Easy to prepare and ready in minutes – this Seafood Pasta Salad will be the star of the show at your next dinner, party or BBQ!
As a chef, cooking for moms and their kids has taught me a lot about what moms need, which is delicious, healthy, energizing food that they can prepare with, say, a twin baby boy on each hip and a four-and-a-half-year-old daughter screaming for her pink glitter Barbie barrettes that she needs, as my client’s little girl Harper says, “Now-Yow-Yow.” In fact, cooking for this sweet and oh-so-busy family has given me a whole new perspective on what moms who have several small children close in age are going through. They need quick, healthy, easy-to-prepare or make-ahead-and-store kind of meals, and believe me, I’m writing with all of you mothers, fathers, and little ones in mind.
In this so quick to prepare ahead and, then, throw together in minutes Seafood Pasta Salad, two kinds of sweet, succulent seafood — crab (or imitation crab) and shrimp — are complemented by crunchy green celery, al dente pasta, hard-boiled eggs, a bit of dill pickle relish with the perfect bit of added sugar, plus the most heavenly sauce. One which does that magic thing of giving you that moment of delicious shock when someone has taken a dish and elevated it from ho-hum to yum.
The Secret is Most Certainly in the Sauce…
This Seafood Pasta Salad is full of all kinds of delicious things that by themselves are already great-tasting. But this recipe does something few pasta salads get right today, and that’s to cloak all of this deliciousness in a perfect sauce. That’s because most pasta salad recipes call for only olive oil, Miracle Whip, or another mayo to be the entire sauce. But for a really good Seafood Pasta Salad, something has long been needed to give it a sauce that elevates it to five-star quality… something that will take the whole taste experience to the next level.
And to really dazzle the taste buds with a cold-composed salad, you must get every single flavor element right. I have recently found through happy discovery that the addition of plain Greek yogurt mixed with mayonnaise (Hellman’s gets my vote, here) is what really elevates pasta salad to the gourmet dish it should be. Try this, and I think you will agree!
How to Make Ahead and Store?
With this Seafood Pasta Salad, every single ingredient can be cooked or prepped the night before without sacrificing flavor or texture one iota. Even pasta can be kept in perfect al dente quality if you simply drain it, ice bath it, and oil it well, placing all oiled strands in a plastic baggy (this is how all major Italian food chains get your pasta orders ready so quickly). Once cooked, store leftovers in the fridge for up to 2 days. You cannot freeze this pasta salad.
Serving Suggestions
Serve this cold pasta salad as a starter course, main, or as a cool side dish with some tangy barbecue. I love to serve this with another favorite of mine, these Charleston-Inspired Grits Fritters and this easy Baked BBQ Chicken. For dessert, how about a No Bake Chocolate Cake for some easy-to-make decadence on a plate?
Seafood Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 1 pound elbow macaroni
- 1 cup crab meat flaked
- 1 cup cooked shrimp chopped
- 1 cup celery finely chopped
- 1/2 cup green onions finely chopped
- 6 hard boiled eggs diced
- 3/4 cup mayonnaise
- 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
- 1 tablespoon dill pickle relish
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- Salt to taste
- Black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cook the elbow macaroni in a large pot of boiling salted water according to the package instructions until al dente. Drain and rinse under cold water to cool; set aside.
- While the pasta is cooking, hard boil the eggs, then peel and dice them.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the cooled macaroni, flaked crab meat, chopped shrimp, chopped celery, green onions, and diced hard boiled eggs.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, Greek yogurt, dill pickle relish, and sugar until smooth. Season with salt and black pepper to taste.
- Pour the dressing over the pasta mixture and gently stir until all ingredients are well coated.
- Cover the salad and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or overnight, to allow the flavors to meld together.
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