Skip to Content

Best Seafood Pasta Salad Recipe

Sharing is caring!

A simple, yet delicious, Pasta Seafood Salad with big chunks of Crab Meat and Large Shrimp! Add in hard boiled eggs, chopped celery, green onion, with a delicious creamy dressing. It’s a fantastic side or a great main course on a hot summer day!

Anyone else love a great summer Pasta Salad loaded with all the seafood your fish loving heart can handle? 

Close up photo of a plate full of the best seafood pasta salad on a bed of lettuce.

For years, I’ve been trying to come up with the Ultimate Seafood Pasta Salad Recipe. One that is loaded with flavor and icy cold! Perfect on a hot summer day! 

A few weeks ago on Father’s Day I made the “men folk” at this Nest their favorite summer dish…Crab and Shrimp Boil! It’s SO good! A must try recipe if you haven’t yet!

I also made a grilled Tri-tip for the “non-fish” loving son so he’d have something to nibble on while we all gorged ourselves on baby red potatoes, corn, sausage, crab legs, and big jumbo shrimp. There is nothing better than sitting around a big table, laden down with all that seafaring goodness… dunking in carafes of melted lemon butter. Throw in big thick slices of crispy sour dough bread…sigh…we ate till we nearly exploded! (It was like that scene in Willy Wonka…only an entire family sitting around, blowing up like big ol’ balloons!)

When dinner was over, besides all the waddling going on…there was a LOT of left over seafood! So the next day I sat down and removed all the leftover crab from the remaining crab legs, and chopped up the giant shrimp and got to work making this Amazing seafood salad! 

This is the perfect Seafood Macaroni salad for your summer holiday celebrations, memorial day, labor day, and of course…the 4th of July!

How to Make Cold Seafood Pasta Salad

Start off by cooking 1 pound of pasta according to the directions on the package. Rinse and cool.

In a large bowl place the cooled pasta, add 1 cup finely chopped celery, 3 green onions, chopped finely, 1 cup flaked crab meat. (Honestly…that crab meat gets me every. single. time. YUM!)

Bowl with cooked macaroni, chopped celery, onion, and crab meat.

You can use any size shrimp you want, since I was using the leftover shrimp from the seafood boil, they were very large, ginormous! I didn’t want any choking on a shrimp…so I cut them into bite size pieces! Whatever size you use, make sure the shrimp is bite size for this salad. It’s always a good rule of thumb when it comes to cold serve pot luck friendly salads!

Add salt and pepper to taste.

TIP: I recommend going light on the salt in the beginning. You can always add more, but ya can’t take it out! (Have you ever tried to pick grains of salt out of a pasta salad? It can be really time consuming! lol) 

Adding chopped cooked shrimp, salt and pepper to the pasta salad preparations.

Dressing ingredients for Pasta Salad

Now this may seem strange…but I add the dressing ingredients at this point and then add the chopped hard boiled eggs. It makes mixing everything together easier! That’s just me though…you can toss it all in the bowl and then just busy combining things. It’s all about personal preference. 

Add in 1 cup Mayonnaise…raise your right hand, place it over your heart, and repeat after me…”I will add Mayonnaise and stay far, far, far, away from the evil Miracle Whip”! (That step is crucial to the success of this dish!)

Add one cup of sour cream. I know, this seems so strange…but the combination of the two is AMAZING! You just have to trust me. Add 1 tablespoon sweet relish, and 2 teaspoons sugar.

Mix, carefully, so you do not break up the crab meat too much, but be sure everything is well combined. (It’s like walking and chewing gum! I sound like I’m contradicting myself…but if I can do this…You can do this!)

Adding Mayonnaise, sour cream, relish, and sugar to the salad mixture.

Finishing Touches for Pasta Salad

Now that you have everything but the eggs mixed together…add in the 8 diced hard boiled eggs. Mix until well combined.

TIP: If you want perfect hard boiled eggs, try cooking them in your instant pot. I have the perfect step-by-step instructions for making hard boiled eggs in your instant pot. They turn out beautiful every single time! Cook a few extra and make deviled eggs. Your family will love you!

Adding hard boiled eggs to the salad mixture.

That’s a whole lot of YUM in that bowl! Don’t ya just love a cold creamy pasta salad? I know I do! Cover the bowl, and place the Seafood Salad in the refrigerator. Chill for 4 hours or over night. (The salad! Not you! You have things to do! Like the dishes!)

Seafood Macaroni Salad mixed in a bowl and ready to chill in the refrigerator.

This pasta salad is not over powering with “fishy” flavors. It’s the perfect blend of seafood, creamy eggs, and crunchy veggies! It’s a great mayonnaise based seafood salad and keeps well in your refrigerator for days. I store it up to 6 days and eat off it all week! Best Lunch EVER!

I love that this salad can be made ahead of time and is ready to go on Party day!  It’s perfect for potlucks, back yard BBQ’s, and Summer Holiday get togethers!

Plate full of Best Seafood Pasta Salad.

Your family, friends, and guests will really enjoy this yummy summer side dish…but honestly it’s good anytime! All ya really need is a fork and a love of seafood! 

Here are some other great Summer Salad Recipes

Thanks so much for stopping by and visiting with me today! I hope y’all have a wonderful 4th of July and make a big ol’ heaping bowl of this delicious Seafood Salad!

Happy Nesting!

Photo of Norine with her signature
Yield: 12 servings

Best Seafood Pasta Salad Recipe

Close up photo of a plate full of the best seafood pasta salad on a bed of lettuce.

A simple, yet delicious, Pasta Seafood Salad with big chunks of Crab Meat and Large Shrimp! Add in hard boiled eggs, chopped celery, green onion, with a delicious creamy dressing. It's a fantastic side or a great main course on a hot summer day!

Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 pound box macaroni pasta
  • 1 cup flaked crab meat
  • 1 cup, cut up, large cooked shrimp
  • 1 cup finely chopped celery
  • 3-4 green onions, finely chopped
  • 8 hard boiled eggs, diced
  • 1 cup mayonnaise
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 1 Tablespoon sweet relish
  • 2 teaspoons sugar
  • salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

  1. Cook pasta according to package directions. Rinse and cool.
  2. Boil the eggs, peel, and dice.
  3. In a large bowl, combine cooled pasta, crab, shrimp, celery, onions, slat and pepper, and diced eggs.
  4. Add in sour cream, mayonnaise, relish, and sugar. Mix until well combined. Cover and chill 4 hours or over night.

Notes

This salad will store in the refrigerator for 4-5 days.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

12 servings

Serving Size:

1 cup

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 305Total Fat: 22gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 15gCholesterol: 179mgSodium: 367mgCarbohydrates: 15gFiber: 1gSugar: 3gProtein: 12g

Sharing is caring!

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Yvonne

Sunday 20th of November 2022

Norine, I'm loving your sense of humor! Best wishes my friend.

norine@norinesnest.com

Tuesday 22nd of November 2022

Thank you Yvonne! I truly appreciate the compliment! Have a wonderful Holiday season. Norine

Karen

Thursday 17th of November 2022

Lastly, boiling your noodles and seafood in shrimp/crab boil adds great flavor. Crawfish tails to this is a really tasty combo.

Karen

Thursday 17th of November 2022

I like to add grape/cherry/diced tomatoes, diced cucumbers, few splashes of lemon juice to taste, garlic powder, onion powder, and Roasted Red Pepper/Zesty Italian dressing to this recipe. I also hold off on the egg yolks when using seafood.

You can also use leftover steak vs. seafood or leave out all meat/seafood for a cheaper version.

Jackie

Monday 25th of July 2022

I just made this salad. My go-to has always been macaroni tuna salad, so was a bit skeptical about this (sugar? Sweet pickle relish?!), but let me just say DEE-LICIOUS!!! Also, I only had the fake crab but it worked fine. I just squeezed it pretty dry and cut it up. First taste test was so good, but I can't wait to try it again later after the flavors have gotten better acquainted. One more thing, can't thank you enough for sharing the boiled egg/Instant Pot connection! I tried it and it worked like a charm & saved me so much time. I didn't have to steam up my house (in late July) boiling eggs, or struggle with peeling, it was like magic. Thank you! For this yummy recipe and the no-fail boiled eggs (I'll never boil again). And I can't wait until my next pot luck to showcase this recipe!

norine@norinesnest.com

Monday 25th of July 2022

Hi Jackie! Goodness me Thank You so much for taking the time to share with me! You made my day! I love making hard boiled eggs in the Instant Pot. I'm with you. The only way to go!! Especially with all this heat right now. Have a Great Week! Come back again soon. Norine

Demetrious

Wednesday 1st of June 2022

This is a first time trying this recipe will let you know . So far I love the ingredients

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Skip to Recipe