Shrimp and Crab Salad is everything you hope it would be. Full of incredible flavors, juicy fresh roasted shrimp, slightly warmed in the oven then mixed with cold crab and a little mayonnaise then mixed with fresh herbs. It’s the PERFECT summer lunch for four. I love to put it on top of fresh thick slices of red tomato. Now that is Southern.

The idea came from one of my cooking inspirations, Frank Stitt. We were dining at his Birmingham restaurant, Highlands Bar & Grill, and ordered something similar during the summer months for an appetizer. I was blown away at how simple the dish was yet how full of great flavor. Since I don’t live in Birmingham and can’t order this on the reg, I came up with a similar version of Shrimp and Crab Salad to serve here that we can enjoy.

You can prepare the shrimp any way you would like. I prefer to roast shrimp. It is hands down my favorite way to cook them. It intensifies the flavor, and doesn’t boil anything out. It’s really easy to do too. Just heat an oven 425 degrees and toss the shrimp with olive oil salt and pepper (just like you do with vegetables) roast the peeled shrimp for 8-10 minutes. That’s it!

Roasted Shrimp for Shrimp and Crab Salad

You can use any kind of crab. Claw meat, jumbo lump, whatever you prefer. Do not use imitation. Ugh. This is such a beautiful salad and really calls for the sweet taste of real crab. Just make sure to run your fingers through the crab meat and make sure there aren’t any shells lingering. Buying those big cans of crab in the Seafood section of the grocery store makes using the crab really easy. There is not cooking of crab and cracking shells involved.

You can serve Shrimp and Crab Salad as an appetizer with crackers, or pita chips. But I love to serve it as a first course of a light main meal or as a very nice lunch.

Shrimp and Crab Salad

Sweet crab meat and succulent shrimp get tossed with fresh lemon zest, tons of hearbs and a little bit of mayo for a decadent light lunch or dip for an appetizer.

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Course Appetizer, lunch, Side Dish

Cuisine seafood

Ingredients

1 lb large count shrimp peeled
1 lb crab meat, claw or jumbo lump canned
1/4 c mayo I prefer Duke's if you can find it
2 tbsp unsalted butter melted
2 tbsp chives chopped
2 tbsp fresh basil leaves chopped
1 lemon zest and juice
kosher salt
pepper
2 large tomatoes cut into thick slices

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Toss the peeled shrimp with a little olive oil, salt, and pepper.
Roast the shrimp in the oven for 8-10 minutes or until pink and cooked through.
Allow the shrimp to cool just slightly then roughly chop. Add the shrimp to a bowl.
Toss in the crab, mayo, melted butter, chives, basil, lemon zest, and lemon juice.
Mix well and taste. Add in salt and pepper as needed.
Serve as is, with crackers, or on top of large slices of fresh tomatoes.