A big, juicy Prawn Mango Avocado Summer Salad!! Tossed with a fresh lime dressing, this is a magical combination of textures and flavours that’s summer in a (giant) bowl.
A terrific almost no-cook meal option or a great summer salad for a crowd. This is also how I make prawns (shrimp) stretch further!
Summer Salad – Prawns, Mango and Avocado!
I’m a bit fussy when it comes to fruit in meals. I never got on board the pork with apple thing. I’m not really a big fan of fruity sauces with roasts unless it errs more towards savoury or tart than sweet.
But mangoes with prawns? It’s a match made in heaven. It’s like tomato and basil. They are just meant to be!
Not that I’ve stopped there. Prawns and mango are the star ingredients in this summer salad, but just look at all the other goodness we’ve got here…. Creamy avocado – umm, hello! Juicy cherry tomatoes, fresh leafy greens, freshness from red onion and coriander/cilantro, all tossed through with a zesty lime dressing..
Who ever said salads are boring….! 😂
Make less prawns stretch further
You may have noticed that the prawns in this Summer Salad are chopped, which is a bit unusual. I do this for two reasons:
1. Stretch the prawns further – Big, juicy, bright orange prawns are in their prime during summer, but they aren’t cheap! Especially if you get really good quality ones.
So this is how I make less prawns go further. By chopping them, you get to have a bit of prawn in every single bite rather than just 5 prawns on your plate that disappear in 5 seconds. (Oh wait, is that just me? 😂)
2. Eat with a spoon – chopped = food you can eat with a spoon of which I am a big fan. Partly convenience (eg eyes remain glued to TV / book whilst eating), partly laziness (no need to cut with knife and fork). Partly greediness (you can shovel way more in your mouth in one go).
Make it a meal
This is a Summer Salad that’s intended to be a meal. And while it would be lower calorie to skip out on any type of carb, I like to fill this salad out using risoni / orzo, rice (any type) or quinoa (see this recipe for how to cook it). You’ll love how it soaks up all the flavour from the juicy prawns, mango and the dressing!
Giant couscous (pearl couscous) would also be ideal in this (cook it the way I do in this Israeli Couscous Salad). If you’re making this to impress, try using Wild Rice instead of risoni (cook it per this Wild Rice Salad recipe). The black colour and nuttiness of the rice looks and tastes spectacular!
How to make it
This is a straight forward recipe that calls for more chopping than anything else! Make the Lime Dressing first (just olive oil, fresh lime juice, garlic, S&P) to give the flavours time to meld. Cook the risoni/orzo. And meanwhile, chop the other ingredients, then bring it all together.
How to dice mango
Quick tip! Here’s an easy way to dice mango: Cut the cheeks off, score a grid in the flesh, then run a spoon around the rim then scoop the flesh out. And like magic, cubes of mango come tumbling out!
Depending on the size of your mango, some of these cubes will probably be larger than ideal so just cut them a bit smaller.
I just realised that I’ve used far more photos than necessary for such a simple Summer Salad.
I can’t resist. The self confessed Queen of Brown Foods (curries, gravies etc) is overly excited to be faced with all the beautiful colours in this salad.
Colourful food doesn’t happen often around here. Let me indulge! 😂 ~ Nagi x
Prawn, Mango Avocado Summer Salad
Watch How To Make It
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Prawn Mango Avocado Summer Salad with Lime Dressing
Ingredients
Salad:
- 2.5 cups cooked risoni/orzo or similar (Note 1)
- 300 – 400g / 10 – 12 oz cooked peeled prawns / shrimp (~750g unpeeled whole cooked)
- 1 large mango , cut 1.5cm / ½” pieces
- 1 large ripe avocado , cut 1.5cm / ½” pieces
- 75 g / 2.5 oz rocket / arugula , roughly chopped (Note 2)
- 250 g / 8oz cherry tomatoes , halved
- 1/2 red onion , finely sliced
- 1/4 cup coriander / cilantro leaves , finely chopped (Note 2)
Lime Dressing:
- 4 tbsp (60 ml) extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp (30 ml) lime juice (fresh), plus more to taste
- 1 small garlic clove , minced
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Shake Dressing in a jar.
- Chop prawns into 1.75 – 2 cm / 2/3” pieces.
- Place all Salad Ingredients in a bowl, pour over dressing. Toss very gently using rubber spatula. Adjust to taste with more lime if desired. Serve immediately!
Recipe Notes:
* Quinoa - cook per this recipe, use 3/4 cup (use recipe scaler in that recipe and adjust until uncooked quinoa amount becomes 3/4 cup)
* White Rices^ - 1 cup uncooked with 1 1/2 cups water in saucepan. Cover, bring to simmer, then turn down to medium low. Cook 12 - 15 min until water is absorbed, remove from heat, leave lid on. Stand 10 minutes, fluff, cool, use required amount for this recipe. Freeze remainder and stockpile to use for Fried Rice! Best to use long grain or medium grain white rice, jasmine or basmati. Short grain or sushi rice also ok (but the previous listed are better). Do not use: risotto or paella rice. * Brown Rice^ - 1 cup uncooked with 2 cups water. Cook as above except it will take 35 to 40 minutes, measure out amount required for this recipe. * Wild Rice - cook per this recipe. * Pearl / Giant Couscous - cook per packet ^ Hard to cook less than 1 cup. Put leftovers in freezer, stockpile and use for Fried Rice! 2. Variations / subs:
- Rocket (arugula) - sub with baby or normal spinach, other leafy greens or shredded cabbage
- Coriander/cilantro - sub with parsley or chives or green onion
- Other variations - lemon instead of lime, crab or other seafood, even chopped seafood sticks! Beans instead of risoni/orzo or for a low carb option, try cauliflower rice.
- Add ins - corn, cucumber, shaved fennel, cooked diced capsicum/bell peppers or zucchini
Nutrition Information:
FRESH PRAWN RECIPES TO ENJOY ALL SUMMER!
-
5 Prawn Dipping Sauces for a giant bucket of fresh prawns
-
Prawn Mango Avocado Summer Salad with Lime Dressing (this recipe)
-
Fresh peeled prawns alongside a Corn Salad with Avocado for a quick summer meal
-
Browse all Prawn / Shrimp Recipes
Life of Dozer
And 10 minutes later, he was still doing this….
I am freaking out. I’m from Northern Ireland and had a favourite salad in a local place for years. I live in the US now and every time I went home to visit, I looked forward to the salad. And didn’t they go and stop making it?! It’s insanely similar to this so I just made it, and honestly it’s even better. I swapped out the red onion for celery sliced in a similar way because I still wanted the texture. I am so excited I can just make it for myself now! Can’t tell you how grateful I am for this recipe!
This was so good and you’re right, prawns and mango are a match made in heaven! Loved this and we added some fresh chilli as well to give a bit of a kick and that was fantastic
I made it exactly as suggested after purchasing huge cooked garlic prawns from my local seafood supplier. A simple and quick salad with delicious flavours. It will be a regular on the salad rotation this summer! Thanks again Nagi
This is a brilliant salad. I’ve made it numerous times. The only change I made was doubling the salad dressing.
Can I dress this an hour or two in advance so the avocados do not brown
I’ve made this in the early afternoon to have at dinner. Just gets better if you dress ahead of time.
This looks so delicious! Pinning for when mangos are in season near me!
It also works with frozen Mangoes too Molly! N x
This is so fresh and tangy and just “yummy” !
I just made this… it is AMAZINGLY delicious! The only thing I changed was adding a bit of Mayo to the dressing.
Thanks Nagi, made this for Christmas lunch, along with four of your other Christmas recipes (including the orange glazed chicken) It was all amazing, but this salad was my favourite. Fantastic combination of flavours and colours. Simple too. Your recipes are always delicious! I rarely cook anything else these days.
Hope you had good Christmas despite the lockdown. xx
Is the rice served cold with this recipe?
I forgot to add the avocado but the salad tasted delicious still. Our mango was slightly sour, which added a really nice tang to the salad. I’m usually not a fan of coriander, so only added very little of it (and finely chopped). Also omitted the onion, but added onion powder to the dressing…less punchy but still some oniony flavour. Definitely a salad to make again.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Amy!! N x
Made this with flaked Atlantic salmon, added some cukes as I had them, and subbed rocket (not a fan) for chopped cos lettuce. Yum, light, fresh, delicious! Will make again and again, thankyou
That looks so divine. Is this a salad that is meant to eat it all in one sitting? Only because the avocados will turn brown? Or will it keep as leftovers?
Hi DJ, it’s better served fresh, if you wanted to keep some for leftovers, I’d keep the rocket out and add as you serve it. N x
Hi but will the Avocado turn brown if not served immediately please?
I want to make the mango and prawn salad as it’s sounds so good. I have salmon and wondered if l could use that instead of prawns?
Mmmmmm YES! That would be wonderful. Flake it into big chunks!
Thank you Nagi
Salmon and Mango salad it will be.
This was so delicious, I couldn’t stop eating it. So light and great for summer.
I made this prawn, mango/avocado salad last night. The dressing we found a bit too heavy on the oil. I added a bit more lime juice but it didn’t help much. My friends opted to use a bottled balsamic dressing. When I make my own dressing I don’t put so much oil in the mix; should have listened to my instincts. We did enjoy the salad, though.
Hi Martha! I’m sorry you thought this was heavy on oil for your taste, 1 part vinegar to 2 parts oil is actually LESS oil than most Western dressings that typically use 1 part vinegar to 3 parts oil!! N xx
I agree I added brown sugar which it needed I thought.
Very Tasty, i start doing meal prep ( put it as dinner for 3 days in a large mason jar). I will definitely do it again.
I loved it !
Easy, tasty, and very flexible! I didn’t have arugula or anything similar, so I shredded some lettuce – got it a nice crunch. We gave excessive quantities of baby zucchini, so I threw a couple of those in! Super recipe! Thanks Nagi
The dressing is a kick-ass.
Filling and at the same time light, healthy salad. All the ingredients are matching perrrfectly.
Thank you Nagi x
I made this twice in 2 weeks because it was so tasty. The flavours in this dish are really well balanced and the dressing could be used for other salads too. Would definitely recommend