Tender, garlicky shrimp, creamy avocado, crisp vegetables, and a tangy-sweet dressing combine in this irresistible shrimp and avocado salad. Every bite makes me grin when I’m eating this salad.

Shrimp and Avocado Salad

It takes just a few minutes to cook the shrimp, and the rest of the time required here is spent just prepping the vegetables. You can make this one ahead of time, too, if you want to make it even easier at dinner time. Just add the avocado and toss with the dressing right before serving.

The salad base is made with crunchy lettuce, spring mix, cucumbers, tomatoes, bell peppers, carrots, and fresh parsley. If you haven’t yet tried a salad with an abundance of fresh parsley in it, you’re missing out.

Parsley brightens savory flavors similarly to the way lemon brightens the flavors in countless sweet and savory dishes. The vegetables in this salad are tossed in that honey dijon vinaigrette I shared earlier this week. It pulls all the flavors together perfectly.

Avocado Shrimp Salad

The shrimp are cooked in a bit of butter with garlic and then drizzled with a little lemon juice, leaving them super juicy and full of flavor. Pairing that shrimp with creamy avocado, crunchy crisp vegetables, and a simple vinaigrette adds up to a salad that’s anything but boring.

Whether you’re making this for yourself or serving it to friends, it’s a salad that looks great and tastes even better. It’s one of those meals that leaves you feeling satisfied and full without being too heavy.

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Tender pasta and the “holy trinity” of bell peppers, celery, and onion, along with a creamy Cajun dressing, make this Cajun Pasta Salad irresistible. Pair this flavorful pasta salad with just about any meat off the grill for a memorable summer meal.

Cajun Pasta Salad

While this salad pairs nicely with ​grilled chicken​, ​burgers​, or ​hot dogs​ for summer barbecues, it’s also great with ​chicken​, ​shrimp​, ​steak​, or ​salmon​ cooked in the air fryer for casual weeknight meals.

Last time I made this, my boys positively devoured it. The recipe is a fun twist on classic pasta salads. With an abundance of spicy flavors, nobody can accuse this pasta salad of being boring!

Cajun Flavor

Cajun flavors are characterized by a spicy, earthy seasoning blend that packs a little punch courtesy of ingredients like garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, cayenne pepper, and a variety of herbs like thyme, marjoram, and oregano. The other mainstay in Cajun cuisine is the aforementioned “holy trinity”; celery, onions, and bell peppers.

You can certainly buy good Cajun seasoning at most grocery stores in North America. However, I’m a sucker for a good homemade seasoning blend, and this Homemade Cajun Seasoning recipe is my favorite.

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It isn’t often that a salad manages to qualify as a full meal for my crew, but this Italian chopped salad checks all the boxes for us, with plenty of meat and cheese, crunchy fresh vegetables, tangy olives and pepperoncini, tossed in a zesty Italian dressing.

Italian Chopped Salad

This is a terrific make-ahead meal option for summer days and nights. Divide the prepped salad into separate containers or zip-close bags. Lay a paper towel in the containers or bags to help absorb any moisture that collects, and the salad will stay fresh longer.

When you’re ready to enjoy some salad, drizzle a portion of salad with the zesty Italian dressing and toss right before serving or eating. You can add croutons, chips, or even toast some garlic herb bread to enjoy along with the salad, if you’re like me and enjoy a bit of carb-y awesome crunch with your salads.

Chopped Italian Salad

The key to a great chopped salad is to make every bite the same size. My family goes a bit crazy over chopped salads, and they often comment how great it is to have a bit of each flavor in every bite. One of my boys even insists on reveling in his salad by eating it with a spoon. And the spoon never fails to make me laugh.

I’m willing to bet that after your first bite, you’ll agree that it is well worth the few minutes of extra effort to chop things small. To make a chopped salad, simply cut all the ingredients very small and as close to the same size as possible.

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Crunchy bite-sized pieces of fresh vegetables, herbs, and ham, combined with a light and creamy dressing, make this ham pasta salad a standout! Be the belle of the buffet or the big wig of the barbecue with a bowl of this elevated summer standard.

Ham Pasta Salad

I’m not sure about you, but I don’t want to spend a lot of time working in a steamy kitchen when it’s hot outside. But we all have to eat, so pasta salad often becomes my go-to in the summertime.

It only takes a few minutes to boil the pasta, and once you’ve drained it, all the hot work is done. Rinse that pasta in cool water, chop up some vegetables and ham, and stir it all together with dressing. If you ask me, meat, vegetables, and pasta equals a full meal.

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Chilled cubes of watermelon tossed with lemon juice, salt, and a hint of spice are topped with thin ribbons of basil in this watermelon basil salad. Whether you eat it as is or top it with goat cheese or feta, it is destined to be a surefire summer hit!

Watermelon Basil Salad

Packing a surprising amount of flavor, this light and refreshing summer salad is a perfect choice to accompany anything grilled. And since it’s grilling season, this is a salad recipe you want in your back pocket.

This is best the day it’s made, but is still very tasty if eaten within a day or two. Wait to top with cheese right before serving for the best results.

Watermelon salad is mercifully easy to make when you know how to cut watermelon. And if you don’t know, check out that link for easy step-by-step instructions.

Basil is such a great natural pairing with watermelon. Both are fragrant and floral but the basil brings a little peppery zing to complement the sweet melon.

You can choose to scatter a little feta or goat cheese on top of the salad for a little briny deliciousness just before serving, but that’s strictly optional. I love the creamy, saltiness with the sweet watermelon.

Watermelon salads go into heavy rotation around here when it’s wa