Butter Lettuce Salad with Shrimp Mango Avocado and Sweet Chili Vinaigrette

Here’s a fresh, flavorful, healthy and easy dinner salad that’s perfect for a light summer meal! Best of all, cool and crunchy Butter Lettuce Salad with Shrimp, Mango, Avocado and Sweet Chili Vinaigrette is practically no-cook!

Why This Recipe is a Keeper!

Butter lettuce is a lovely sweet salad green that works well for everyday meals. Because it often still has the roots attached, it tends to stay fresh in your refrigerator for weeks.

In this healthy salad recipe, tender butter lettuce serves as the base for shrimp, mango, avocado, red onion, hot or sweet peppers and a Thai-inspired sweet chili vinaigrette for a flavorful nearly no-cook summer dinner.

This Butter Lettuce Salad recipe with Shrimp, Mango, Avocado and Sweet Chili Vinaigrette is pretty much everything! It’s:

• Super flavorful!
• Easy with minimal prep work.
• Practically no-cook and totally no-cook if you use purchased cooked shrimp.
• Versatile! Because it’s butter lettuce, this salad is easily transformed into lettuce wraps.
• Healthy without a lot of oil!

Let’s make it!

How to Make Butter Lettuce Salad with Shrimp, Mango, Avocado and Sweet Chili Vinaigrette:

Recipe Ingredients:

Here’s everything you’ll need to make this butter lettuce salad recipe along with how to prep the ingredients. See the recipe card below for the exact quantities.

Ingredient Notes:

• Shrimp: Use wild-caught shrimp if at all possible. Full disclosure: The shrimp shown in the photo are farmed shrimp that my husband purchased by mistake because they were labeled very nicely: No preservatives, no hormones, no additives. But, they were still farmed shrimp. Using them only reaffirmed my resolve to only buy and consume wild-caught shrimp because of the rubbery texture farmed shrimp tend to have.
• Mango: There are numerous varieties of mangoes. The most common types found at most grocery stores are “Haden” and “Tommy Atkins.” To determine ripeness, gently squeeze the mango.  A ripe mango will give slightly and will sometimes have a fruity aroma at its stem end.
• Hot or Sweet Peppers: The peppers shown are Fresno chiles which can be pretty spicy. If you don’t like hot and spicy, used diced red bell pepper or thinly sliced mini peppers.
• Butter / Bibb / Boston Lettuce: Butter lettuce is a type of lettuce that also includes Bibb and Boston. Although it doesn’t have a buttery flavor, it has a sweet, mild flavor. The loose, round heads are often sold in a plastic shell with the roots still attached to preserve freshness. Because the roots usually are still attached, be sure to rinse the heads before using.
• Rice Vinegar: This mild Asian vinegar is sometimes referred to as rice wine vinegar, however, they are two different ingredients. Both will work in this recipe.
• Sweet Chili Sauce: This sweet, tangy and spicy condiment can be found in the international aisle of your grocery store.

Step-By-Step Instructions:

• Gather and prep all the ingredients.
• Make the sweet chili vinaigrette first. Combine the vinaigrette ingredients in a food processor or blender and process until smooth.
• Taste and adjust seasoning if desired.
• MAKE AHEAD: Can be made one day ahead of time and refrigerated.

• Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Add salt and black pepper.
• Add the shrimp and cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute or just until the shrimp is firm, pink and cooked through.
• Drain in a sieve or colander and run under cold running tap water to cool the shrimp quickly.
• MAKE AHEAD: Shrimp can be cooked one day ahead of time and refrigerated.

• Assemble the salad: Place the butter lettuce on a platter and top it with the shrimp, mango, avocado, red onion and sweet or hot pepper. Garnish with cilantro sprigs and lime wedges.

• Drizzle on the sweet chili vinaigrette or let each diner add as desired.

• This butter lettuce salad can also be assembled on individual plates and the vinaigrette passed separately.
• Or, keep the shrimp warm and enjoy as a wrap.

Chef Tips and Tricks:

• Mango flesh can be slippery. The easiest way to dice a mango is to slice it down from the stem end on the two somewhat flat sides avoiding the large pit. Then, take a sharp paring knife and make cuts in the mango flesh in two directions. Use the dull end of the chef’s knife or paring knife to remove the already diced flesh from the mango skin. Like this…

• If you need to peel and devein shrimp, the quickest way I have found to do that is to:
  • Use kitchen shears to cut the shell. Without setting the shears down in between handling each individual shrimp (in other words–do ALL the cutting first), cut the top shell of all the shrimp up to the tail part, allowing the tip of the shear to slit an opening as you cut to enable removal of the vein.
  • Then, under gently running tap water, separate the shell where you cut with the shears then remove the vein, the shell and the legs.
  • You may wish to leave part of the tail on for presentation purposes.
  • You can also use a paring knife but I find kitchen shears to be less clumsy.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Serve with:

• Cold Thai Cucumber Avocado Soup with Cucumber Relish
• Chilled Cantaloupe Soup
• Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Thai Green Curry Butter

More main course/dinner salads you’ll love!

Get all my Main Course / Dinner Salad recipes at: Main Course and Dinner Salads – From A Chef’s Kitchen

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