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This creamy, delicious Seafood Pasta Salad has chewy pasta, lots of colorful vegetables, and a mix of your favorite seafood like shrimp, crab, and lobster. It’s perfect for parties, picnics, and barbecues.
Table of Contents
Recipe ingredients
Ingredient notes
- Penne pasta: Or substitute rotini, farfalle, macaroni, or any small other pasta.
- Broccoli: Blanch the broccoli for a milder taste and a brighter green color.
- Salad dressing: To make my favorite Italian dressing, whisk together ¼ cup olive oil, 2 tbsp red wine vinegar, 2 tbsp Parmesan cheese, 1 ½ tsp lemon juice, 1 tsp honey, ½ tsp Dijon mustard, ½ tsp dried basil, ½ tsp dried oregano, ½ tsp dried parsley, ⅛ tsp garlic powder, and salt and pepper to taste (I like ¼ tsp salt and ⅛ tsp pepper). Or, use your favorite store-bought dressing.
- Parmesan cheese: I like the dry one from the green shaker can best in this unfussy pasta salad.
- Seafood: Aim for 1 ½ cups total (about 1 pound) of your favorite seafood such as cold poached shrimp, imitation crab, lump crabmeat, or chunks of poached lobster.
Step-by-step instructions
- In a large pot, bring 4 quarts water and 1 tablespoon salt to boil. Add pasta and cook according to package directions for al dente (usually 8 to 12 minutes depending on the exact noodle). Drain well and rinse with cold water. Meanwhile, bring 2 quarts water and 1 teaspoon salt to boil.
- Fill a medium bowl with cold water and ice. Add the broccoli and blanch until bright green and tender-crisp, about 3 minutes. Transfer to the ice water to stop the cooking, then drain well.
- In a large bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, Italian dressing, and Parmesan cheese. Stir in pasta, tomatoes, bell pepper, and scallions. Carefully fold in crab and stir until evenly coated. Cover and chill until serving time.
Recipe tips and variations
- Yield: This recipe makes 8 generous servings.
- Storage: Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- Make ahead: The noodles can be boiled, rinsed with cold water, and drained up to 2 days in advance. Store covered in the refrigerator. The broccoli can be blanched and chilled 1 day in advance. The Italian dressing, if you make it yourself, can be made up to 3 days in advance.
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Seafood Pasta Salad
This creamy, delicious Seafood Pasta Salad has chewy pasta, lots of colorful vegetables, and a mix of your favorite seafood like shrimp, crab, and lobster. It's perfect for parties, picnics, and barbecues.
Ingredients
- 1 pound penne pasta (see note 1)
- 1 cup broccoli florets chopped (see note 2)
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup Italian salad dressing (see note 3)
- 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese grated (see note 4)
- 1 (8 or 10 ounce) package grape tomatoes halved lengthwise
- ½ cup red bell pepper diced
- ½ cup scallions sliced
- 1 ½ cups cooked shrimp crab, and/or lobster, chopped (see note 5)
Instructions
- In a large pot, bring 4 quarts water and 1 tablespoon salt to boil. Add pasta and cook according to package directions for al dente (usually 8 to 12 minutes depending on the exact noodle). Drain well and rinse with cold water.
- Meanwhile, bring 2 quarts water and 1 teaspoon salt to boil. Fill a medium bowl with cold water and ice. Add the broccoli and blanch until bright green and tender-crisp, about 3 minutes. Transfer to the ice water to stop the cooking, then drain well.
- In a large bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, Italian dressing, and Parmesan cheese. Stir in pasta, tomatoes, bell pepper, and scallions. Carefully fold in crab and stir until evenly coated. Cover and chill until serving time.
Recipe Video
Notes
- Penne pasta: Or substitute rotini, farfalle, macaroni, or any small other pasta.
- Broccoli: Blanch the broccoli for a milder taste and a brighter green color.
- Salad dressing: To make my favorite Italian dressing, whisk together ¼ cup olive oil, 2 tbsp red wine vinegar, 2 tbsp Parmesan cheese, 1 ½ tsp lemon juice, 1 tsp honey, ½ tsp Dijon mustard, ½ tsp dried basil, ½ tsp dried oregano, ½ tsp dried parsley, ⅛ tsp garlic powder, and salt and pepper to taste (I like ¼ tsp salt and ⅛ tsp pepper). Or, use your favorite store-bought dressing.
- Parmesan cheese: I like the dry one from the green shaker can best in this unfussy pasta salad.
- Seafood: Aim for 1 ½ cups total (about 1 pound) of your favorite seafood such as cold poached shrimp, imitation crab, lump crabmeat, or chunks of poached lobster.
- Yield: This recipe makes 8 generous servings.
- Storage: Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- Make ahead: The noodles can be boiled, rinsed with cold water, and drained up to 2 days in advance. Store covered in the refrigerator. The broccoli can be blanched and chilled 1 day in advance. The Italian dressing, if you make it yourself, can be made up to 3 days in advance.
Nutrition
Calories: 343kcalCarbohydrates: 45gProtein: 10gFat: 13gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 10mgSodium: 256mgPotassium: 226mgFiber: 2gSugar: 3gVitamin A: 449IUVitamin C: 24mgCalcium: 43mgIron: 1mg
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Meggan Hill is a classically-trained chef and professional writer. Her meticulously-tested recipes and detailed tutorials bring confidence and success to home cooks everywhere. Meggan has been featured on NPR, HuffPost, FoxNews, LA Times, and more.
Hi there,
Could Miracle Whip be used in place of mayonnaise, or would that throw off the flavor? Hoping to make this for my daughter’s ocean-themed birthday party this weekend :)
Hi Christine, I haven’t tried it with Miracle Whip myself, but I don’t see why it couldn’t be used. It will change the flavor some. I hope your daughter’s party is a blast! – Meggan
Im making a lobster quiche for company tomorrow. Should I make the quiche today with fresh lobster and cook in the morning? Or will it be better to literally put it together in the morning right before I bake it?
DITTO the cold broccoli salad. Should I make the whole thing and let it refrigerate over night? Or should I wait until the morning to add the grapes and dressing? HELP! I’m out of practice due to COVID!!! :) Thank you!
Hi Carol! Sorry I’m seeing this late I hope they both turned out great! The broccoli salad could definitely be made the night before. – Meggan
Hi, you had me until you said you “ like the green shaker can” of Parmesan which tastes like cardboard. Why not buy a hunk of parmesan & grate it fresh?
Hi Julie, that parmesan is just a personal preference. Feel free to use whatever parmesan you prefer! -Meggan
Hi! I was reading about Danish cake and saw the video pop up on the side. We’re not huge seafood lovers here and I was wondering if this would be good with chicken or would the mayo be weird?
P.s. thank you for showing me how to officially blanch broccoli as I am NOT a fan if it’s raw!
Hello, I wanted to know if you would post the recipe to chicken and grape salad. I am not a cook and have no idea how to make this. This is the only site that I found that has actual recipes. For this I thank you. :}
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Hi Meggan, I am excited to try this recipe for a picnic with my fiancé. Any recommendations on what dishes/drinks would pair nicely with it? Thanks for your suggestions in advance!
Hi Baylin! I LOVE this salad, I hope you do too. I love it with sandwiches (especially chicken salad on croissants, or ham and cheese croissant sandwiches with mayo, lettuce, and tomato), fresh fruit, a bag of Lay’s potato chips. Feel free to be more upscale than that, ha ha! For drinks, any kind of sangria (if that’s your thing) or a lovely Arnold Palmer. Those are all my favorites! If you need a chicken salad recipe, or a sangria recipe, just let me know! I hope you guys have fun. :D
Thanks, Meggan! One last question :) Is the Italian salad dressing dry or wet?
I love all the recipes y’all have, so good.
Made this yesterday and was delicious!! I do like a little zing so added 1 1/2 tsp. of Salad Supreme!!! Awesome!
“1 uncooked small pasta (macaroni, rotini, small shells, etc.)”
My understanding is that this means 1 package of uncooked small pasta. How many grams or ounces would you say this equals to? The grocery stores in my city carry different sized packages of pasta, so stating this recipe requires “1 package small pasta” is unfortunately not specific enough for me :( Sorry to be a bother. I don’t know if this happens in different areas or if it’s just my country
Angela, I am so sorry. YOU are not a bother. My recipe has a typo. I am so sorry! My instructions would not be clear to anyone, ever, no matter where they lived. It is supposed to be one pound of small pasta, but I cut out the pound part. And one pound is 453.592 grams. Or thereabouts. :) Thank you for finding this mistake so I can correct it, and I’m sorry again. Take care and if you need anything else just let me know! Sorry!!!
I love seafood, so this pasta salad is calling my name. I’d love to serve it as a tasty side dish for BBQ.
Thank you, it’s definitely the time of year for barbecues!