Shrimp and Crab Louie Salad (Louis Salad)

This Shrimp and Crab Louie Salad (or Louis salad) is an iconic American classic filled with delicious seafood and hard boiled eggs and topped with a creamy dressing. It is perfect to serve for lunch, brunch or when you crave a light dinner.

I found myself at the grocery store last week pondering what to do for dinner. I had NO DESIRE to cook. I just cleaned all the dishes and scrubbed the counters clean. I was looking for an easy dinner that didn’t include a preservative rich pre-packaged meal.

That’s when I found myself in front of the seafood counter and I saw that shrimp was on sale for $5.99/lb. I looked down and saw the imitation-crab was also on sale. I know, IMITATION crab… But, it really is tasty stuff! So it hit me, let’s eat healthy tonight with a classic, Shrimp and Crab Louie Salad!

What is the crab Louie salad

There are several iconic American salads, and this Crab Louie (or Louis) Salad is definitely one of them. Its origins are believed to be from a San Francisco restaurant, Solari’s, dating back to the early 1900s. Other records shows it being served at the Davenport Hotel in Spokane, Washington.

Wherever it came from, the classic salad remains the same: crisp iceberg lettuce with lump crab meat, although imitation crab meat can also be used. Also served are hard boiled eggs, tomatoes and a creamy dressing. You can also mix in capers, olives, asparagus spears, cucumbers.

So who is the Louie the salad is named after? Well, this salad is known as the King of salads, so I’m guessing King Louis of France.

The Louie salad dressing

You can garnish your royal salad with a variety of dressings, like Thousand Island dressing or Green goddess dressing. But of course, there is also the Louie salad dressing which I have a recipe for listed below.

For my dressing, I combined mayonnaise, cocktail sauce, dijon mustard, lemon juice, lemon zest and chives. If you don’t have cocktail sauce you can substitute with ketchup and horseradish, or just ketchup. It might sound like an odd combination, but it is pretty delicious.

How to serve your crab Louie salad

This salad was a combination of my favorite things. Instead of lump crab, I used imitation crab (gasp) and shrimp. You can use any combination of shrimp and crab in any size. For the shrimp, you can buy it precooked or raw. I always prefer cooking my own shrimp, because I think I add more flavor, even if I am just boiling the shrimp.

For 1-pound of shrimp, I usually drop in half a lemon, a  bay leaf, a smashed garlic clove and a teaspoon of peppercorns to the water and bring it all to a boil. Drop in the shrimp, and it’s done when pink, about 5 minutes.

The Louie salad is all about presentation, so start with a bed of lettuce. I used Romaine since I prefer it to iceberg lettuce. Then top with a generous amount of crab and shrimp, some grape tomatoes and a sprinkling of chives and capers. Surround your salad with wedges of hardboiled egg and this retro salad is ready to be devoured.

My husband was pretty impressed when I brought this out for dinner.

“WOW! What made you want to make this??!!!”

I didn’t have the heart to tell him it was out of laziness!! It certainly looked and tasted like I put a lot of work in the meal. Some secrets are best left unsaid!

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Yield: 2 servings

Shrimp and Crab Louie Salad

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This Shrimp and Crab Louie Salad (or Louis salad) is an iconic American classic filled with delicious seafood and hard boiled eggs and topped with a creamy dressing. It is perfect to serve for lunch, brunch or when you crave a light dinner.

Prep Time 10 minutes

Total Time 10 minutes

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 2 TBS cocktail sauce
• 1 TBS dijon mustard
• 1 TBS lemon juice
• 1 tsp lemon zest, grated
• 1 TBS chives, chopped
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 9 oz mixed salad greens, approximately 7 cups
• 1/2 lb cooked shrimp
• 1/2 lb cooked lump crabmeat
• 4 hard boiled eggs, cut in half or quarters
• 8 grape tomatoes
• 1 TBS capers

Instructions

1. In a small bowl whisk together mayonnaise, cocktail sauce, dijon mustard, lemon juice, lemon zest, chives, and salt. Set aside.
2. On a large serving platter arrange the mixed salad greens.
   Top salad greens with shrimp, and lump crabmeat.
3. Arrange hard boiled eggs and tomatoes decoratively around the salad. Top with the capers.
4. Serve salad with prepared dressing.

Notes

You can use just shrimp or a combination of shrimp and crab meat. Imitation crab also works well in this salad.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

4

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 313Total Fat: 17gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 12gCholesterol: 367mgSodium: 1225mgCarbohydrates: 7gFiber: 2gSugar: 3gProtein: 31g