Creamy Pasta Salad with Shrimp

Chilled pasta salads are a perfect dish to bring to a picnic or a get together that will feed a crowd. Make sure to keep it chilled, because it contains mayonnaise. It is extremely easy too, because you can purchase the shrimp already cooked, peeled and deveined. You can also purchase a can or jar of sliced green olives. It can be made with most types of pasta and we have made it several times with elbow macaroni and added cooked crab too. So you can mix it up any way you want.

Ingredients

Salad
1 – 12 oz. package of medium shell pasta
2 – 6 oz. packages of salad shrimp peeled, deveined and cooked (This type of package usually comes frozen and all you need to do is thaw and rinse.)
1 cup of green olives sliced
3/4 cup of celery cleaned and diced
Dressing
1 1/4 cups of mayonnaise
1/2 cup of sour cream
1/4 cup of Miracle Whip
2 tablespoons of lemon juice
1/4 cup of fresh dill minced or more if desired, dried dill weed can be used too
1 teaspoon of fresh ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt

Technique

Thaw and rinse shrimp. Cook pasta according to package directions. Let pasta cool in the strainer for a while before adding to bowl. Add ice cubes to speed up the process and it will also prevent the pasta from getting sticky. Stir frequently and remove ice before adding pasta to bowl. The pasta won’t be chilled, but slightly warm to the touch. In a large bowl, place all the salad ingredients. To make dressing, blend all the dressing ingredients in a medium sized bowl. Pour dressing over salad and gently fold into the salad until completely dressed. Chill for about an hour and serve.

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