Super delicious Seafood Pasta Salad made with Miracle Whip, onions, celery, and various chopped seafood. Perfect for summer cookouts, family picnics, parties, and more. This salad is a must-try! This salad here is to die for, just like my Tuna Macaroni, Southern Potato, and Creamy Spaghetti Seafood salads! So if you love seafood salad and are looking for a new way to make it, you must try this recipe!
I’m so excited to share this delicious seafood pasta salad recipe with you guys!!! Those of you who follow me on social media might remember the seafood pasta salad video I did a few years ago.
Well, since then, I’ve grown a lot as a cook, so I decided to revise and make a few changes to it. One of the main changes I made is omitting the egg – I prefer it without the egg, so I removed it so you could taste the seafood more.
A family summer tradition
My family would make seafood pasta salad every time we threw a Memorial Day, Fourth of July, or Labor Day cookout. My aunt Angie, who I will talk about more later, made some of the best seafood salad.
She didn’t just make a fire seafood pasta salad, which is what this recipe is, but she made a good seafood salad using just a variety of fresh and imitation seafood. I was always a fan of it but I think I may like it more now then I did back then. Lol!
But Seafood Pasta Salad was a family tradition, a MUST HAVE dish… which is a dish you MUST BRING TO THE COOKOUT unless you want a fight! Haha! The must-have dishes were BBQ Ribs, seafood pasta salad , and potato salad.
If one of those weren’t made you would definitely have somebody in the family throwing a fit. These dishes were always some of the first to go which is why we always made two trays of seafood and potato salad and bought extra ribs. Lol!
Aunt Lorretta, my taste tester!
My aunt Lorretta, who is my taste tester, tried the salad while I was creating the recipe and damn near caught the holy ghost!! Lmbo! She jumped and shouted for joy like she won the darn lottery after trying it!
It was then that I knew I put my foot in it! She always helps me take my recipes to the next level. She’s just like me in that she has a knack for finding the right combination of ingredients to perfect a dish.
When I added sugar and old bay to the salad, she said, “Jay, that’s it. Don’t make any more changes. You nailed it!”! Whenever I finish creating a recipe, I always feel like it could be better.
Sometimes I’ll do too much and need people like her to tell me when enough’s enough. But when I saw her reaction, I had to taste it again. Let’s say we both were jumping around like we caught the holy ghost that night! Lol!
Ingredients you’ll need:
- Pasta: Medium Pasta Shells
- Seafood add-ins: Shrimp, Lump Crab Meat, Chunk Style Imitation Lobster Meat
- Vegetable add-ins: Red Onions and Celery
- Seasonings: Salt, Old Bay, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Black Pepper, Sugar, Paprika, and Parsley
- Condiments: Mayo, Miracle Whip, Mustard, and Sweet Relish
- Other: Vegetable oil
Cookware and utensils you’ll need:
- Large pot: Have a large pot to boil the pasta shells.
- Colander: Make sure you have a colander to drain the pasta shells.
- Large Serving Bowl: We’ll be using this to combine the salad and to serve the salad out of.
- Knife: A knife is for chopping the seafood and vegetables
- Big Spoon: Use a big spoon to combine the salad and serve.
- Measuring Cups: Measuring cups are great for accurately measuring the amount of seafood, vegetables, and mayo/miracle whip you’re using.
- Measuring Spoons: Use measuring spoons to measure seasoning accurately.
Common questions about pasta shells
Okay, so first, let me discuss the pasta shells we’ll be using. There are a few things you need to know, and I want to address the most common questions I get asked.
- What brand of pasta do you use? A good name brand like Barilla, Mueller’s, and Ronzoni, to De Cecco and San Giorgio
- Should you boil the pasta with oil? I used to do that because it’s believed that it keeps the pasta from sticking, but I think it’s pointless. Even if it does stick a little while boiling, it’ll easily come apart once you stir everything in.
- Why do you add salt to pasta water? It adds flavor, so I add just a pinch.
- How do you know when pasta is done? Boil the pasta until al dente, which means tender but with a bite. Then strain it using a colander immediately. You can not let the pasta sit in the hot water after it’s done.
- Should I rinse the pasta once done? After the pasta is done and strained in a colander, rinse it with cool water to stop the cooking process. It can continue cooking while hot, so to avoid that, give it an excellent rinse with cool water.
- Can you use gluten-free pasta? You can, but you run the risk of it falling apart and becoming a nasty, mushy mess! Use regular pasta!!! If you want to be healthy or try to cut down on carbs, then just don’t make the salad!
Seafood and alternatives
- Shrimp: I had to add shrimp. It’s not a seafood salad without shrimp, is it?! You can use small salad-size shrimp if you like. Whatever size you get, just stick with the same amounts.
- Crab: For this recipe, I used Bumblebee canned lump crab meat, but feel free to use fresh crab meat straight from the crab if you like. Just make sure you stick with the same amount which is 6 ounces.
- Lobster: I use chunky-style imitation lobster meat. Seafood can be very expensive, and imitation lobster is cheaper. But if you’re not on a budget, you can definitely use real fresh lobster meat.
The vegetables
- Red onions: I like using red onions because they have a mild flavor and are perfect for salads. They aren’t too sweet or too acidic, which is why I prefer red onions over other onions.
- Celery: I add celery to all my salads, I loooove the flavor of celery. If you don’t have any, you can use celery seeds or celery salt just to add a little of that flavor to the salad.
The seasonings and herbs
Let me talk just a little bit about the seasonings and spices, if that’s what you want to call the “SUGAR”, what they bring to the salad, and why I like to use each.
- Sugar: Seafood salad is supposed to be a little sweet so that’s why I add sugar to it, simple! It’s completely optional, however, so you can go without it if you choose to.
- Old Bay: I love Old Bay, and it’s often used to season seafood like shrimp, crab, and lobster, so it’s definitely what I would call seafood seasoning. It enhances the seafood flavor, so it’s a must when making seafood salad.
- Garlic and onion powder: I add just small amounts of both and they just add more flavor to the salad. I felt the salad was missing something one day and I decided to add a little of both. It gave the salad exactly what it needed.
- Black pepper: You just gotta add a little pepper to ya salad… just to add a little heat to it… pepper just makes everything better. Not much of an explanation is needed. Lol!
- Paprika and parsley: You just use these for decoration purposes. I’ll talk more about these 2 ingredients later.
Salt to taste
Now when it comes to the salt, I’ve received plenty of comments from my subscribers saying that the suggested amount of salt made the salad too salty or complained that the salad wasn’t seasoned enough.
When it comes to people’s taste buds, salt is the one seasoning that you’ll find the most disagreed about regarding how much should be used. Some people can tolerate it a lot, and some are sensitive to it, so SALT TO TASTE.
That means use as much as you want until you’re satisfied with the taste, and don’t use the amount listed. I’ll recommend adding the salt last little by little until it’s how you like it, especially if you’re salt-sensitive.
The condiments
- Mayo and Miracle Whip: Miracle Whip gives the salad a special taste. It adds a combination of tanginess and sweetness. Mayo, as much as I love it, is bland, and so adding Miracle Whip just gives the salad some umph!
- Mustard: Mustard adds a little color and a hint of tanginess from the vinegar in it. You know I’m big on balance, and because this salad is slightly sweet, a little tang is needed.
- Sweet relish: Relish gives the salad a slight hint of pickle flavor and also adds a mild sweetness, but I use sweet relish in almost all my salads for its unique and much-needed flavor.
More on the Miracle Whip
Whenever I use both Mayo and Miracle Whip in a salad, I like to stick with a 50/50 ratio. That’s given me the best results… Listen, I’m honestly not much of a Miracle Whip fan to begin so I don’t want to use too much of it.
I think the taste can be overwhelming, and using too much will ruin the salad FOR ME!! If there is a time, which there has been, when I didn’t have enough Miracle Whip, I was perfectly fine with using a 70 Mayo/30 MW ratio.
If I couldn’t use equal amounts and had to use more of one, I would definitely choose the option of using more mayo than Miracle Whip. Let me quickly talk about what made me start using MIRACLE WHIP…
Aunt Angie’s seafood salad
One of my favorite aunts, Angie, passed away a few years ago. She would always bring seafood salad to family cookouts, and I spent years trying to copy her recipe but could never get mine to taste as good as hers.
She would always make seafood salad, but I decided to add pasta to it since I love both pasta and seafood so much. Now, as I always say, I’m a Mayo guy, Hellmann’s, to be exact! I was NEVER A FAN of Miracle Whip…
Just the thought of it would turn my stomach that’s how much I disliked it. But when I found out that’s what she put in her salad, I couldn’t help but try it myself. Let’s just say… I’ve been putting it in my seafood salad ever since.
However, even to this day, Hellmann’s Mayo is my first option when it comes to sandwiches and anything that requires mayo. I keep a bottle of Miracle Whip in the frig for when I make potato and seafood salad.
Now, when I add it to my salads, I do what my Nana Alice always did, and that’s using a 50/50 combination. I’ll never just use Miracle Whip by itself to make a salad. LMBBO! I am, however ok just using Mayo to make salad.
How to make seafood pasta salad
- Okay, so to kick this recipe off, we’re going to boil the pasta shells. Preheat the water over high heat. Once it comes to a boil, add the pasta shells and cook until tender.
- While the pasta boils, you can kill two birds with one stone by chopping the vegetables and seafood into small pieces. If you like them big, do you, but whenever I make a salad, I chop the add-ins into very small pieces.
- Once the pasta is done, I rinse and set it aside to chill, then add it to the mixing bowl with the chopped vegetables and seafood.
- Then I add in all the seasonings (except the paprika and parsley) and fold well.
- Next, add in the condiments and fold well again!
- Garnish the salad with paprika or parsley or both.
- Wrap the salad tightly with plastic wrap then sit in the refrigerator to chill.
World’s Best Seafood Pasta Salad Recipe 2019 Video
Nana didn’t mess with boring-looking salad
I had to write about this because it was quite funny to me. One of my supporters recently asked me, under one of my salad videos, if you have to add paprika and parsley and why I always add it at the end. I’m assuming they’re young and new to cooking.
But if you’re wondering, as stated above, it’s solely for decoration purposes and to beautify the salad. Listen, My Nana Alice Mae and my Grandma Viola Taylor loved decorating salads by placing sliced eggs over them or garnishing them with paprika and parsley in a fancy way.
But my NANA took it VERY SERIOUSLY! Placing salad in the refrigerator without first garnishing it with paprika or parsley was INSULTING TO HER, and I MEAN THAT! Try making salad in front of her and setting it in the frig without first giving it some color.
You might get cussed out!!! LMBBO! I don’t even think she’d make a salad if she didn’t have paprika or parsley. I find myself acting like she does the older I get. LMBO!!! I mean, who wants to eat white pale boring looking salad?
I don’t even like eating mashed potatoes if there are no parsley flakes on them. Like me, she would check for paprika and parsley before even considering making the salad. Making salad without paprika was like a woman going to a party with makeup to her! LMBBO!!
So yeah, this is why I always garnish my salads. I feel like she’s standing beside me, watching every time I get ready to garnish it, making sure I don’t forget too.
Serving suggestions:
- Fried fish: Fried fish taste so good with this salad, especially nice hot fried fish straight out of the oil. There is nothing better than creamy seafood salad with hot, crispy fried fish.
- BBQ: Anything barbecue… it’s no surprise this salad is popular at cookouts. Just like potato salad, tuna macaroni salad, and macaroni salad, salad and BBQ ribs, chicken, or steak is one of the most delicious food combos.
- Baked Chicken: You can’t go wrong with baked chicken. Chicken tastes great with anything and goes really well with a nice chilled seafood salad.
Storage
- How to store the salad? Wrap it with plastic wrap or aluminum foil, ensuring that it’s tightly sealed and fully covered. Then, set it in the refrigerator. You can also place it in a Tupperware bowl and make sure it’s tightly sealed with a lid.
Frequently asked questions
- How long does the salad last? If you wrap it with plastic wrap and store it in a cold refrigerator, it can last up to 3-4 days. By 4 days I notice the good quality of the salad begins to fade. It will still be fresh, but it doesn’t have the same goodness it did.
- Why is the salad soupy? It looks that way because of the amount of condiments we added. If the salad looks “wet” and “soupy” don’t worry, it will stiffen as it chills in the refrigerator and will stiffen significantly within a few hours.
- Can another kind of pasta be used? Of course, you can use macaroni, spaghetti, bow tie pasta, whatever floats ya boat… do you!
Listen, guys, y’all are going to really enjoy this seafood pasta salad!! Whenever I make this for a get-together, party, or family cookout, it’s one of the first things to go, which is why I’m so pumped to share this recipe with yall.
On my Facebook page, I asked you guys what salad recipes you wanted me to do for the holidays, and seafood pasta salad was the most requested. So IT’S ALL DONE NOW… HERE YOU HAVE IT!!
Please leave a comment below letting us know if you like it; that helps a lot. Also, subscribe so you don’t miss out on any new recipes I post and follow me on social media: Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.
Enjoy, later!
PBJ~
World’s Best Seafood Pasta Salad Recipe (With Video)
- Prep Time: 20 Mins
- Cook Time: 10 Mins
- Total Time: 30 Mins
- Yield: 8
- Category: Salad
- Cuisine: American
Description
Super delicious seafood pasta salad made with miracle whip, onions, celery, and various chopped seafood. Perfect for summer cookouts, family picnics, parties, and more.
Ingredients
- 8 oz Medium Shell Pasta
- 2 Qts Water + 1 Tsp Salt
- 12 Large Pre-Cooked Deveined Shrimp
- 6 oz Bumblebee Canned Lump Crab Meat
- 4 oz Imitation Chunk Style Lobster Meat
- 1/4 Cup Red Onions, finely chopped
- 1/4 Cup Celery, finely chopped
- 1 Cup Hellman’s Mayo
- 1 Cup Miracle Whip
- 1/4 Cup Sweet Relish
- 1 Tbs Mustard
- 1 Tbs Sugar
- 2 Tsps Old Bay Seasoning
- 1 Tsp Salt
- 1/2 Tsp Garlic Powder
- 1/2 Tsp Onion Powder
- 1/2 Tsp Black Pepper
- Paprika (For decoration Purposes)
- Parsley Flakes (For decoration Purposes)
Instructions
- Fill a large pot with water, add 1 tsp of salt, and place it over high heat.
- After 10 minutes, or once the water comes to a boil, add the pasta and let it boil for 10 minutes. Then strain immediately and set aside to chill.
- Meanwhile, open and strain as much water from the can of crab meat as possible,
- Remove the tails from the shrimp, chop the shrimp and lobster meat into small pieces, and set aside.
- Chop the onion and celery into small pieces.
- Get a large mixing bowl, add in the macaroni, seafood, chopped vegetables, and seasonings, then stir well.
- Then add in the mayo, miracle whip, relish, and mustard, and stir well.
- For decoration purpose garnish the salad with paprika and parsley.
- Cover the salad with plastic wrap, then set it in the refrigerator to chill.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 8
by 
27 thoughts on “World’s Best Seafood Pasta Salad Recipe (Made with Imitation Seafood)”
If you want to be a hit at the barbecue just make this salad it is so good. They scrape the pan every time.
Yummy!! I made this without the onion and celery because my spouse has to eat soft foods but it was still great, highly recommend this dish and will be making from here on out!
OMG! You weren’t joking….your seafood noodle salad was TO DIE FOR!!!!! I have been looking forever for a DECENT seafood noodle salad & praise the Lord & you I now have it!!!! You must be a gourmet chef or you grandmother or aunts have done right by you! Can’t wait to try your tuna noodle recipe & I’m betting it’ll be as good if not better then seafood salad….tho I did add a bit of dill seasoning as I think it goes well with all types of seafood…. long story short THANK YOU SO MUCH for heavenly recipe….it surely is the nectar of the gods! Please keep those great basic recipes coming…..I’ll be keeping a sharp eye out for future recipes!!!!
This recipe has not failed me. I was star of every cookout this summer. Follow his recipe to a T and you won’t be disappointed.
I made this last summer twice and almost panicked when I couldn’t find for the start of salad making season for me anyway..But Bayyybeee!! This salad is so effin good it is never any leftovers. It taste good the day you make it! But even better the day. Whenever I’m hosting I ALWAYS make my salads the day before, in order to let all of the ingredients mingle together..The most expensive part is the lump crabmeat I buy, but it’s worth every delicious bite..I get sooo many compliments when I make this..Thank you again for sharing this us
Listen…I pride myself on making some of the best seafood salad ever, but let me tell you something…I came across this recipe and it put me to shame. This salad is absolutely delicious!! From the Miracle Whip to the mustard, it just gives it a bomb flavor. I will now lay my lil’ recipe to rest as this will be my go to from here on out!
Thanks for the recipe.. This is the first time mastering seafood salad with lump crabmeat.. I usually just make the seafood Hawaiian pasta salad, but after finding your recipe I thought I’d give it a try, and wasn’t displeased at all!! The recipe was easy to follow and I took it to a family cookout.. Let’s say it was a hit!! It even takes better the next day after all the ingredients settled
I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe Natasha! Make sure to rate and share it! Also, I agree that it tastes better the next day because you allow the salad to sit for 12+ hrs you allow everything to marinate and come together
Outstanding
Hi I made this yesterday for my nephew’s birthday cook out. The best everyone talked about how good it was and my family can cook. This is going to be my seafood salad recipe for ever.
This recipe is absolute perfection. Made it yesterday for our Memorial Day Cook-in & it will now be a staple in my household. Thank you so much for sharing!!!
Just made tonight for graduation party. It is fabulous. I’m not much of a seafood salad. I’ve never like them. But this is the one. I really like it. I know everyone is going to love it tomorrow. Thanks.
My husband loves the lasagna and meatloaf recipe thanks so much keep blessing your tummy with your great hands.
OMG Philly Boy you can cook.. thank you for sharing
Man my brother or I can tell you is I made this salad towards the end of the summer and I took a bowl of it down to my friends house , they were fighting over that bowl like it was the Last any recipe I have ever gotten from your YouTube channel has been on the money and on point brother you really know how to throw down in the kitchen… peace to you my brother keep doing what you’re doing.
I made them Collard greens and the sweet potato pie and all I can say is your recipes are the BOMB. My mom has subscribed to your channel I brag about how your recipes be on point. Thank you and keep doing what your doing. Inspiration to us all.🤗🤤
I am going to make this seafood pasta next weekend. I hope that when I make it it will turn out right. By the way your food looks great on the website, I can tell the food is good.
I’m searching for your recipe for the shrimp and crab salad with the thin spaghetti noodles can’t find it
The Creamy Spaghetti Seafood Salad recipe? It’s in the salad section
omg! The best seafood pasta salad EVER
Yea, it’s pretty good Sherry:)
Philly Jay I love your recipes I love the way you cook and how you present it you’re not boring at all….. I love the way you’re expanding your craft … i’m not gonna lie I do miss the Tupperware cutting board Lol… your presentations are beautiful keep up the good work I pray for much of success for you .,,Kelly
Much appreciated! Enjoy!
I made the tuna salad Sunday man we could not stop eating it and it has chilled over night it’s marinated where having more with our burgers today luv it delicious can’t wait to try the pasta salad
Yea I enjoyed it as much as you did… Tuna and pasta taste great together!
Let us change the worries of the past into the thinking and planning beforehand!
Philly Jay, I gotta tell you that I always got compliments at family functions for my seafood salad. I followed yours yesterday to the T to take to take to a work function. These people were salivating and neglected the grilled Tbone stakes. 5 outta 5 stars for sure and I look forward to following more of your recipes. Thank you for sharing with the world your amazing talent. Much love from Washington, DC