Cold Shrimp in Creamy Dill Sauce with Capers

Hot weather calls for chilled shrimp, here in a "creamy" dill sauce that tastes much richer than the light mayonnaise, buttermilk and mustard sauce it really is. It takes just 10 minutes to make, so invite someone for lunch, give it a try!

Memorable Homestyle Whole Food, Simply Prepared, Fresh & Seasonal. Little Effort, Big Reward. Mere Minutes to the Table But Also Great for Meal Prep. Fun Picnic Food. A Summer Classic. Not just easy, Summer Easy. Weeknight Easy, Weekend Special. Perfect When Cooking for One or Two. Luncheon & Shower Friendly. Low Carb. Low Fat. High Protein. Weight Watchers Friendly. Naturally Gluten Free. Rave Reviews. What're you waiting for?! So Good!!

~ Skip Straight to the Recipe Overview ~

~ Skip Straight to the Recipe ~

plus (in case you need to cook the shrimp)
~ How to Roast Shrimp ~
~ How to Boil Shrimp ~

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COMPLIMENTS!

• "The shrimp salad was great ... " ~ Inkograph Collector
• "Must make more often!" ~ Me!

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Invite a Friend for Lunch?!

My friend Kathy invited me to lunch last week. We could have gone out, sure, but catching up in her sunny kitchen was so relaxed: no parking hassle, no menu decisions, no interruptions. It made me wonder why I don’t ever say to a friend, “Come for lunch.”

"Lunch" that day was a light salad, just fresh shrimp on lettuce greens. On the way home, I stopped for shrimp and stirred together a batch for supper too. This is light and easy summer fare, great for a quick and relaxed supper – or a long and lazy lunch.

So Sharon and Ann and Mary and Marty and Georg and Nancy and Christine and Cindy, and you too, Kathy. Whaddayathink, would you like to come for lunch?

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Recipe Overview: Cold Shrimp in Creamy Dill Sauce

• There's shrimp and then, wow, there's chilled shrimp in a creamy sauce that's bright with fresh dill and briny with capers. This is one of those ever-so-useful back-pocket recipes for summer, as quick and easy whether for a solo supper or dinner for two or a last-minute meal for a small crowd. It's also easily adaptable for an elegant starter, a simple but special lunch or a salad entrée. I love this so much!

• When to Serve = Friends for lunch? A baby or wedding shower? Just a weeknight supper? All work.
• Diet Needs & Choices = This is a "pescatarian" salad (that is, it contains fish or seafood), a whole-food high-protein seafood salad. It's also naturally gluten-free but please, if you're cooking for someone with celiac or a gluten sensitivity, be extra cautious about both reading ingredient labels and cross contamination (your hands, your fridge environment, your counters, your knives, your bowls, your stirring spoons, your serving plates and utensils).
• Distinctive Ingredients = Shrimp + Fresh Dill + Capers
• Short Ingredient List = all the above + mayonnaise + buttermilk + mustard + salad greens + lemon + olive oil
• Tasting with our Eyes = For garnish, consider some extra capers, some extra dill, even thin lemon slices.
• Kitchen Tools = Nothing special, just a bowl and spoon for mixing + a scissors for the dill + a cutting board and knife for the salad greens
• Hands-On Time = Allow about 10 minutes to mix the Shrimp, maybe another 5 for the whole salad itself.
• Total Time = Supper on the table in 10 to 15 minutes? Tis a miracle! The shrimp may also be made a few hours ahead of time, just refrigerate and let the flavors meld. Give it a taste, though, you may want to add some extra fresh dill just before serving.
• Texture = This is such a simple recipe, the meatiness of the shrimp really stands out.
• Tastes = Briny shrimp + Creamy sauce + Salty capers + Bright dill
• Techniques = No special techniques, truly.
• Time Friendly = This is a time-friendly recipe. Ten minutes? That's right.
• Shop Your Pantry = This recipe is a pantry-friendly recipe, except perhaps the fresh dill.
• Watching Our Waistlines = This recipe is a calorie-friendly recipe, under 150 calories with 24 grams of protein! Magic!
• Staying Cost Conscious = This recipe is a budget-friendly recipe, or it can be, with frozen shrimp.
• Makes = 4 main-dish salad servings, more servings if you choose an appetizer portion with just one shrimp per person.
• Small Households = This recipe works especially well for those Cooking for One or Two.
• So good! I hope you love it!


• For another shrimp idea that's less lunch, more appetizer, check out my Lemon Basil Shrimp.
• Not quite what you're looking for? Check out my other recipes using shrimp.

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Why I Love This Recipe & You Might Too

• SIMPLE EVERYDAY INGREDIENTS All the ingredients are easy to easy to buy and easy to keep on hand, including the shrimp. And with any luck, during summer, we all keep a few herbs and can just snip-snip some fresh fronds.
• LIGHT BUT HEARTY For so few calories, this is a really filling salad. More room for dessert? Sure!
• QUICK Toss this together in minutes, serve in minutes too!
• BELOVED So many people love shrimp! It makes for a special meal that just happens to be low carb and high protein!
• Ready to get started? Here's your recipe!

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QUICK SUPPER: COLD SHRIMP in CREAMY DILL SAUCE with CAPERS

Hands-on time: 10 minutes
Time to table: 10 minutes
Serves 4

SHRIMP
• 2 tablespoons (28g) low-fat mayonnaise (need a mayonnaise recommendation?)
• 2 tablespoons (28g) buttermilk
• 2 teaspoons (10g) good mustard
• 2 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped
• 2 tablespoons small capers (24g), drained
• 1 pound (454g) cooked shrimp (peeled and deveined but tails left on)

TO SERVE
• Salad greens (such as arugula, leafy green or leafy red lettuce or another soft lettuce), about 1-1/2 cups per serving
• Fresh lemon juice, about 1 teaspoon per serving
• Good olive oil, about 2 teaspoons per serving
• A sprinkle of good salt
• Shrimp in Creamy Dill Sauce
• Additional fresh dill, capers for garnish, optional

SHRIMP Whisk together the sauce ingredients, then stir in the shrimp. If there's time, refrigerate for about an hour but if not, refrigerate while prepping the plates.

TO SERVE In a salad bowl, toss the greens with lemon juice, then with olive oil, then with a little salt. Toss well, then arrange the greens on plates and top with the Shrimp. If using, sprinkle with fresh dill and a few additional capers.

Serve and savor!

SERVING THOUGHTS I typically serve Cold Shrimp in Creamy Dill Sauce in one of three ways.

• SIMPLE DINNER SALAD As written above, with several whole shrimp atop the greens, allowing 1/4 pound (112g) shrimp per serving. With very large jumbo shrimp, that's four big shrimp, a little much for a lighter appetite (mine) and not quite enough for someone with a bigger appetite (his).
• LUNCHEON SALAD For us, it's more than acceptable to pick up each shrimp by its tail to eat with our hands. But for a lunch with others, say, not everyone is comfortable picking up shrimp by their tails. So try this. Set aside one shrimp for each plate but cut up all the remaining shrimp into small bites. For each plate, the greens still go on the bottom, then the cut-up shrimp, then just one shrimp on top. It's just as good to eat and there's only one shrimp to pick up, or sure, cut up with a knife and fork.
• FANCY-PANTS STARTER A single shrimp across a small plate of greens, dramatic in appearance, almost effortlessly elegant, not too much to start a bigger meal. This is a really economical way to serve pretty shrimp, just one per person.
• CRACKER? BREAD? Yeah, a little cracker or sliced baguette or in our house, Fried Bread (Skillet Toast) is appreciated on the side. I've also done cucumber sliced thin on the diagonal topped with a dollop of cream cheese thinned with a little seltzer (like Jewish delis) or milk (like my Midwestern kitchen) and some fresh dill.

ALANNA’s TIPS I usually buy frozen cooked shrimp from the fish department at the grocery store. If they're small, by the time they get home, they're already nearly thawed. If not, I leave them in the bag and finish thawing in a bowl of cold water, it takes just a minute or two. At first, you might wonder whether there's enough Creamy Dill Sauce. Trust me, there is! It's just enough for a light coating on each shrimp plus a little extra for drizzling later. That said, if you're using small shrimp (that add up to more surface area that needs coating than fewer large shrimp), you might consider making a batch and a half or a double batch of the Sauce. Buttermilk has become a "secret diet ingredient" for summer salads. It thins the mayonnaise so it goes further but it also removes that heavy mayonnaise taste and texture. You could also use a little milk (which thins but without the welcome tang of buttermilk) or yogurt (which is thicker than milk but thinner than mayo and has good tang). The shrimp may be mixed up to a few hours before serving but before you do serve, take a taste, you may want to stir in some extra fresh dill. If there's time, chill the dressed salad greens (no shrimp, yet) for about 30 minutes before serving, this is an easy but effective trick learned from chefs at good restaurants. I can go through piles and piles of fresh dill during the summer. But dang it all, dill doesn't thrive here in the hot, humid summers of east-central Missouri. So I usually "try" to grow some (see Never Buy Fresh Herbs Again) but don't count on having enough for every day use. The best place to buy big bundles of fresh dill? International groceries with Ukrainian, Eastern European, Russian and Nordic clientele. No dill? Go for basil or cilantro or tarragon, parsley too.

FOR MORE INFO If you "skipped straight to the recipe," please scroll back to the top of this page for ingredient information, ingredient substitutions, tips and more. Confused about salt, these days? No wonder, it is confusing. Check my FAQs for an explanation. If you print this recipe, you'll want to check the recipe online for even more tips and extra information about ingredient substitutions, best results and more. See https://www.kitchenparade.com/2010/06/cold-shrimp-in-creamy-dill-sauce-with.html .

How to Roast or Boil Uncooked Shrimp

LOL if you too live with someone who insists on bags of frozen but raw shrimp for the freezer, cook it before making the salad. I like to either roast the shrimp in the oven or to boil it in water on the stove.

Both work but I prefer the boiling method because it's a little faster and the shrimp cools a little faster.

With either method, thaw the shrimp first, either by thawing it in the fridge for a day (or possibly two) or by submerging the shrimp package in cold (yes, cold) water for an hour (or possibly two hours).

With either method, peel and devein the shrimp too. You could also remove the tails but I kinda like how they look so leave them on.

Oh and this may be obvious, but do allow some extra time for chilling the shrimp in the Creamy Dill Sauce if they're still warm from the oven or stove. "Lukewarm" Shrimp just doesn't have the same ring, does it? 😉

HOW TO ROAST SHRIMP Heat the oven to 400F/200C. Line a baking sheet with parchment and arrange the shrimp with space between. Pat the shrimp dry with a paper towel; removing the moisture means there's less likelihood the shrimp will pool in hot steam. Roast for about 8 - 12 minutes, the shorter time for smaller shrimp, the longer time for very large shrimp. Remove from the oven and let cool a bit before adding to the Creamy Dill Sauce.

HOW TO BOIL SHRIMP Bring a pot of water to a boil, add about a tablespoon of salt and the juice of a lemon. Drop in the shrimp and boil for 2 minutes for small or medium shrimp, 3 minutes for large or extra-large. Working quickly, remove the shrimp from the boiling water and spread on a baking sheet to stop the shrimp from continuing to cook, allowing them to cool quickly.

NUTRITION INFORMATION (assumes low-fat mayonnaise) Per Serving: 142 Calories; 3g Tot Fat; 1g Sat Fat; 174mg Cholesterol; 337mg Sodium; 3g Carb; 0g Fiber; 1g Sugar; 24g Protein WEIGHT WATCHERS POINTS Old Points 3 & PointsPlus 3 & SmartPoints 2 & Freestyle 1 & myWW green 2 & blue 1 & purple 1 & future WW points

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Shop Your Pantry First

(helping home cooks save money on groceries)

~ yogurt recipes ~
~ mayonnaise info ~
~ buttermilk recipes ~
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~ All Recipes, By Ingredient ~
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Kitchen Parade is written by second-generation food columnist Alanna Kellogg and features fresh, seasonal dishes for every-day healthful eating and occasional indulgences. Quick Suppers are Kitchen Parade favorites and feature recipes easy on the budget, the clock, the waistline and the dishwasher. Do you have a favorite recipe that other Kitchen Parade readers might like? Just send me a quick e-mail, you'll find my current address in the FAQs. How to print a Kitchen Parade recipe. Never miss a recipe! If you like this recipe, sign up for a free e-mail subscription. If you like Kitchen Parade, for more scratch cooking recipes using whole, healthful ingredients, you're sure to like my food blog about vegetable recipes, too, A Veggie Venture. If you make this recipe, I'd love to know your results! Just leave a comment below.

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