American Recipes for Shrimp Salad
Most of the American recipes you’ll find for shrimp salad all begin with the same ingredients: shrimp that have been boiled or steamed and peeled and deveined, along with some sort of oil or fat. There, however, the similarities often end. Even the cooked shrimp will be a little different. Some cooks like to leave the shrimp whole, some like to cut the shrimp in half, and some prefer to chop the cooked shrimp. The oil or fat used differ, also. They might be in the form of mayonnaise, ranch dressing, mayonnaise-type salad dressing, or a vinegar and oil combination.
Some purists don’t want anything in their shrimp salad but the shrimp, some sort of wet base, and salt and pepper. Others, however, might add any number of other ingredients. These might include chopped pickles, chopped boiled eggs, chopped celery, diced onion, snipped chives, chopped nuts, or diced bell pepper.
The seasonings for shrimp salad can run the gamut, too, depending on whether you like a savory mixture or a spicy mixture. Popular herbs and spices for shrimp salad are black pepper, ground red pepper, paprika, dill, lemon pepper, celery salt, white pepper, and chili powder. Seafood seasoning mixes can also be used, and Old Bay is a good choice.