A zesty, refreshing, and light shrimp salad tossed in a delicious herby sauce and served on tostones (fried green plantains). This shrimp salad is absolutely delicious all on its own, but even better when served on tostones. The recipe is great for a light lunch, snack, or a fun appetizer.

How to make the Shrimp Salad

The shrimp salad only has 3 components, it’s incredibly simple, but delicious.

Herby Sauce:The ingredients needed for the sauce are fresh cilantro, fresh basil, garlic, avocados, lime juice, extra virgin olive oil, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. All the ingredients go in a food processor or blender, and that’s it! If both appliances are unavailable finely mince all the ingredients and mix in a bowl.

Poached Shrimp: poaching shrimp is easily one of the most delicious and simple ways to cook shrimp. To poach shrimp just fill a small pot with water and half a lime, once the water comes to a light simmer add some salt and the shrimp. After about 3-5 minutes when the shrimp is pink and floating to the top remove from the water and place in an ice bath to stop the cooking. Once cooled cut the shrimp into 3-4 small bite sized pieces.

The Salad: In a medium sized bowl add chopped avocados, thinly sliced radishes, and poached shrimp. Dress with the sauce and mix everything together.

At this point, you’re done! The salad can be eaten just like that, or served with tostones. The instructions for making tostones are included on the recipe card below, but you can read more about the process on our Traditional Puerto Rican Tostones recipe.

Customizations

This dish is easily customizable to fit your tastes or what you have on hand.

Sauce: Try experimenting with different types of fresh herbs! Parsley, thyme, different types of basil, everything is welcome here.

Salad: Try adding minced onions, mangoes, cucumbers, or any other produce you might like to the salad.

Tostones: Can be switched out for tortilla chips, bruschetta, or crackers. Or no carbs at all! The salad with just a fork is marvelous.

Herby Shrimp Salad with Tostones

Prep Time: 40 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes minutes

Servings: 6 servings

A zesty, refreshing, and light shrimp salad tossed in a delicious herby sauce and served on tostones. A light recipe great for meal prepping.

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Equipment

• Food Processor

Ingredients

For the Shrimp Salad

• 3 Garlic Cloves peeled
• ¼ cup Basil
• ½ cup Cilantro
• 2 Hass Avocado
• 1 tsp Red Pepper Flakes optional
• 3 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 Lime
• 1-3 tbsp Cold Water
• 1 Large Radish or 2 Small Radish diced
• 2 Roma Tomatoes diced
• Salt
• Pepper
• 1 lb Medium Shrimp peeled and deveined

For the Tostones

• 2 tbsp Salt
• 4 Unripe plantains (super green)
• 2-4 cups Frying Oil

Instructions

• Slice off the top and bottom of the plantains, then slice the peel on one side without cutting into the actual plantain. Peel off the skin, if the peel doesn't come off easily run the plantain under hot water while peeling and it should be easier. If it is still difficult boil some water, place the plantains in there and boil for a about 3 minutes, remove and peel.
• Cut the plantains on an angle, 1-2 inches thick (see visual). Place the slices into a large bowl of warm water and salt, add about 2 tbsp of salt for every 2 cups of water. Set aside while preparing the rest of the dish.
  
• Optional: Add the basil and cilantro to a bowl of ice water for about a minute then dry them off with a paper towel. A food processor generates heat and soft herbs are quite delicate, icing them first helps the herbs maintain their flavor.
• Make the dressing by adding the garlic, basil, cilantro, half an avocado (save the rest for later), red pepper flakes, and extra virgin olive oil and the juice of half a lime into a food processor. Blitz on high until all the ingredients are smooth and creamy adding cold water slowly as needed to achieve a thin creamy consistency, like a salad dressing. Add salt and pepper to taste. Set aside in the fridge.
• Bring water to a soft boil in a medium sized pot. The water should be slightly less than a simmer. Add salt and the juice of the other half of the lime, as well as the peel to the water. Gently add the shrimp and allow to poach for 3-5 minutes, once pink and firm to the touch the shrimp are ready. Large shrimp may take up to 7 minutes.
• Slice the shrimp into 3-4 bite sized pieces and add to a medium bowl. Dice the remaining avocado into bite sized pieces and add to the same bowl, then add the diced radish and tomato.
• Add the dressing slowly until the desired sauciness is achieved. Add salt and pepper to taste, mix well and set in the fridge while preparing the tostones.
• Place enough frying oil in a medium pot to submerge the plantains, a larger wider pot may require more oil while a smaller narrower pot will require less. Heat to 300°
• Dry the plantains well with paper towels before adding into the hot oil to avoid any splatter. Carefully add the slices to the oil, you may need to do this in batches to avoid overcrowding.
• Fry for 3-10 minutes until plantains are a light golden brown then remove from the oil. Use a flat surface, such as a small cutting board or the bottom of a plate or bowl to flatten the plantains into to thin disks. The thickness is optional however thinner plantains will be crispier.
• Add the disks back to the frying oil and fry for another 3-6 minutes until golden brown, remove from the oil.
• Serve the shrimp salad next to the fried plantains and enjoy!