Delicious Creamy spaghetti seafood salad made with creamy Italian dressing, tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, and seafood. The perfect salad for summer holiday cookouts, parties, picnics, and family gatherings at the park.
If you’re anything like me and are a seafood and pasta addict, this recipe is for you! And the best part is, this seafood salad recipe is very simple and extremely easy to make!
This recipe is a modified version of my aunt Janet and older cousin Nydia’s seafood salad recipe. It’s a family favorite and always one of the first things to go at family cookouts. LMBO!! So that’s how you know it’s good!
Aunt Janet & Nydia
My aunt Janet and my older cousin Nydia would always bring creamy spaghetti seafood salad to every family function. They were the ones who made it best and it was always their seafood salad that I looked forward to eating the most. Lol!
I don’t think they had an actual recipe for it but they always made it the same way. Nydia used creamy Italian dressing and my aunt Janet would put Zesty Italian dressing in her salad, very similar to my Zesty Italian Pasta Salad Recipe.
This recipe is very similar to theirs but I tweaked it and put my own spin on it. I always recreate my family’s recipes and make slight modifications to make them MINE. Lol!
Let me tell yall how good this salad is though! It’s so good that whenever they would make this salad and bring it to family functions, it was one of the first things to go. Lol!
They would always bring 2 pans because they knew how much the family loved it. Nydia would bring 2 large deep lasagna-size pans of salad and my aunt Janet did the same.
Delicious Creamy Spaghetti Seafood Salad 2019 Video
The anti-white club
Some people don’t like white or light-colored condiments like Mayo and Creamy Italian dressing. I’ve met quite a few people who for whatever reason, didn’t like mayo, white gravy, Ranch, Blue cheese, or anything “WHITE” on their food.
I don’t know what that’s about but people like that exist! Lol! And so, the family always devoured Aunt Janet’s Italian seafood salad first. The creamy one wouldn’t last long either, but my Aunt Janet’s salad would always be the first to go.
After about an hour of being placed on the table, more than half of the salad would be GONE! My family doesn’t play when it comes to food! We’re all foodies and love to eat and a good chilled salad during a summer cookout is a MUST for us!
Ingredients you’ll need:
- Pasta: Thin Spaghetti
- Seafood add-ins: Shrimp, Leg Style Imitation Crab, and Chunk Style Imitation Lobster
- Vegetable add-ins: Cucumbers, Red Onions, and Grape Tomatoes
- Seasonings: Salt, Old Bay Seasoning, Celery Salt, Garlic Powder, Red Pepper Flakes, Black Pepper, and Parsley
- Condiments: Creamy Italian Dressing
- Other: Vegetable oil
Common questions about spaghetti
What brand of spaghetti do you use?
I’m personally not too anal about the brand of pasta… I like to use high-quality brands of dressing and make sure the seafood and vegetables are fresh. That’s what matters to me most.
HOWEVER, I do always try to go for THIN SPAGHETTI. I’ve found that there isn’t much of a difference between popular supermarket store brands and named brand Spaghetti.
I’ve used everything from Barilla, Mueller’s, and Ronzoni, to De Cecco and San Giorgio which I was always told was the very best.
I’m sure Italian chefs will kill me and tell me about the nuances and differences between these pasta brands but none has negatively altered my recipe in any way so I pick up the first one I see.
Do you have to use thin spaghetti?
Sorta, but that’s just preference-based. I prefer thin spaghetti but that doesn’t matter much as long as it’s not bloated from being overcooked. Speaking of overcooked pasta.
Should you boil spaghetti with oil?
I don’t because it’s not really necessary. Once you add the spaghetti to a big mixing bowl, add in the dressing, and ingredients and start stirring everything in.
Any spaghetti sticking together will definitely come apart. I do use oil on occasion though. It just depends on what I’m making the Spaghetti for.
Why do you add salt to pasta water?
I add salt to the pasta water for flavor and it limits the starch. The salad taste better when the pasta has flavor. It enhances the overall deliciousness of the salad.
When is the spaghetti done?
Whenever you’re boiling pasta, no matter which kind, you want to cook it until it’s al dente. Which means cooked til tender but firm. You don’t want it to be soggy, bloated, and limp!
Should you rinse the spaghetti once it’s done?
I do this just to stop the cooking process because with it still being very hot straight out of the pot if you leave the spaghetti in a colander the heat will basically continue cooking it.
So I always lightly rinse the Spaghetti with cool water using my kitchen faucet sprayer until it’s chilled just to speed up the cooling process, I dont spray too hard though. Lol!
About Seafood and alternatives
Now look… as I’ve had to tell many of my subscribers, I’m not eating this salad, you are!! So feel free to customize the recipe to your liking and make whatever adjustments you feel are necessary.
If you feel you want to add muscles to the salad, for example, DO SO if you like how that tastes! I always tell people to follow my recipe to a T at least once first and afterwards, decide what you may want to add or omit from it.
- Shrimp: I use large, deveined cooked shrimp, but if I can’t find any, I’ll buy some salad-size shrimp. I never leave the shrimp whole and end up chopping them up anyway so the size doesn’t matter much.
How much you use is what matters. But shrimp is a must… you can’t make seafood salad and not use one of the most popular seafood in the world, shrimp – that would be blasphemous! Lol! - Crab: I use different types of crab meat in my seafood salads. In this salad, I use leg-style imitation crab meat because it gives the salad color. I like the bright orange color of the imitation crab meat and I love the taste as well.
Real crab meat is definitely an option for those who’ve been asking. It doesn’t matter; just stick with the same amount. Imitation seafood is cheaper, so I like to make recipes using it so it’s affordable for every viewer. - Lobster: I use chunk-style imitation lobster meat but just like with the crab, you can use real lobster meat. My cousin Nydia always used real seafood and would sometimes use every seafood known to man. LMBO!
She took this dish very seriously and didn’t take any shortcuts or do anything that may jeopardize its integrity. Lol! She also likes to pack her salad with A LOT of seafood, and when I say A LOT, I mean A LOT!! Lol!
Why I chose these vegetables
Now in this recipe, the vegetables we’ll be using are Grape Tomatoes, cucumbers, and Red onions. After experimenting with this recipe and making several changes to it, I found that these 3 vegetables work best for this particular salad.
No other vegetables are needed but feel free to add your favorites or omit 1 of the 3 below if you feel it’ll make the salad better for you. This salad like I said about Italian Pasta Salad is very versatile.
- Red onions: I use red onions mainly for it’s color. If yall know me yall know I think how food looks is as important as how it taste. Red onions also aren’t very pungent and have a neutral flavor, which is perfect for salads.
- Grape tomatoes: The grape tomatoes were my choice because of their deep red color unlike regular tomatoes which are more on the dark orange side and because they are super juicy and sweeter than traditional tomatoes.
It was the best choice because one time I made this salad and used tomatoes because I had to rush for time and didn’t have any grape tomatoes, it wasn’t nearly as good to me so grape tomatoes it is. - Cucumbers: I just love cucumbers and other than Italian and tossed salad, I don’t use them for much else. So when I was experimenting with this recipe I threw them in last after the recipe was already created.
I did so because I had an old cucumber in the fridge I didn’t want to waste. When I realized how well it went with the salad I added it to the recipe. Now, I wont even entertain making it without cucumbers!
About the seasonings and spices
- Old Bay: Old Bay seasoning is a must when it comes to seasoning seafood salad. It just enhances the seafood flavor and gives seafood salad just what it needs. You’ll find this listed in pretty much all my seafood salad recipes.
- Celery salt: I decided not to add any chopped celery because the salad already has enough vegetables in it and celery salt provides a stronger celery flavor than a few chopped pieces of celery throughout the salad.
The celery flavor from the celery salt is a game changer just like Old Bay. All the ingredients play a role in making this salad so delicious but these two seasonings are key ingredients and give this salad some swag. - Garlic powder: I don’t use that much garlic but its flavor elevates the salad. What y’all don’t know is, I didn’t use garlic powder the first few times I made this salad, so why I use it now you’re probably wondering.
I accidentally, while on the phone yapping my mouth, added minced garlic to the salad and was forced to eat it anyway because I wasn’t throwing the salad away. Let’s just say I ended up being amazed at how good it was! Lol!
So I decided to add a hint of garlic to the recipe and chose to use garlic powder since its flavor is more potent and will better permeate throughout the salad. It just adds something to the salad. - Red pepper flakes: This adds a hint of heat to the salad which makes it all the more delicious. I only use very little though but the little kick of spice you taste in this salad goes great with the creamy Italian dressing.
I love the red pepper flakes’ addition to this salad. The colorful flakes sprinkled throughout make the salad look pretty and appetizing. Again, I like to beautify my food, REMEMBER THAT! LMBBO!!! - Black pepper: Well, I don’t need to explain what pepper brings to the table… it just makes everything taste a little better and I only use very little of it. Try the salad with the pepper and without it and you’ll see what I’m saying.
Pepper is very underrated and one of those spices that we use but don’t know why but we know it’s wrong to go without it. Lololol! I don’t even know if that makes sense but just add it to the darn salad ok? LMBO! - Parsley flakes: I use parsley flakes solely for decoration purposes. Once I’m done preparing the salad, I garnish it with parsley flakes before placing it in the fridge. It just makes it more appetizing.
You have to garnish every salad with something. You don’t want your food to just be good it looking good is what’s going to make people who maybe sceptical about eating it actually try it and give it a shot.
Salt to taste
Now here’s what I want to say about the OLD BAY AND CELERY SALT and all the seasonings for that matter because we all have different sensitivity levels to SALT. Add the seasonings last after combining everything.
While I like to add my seasonings before adding the condiments, if you’re concerned about over-seasoning the salad, feel free to salt to taste, which means seasoning until it satisfies your taste buds.
I say this because some people have commented that they loved the salad but it was too salty for them. Others said they ended up adding a little more salt. So yea, do you and “salt to taste”.
About the Creamy Italian dressing!
I want to address the differences between the brands because it’s important to purchase the brand that’s right for you! I’m then going to instruct you on how to make homemade Creamy Italian dressing the right way if that’s the route you take!!
The difference in brands
I like to use Ken’s or Wish-Bone’s brands when it comes to creamy Italian dressing. All brands aren’t equal and I know because I love creamy Italian dressing. The main difference is some brands are far more creamier than others.
Some brands are made up of a high ratio of mayo! Then you have other brands that use very little and you can tell not just by how the dressing tastes but by the color of it. So yea, I like to use Ken’s or Wish-Bone’s creamy Italian dressing.
I think most would agree that these 2 brands taste the best too. And look, if you’re a part of the “Anti-White Condiments” club, feel free to use regular Italian dressing or a brand of creamy Italian dressing that has a dull not-so-white color.
Homemade creamy Italian dressing
A few of my subscribers told me they couldn’t find any creamy Italian dressing at their local supermarkets. I live in Philadelphia and even I noticed (a few years back which was the last time I made this) that there weren’t many markets that carried it.
I eventually lucked up and found one that did but most of them sold just the original and Zesty kind. So listen… if you’re unable to find a store that carries creamy Italian dressing, check Amazon. You might have more luck finding it there.
You can also make it yourself which isn’t hard AT ALL! All you have to do is combine Original or Zesty Italian dressing with Mayo. My cousin Nydia preferred making it this way as well if I remember correctly.
When you DIY, you can customize it to YOUR LIKING! If you rather make it yourself, add about 1/2 cup of dressing to a mixing bowl, then stir in about a tablespoon of mayo at a time until you’re satisfied with the taste and color.
If you want it light and creamy, you’ll add more Mayo than Italian dressing. As I stated above, I like Ken’s and Wish-Bone’s creamy Italian dressing because it’s white and creamy.
There are, however, brands of creamy Italian dressing that look like it barely has any mayo in it and don’t look very white and greyish. So that’s why I said all brands aren’t equal!
Most of us who are fans of creamy Italian dressing like it because of the mayo so if that’s you, Ken’s and Wish-Bone brands would be the best choice for you! Other folks like creamy Italian dressing, but like it less creamy.
How to make creamy spaghetti seafood salad
Ok so… I’m usually consistent with the way I combine the ingredients when preparing salad. But with this salad, because we’re using spaghetti, it’s better to combine the pasta and dressing first.
I usually add the pasta to the mixing bowl, stir in the seasonings and vegetables, and add in the condiments. But with Spaghetti, I like to make sure it’s fully saturated in the dressing first before adding anything else.
I like to do this because stirring seasonings into dry sticky spaghetti is a little challenging. Loosening it up with dressing first makes stirring everything in much easier.
1. Boil spaghetti then add to mixing bowl.
2. Stir in seasonings and dressing.
3. Chop up the seafood and vegetables.
- Now as I mentioned before, I don’t like biting into big pieces of vegetables when eating my salad, so I try to chop the vegetables and seafood into small pieces but if you like them chunky do you..
- I find that doing this results in a better salad because you’re spreading more love throughout the salad and with smaller pieces you get to taste every ingredient in each bite. So chopping everything small is key!
4. Add in the chopped vegetables and seafood.
5. Fold everything in and garnish with parsley.
6. Cover with plastic wrap, and store in the refrigerator.
Why is the salad soupy after making it?
So in this recipe, we’ll be using a whole 16oz bottle of creamy Italian dressing. So if after you’re done combining everything it looks soupy, that’s a good thing!! It will stiffen significantly overnight…
And if you have a cold frig like myself, after 2 hours. So don’t worry if the salad looks soupy immediately after preparing it, it’s supposed to be that way. I know a lot of folks don’t like wet soupy salad, I don’t either.
But AGAIN, it won’t look that way after you give the ingredients time to marry and let it sit for a few hours. If your salad goes in the refrigerator dry, it will be very dry the next day and you’ll end up having to add more dressing so soupy is good!
What to serve with creamy spaghetti seafood salad
- Fried chicken – Something about the crispy fried chicken and creamy Italian dressing combo makes this the perfect union. Looking for a main dish to serve this with, FRIED CHICKEN will work every time.
- Seared steak – This creamy seafood dish would go great alongside a nice juicy pan-seared savory steak. That combo sounds great and I haven’t even had these together before.
- Grilled BBQ meat – This is one of those salads you take to a summer cookout so you know it tastes well with anything grilled, like BBQ chicken or ribs. That combo is guaranteed to give your taste buds a foodgasm.
Making it ahead of time
To make it ahead of time you have a couple of options depending on how much or little work you want to do by the time it’s ready to be served.
- Chop the seafood and vegetables: Ok so you can chop the seafood and vegetables then place them in a Tupperware bowl making sure they’re tightly sealed and store them in the refrigerator. Then boil the Spaghetti and add it the day of.
- Prepare everything and add the dressing later: Or you can make the salad, and store it in the refrigerator, preferably in the coldest area to keep it fresh. Then add the seasonings and dressing the day of.
Now those are good options if for whatever reason you want to have the salad half done days before the day of an event. I recommend doing it this way because the seafood vegetable and pasta can stay fresh for a while in the frig.
However, this salad fully made with the creamy Italian dressing doesn’t have a long shelf life with all the ingredients soaked in the dressing for too long. This is a salad meant to be eaten quickly.
But if you want to make the salad a day or two before an event, you can simply make it and store it in the refrigerator. Just make sure as I always say, it’s tightly sealed.
Frequently asked questions
Can people allergic to seafood eat this?
Likely not. This is because imitation crab typically contains 2% or less of king crab meat (shellfish) and also contains natural and artificial extracts of crab and lobster.
I believe this may negatively affect someone allergic to seafood, so I’m not comfortable with them eating this. Better safe than sorry is always my motto.
How to store creamy spaghetti seafood salad?
To preserve and keep the salad fresh for as long as possible, keep it tightly covered with plastic wrap in a Tupperware bowl or something similar!
How long does creamy spaghetti seafood salad last?
3 days is the rule… so stick with that. Salad is not meant to be stored for long periods. Mine don’t even last 3 days, by the 2nd day it’s typically GONE!
Alright, I’m done boring y’all for now! This creamy seafood pasta salad recipe is the BOMB.COM so please give it a shot. Make sure to leave a comment below letting everyone know how much you love it. Lol!
Also, share it on social media or with family and friends; don’t be stingy. Sharing helps me on these Google streets. And make sure to subscribe to get notified when I post a new recipe.
Enjoy, later!
PBJ~
Delicious Creamy Spaghetti Seafood Salad To Die For (With Video)
Creamy spaghetti seafood salad made with creamy Italian dressing, tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, and seafood. The perfect salad for summer cookouts.
- Total Time: 40 Mins
- Yield: 4-6
Ingredients
8 oz Thin Spaghetti Pasta
1 Cup Extra Small Deveined Cooked Shrimp, coarsely chopped
4 oz Leg Style Imitation Crab Meat, coarsely chopped
4 oz Chunk Style Imitation Lobster, coarsely chopped
1/2 Cup Cucumbers, diced
1/4 cup Red Onions, finely chopped
1/4 cup Grape Tomatoes, sliced
2 Qts Water + 1 Tsp Salt
1 Tbs Vegetable Oil
16 oz Creamy Italian Dressing
2 Tsps Old Bay Seasoning
2 Tsps Celery Salt
1/4 Tsp Garlic Powder
1/8 or 1/4 Tsp Red Pepper Flakes
1/8 Tsp Black Pepper
Parsley Flakes (For decoration purposes)
Instructions
1. Fill a large pot with cool water, add in the oil and salt, then place over high heat.
2. After 10 minutes, or once the water comes to a boil, break the spaghetti in half, add it to the water, and boil for 12 minutes.
(Once done, strain and set aside to chill.)
3. Meanwhile, peel and chop up the shrimp.
4. Shred the imitation crab meat and chop the lobster meat into small pieces.
5. Chop the onions into small pieces, chop the tomatoes in half, and dice the cucumbers.
6. Place the spaghetti in a big mixing bowl, add in the salad dressing, and seasonings, then fold well.
7. Then add in the chopped vegetables and fold well.
8. Garnish the salad with parsley flakes, cover with plastic wrap, and set in the refrigerator to chill.
Notes
For best results, prepare the night before. This gives all the ingredients time to marry.
- Prep Time: 30 Mins
- Cook Time: 10 Mins
- Category: Salads
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 4-6
by
11 Responses
gonna try this for thanksgiving, thanks so much!
OMG…just made this and it’s SO FREAKING GOOD!!!!!!! Made ya some now!
I’m so glad you liked it Michelle 🙂
I made this today, I’ve made a lot of pasta salad just like the next guy has, thought I would try the creamy Italian dressing as you said, never knew all you needed was mayo to make creamy Italian dressing …. duh I didn’t change a thing and I must say this is a keeper! I mistakingly picked up “spicy” instead of “zesty” so I didn’t need the pepper flakes or black pepper.
I enjoy your cooking show are recipes and they’re very tasty
Thanks, I greatly appreciate it :):):)
Thank you so much , my family’s and I really enjoyed your recipes. Your channel is amazing . You get 10 stars rating
How sweet thanks Cynthia for the support and love 🙂
You’re cooking cooking with best and I truly mean the best !
Since color is everything in salads I added red bell pepper sparrimgly to your recipe. Hope it’s a hit for BBQ today. Thank you so much for sharing!
Color isn’t EVERYTHING like I said in my video but it does entice people to try the dish.