much for sharing such an amazing recipe! I have made it twice in less than a week. I just made it for my mother-in-law who loves it also. I love when healthy food also tastes good. I don’t know if anyone still does whole 30’s, but it’s totally whole 30 compliant. I always feel like I am being healthier when my meals are whole 30 compliant. Thanks again!

    Reply

  31. Renee Nigor

    Can you just use this sauce as a dressing and add cooked shrimp to the salad without having to make all the ingredients hot first?

    Reply

  34. Janicca Covington

    5 stars
    This was absolutely delicious and soooo easy to make! I was hoping to get he same a tad more creamy, but didn’t want to overlook the shrimp. But regardless of that, my family loved it! And that includes a 5 year old! Will definitely be in my rotation now.

    Reply

  36. Joan

    5 stars
    The recipe was amazing; served it at a brunch with girlfriends and it was a hit. However it’s unfortunate that it appears you’ve been hacked, and have so many unrelated or downright ridiculous comments here. Some people just don’t have half a brain.

    Reply

  38. Aureydis

    This is so far the best salad I have ever had!!! The shrimp, avocado and the greens plus the juice of the limes (i forgot the oranges ) OMG I think I will eat it all summer. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! Forever grateful ❤️

    Reply

  40. Shannon

    This was so good! The only thing I changed was that I marinated the shrimp in the mixture overnight before cooking it. The flavor came out perfect!

    Reply

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