Penne Pasta Salad with Shrimp Chili & Lime. A deliciously simple pasta salad that’s terrific to serve with cold cuts, grilled, chicken or fish, or as an ideal BBQ side dish.

Penne Pasta Salad with Shrimp Chili & Lime.
Penne pasta salad is probably my favourite among all pasta salads.
I like the fact that being among the larger of pasta shapes available, penne make the salad easier to serve. It’s also great at buffet style meals like barbecues, cookouts and other get togethers.
One thing I cannot stand in any dish is overcooked, mushy pasta and this is especially true for pasta salads. Don’t overcook your pasta. It should still have a nice bite to it.

Penne Pasta Salad just mix and serve.
Oh so easy!
Just let the pasta cool for a few minutes. Then throw in the rest of the salad ingredients, gave them a quick stir and you’re done.

Pre-cooked shrimp is easily used in this recipe. I usually use frozen.
We enjoyed this delicious pasta salad as a side dish at a family barbecue where it got rave reviews for it’s spicy, tangy flavour. You can, of course, make the salad without the shrimp if you prefer.
It would be a perfect accompaniment to both grilled chicken or fish or practically anything off the backyard grill.

Penne Pasta Salad with Shrimp Chili & Lime.
Originally published June 2016. Updated October 2020.
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Penne Pasta Salad with Shrimp Chili & Lime
Penne Pasta Salad with Shrimp Chili & Lime. A deliciously simple pasta salad that's terrific to serve with cold cuts, grilled, chicken or fish, or as an ideal BBQ side dish.
Ingredients
- 1 lb Dry Penne Pasta
- 1 cup cooked cocktail shrimp
- 3 tbsp chopped chives or cilantro
- 1 small red pepper finely diced
For the dressing
- 3/4 cup low-fat mayonnaise
- zest of one large lime, finely grated or chopped
- 1 clove garlic, very finely minced
- pinch of salt and pepper
- 3 tsp red Thai chilis, finely chopped (or 2 tsp crushed chili paste)
Instructions
- Prepare the pasta as directed in salted water. Cook only to al dente.
- Strain the boiled pasta in a colander and rinse with cold water. Leave for 10 minutes to drain well.
- Prepare the dressing simply by stirring together all of the ingredients well.
- Pour the dressing over the pasta along with the shrimp, chives and red pepper. Toss well. Chill before serving.
Notes
The nutritional information provided is automatically calculated by third party software and is meant as a guideline only. Exact accuracy is not guaranteed. For recipes where all ingredients may not be used entirely, such as those with coatings on meats, or with sauces or dressings for example, calorie & nutritional values per serving will likely be somewhat lower than indicated.
Nutrition Information
Yield
8Serving Size
1 servingAmount Per Serving Calories 282Total Fat 6gSaturated Fat 1gUnsaturated Fat 0gCholesterol 44mgSodium 285mgCarbohydrates 45gFiber 2gSugar 3gProtein 11g
Lisa
Sunday 26th of August 2018
2 crushed chili paste?
Barry C. Parsons
Friday 31st of August 2018
Fixed.
Peter S
Monday 28th of May 2018
Serves how many? Kinda important
Barry C. Parsons
Thursday 31st of May 2018
Small glitch in the recipe formatter. It was hidden after converting. Fixed now, thanks for letting me know.