Enjoy this seafood pasta salad in two variations: using traditional pasta or cauliflower - both are scrumptious! You'll love the combination of high-protein shrimp and crab with a crunchiness from fresh veggies and a tangy sweetness from the dressing! This salad becomes gluten-free, low-carb, and keto-friendly by substituting cauliflower and using our sugar-free French dressing.
You'll Love This Crab and Shrimp Salad
2 Ways To Make It! You can use pasta or cauliflower florets as a pasta substitute. Both are delicious. This is one of my favorite salads, so I played around with the ingredients until it worked perfectly with cauliflower. 🙂
It's delicious. I love the combination of crab and shrimp as well as the crunchy textures from the fresh veg. Using catalina or French dressing brings the tangy sweet combination.
It's Healthier! Already high in protein and fresh veggies, you can make it even healthier by using cauliflower and sugar-free french dressing. Voila! Now it's a gluten-free, sugar-free, low-carb keto crab salad!
Ingredients
- Pasta Shells or Cauliflower - use medium pasta shells or use fresh cauliflower cut into florets approximately 1" in size.
- Vegetables - you'll use fresh celery, tomato, carrot, and green onion.
- Imitation Crabmeat - If you don't want to use imitation crab meat, be sure to use lump crab meat.
- Shrimp - shrimp should be cooked, shelled, and deveined. Again, medium-sized is best, but you can do what I did and cut the large size in half.
- Sour Cream - use full fat or low fat.
- Mayonnaise - I used avocado oil mayonnaise, but you can use any favorite kind. It can be low fat or full fat.
- French Dressing - make our sugar-free Catalina french for the low carb and keto version. Make in advance and use extra as a salad dressing or marinade later!
- Kosher Salt and Ground Black Pepper
For exact ingredient quantities, please see the recipe card below!
Substitutions and Variations
- You can use all shrimp or all crab meat if you prefer.
- If you don't want to use imitation crab meat, you can substitute lump crab meat.
- Make it spicy with a little hot sauce.
- Use cauliflower in place of pasta. Follow recipe below, but you can microwave fresh cauliflower or frozen cauliflower.
How To Make Seafood Pasta Salad
- Cook the pasta and rinse with cold water. If you're using cauliflower, pre-cook until is crisp tender. Rinse with cold water to stop the cooking.
- Mix all ingredients in a large bowl. Cover and refrigerate for a minimum of 2 hours.
- Adjust salt and pepper to taste, serve.
Serving Suggestions
- Serve with a grilled steak for a tasty surf and turf meal.
- I like serving over lettuce. If you are not following a low-carb keto plan, you can serve over a melon wedge - the two pair really well together.
- Serve on its own for lunch or a light dinner.
- If you are not following a low carb or keto plan, you can serve this with a fresh roll, breadstick, or a biscuit.
Kori's Tips
- Use the freshest ingredients and spices for the best flavor.
- Adjust sweetener, salt, and pepper to your liking.
- Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
- This recipe serves 6 but can easily be doubled or even tripled if serving for a party.
FAQs
Transfer leftover pasta salad to an air-tight container and store in the fridge for up to 3 days.
This salad will keep for up to 3 days.
To make seafood pasta salad low fat, use fat-free mayonnaise and sour cream.
If you make this with cauliflower and sugar-free Catalina french dressing, this shrimp and crab salad recipe is keto-friendly and has only 5.6 g net carbs in total, 12.3 grams of fat 9.4 g protein.
The carb content of seafood salad can vary quite a bit, but this recipe made with cauliflower and sugar-free french contains 7.3 g carbs, 1.6 g dietary fiber, and 5.6 g net carbs.
Yes, this seafood pasta can easily be made ahead of time - in fact, the flavors continue to improve as it sits. Store it in an airtight container.
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📖 The recipe.
Seafood Pasta Salad (With or Without Pasta)
Ingredients
- 8 ounces dry pasta shells (uncooked medium or 8 oz cauliflower florets (uncooked 1" sized pieces)
- 2 stalks celery (sliced)
- ½ cup ripe tomatoes (½" cubes)
- ½ cup carrot (peeled and shredded)
- ½ cup green onion (sliced)
- 4 ounces imitation crabmeat
- 4 ounces shrimp (cooked, shelled, and deveined)
- ½ cup sour cream
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- ⅓ cup catalina french dressing
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt or sea salt
- ⅛ teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to package instructions. If using cauliflower, place in a microwave-safe dish with ¼ cup water, cover, and steam 3 minutes or until crisp-tender.
- Drain pasta (or cauliflower) and rinse with cold water.
- In a large mixing bowl, add all ingredients. Stir until combined.
- Cover and refrigerate for a minimum of 2 hours. Enjoy!
Kori's Tips
Nutrition
© 2025 Seeking Good Eats™
What are some of your favorite recipes with cauliflower? Be sure to check out How To Cook Cauliflower - I show you five easy ways to make it! Be sure to make these two recipes that use cauliflower as a replacement for pasta: Zesty Italian Pasta Salad or this Cauliflower Cheese Casserole. 🙂
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Try this delicious Seafood Pasta Salad made with either pasta or cauliflower! The perfect for lunch, or as a side dish, or light dinner. Great with grilled fish, and as a surf and turf meal with steak. Use fat-free mayonnaise and sour cream to lighten the calories and fat. Make Crab and shrimp salad with cauliflower and sugar free french dressing and it will be low carb, keto, gluten-free, with no added sugar - voila a healthy salad recipe! 🙂
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