Prawn Salad with Avocado

Succulent prawns marinated in a punchy gin and lime marinade and balanced by creamy avocados, ruby grapefruit, peppery radishes and fresh lamb’s lettuce. This grilled prawn salad recipe is calling for you all summer long.

Jump to:

• Why You’ll Love Prawn Salad with Avocado
• Is There A Difference Between Prawn And Shrimp?
• How Do You Cook Prawns For A Salad?
• What Do You Eat With Cold Prawns?
• Recipe Overview
• Ingredients
• Variations and Substitutions
• Instructions
• How to Make This Salad Perfectly (Expert Tips)
• Great Mains for This Salad
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Recipe

Why You’ll Love Prawn Salad with Avocado

Throwing prawns (AKA shrimp) on the barbecue is something we often do all summer long. And because our Australian Christmas is during summer, you will often see prawns at Christmas lunch. 

With that in mind, I wanted to create a summer salad for barbecues that showcases succulent fresh prawns and is also stunning enough to share on the festive table.

Prawns are a natural pairing with avocado. The succulent fresh flavours of prawn meat marry so well with creamy avocado. To balance the prawn salad recipe, I added tangy ruby grapefruit and crunchy radish, all layered on a bed of lamb’s lettuce. 

What about the prawn salad dressing? Classic tangy Marie Rose sauce would actually go well with this salad combination. However, I decided to add my own little twist. 

One of my favourite summer drinks is definitely a good gin and tonic. A punch of pepperiness with zesty citrus and sweetness of the tonic water. It’s so refreshing! 

So I thought, why not use this combination for a prawn salad idea? Amazingly, it worked out deliciously well. There is no official salad dressing as the punchy gin and lime marinade help tie the flavours together. 

This prawn avocado salad recipe is everything you would love for a warm summer evening.

Is There A Difference Between Prawn And Shrimp?

The terms prawn and shrimp are often used interchangeably. 

In Australia, we usually say prawns, but shrimp is the more common term in the US. In most cases, when we say prawn salad or prawn cocktail, it means the same thing in the US as shrimp salad or shrimp cocktail. 

Australians generally refer to prawns as the larger kind, while shrimp is reserved for the smaller fella. 

However, is there a difference between prawns and shrimp more than just size? Yes, there is! 

Scientifically they are different sub-species of the crustacean family. Prawns and shrimps have different anatomies and live in different environments. Another main difference between prawns and shrimp is the way they reproduce. 

So next time you throw a shrimp on the BBQ, you might be throwing a prawn!

How Do You Cook Prawns For A Salad?

There are various ways you can cook prawns for a salad. 

In this prawn salad recipe, I decided to grill the prawns. This is a great recipe to make, especially when you already have the barbecue grill on. Otherwise, the griddle pan works well too. 

You can also pan-fry the prawns, just like in our Thai Prawn Salad recipe or Chimichurri prawn recipe. 

Another quick way to cook prawns for salad is to blanch them in boiling water. Do be careful not to overcook the prawns this way. Depending on the size of your prawns, a couple of minutes in boiling water will generally be sufficient.

Alternatively, I do buy pre-cooked prawns for salad. I know they are perfectly cooked, ready to go and save time.  

What Do You Eat With Cold Prawns?

We adore having a big bowl of shrimp and cocktail sauce for summer dinner. Simple, delicious and satisfying. Seriously, one of the best prawn recipes. 

You can also try fresh prawns with our sriracha aioli recipe. The spicy, garlicky flavours go perfectly with prawns as a dipping sauce. For a more Asian twist, use our yuzu dressing for a citrus ginger condiment.  

For extra protein, you can also add prawns to our classic caesar salad recipe. Or serve with our array of Korean banchan side dishes. Plenty of options to eat with cold prawns.  

One of my favourite cold prawn salad combinations is our Prawn, Avocado and Kiwi salad. So easy to make as a meal, and I love how red wine shallot vinaigrette adds extra zing.

Recipe Overview

Flavour/Texture: Succulent and crunchy all in one bite with this prawn salad recipe. The gin and lime marinade dials up the flavours with the prawns as I combine it with chilli flakes, crushed garlic and coriander roots. 

Fresh lamb’s lettuce, creamy avocado, ruby grapefruit and crunchy radishes give wonderful texture and mouthfeel. 

Ease: A little more effort is required when presenting this prawn salad for a festive meal or special gathering. I like to slice my avocado into fan shapes and layer them in between the prawns. Also, try not to overcook the prawns.

Time: I estimate this recipe will take about 30 minutes. You can prepare the salad whilst waiting for the prawns to marinade in the gin and lime mixture. 

Ingredients

These are the main ingredients you need for Prawn Salad with Avocado:

Prawns: For this prawn salad recipe, I bought prawn cutlets already deshelled, which still have the tail intact. However, you can purchase them without. I always make sure they are deveined before using the prawns. 

Avocado: I selected Gem avocado for its creamy texture to offset the charred prawns and citrus flavours. Gem avocado is a relatively new variety in Australia and is only available through licensed growers. For a quick and easy gem avocado salad, try our Gem Avocado and Watercress Salad. 

Ruby Grapefruit:  I prefer using ruby grapefruit in salads over yellow grapefruit. The blush pink colour and the sweet-sour flavours are a match made in heaven in this prawn salad with avocado. 

Radish: Peppery radishes offsets the flavours and texture of ruby grapefruit. 

Lettuce leaves: I chose lamb’s lettuce for the salad because it was available at the greengrocer, and I also love the interesting shapes of the leaves. 

Gin: I am using the gin to uplift the savoury notes of the prawns. The quantity of gin required is not a lot as I don’t want the prawns to be overpowered by the alcohol. 

Lime: A good squeeze of lime to balance the gin in the marinade. Plus, lime is a great pairing with seafood. 

Garlic: A little crushed garlic goes a long with prawns. 

Coriander: I am using coriander roots in the marinade and coriander leaves in the salad to tie the flavours together. 

Chilli flakes: A hint of chilli to accentuate the overall flavours. If you don’t like heat, then omit the chilli flakes in the marinade. 

Variations and Substitutions

Gin substitute: If you prefer to make a non-alcoholic version, omit the gin but add a tablespoon of fish sauce and ½ teaspoon of sugar to balance the flavour. 

Lamb’s lettuce substitution: You can easily substitute the lamb’s lettuce in the salad. Choose your favourite green salad mix. Spring mix salad leaves, baby spinach leaves, little gem lettuce or 

even torn romaine lettuce leaves would also work. 

Ruby grapefruit variation: If you can’t find ruby grapefruit, try blood orange segments or even substitute with mango. Prawns, mango and avocado are a classic combination.  

Instructions

Step by step instructions for how to make Prawn Salad with Avocado

How To Marinate and Cook The Prawns.

Let’s create the gin and lime marinade for the prawns first. 

Wash and finely chop coriander roots. Keep the leaves for the salad later. 

In a large mixing bowl, add gin, chilli flakes, minced garlic, chopped coriander roots, olive oil and lime juice. Mix well together. 

Wash and devein prawns. 

Add prawns to marinate for 15-20 minutes. 

Heat grill pan over high heat and cook prawns for 1-2 minutes on each side. 

Prawns are cooked when flesh turns opaque, and there is nice golden char on each side.

Remove from heat and set aside for assembly. 

How to Prepare the Salad

Wash and rinse lettuce leaves.

Cut avocado into half and remove skin and seed. Slice avocado into long slices. Set aside for assembly.

Peel ruby grapefruit and slice segments out. 

Wash and thinly slice radish.

Wash and roughly chop coriander leaves. 

How to Assemble the Prawn Salad

On a large serving plate, start with layering the lamb’s lettuce or mixed leaf salad.

Then scatter prawns, radishes and ruby grapefruit amongst the lamb’s lettuce. 

I then layered the avocado in fan shapes throughout the salad to add interest. 

Scatter with chopped coriander leaves.

Before serving, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and a good squeeze of lime. 

Serve.

How to Make This Salad Perfectly (Expert Tips)

Do not ignore your prawns whilst cooking: Prawns cook very quickly, so there is a fine line between undercooking and overcooking them. We want juicy and tender prawns. Here are some tips on how to cook prawns perfectly:

Start with a hot griddle pan so you can quickly sear them. 

Try not to overcrowd the griddle pan with too many prawns as this will cause the juices to mingle, and then broil the prawns versus frying them. 

Similar sized prawns will help the process, so they have the same cooking time.

Watch the prawns as they grill until the crevice of the prawn curls up, and the flesh turns opaque. 

Remove from heat once cooked. 

Use a ripe but firm avocado: To check if the avocado is ripe or not, check under the brown nub of the stem. If the nub comes off and is green underneath, then it is ripe. If it is hard to come off, then your avocado is not quite ready.

Avoid using an overripe avocado as it is harder to cut into a thin slice and maneuver into a fan shape. 

Serve on a large platter vs salad bowl: To showcase the prawns along with the avocado, I chose a large plate versus a deep salad bowl for this recipe. 

This way, I can layer the different ingredients and display the gin and lime prawns in their full glory, plus the avocado fans add so much more interest. 

When serving, everyone will have a chance to have some prawns on their plate without digging through the salad. 

Great Mains for This Salad

What to serve with prawn salad with avocado? Try these delicious main dish recipes:

Nothing quite beats a family favourite. This easy meatloaf recipe would go so well with some prawns and avocado.

For those summer cookouts and BBQs, this BBQ tri tip recipe or smoked baby back ribs would make the perfect al fresco meal.

Frequently Asked Questions

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I loved the colours of the prawn avocado salad, and the flavours were just divine. 

The charred succulent prawns were actually more savoury than I thought with the gin marinade and all beautifully balanced by the creamy avocados, tangy-sweet ruby grapefruit, peppery radishes and fresh lamb’s lettuce.  

Start with G&T or even a jug of cold fruity Sangria; this salad is perfect for alfresco dining and summer barbeques. It will get the friends talking!

That’s all!

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