Prawn Tartare

Prawn tartare, (shrimp), is a really simple starter that is light, refreshing and healthy too.

It's a delicious mix of prawns, avocado, capers, spring onions, lemon and dill, all topped with king prawns for an elegant flourish.

This dish is great for making ahead and it's really easy too.

Bon appétit!   

Jump to:

• ❤️ Why you will love this dish
• 🥘 Ingredients
• 🍽 Equipment
• 🔪 Instructions
• 🥗 Side Dishes
• 🥙 Substitutions
• 📖 Variations
• 🍣 Storage
• 🍱 Prepare in Advance
• 📋 Recipe
• French Appetisers
• 💬 Comments

When I am entertaining I like to get ahead, so that there's not too much hands on cooking time when my guests have arrived. I also want at least want one dish to be simple to make, so I'm not slaving away the whole day.

This prawn or shrimp tartare does both and looks elegant, so it's a winner for me. In fact, you can also change the ingredients quite easily to have a different variation each time.

🤔FAQs

I'm not using raw shrimps in the prawn tartare for safety reasons!

❤️ Why you will love this dish

• Uses frozen prawns to be budget friendly.
• Make ahead entertaining or date night idea.
• No cooking.
• Low in calories and healthy at 162 calories a portion
• Quick and simple to make in 15 minutes .

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🥘 Ingredients

• Prawns - I've used frozen and defrosted peeled prawns. They will be chopped in the recipe, so I've used the more economical small prawns. For garnish, I am using cooked king prawns. Whether they are fresh or frozen let the prawns sit on kitchen towel with a piee
• Cucumber - a small piece for garnish on the plate. I haven't added cucumber to the shrimp tartare as it would make it too wet.
• Dill - fresh dill for garnish and flavouring.
• Onion - a spring onion, (salad onion) as it has a milder flavour than other onions.
• Seasoning - flaked sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
• Capers - these little flower heads are normally pickled in brine. Dry them well on kitchen paper before using.
• Avocado - half of a medium avocado.
• Lemon juice - ideally fresh lemon juice for flavour and to keep the colour on the avocado.

The printable recipe card with full ingredient quantities and instructions can be found at the bottom of the article.

🍽 Equipment

• sharp knife
• chopping board
• presentation rings - if you don't have theseuse an empty tin can with both ends open.
• kitchen paper
• mixing bowl

🔪 Instructions

Peel the cucumber and cut into half centimetre dice and set aside for serving.

Chop the dill finely and cut the capers and avocado into small cubes.

Slice the spring onion through the middle lengthways and finely slice.

💭 Top Tip

• It doesn't matter how neat the avocado cubes are as they will be mashed together with the other ingredients.

Put the avocado in a mixing bowl with the lemon juice and stir to coat all the pieces.

Rough chop the prawns or shrimp.

Put the prawns, dill, capers and spring onions into the bowl with the avocado.

Mix well.

Place a presentation ring in the middle of a plate and divide evenly.

Use a fork to press down so that the ingredients can stick together without gaps.

Refrigerate for an hour.

When you are ready to serve, gently remove the presentation ring and garnish with the king prawns and cucumber cubes.

Add a little extra dill for garnish.

🥗 Side Dishes

Serve as a starter before some of these main course ideas.

• Turkey Ballotine
• Pork Normandy
• Chicken Ballotine
• Roast Partridge
• Chateaubriand
• Cannon of Lamb
• Côte de Boeuf
• Bavette Steak
• Pork Confit
• Chicken en Croûte
• Duck with Orange Sauce
• Picanha Beef
• Rack of Pork
• Pigeon Breast

🥙 Substitutions

• Capers - finely chopped gherkins, (dill pickles).
• Spring onions - use a shallot or piece of sweet onion instead.

📖 Variations

• Seafood - swap the prawns for lighly poached salmon mixed with smoked salmon or crab. Keep the cost down by using canned salmon or crab. Instead of prawns use brown shrimps or crayfish.
• Garnishes - lumpfish roe, slices of lemon, avocado slices, pea shoots.
• Herbs - fennel, basil and tarragon are also delicious with fish.
• Vegetables - use chopped celery, tomatoes with the seeds removed or peeled andn chopped apple.

🍣 Storage

• Refrigerator - should be eaten within 24 hours if you are using defrosted prawns.
• Freezer  - not suitable for freezing.

🍱 Prepare in Advance

• If fridge space is at a premium, leave the shrimp tartare mix in a bowl and assemble before serving.

Let me know what you think in the comments or you can post a picture and tag me on Twitter @chezlereve, Instagram @chezlerevefrancais, or Facebook @chezlerevefrancais

More seafood starters to try

• Crab Salad
• Corn and Crab Bisque
• Prawn Canapés
• Smoked Salmon Canapés
• Salmon Gravlax
• Smoked Salmon Pâté
• Smoked Salmon Tartines
• Smoked Salmon and Avocado Mousse
• Salmon Timbales
• Seafood Bisque

📋 Recipe

Food Safety

• Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat.
• Wash hands after touching raw meat.
• Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods.
• Never leave cooking food unattended.
• Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds.
• Always have good ventilation when using gas.

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