Grilled Shrimp Salad is a nice healthy, light meal for the summertime. This Moroccan Grilled Shrimp Salad Recipe is super flavorful and is ready to serve in just 15 minutes!
Suitable for Gluten Free diets. Weight Watchers Points included.
Guys, this Shrimp Salad Recipe has a delicious Moroccan flair. If you like serving a little heat with your shrimp, this recipe will surely gain approval of your family and friends. Everyone will be anxiously waiting around the grill for those savory shrimp skewers to be done and ready for their salad.
While I usually think hearty Moroccan dishes are more for fall and winter time, you know the cold months, making a Moroccan marinade and using Moroccan spices are perfect for lighter summertime meals.
I love having a fantastic dinner on the table in less than half an hour. This Grilled Shrimp Salad Recipe is perfect for that guys. If I’m in a hurry to make dinner and don’t want to be stuck in the house with a hot stove or oven going, this recipe on the grill is calling my name.
Why You’ll Love This Moroccan Shrimp Salad
- unique Moroccan flavor
- light, quick, healthy shrimp dinner
- easy dinner on the table in under a half hour
What Is Harissa?
Harissa is a hot pepper chili paste that has a nice hint of garlic and zesty lemon juice. Harissa sauce is a North African spice paste that’s usually served with bread or used in stews and couscous dishes.
Using it to make a salad dressing really amps up the dressing and brings a unique flavor to the Shrimp Salad.
Ingredient Notes
- Shrimp – this uses peeled cleaned jumbo shrimp. If you have unpeeled shrimp, you would need to peel it first.
- Harissa Paste – Add more or less paste to your taste.
- Soy sauce – To keep this gluten free, use gluten free soy sauce. But if not then you can use regular soy sauce.
- Lemon juice – Use fresh lemon juice rather than bottled and you can use a little lime juice instead.
- Oil – This use olive oil but you can use other oil like peanut or canola oil.
- Salad ingredients –
How To Make Shrimp Salad
Get the complete ingredients list and instructions from the recipe card below.
- Soak bamboo skewers in water for 30 minutes before using. Or you can grill shrimp directly with no skewers.
- Mix together olive oil, soy sauce and harissa paste in a mixing bowl.
- Add the shrimp to the bowl and mix until coated.
- You can cook straight away or leave to marinate the shrimp for between 30 minutes to 24 hours.
- Thread about 5 shrimp to each skewer (if using skewers)
- Preheat the grill (or charcoal grill) to medium heat, oil the grates and grill the shrimp for 2-3 minutes per side until opaque.
- Transfer grilled shrimp to a plate and set aside.
- Make harissa dressing by mixing all ingredients together.
- Assemble your salad and add shrimp to top.
Recipe Tips
- I recommend oiling the grill grates before turning the grill on so you don’t get burned.
- Make sure the shellfish are peeled before marinating so that the marinade goes in.
- Shellfish cook quickly so keep an eye on them so they don’t over cook.
- If choosing to use skewers, you can use bamboo or metal. Metal skewers are great for grilling because they transmit heat well.
- Using flat skewers is ideal for shrimp so they don’t twirl around the round skewer.
- The longer you marinate the shrimp, the more flavor they’ll have.
- It’s better to use the larger shrimp so they don’t fall between the grates while cooking and so they cook evenly since shrimp cook so quickly.
- Wait to toss the salad in the dressing until you’re ready to eat so the lettuce doesn’t start to wilt or get soggy.
Recipe Variations
Moroccan Grilled Shrimp Salad is super tasty and adaptable.
- Change out the shrimp size: While using the biggest shrimp you can get is always optimal, you can change out the size of the shrimp if needed. Have you tried Colossal size shrimp before? Humongous and are great for salads.
- Add in some vegetables: try zucchini, onion, mushroom, yellow squash or peppers that would be easy to grill and taste wonderful with this salad.
- Try out a different marinade: try a Pomegranate Harissa marinade, any of these different homemade marinades or maybe this Grilled Chicken Salad marinade your favorite is.
- Vary amount of ingredients to your taste: Like more heat? Add more Harissa. Maybe even trade it out for a little Korean Gochujang. Want a little more zest? Add more lemon juice.
Prep Ahead And Storage
- Prep Ahead – This recipe is so easy to make on the grill. Keep in mind the longer you marinate them, the more flavorful they are!
- Store – Store cooled cooked shrimp in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- Freeze – You can freeze the uncooked shrimp in the marinade. Follow the handy tips below on how to freeze this. Transfer shrimp and marinade into freezer bags. Squeeze out all the extra air and seal the bags. Label the bags and store them flat in the freezer for three months.
- Freeze cooked shrimp – Freeze cooked shrimp, within 2 hours in a freezer bag for up to 3 months.
FAQs
Shrimp cook very quickly on the grill. They only take about 2-3 minutes on each side, so be sure to keep an eye on them.
When shrimp are done, they turn a bit pink and opaque. They should be only slightly firm when biting them and are no longer translucent.
You want to make sure you soak your bamboo skewers in warm water for at least 30 minutes prior to using them. This helps prevent them from catching fire or cooking as you’re grilling. You may even want to soak them overnight if you’re marinating your shrimp overnight too.
Yeap folks, you sure can make these grilled skewers using frozen shrimp. Just make sure to fully defrost the shrimp before adding to the skewers and cooking.
These are so flavorful and I can almost guarantee it’s a flavor you haven’t had that often, if at all before.
The Korean gochujang paste really brings the sweet, savory, and spicy flavors to the Korean marinade. The honey brings an added sweetness and the lemon juice brings a nice tangy, zesty kick. It really is quite delicious.
Like all marinades, this Korean shrimp marinade really tenderizes the shrimp and enhances the flavoring. If this marinade isn’t for you, try my Harissa marinade or one of the 7 other marinades I have like I mentioned above. Keep in mind that you can use a ziplock bag for marination as this can be a space saver for your refrigerator and less clean up in the end.
I recommend using the biggest shrimp you have available. While the larger shrimp cost more per pound, they are the easiest to keep on the skewers and you can be sure to cook them all evenly and thoroughly since shrimp cook so fast, the small ones may cook faster than you realize. Number of Shrimp per pound:
Medium – between 41-50
Medium/Large – between 36-40
Large – between 31-35
Extra Large- between 26-30
Jumbo – between 21-25
Extra Jumbo – between 16-20
Colossal – under 15
Super Colossal – under 12
Extra Colossal – under 10
Serving Suggestions
More Shrimp Recipes
Weight Watchers Points
There are 9 Blue Plan SmartPoints in one serving.
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Harissa Grilled Shrimp Salad
Ingredients
Moroccan Grilled Shrimp Ingredients:
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1 Tablespoon tamari soy sauce or regular soy
- 2 Tablespoons Harissa paste
- 1 pound (454g) peeled cleaned shrimps, tails still on
Harissa Salad Dressing Ingredients:
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 Tablespoon harissa paste
- salt to taste
Moroccan Shrimp Salad Ingredients:
- 4 cups (300g) lettuce or salad greens
- 1 medium cucumber sliced
- 6 radishes sliced
- 1 avocado thinly sliced
- 4 Tablespoons chopped soft dried apricots
- 2 Tablespoons pomegranate seed
Instructions
- Soak bamboo skewers in water for 30 minutes before using. Or you can grill shrimp directly with no skewers.
- Mix together olive oil, soy sauce and harissa paste in a mixing bowl.
- Add the shrimp to the bowl and mix until coated.
- You can cook straight away or leave to marinate the shrimp for between 30 minutes to 24 hours.
- Thread about 5 shrimp to each skewer (if using skewers)
- Preheat the grill (or charcoal grill) to medium heat, oil the grates and grill the shrimp for 2-3 minutes per side until opaque.
- Transfer grilled shrimp to a plate and set aside.
- Make harissa dressing by mixing all ingredients together.
- Assemble your salad and add shrimp to top.
Notes
- I recommend oiling the grill grates before turning the grill on so you don’t get burned.
- If choosing to use skewers, you can use bamboo or metal. Metal skewers are great for grilling because they transmit heat well.
- Using flat skewers is ideal for shrimp so they don’t twirl around the round skewer.
- The longer you marinate the shrimp, the more flavor they’ll have.
- It’s better to use the larger shrimp so they don’t fall between the grates while cooking and so they cook evenly since shrimp cook so quickly.
- Wait to toss the salad in the dressing until you’re ready to eat so the lettuce doesn’t start to wilt or get soggy.
I’ve tried so many grilled shrimp recipes, but this version with harissa is new to me. It’s a great spice and the shrimps are perfect with it.
I love the addition of harissa to this recipe!! It made it so flavorful and had the perfect amount of spice!
Flavourful and refreshing salad recipe to try this summer. Thanks for sharing