Shrimp Louie

A filling and satisfying salad topped with seafood, eggs, avocado, and a delicious homemade dressing, Shrimp Louie makes a wonderful lunch or a light dinner.

It’s super flavorful, packed with protein, and so, so tasty!

What is Shrimp Louie Salad?

Shrimp Louie is a variation of the also delicious Crab Louie, which is a cold seafood salad thought to have originated in San Franciso, California sometime in the early 1900s.

While Shrimp Louie and Crab Louie can still sometimes be found on west coast restaurant menus, this old-fashioned salad is a rarity in other areas.

Luckily, it’s easy to make this wonderful salad, topped with sauteed shrimp, hard-boiled eggs, capers, and a sweet and savory homemade Louie dressing.

If you need more filling shrimp salad recipes, make sure to try my Shrimp Cobb Salad and Shrimp Caesar Salad as well!

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

1. A Satisfying Salad – Adding protein to fresh veggies is the best way to turn a salad into a full and filling meal. Shrimp Louie includes shrimp, and eggs, plus avocado for those healthy fats that will make you feel happy and full.
2. A Classic Recipe – There are thousands of ways to make a salad, but sometimes it’s best to stick with what has worked for years and years. Shrimp Louie, Nicoise Salad, and the classic Waldorf Salad are all great examples of this.
3. Versatile Recipe – Feel free to add or replace ingredients in this salad based on what you and your family enjoy. Substitutions are easy and welcome!

Key Ingredients for Shrimp Louie

Here’s what you need to make this amazing shrimp salad recipe:

• Shrimp: You can use any size of shrimp to make this salad. I’m using 31-40 count or large shrimp. Medium or Jumbo shrimp work just as well. Buy uncooked shrimp, and be sure that they are peeled and deveined before you start.
• Eggs: Hard boil 4 eggs for this salad. I suggest steaming the eggs so that they are super easy to peel.
• Cajun Seasoning: To make the shrimp flavorful and a bit spicy. If you prefer a less spicy salad, use just smoked paprika instead.
• Salad Veggies: Romaine lettuce, sweet cherry tomatoes, and 1 ripe avocado.
• Capers: The acidity of these little pickled buds goes so well with seafood.
• Louie Salad Dressing: This dressing is similar to Thousand Island, with a base of mayonnaise and ketchup.

Complete list of ingredients and amounts can be found in the recipe card below.

How To Make Shrimp Louie Salad

To Make the Louie Dressing

1. In a mixing bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, ketchup, sour cream, lemon juice, white vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, honey, smoked paprika, salt, and pepper.
2. Mix well, then cover and refrigerate for at least an hour for the flavors to develop and meld.

To Cook the Shrimp

1. Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the shrimp to the skillet, season with salt, pepper, and Cajun seasoning, and sauté.
2. Cook the shrimp for 3-5 minutes, or until the shrimp turns pink and is cooked through, but avoid overcooking it. Remove the shrimp to a bowl and set aside.

To Assemble the Salad

1. Using a large salad bowl or a platter, lay out the chopped romaine lettuce.
2. Top the lettuce with halved cherry tomatoes, avocado slices, and hard-boiled eggs.
3. Finally, add the cooked shrimp. Sprinkle with capers, and drizzle the chilled Louie dressing on top.

Recipe Tips

• Choose your spice level: I used Slap Ya Mamma cajun seasoning, and it’s quite spicy! Other cajun seasonings may be less spicy, or skip the seasoning and just use a bit of smoked paprika for no heat at all.
• Be careful not to overcook the shrimp. Remove them from the skillet as soon as they are done, otherwise, they will continue to cook while you finish assembling the salad.
• Chill the dressing. Try to plan ahead so that the dressing has at least an hour to chill in the fridge. The flavors are so much better this way!
• If you need a shortcut, serve shrimp louie salad with your favorite bottled thousand island dressing. Although, the homemade dressing is so much more delicious!
• Use leftover Louie dressing as a dipping sauce for shrimp, crab, or lobster.
• Other ingredients to add to Shrimp Louie include crab meat, blanched asparagus or green beans, olives, red onion, or radishes.
• Instead of shrimp, try this salad with poached chicken or poached salmon!

Storing Tips

It’s best to enjoy this salad right after making it.

If needed, you can prepare the dressing, the eggs, and the veggies up to a day ahead of time.

Before serving, cook the shrimp fresh. I also suggest waiting to slice the avocado until serving so that it doesn’t turn brown.

Serving Suggestions

Shrimp Louie Salad is usually served as the main course and is acceptable as a lunch or light dinner.

You could also serve smaller portions of this salad as a side or appetizer too.

Try Shrimp Louie with a basket of homemade breadsticks on the side, or with your favorite soup.

Recipe FAQs

More Easy Salad Recipes

Big Mac Salad

Chef Salad

Seven Layer Salad

Buffalo Chicken Salad

All Salads →

This classic recipe for Shrimp Louie Salad is so filling and delicious! Serve it for lunch, or enjoy it as a light dinner. Pin the recipe to save it for later too!

Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest!

Recipe

5 from 20 votes

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Shrimp Louie

Prep Time: 15 minutes mins

Cook Time: 5 minutes mins

Chilling Time: 1 hour hr

Total Time: 1 hour hr 20 minutes mins

Author: Diana

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Shrimp Louie is a filling and satisfying salad topped with seafood, eggs, avocado, and a delicious homemade creamy dressing.

6 Servings

Shrimp Louie is a filling and satisfying salad topped with seafood, eggs, avocado, and a delicious homemade creamy dressing.

Ingredients

Louie Dressing:

• ▢ ½ cup (120 ml) mayonnaise
• ▢ 2 tablespoons (30 ml) ketchup
• ▢ ¼ cup (60 ml) sour cream
• ▢ 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• ▢ 1 tablespoon white vinegar or apple cider vinegar if you prefer
• ▢ 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• ▢ 1 tablespoon honey
• ▢ ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
• ▢ ½ teaspoon salt adjust to taste
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

For the Shrimp:

• ▢ 1 tablespoon olive oil (not extra virgin), or avocado oil
• ▢ 1 pound (450 g) raw shrimp (after peeling), peeled and deveined, any size (I used 31-40 per lb)
• ▢ ½ teaspoon Cajun seasoning or smoked paprika
• ▢ Salt and pepper to taste

Salad Assembly:

• ▢ 4 hard-boiled eggs peeled and quartered
• ▢ 1 heart romaine lettuce washed and chopped
• ▢ 1 cup cherry tomatoes halved
• ▢ 1 avocado sliced
• ▢ 2 tablespoons capers

Instructions

For the Louie Dressing:

• In a mixing bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, ketchup, sour cream, lemon juice, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, honey, smoked paprika, salt, and pepper. Mix well.
• Chill the dressing in the fridge for at least an hour. Chilling is strongly recommended to allow the flavors to meld. Taste the dressing, and adjust seasonings to your preference (if needed)

For the Shrimp:

• Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the shrimp to the skillet, season with salt, cajun seasoning (if using), and black pepper and sauté until it turns pink and cooked through, about 3-5 minutes depending on shrimp size. Do not overcook the shrimp. Remove onto a bowl.

Salad Assembly:

• In a large salad bowl, lay out the chopped romaine lettuce.
• Top with sautéed shrimp, cherry tomatoes, avocado slices, and hard-boiled eggs.
• Sprinkle with capers. Serve with the chilled Louie dressing on the side or drizzled on top.

Notes:

• Choose your spice level: I used Slap Ya Mamma cajun seasoning, and it’s quite spicy! Other cajun seasonings may be less spicy, or skip the seasoning and just use a bit of smoked paprika for no heat at all.
• Be careful not to overcook the shrimp. Remove them from the skillet as soon as they are done, otherwise, they will continue to cook while you finish assembling the salad.
• Chill the dressing. Try to plan ahead so that the dressing has at least an hour to chill in the fridge. The flavors are so much better this way!
• If you need a shortcut, serve shrimp louie salad with your favorite bottled thousand island dressing. Although, the homemade dressing is so much more delicious!
• Other ingredients to add to Shrimp Louie include crab meat, blanched asparagus or green beans, olives, red onion, or radishes.
• Instead of shrimp, try this salad with poached chicken or poached salmon.

Nutrition Information

Calories: 349kcal, Carbohydrates: 10g, Protein: 16g, Fat: 27g, Saturated Fat: 5g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 10g, Monounsaturated Fat: 10g, Trans Fat: 0.04g, Cholesterol: 233mg, Sodium: 922mg, Potassium: 396mg, Fiber: 3g, Sugar: 6g, Vitamin A: 761IU, Vitamin C: 11mg, Calcium: 80mg, Iron: 1mg

This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.

© Little Sunny Kitchen