Grilled Shrimp Corn Salad Recipe

Whenever I need to put something on the table quickly, I go for seafood recipes. Lately, I am into cooking and grilling shrimp, thanks to my addictive easy shrimp marinade that takes otherwise boring shrimp to a whole new level.

This Shrimp Corn Salad is a by-product of my shrimp addiction, and it is mixed with grilled sweet corn, butter lettuce, fresh tomatoes, feta cheese, and a simple lime vinaigrette. It is the perfect addition to your collection of summer salads.

Can’t get enough seafood salads? Also, try Salmon Nicoise, Orzo and Shrimp, Seared Ahi Tuna, Chickpea Tuna Salad and Ina Garten’s Roasted Shrimp Salad recipes.

Why I love this recipe:

In addition to being visually impressive with all the colors of the rainbow, this Grilled Shrimp and Corn Salad is:

• Packed with flavor: Made with simple everyday ingredients, it is packed with zesty flavors thanks to the lime vinaigrette and charred corn.
• Can be served as a side dish or a meal by itself: It is the perfect starter or side dish for your next barbecue spread, but it is filling enough to serve as a lighter main dish as well.

Ingredients:

This grilled shrimp and corn salad recipe has four sets of ingredients. 

1. Shrimp & Shrimp Marinade: I used my go-to easy shrimp marinade recipe. It is made with olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, honey, and parsley. In terms of shrimp, I used jumbo shrimp (21-25 count per pound) but extra-large shrimp (26-30 per pound) can also be used for this shrimp salad.

2. Grilled Corn: I grilled my corn because it’s summer and I love those blackened corn kernels. If the weather is too cold to fire up the grill you can use canned, frozen (thawed), or sauteed fresh corn will work just as well.

3. Lime Salad Dressing: You will need olive oil, zest, and juice of a lime, minced fresh garlic, and salt and black pepper.

4. Salad ingredients: You will need grape tomatoes (or cherry tomatoes), butter lettuce, scallions (can be substituted with red onion), and feta cheese. 

How to make Grilled Corn Shrimp Salad:

To be honest, it takes longer to write the recipe than to make it. The steps look long but if you have mise-en-place ready, you can make each component while the other one is getting ready:

Start with the shrimp:

I used my grilled shrimp skewers recipe to use it in this salad. I recommend starting with this as it will take 30 minutes for it to marinade. To do so:

1. Soak the skewers: If using wooden skewers, soak them in water for at least 20 minutes.
2. Make the marinade: Whisk the olive oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, honey, garlic, paprika, red pepper flakes, parsley, salt, and pepper in a large bowl until fully combined.
3. Add shrimp to marinade and toss to coat: Cover with plastic wrap and chill for 15 minutes – just enough time to prep everything else.
4. Thread the shrimp on skewers, inserting at the thickest part of the shrimp. Aim for 5-6 shrimp per skewer. Set aside on a plate.
5. Cook shrimp on the grill: Heat grill to 400-450 degrees F. Grill the shrimp skewers on direct heat for 2-4 minutes, or until it turns pink along the edges. Flip shrimp skewers and cook for another 2 minutes, or until lightly charred.
6. Set aside. Transfer to a plate and wait until the shrimp is cool enough to handle. Remove from skewers and set aside.

Don’t have time to fire up the grill? You can sauté marinated shrimp in a large skillet. Simply place the skillet over medium high heat. When it is sizzling hot, cook shrimp for 2-3 minutes on each side.

Grill The Corn:

You can grill the corn, while the shrimp is marinating to save time. To do so:

• Fold back the husk of each of the ears of corn and tie with kitchen twine, as shown in photos.
• Brush corn kernels with oil and sprinkle with salt.
• Cook corn on the grill over medium high heat until lightly charred on all sides. Brush with oil, turn and check every few minutes. Total grill time should be about 10-12 minutes.
• Transfer the now-grilled corn to a cutting board and let it cool. When cool enough to handle, slice corn kernels from the cobs using a sharp knife and collect in a medium bowl. Set aside.

Weather is too cold to grill? Use canned or frozen (and thawed) corn instead.

Make The Lime Dressing:

It takes less than 3 minutes to make the dressing, simply mix together olive oil, zest of a lime, fresh lime juice, garlic, and salt and black pepper in a small bowl (or a mason jar) and set it aside.

Assemble The Salad:

Once every component is ready, you can assemble the salad. To do so:

1. Place butter lettuce leaves, tomatoes, scallions, corn, and shrimp in a large salad bowl. Top it off with crumbled feta cheese.
2. Drizzle with the dressing and give it a gentle toss.
3. Serve immediately.

Make ahead and storage:

• Make-Ahead: If you want to save on time, I recommend making the shrimp marinade and the lime vinaigrette in advance. And then when you are ready to serve, you can marinate the shrimp while grilling the corn. And while the grilled corn is cooling, you can thread the marinated shrimp on the skewers. I recommend assembling the salad at the last minute as Boston lettuce leaves do not stand well with the acidic ingredients in the salad. You can learn more about why in my Boston Lettuce Salad recipe.
• Storage: You can store the leftovers in an airtight container to enjoy the next day. However, please be aware that the green leaves of the butter lettuce will wilt quite a bit.

Variations & Substitutions:

• Switch up the salad dressing and try my Chili Lime Vinaigrette if you like Mexican/Southwestern Flavors.
• Want to incorprate more veggies into your salad? Try my Grilled Shrimp Kabobs with vegetables recipe. It uses the same marinade and it is packed with bell peppers and mushrooms.
• Use red onions instead of green onions: Both have so much flavor so you can use them interchangeably.
• Make it a pasta salad. Add elbow macaroni as I did in this Mexican Street Corn Pasta Salad. If you prefer orzo, take a look at this delicious Orzo and Roasted Shrimp recipe as another option.
• Add in red bell peppers: Chop up a bell pepper and add it in for more crunch and veggie goodness.
• Make It a Grilled Shrimp Avocado Corn Salad by adding in a cubed ripe avocado
• Switch up the greens: I used butter lettuce here, but a spring mix or romaine lettuce would also work great.
• Make it dairy-free: You can easily omit the cheese here to accommodate a dairy-free diet.
• Short on time? You can skip the marinade and simply brush it with a few tablespoons of olive oil and a dash of salt and pepper. In fact, you can nix the grill altogether and use a grill pan or saute it as I did in this Healthy Skinny Shrimp Scampi recipe.

Tips for success

• Have all ingredients (mise-en-place) ready before you start. This is one of those recipes with several components, but each component takes a little hands-on time to put together, so you would have to do one thing while waiting for the other to complete.
• Be sure to taste test your feta before adding more salt: As it is with every recipe with feta cheese, you might want to check the saltiness of the one you are using before adding more salt into the recipe.

Other Healthy Salad Recipes You Might Like:

• Black Bean and Corn Salad
• Mexican Street Corn
• Mexican Street Corn Salad
• Five Bean Salad
• Cucumber Mozzarella Tomato Salad
• Avocado Quinoa Salad

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Shrimp Corn Salad Recipe

5 from 1 vote

By: Aysegul Sanford

Yields6 Servings

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Cook Time20 minutes mins

Shrimp Marinate Time30 minutes mins

Total Time1 hour hr 10 minutes mins

This Shrimp and Corn Salad is everything you want in a summer salad: Grilled Shrimp and corn served on top of a bed of Boston lettuce mixed with tomatoes, scallions and then drizzled with a quick lime vinaigrette.

Ingredients 

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For The Shrimp:

• ▢ ¼ cup olive oil
• ▢ 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• ▢ ¼ cup lemon juice, freshly squeezed
• ▢ 3 tablespoons honey
• ▢ 3 garlic cloves, minced
• ▢ 1 teaspoon paprika
• ▢ Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes, optional
• ▢ 2 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley
• ▢ 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• ▢ ½ teaspoon black pepper
• ▢ 1 lb. shrimp, 16-20 or 21-25 count per lb., peeled and deveined

For The Corn:

• ▢ 5 ears of corn
• ▢ 3 tablespoons of olive oil or unsalted butter
• ▢ ½ teaspoon kosher salt

For The Salad Dressing:

• ▢ ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
• ▢ zest of a lime
• ▢ 3 tablespoons of lime juice freshly squeezed
• ▢ 1 clove of garlic minced
• ▢ 1 teaspoon salt, make sure to adjust the level of salt based on the saltines of your feta cheese
• ▢ ½ teaspoon black pepper

For The Salad:

• ▢ 1 large head of Boston or butter lettuce, leaves separated, rinsed
• ▢ 1 cup of cherry tomatoes
• ▢ 3 scallions, chopped
• ▢ 1 cup of feta cheese crumbled

Instructions 

For the Grilled Shrimp:

• Soak the skewers: If using wooden skewers, soak them in water for at least 20 minutes.
• Make the marinade: Place olive oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, honey, garlic, paprika, red pepper flakes, parsley salt, and pepper in a bowl. Give it a whisk until fully combined.
• Place shrimp and marinade in the bowl and toss to coat. Cover it with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 15 minutes.
• Skewer the shrimp: Thread the shrimp on skewers starting from the thickest part of the shrimp and arranging 5-6 shrimp per skewer. Place on a plate and set aside.
• Grill: Heat the grill to 400 to 450 F degrees. Grill the shrimp skewers on direct heat for 2-3 minutes or as soon as it turns pink along the edges and then flip over and cook for another 2 minutes or until it is lightly charred.
• Transfer the now-cooked shrimp onto a plate. When cool enough to handle, remove the shrimp from the skewers and set aside.

For The Grilled Corn:

• Fold the husk of each corn back leaf by leaf and tie them with a kitchen twine.
• Brush each ear with oil on all sides and sprinkle them with salt.
• Grill over medium-high heat until lightly charred on all sides, brushing with oil, turning and checking every few minutes. This takes about 10-12 minutes.
• Transfer the now-grilled corn onto a cutting board and let it cool. When cool enough to handle, cut corn kernels from the cobs. Transfer to a bowl and set it aside.

To Make The Dressing:

• Mix all ingredients together in a small bowl and set it aside.

To Assemble The Salad:

• Place butter lettuce leaves, tomatoes, scallions, corn, and shrimp in a large salad bowl. Top it off with crumbled feta cheese.
• Drizzle it with the dressing and give it a gentle toss.
• Serve immediately.

Notes

• Have all ingredients (mise-en-place) ready before you start. This is one of those recipes with several components but each component takes a little hands-on time to put together so you would have to do one thing while waiting for the other to complete.
• Be sure to taste test your feta before adding more salt: As it is with every recipe with feta cheese, you might want to check the saltiness of the one you are using before adding more salt into the recipe.
• Make-Ahead: If you want to save on time, I recommend making the shrimp marinade and the lime vinaigrette in advance. And then when you are ready to serve, you can marinate the shrimp while grilling the corn. And while the grilled corn is cooling, you can thread the marinated shrimp on the skewers. I recommend assembling the salad at the last minute as Boston lettuce leaves do not stand well with the acidic ingredients in the salad. 
• Storage: You can store the leftovers in an airtight container to enjoy the next day. However, please be aware that the green leaves of the butter lettuce will wilt quite a bit.

Nutrition

Calories: 546kcal | Carbohydrates: 28g | Protein: 23g | Fat: 40g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 228mg | Sodium: 1855mg | Potassium: 463mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 16g | Vitamin A: 1646IU | Vitamin C: 26mg | Calcium: 263mg | Iron: 3mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Salad

Cuisine: American

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