Veggie Shrimp Pasta Salad

Shrimp, fresh veggies, and pasta team up to make a salad that serves as a meal. Stir up this veggie shrimp pasta salad today!

I’m a big fan of pasta salads. With the various types of pasta and the options for dressings and ingredients, you could make a different pasta salad every day. But this is the one for today. It combines fresh vegetables with shrimp, fusilli pasta, a tart dressing, and parmesan cheese. I’m getting hungry thinking about it.

Ingredients

The ingredients shown below are all that you need. I chose fusilli pasta, but penne or bowtie pasta would work too. To make things easy, I buy frozen, cooked shrimp with shells and tails off. Then all I have to do to get the shrimp ready is thaw them out. As always, feel free to substitute veggies. I like this combination but add other things if you like.

Making Veggie Shrimp Pasta Salad

Cook the pasta according to package directions. While it’s cooking, thaw out the shrimp. Slice the yellow squash and chop the other vegetables. Steaming the squash, broccoli, and snow peas warms them up and makes them easier to eat. When the pasta is cooked, drain and rinse it.

Put everything but the parmesan cheese into a big bowl and add the herbed vinaigrette to taste. Stir ingredients and add to serving bowls. Sprinkle parmesan cheese on top and eat!

Serving the Pasta Salad

At the time of this posting, it’s still summer-like weather where I live so this pasta salad with fresh veggies and shrimp is a perfect warm-weather meal. But, whatever the weather, this pasta salad is welcome at dinner, potlucks, and it makes a tasty side dish. It goes well with fresh homemade bread ─ especially sourdough ─ and a salad with field greens. It tastes great cold, so pack the leftovers in your lunchbox.

Make-Ahead Pasta Salad

Cut up the veggies ahead of time and put them in the fridge up to a day before you make the salad. Then all you have to do is steam the squash, broccoli, and snow peas while the pasta is cooking and toss it all together. Read the package instructions on the cooked shrimp to be sure, but you can usually thaw the shrimp out in the fridge overnight. However you do it, this is an easy and colorful meal full of fresh veggies and protein. If you’re not a fan of shrimp, substitute chicken.

Veggie Shrimp Pasta Salad

Shrimp, fresh veggies, and pasta team up to make a salad that serves as a meal or a side dish.

Print Pin Rate

Course: Main dish

Cuisine: American

Keyword: pasta salad, shrimp, veggie shrimp pasta salad

Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes minutes

Servings: 2 bowls

Author: Cook-n-Easy

Ingredients

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Salad Ingredients

• 8 ounces fusilli pasta
• 10 large shrimp cooked with shells and tails off
• 1 cup yellow squash sliced
• 1/2 cup red bell pepper chopped
• 1/2 cup snow peas chopped
• 1/2 cup broccoli chopped
• 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
• Vinaigrette dressing to taste

Herb Vinaigrette Ingredients

• 1/4 C extra virgin olive oil
• 3 T white wine vinegar
• 1 clove garlic minced or put through a garlic press
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• Snipped fresh basil parsley, & dried Mexican oregano
• Ground black pepper and sea salt to taste

Instructions

• Cook the pasta according to package directions.
• Thaw the shrimp according to package directions.
• Slice the yellow squash and chop the other vegetables.
• Steam the squash, broccoli, and snow peas for 4-5 minutes.
• Drain and rinse the pasta.
• Put all of the ingredients except for the parmesan cheese into a large bowl.
• Add herbed vinaigrette to taste.
• Stir ingredients and add to serving bowls.
• Sprinkle parmesan cheese on top and eat!

Notes

• If you’re using raw shrimp, boil it for 3-4 minutes until it’s pink.
• As a main dish, this makes two servings. If you serve it as a side, it makes 3-4 servings.
• You can cut the shrimp into bite sized pieces if you want.