Shrimp and Avocado Salad With Peanut Dressing
Updated March 9, 2026
Ryan Liebe for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.
- Ready In
- 20 min
- Rating
- Comments
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Ingredients
3 to 4 heads Little Gem lettuce, leaves separated, or 1 head romaine lettuce, roughly chopped
2 ripe avocados, halved, pitted and sliced lengthwise
Salt and freshly cracked black pepper
1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 tablespoon plus ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided
3 scallions, thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
½ cup roasted unsalted peanuts
2 tablespoons white sesame seeds
1 tablespoon honey
¼ teaspoon fennel seeds
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
Preparation
- Step 1
On a large platter, arrange lettuce leaves in an even layer. Nestle the avocado slices on and around the lettuce. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- Step 2
Pat the shrimp dry and season with salt and pepper. In a medium skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high. Cook the shrimp for 3 to 5 minutes, turning once, until just opaque and cooked through. Transfer to a plate to cool.
- Step 3
In the same pan, heat the remaining ¼ cup of olive oil over medium. Add the scallions and garlic and fry, stirring frequently, for 2 to 3 minutes, until fragrant and garlic is just golden. Add the peanuts, sesame seeds, honey and fennel seeds, and fry for about 1 minute, stirring occasionally, until peanuts and sesame seeds are fragrant, toasted and warmed through.
- Step 4
Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in the vinegar. Season the dressing with salt and pepper. Add the cooled shrimp to the salad and spoon the dressing over top.
Private Notes
Comments
Easy to prepare. A bit bland, consider adding some red pepper flakes to the scallion oil mix and double the garlic. Squeeze a bit of lime on top.
I added a drizzle of home made peanut sauce thinned with a bit of soy sauce and it was amazing.
A bit bland, consider adding some red pepper flakes to the scallion oil mix and double the garlic. Squeeze a bit of lime on top.
I made this last night and it was a hit! I did have to make some changes (owing to pantry limitations). Peanuts were switched for toasted cashews, chives instead of scallions, and tarragon instead of fennel. Sesame seeds were omitted. And I cut up the large prawns into bite-sized pieces so it was distributed more evenly in the salad. And I used three cloves of garlic. The apple cider really made this "pop" - I don't "get" why others found it bland. It was AMAZING! A new favorite!
Not bad but the flavors didn’t meld for me. Partner said “I thought it was great.”
Excellent, but for us the fennel seeds didn't quite strike the right note; next time I'll use ginger instead. Agree that red pepper flakes are a good addition.