Thai Shrimp Salad with Grapefruit and Mint

This Thai Shrimp Salad with Grapefruit and Mint has it all: shrimp, avocado, shallots, cilantro, and grapefruit, all topped off with fresh mint and crunchy salted peanuts.

Are you looking for a recipe to take your go-to Shrimp Salad to the next level? Kick it up a notch with this Thai Shrimp Salad with Grapefruit and Mint!

You'll love the flavors of this shrimp salad, where succulent shrimp meets the citrusy pop of grapefruit and the freshness of mint. This zesty, easy-to-make salad is a perfect blend of Thai-inspired goodness.

❤️ Why you'll love this Thai-inspired shrimp salad

• Tender butter lettuce, sweet rosy pink grapefruit, and blood oranges form a bed for Thai-spiced shrimp with a hint of heat. This salad has many contrasting layers of flavor and texture.
• This starter salad has it all: shrimp, avocado, shallots, carrot, cilantro, and grapefruit, all topped off with some fresh mint and crunchy salted peanuts. At first glance, these ingredients seem like unlikely partners, but they work perfectly well together. This is a stellar combination of flavors!
• This dish is not your ho-hum old-fashioned shrimp cocktail served in a soda fountain glass with bottled cocktail sauce!

🛒 Ingredients for Thai Shrimp Salad with Grapefruit and Mint

• shrimp: ½ pound (225 gm) cooked, peeled shrimp or prawns
• 1 lime
• 2 grapefruit: you'll use one to slice into the salad and you'll need the juice from half of the second one for the marinade
• 1 or 2 blood oranges (optional, but good)
• carrot:  1 small
• 1 avocado
• 1 shallot
• butter lettuce:  1 head
• cilantro: ¼ cup
• mint: a few leaves. Don't leave these out! They add a beautiful flavor to the salad.
• peanuts: dry roasted, salted. These add that necessary crunch!
• tamari: or coconut aminos or soy sauce. Your choice, depending on your diet.
• fish sauce
• sriracha sauce: or other hot chili sauce
• sugar: 1 tsp, any kind, depending on your diet
• sea salt
• high-heat vegetable oil (like avocado oil or peanut oil)

🔪 Instructions

1. Prepare the marinade. In a small jar, combine the lime juice, grapefruit juice, tamari (or soy sauce), fish sauce, sriracha sauce, salt and sugar. Store in the fridge.
2. Sauté the shallot. Chop the shallot, and sauté the slices in the avocado or peanut oil in a medium sauté pan over medium-high heat until caramelized, about 10 minutes. Set aside to let them cool.
3. Segment the grapefruit. Remove the peel from the grapefruit. Segment the slices by removing them from the membrane with a sharp knife. Here's an easy tutorial.  Salt them lightly and store them in the fridge.
4. Slice the orange. Next, peel the blood orange and remove as much of the pith as you can. A gentle scrub with a vegetable brush will help with this job. Slice the fruit horizontally into ½-inch rounds.
5. Prepare the remaining vegetables. Wash and dry enough butter lettuce leaves for four servings. Grate the carrot. Chop the cilantro and slice or dice the avocado.
6. Marinate the shrimp. Rinse the shrimp and pat dry. Put the shrimp in a large bowl and add the carrots, cilantro, avocado, and shallots. Add the marinade mixture and toss. Reserve two tablespoons of the marinade. Let the shrimp marinate for 15 minutes in the refrigerator. (Shrimp cannot be marinated for more than 20 minutes as they will break down and turn mushy, so leave this step until a short time before serving.)
7. Arrange the salad. Tear the lettuce leaves into bite-sized pieces and arrange on a serving platter or portion into four serving dishes. Add the grapefruit segments, blood orange slices, and the shrimp mixture on top, drizzling with a little of the reserved marinade.
8. Garnish with finely chopped peanuts and ribbons of thinly sliced mint and serve.

👍🏼 Helpful Make-Ahead Tips

This starter salad recipe seems like a lot of work, but it comes together quickly. I like to do as much meal preparation as I can before cooking dinner for friends, so I have written the recipe this way, presuming that you do too! Most of it can easily be prepared in advance and tucked into the fridge so that you just have to assemble it before dinner time.

🍽 Serving Suggestions

Expect rave reviews when you serve this shrimp salad at your next dinner party! Enjoy every bite.

🗒 More recipes for shrimp or prawns

📖 Recipe

Thai Shrimp Salad with Grapefruit and Mint

Tangy citrus, creamy avocado, and fresh herbs flavour this fabulous Thai-inspired recipe for shrimp salad with grapefruit and mint.

Print Pin Rate

Course: Appetizer, Salads

Cuisine: Asian, Thai

Diet: Gluten Free

Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes minutes

Servings: 4

Calories: 263kcal

Author: Elaine

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Ingredients

• ▢ 2 tablespoons lime juice freshly squeezed from 1 medium lime
• ▢ 2 tablespoons grapefruit juice freshly squeezed from ½ small grapefruit
• ▢ 1 teaspoon coconut aminos or soy sauce or gluten-free tamari
• ▢ 1 tablespoon fish sauce
• ▢ 1 teaspoon sriracha sauce
• ▢ ⅛ teaspoon sea salt plus extra for salting the grapefruit
• ▢ 1 teaspoon sugar
• ▢ ½ pound (225 gm) shrimp cooked and peeled
• ▢ ¼ cup carrot grated
• ▢ ¼ cup cilantro chopped
• ▢ 1 medium avocado peeled, pitted, and cut into medium dice
• ▢ 1 tablespoon avocado oil or other high-heat vegetable oil
• ▢ ⅓ cup shallots thinly sliced
• ▢ 1 medium pink grapefruit
• ▢ 1 head butter lettuce leaves
• ▢ ¼ cup peanuts dry-roasted, salted
• ▢ ¼ cup mint leaves fresh

Instructions

• In a small jar, prepare the marinade by mixing the lime juice, grapefruit juice, soy sauce, fish sauce, sriracha sauce, salt and sugar. Store in the fridge.
• Chop the shallots, sauté them in the avocado or peanut oil in a medium sauté pan over medium-high heat until caramelized, about 10 minutes. Let them cool and set aside.
• Remove the peel from the grapefruit. Segment the slices by removing them from the membrane with a sharp knife. Salt them lightly and store them in the fridge.
• Wash and dry enough lettuce leaves for four servings.
• Grate the carrot and refrigerate. Chop the cilantro and slice or dice the avocado.
• Rinse the shrimp and pat dry. Put the shrimp in a large bowl and add the carrots, cilantro, avocado, and shallots. Reserve two tablespoons of the marinade. Add the remaining marinade mixture and toss. Let the shrimp marinate for 15 minutes in the refrigerator.
• Tear the lettuce leaves into bite-sized pieces and arrange on a serving platter or portion into four serving dishes. Add the grapefruit segments and blood orange slices, and the shrimp mixture on top, drizzling with a little of the reserved marinade.
• Garnish with finely chopped peanuts and ribbons of thinly sliced mint and serve.

Nutrition

Calories: 263kcal | Carbohydrates: 16g | Protein: 16g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 142mg | Sodium: 976mg | Potassium: 509mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 2305IU | Vitamin C: 33.3mg | Calcium: 120mg | Iron: 1.9mg

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This post was originally published in 2015. It has been updated with new photos and instructions.