Gastrointestinal illnesses continue to be a global public health risk. Exposure to foodborne
Salmonella
directly or indirectly through consumption of ready-to-eat seafood can be an important route of infection to humans. This study was designed to estimate the population cell density, prevalence, virulence gene signatures, and antibiotic resistance of
Salmonella
serovars from ready-to-eat shrimps. Ready-to-eat (RTE) shrimp samples were obtained from different open markets in Delta and Edo States, Nigeria from November 2016 to October 2017. We employed classical and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) approaches. The mean
Salmonella
species enumerated from the RTE shrimps ranged from −0.301 to 5.434 log
10
cfu/g with 210/1440 (14.58%) of the RTE shrimp samples harbored
Salmonella
species. After biochemical and PCR approach, the identified isolates were
Salmonella
Enteritidis 11(24.4%),
Salmonella
Typhimurium 14 (31.1%) and other
Salmonella
spp. 20 (44.4%). All
Salmonella
species recovered were resistant to penicillin and erythromycin with 100% sensitivity to cefotaxime, cephalothin, colistin, and polymyxin B. Findings on the multidrug-resistant (MDR) profile showed that a total of 9/14 (64.3%) of
Salmonella
Enteritidis were resistant to 5 antibiotics which belongs to 3 different groups of antimicrobials with a multiple antibiotic-resistant (MAR) index of 0.21; while 3/11 (27.3%) of
Salmonella
Typhimurium were resistant to 11 antibiotics which belongs to 7 different groups of antimicrobials with a MAR index of 0.46. Virulence genes (
spi
A,
sip
B,
inv
A,
sif
A,
flj
B, and
sef
A) and resistance genes (class 1 and II integrase,
sul
2,
catB
3,
flor, tmp, bla
TEM
,
str
B,
dfr
1, and
tet
C) were also detected in some of the
Salmonella
species with variable percentage. This study indicates that ready-to-eat shrimps are probable reservoirs harboring
Salmonella
strains. The identified
Salmonella
isolates which exhibited virulence determinants and antibiotic-resistant coupled with high MAR index constitute a consumer health risk to the communities.