Seafood Pasta Pasta Salad is a lavish blend of lump crab and juicy shrimp tossed with tender pasta, crunchy celery, briny capers, fresh dill and a creamy, tangy salad dressing. It just may just be the perfect summer dish! Easy enough to enjoy on a weeknight or take to a picnic, but worthy of a dinner party or date night.
Made in about 20 minutes, this seafood salad recipe is ideal for dressing up short pastas, like small or medium shell pasta, bow tie pasta (farfalle), or elbow macaroni. Serve as a summer side dish alongside anything your grilling, or as the main attraction for a satisfying lunch or dinner.
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Ingredients You Need to Make this Seafood Pasta Salad Recipe
- Shrimp: I recommend using medium shrimp or large shrimp cut in half crosswise.
- Crab: Real lump crab meat makes this salad special. I don't recommend imitation crabmeat - see my Crab Salad post to learn more about it.
- Pasta: Any short pasta will do, but I'm partial to shell pasta for this salad
- Lemons: One for seasoning the shrimp cooking water and ½ of another for the dressing. You may also want wedges for serving.
- Kosher Salt: For seasoning the shrimp cooking water.
- Mayonnaise: Use your favorite brand or make your homemade Avocado Oil Mayonnaise in just a few minutes with an immersion blender.
- Dijon Mustard: A smooth, strong version is best.
- Capers: Small, non-pareil capers are ideal.
- Dill: It's worth it to use fresh dill (not dried) for this salad. Use leftover sprigs for garnish.
- Shallot: Look for a firm shallot with tight, shiny skin.
- Celery: Look for firm, bright green celery ribs.
- Freshly Ground Black Pepper
7 Mistakes to Avoid When Making Pasta Salad.
- Overcooking the Pasta: Cook the pasta until al dente (firm to the bite) before adding it to the pasta salad. Overcooked pasta is soft and likely to fall apart, making it difficult to mix with other ingredients which can ruin the texture of the salad.
- Not Cooling the Pasta: Drain your perfectly cooked pasta, then rinse with cold water until cool. Be sure to drain well before adding the dressing so it's sure to adhere to the noodles.
- Using the Wrong Amount of Dressing: The pasta and seafood should be lightly coated with dressing, not swimming in it. Too much dressing will make the pasta salad goopy and overpower the other flavors. Start with a small amount and add more if needed.
- Incorrect Seasoning (too much or too little): Some pasta salads are too salty, while some lack flavor simply because they are under-seasoned. Season the dressing to taste, keeping in mind that the seafood itself may be salty.
- Not Pre-Cooking Seafood: Be sure that your shrimp and crab are properly cooked and cooled before adding to the salad.
- Using the Wrong Pasta Shape: Medium shell pasta is ideal for this pasta salad, but many short pasta shapes would work well, like gemelli pasta or rotini. Long pastas aren't a good option for pasta salad.
- Opting for Fresh Pasta instead of Dried: Though fresh pasta is delicious, it's fragile and more likely to fall apart in a pasta salad - opt for dried pasta instead.
Recipe Options
- For extra seasoning in the shrimp cooking water, use 1 tablespoon Old Bay Seasoning (find in the spice section of your local grocery store) instead of kosher salt.
- Add finely chopped green onions instead of or in addition to shallots to add gentle heat and oniony flavor. And/or add finely chopped red bell pepper for added sweetness and crunch.
- Cooking the shrimp until just pink in well seasoned water is key to enhancing the shrimp's flavor and texture in this salad. For convenience, you can buy pre-cooked shrimp, but it's worth the effort to cook it fresh if you have time.
- Feel free to adjust the amount of mayonnaise to your taste or switch things up by replacing all or part of it with whole milk plain yogurt or sour cream.
Serving Tips
This Seafood Pasta Salad makes a delightful side dish for any summer gathering, BBQ or potluck. It's also a great main course dish when served with crusty bread and a green salad. For an elegant presentation, spoon the pasta salad into individual bowls and garnish with fresh dill.
More Delicious Pasta and Seafood Salads
- Crab Salad (The ultimate seafood salad made with real lump crab!)
- Shrimp Salad (A shrimp lovers salad with tender, flavorful shrimp tossed in a creamy dressing.)
- Italian Pasta Salad (Another of my favorite pasta salads, loaded with all of the Italian Salad ingredients you love.)
How to Make Seafood Pasta Salad
Cook pasta until al dente; drain and rinse with cold water. Set aside.
Bring 2 quarts water, lemon wedges and kosher salt to boil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add shrimp and cover; remove from heat and let stand 3 minutes, or until just cooked through. Transfer with slotted spoon to ice bath. When cool, transfer shrimp to colander and pat dry with paper towel.
In a small bowl, whisk together dressing ingredients: mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, capers, dill, shallot, and fresh lemon juice from ½ lemon.
Add pasta, shrimp, lump crab, and celery to large salad bowl. Spoon dressing over and gently toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Seafood Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 16 ounces medium shell pasta or other short pasta
- 1 ½ lemons divided
- 1 pound medium shrimp peeled and deveined
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- ⅔ cup mayonnaise or ⅓ cup mayonnaise and ⅓ cup plain yogurt or sour cream
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon capers coarsely chopped
- ¼ cup finely chopped fresh dill plus more for garnish, optional
- 1 medium shallot minced
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 8 ounces lump crab meat (recipe note #2)
- 3 ribs celery diced small
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain; rinse with cold water and drain, shaking to remove as much water as possible. Set aside.
- Meanwhile, cut one lemon into wedges. (Reserve remaining half lemon for dressing.)
- Prepare ice bath for shrimp.
- Bring 2 quarts water, lemon wedges and kosher salt to boil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add shrimp and cover; remove from heat and let stand 3 minutes, until just cooked through. Transfer with slotted spoon to ice bath.
- When shrimp are cool, lift out of ice bath with slotted spoon. Pat dry and add to large bowl.
- To a separate bowl add mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, capers, dill, and shallot. Squeeze remaining lemon half over (about 1 tablespoon of fresh juice). Whisk until well combined. Season to taste with pepper.
- Add pasta, lump crab, and celery to shrimp in salad bowl. Spoon mayonnaise mixture over and gently toss to coat evenly. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Garnish with fresh dill if desired before serving.
Notes
- Note that you'll need 1 ½ lemons for this recipe - one for the shrimp boiling water and another ½ for the dressing.
- If you want to skip the crab, add an additional ½ pound of shrimp to the salad.
- You can make and refrigerate this salad several hours ahead of serving.
I absolutely LOVE this recipe! Cannot wait to make it.
You had me at pasta salad! It's pasta salad season, and the flavors here are definitely a twist on our normal go-to's. I love that you use both shrimp and crab...and all of that fresh dill has my mouth watering!
Thanks, David! I hope you'll give this salad a try!
This recipe is delicious! I couldn’t find any fresh dill so I had to opt for fresh parsley. Other than that I followed the recipe to a T. Thank you for sharing ❤️
My pleasure, Gloria! So glad you enjoyed this!
love love love this. Seriously. And I now know where I can find fairly fresh crab meat, so I'm excited!
I hope you'll love it, Mimi!
Marissa, this looks wonderful. Hearty and packed with flavor, but somehow it's still light. Picnic or dinner party, I'm in. Just pinned to my Shellfish board for safe keeping. 😉 ~Valentina
aww thank you so much, Valentina!
As the weather starts to warm up here in Australia, this is exactly the kind of food I crave. What a delicious pasta salad! The flavours are superb.
Thank you, Alex! I hope you'll love it.
The fresh dill is the perfect compliment to this salad! It's pasta salad, elevated. Looks delicious my friend!!
Love fresh dill with seafood! Thanks so much, Katherine!
I love both pasta and seafood, in all possible ways, and a seafood pasta salads sounds like a great option! I often use seafood in my pasta salads, but I've never added crab meat. This definitely elevates pasta salad to a totally new level; so cozy yet elegant. Delicious!
Thanks so much, Ben! I think you'd love this one.
I have eaten my weight in seafood salads this summer; however, none of them looked as delicious as this pasta one!!!! Obviously this recipe is getting made PRONTO!!! I can't wait- it looks just perfect!! Pinned!
I love to hear that, Cheyanne! Thank you!
This is the kinda dish I love! I'm pretty sure I could have for dinner (or lunch) every single day and never tire of it. Looks creamy, hearty and simply scrumptious, my friend 🙂 Happy weekend ahead!!
Thank you, Dawn! Happy Weekend!
Oh, my hubby will love this! So appealing on every front!! 🙂
Wonderful! Thanks, Annie!
Now this is a fun pasta salad! I love finding new twists on pasta salad, and I have to admit that I've never had a seafood pasta salad. The shrimp + crab combination here? Yup, this needs to happen...and soon!
I'm excited for you to try this, David! It's such a great pasta salad for seafood lovers.
This pasta salad has my name written all over it Marissa. I'm always up for anything seafood. Can't wait to give your recipe a try!
Yay! Thank you, Mary Ann!
That creamy, tangy sauce sounds really wonderful, esp. paired with those succulent jumbo prawns and delicate crab meat...this makes a fabulous weeknight meal that everyone will enjoy tremendously!
Thanks, Angie!