Crab Stuffed Shrimp are a fantastic holiday/party appetizer for a crowd! They're actually incredibly easy to make, and come together in about 15 minutes. Plus - they look like something out of a fancy restaurant so they are sure to impress guests.
I know the presentation of these can look intimidating. But I promise you... Crab Stuffed Shrimp is a super easy hors d'oeuvres recipe that packs a terrific flavor punch!
We take a quick crab cake filling made with claw meat, and stuff it into seasoned, deveined, and butterflied shrimp. Assemble them in an eye-catching pattern, bake for about 10 minutes, then cover with melted garlic and herb butter. These will be the talk of the party - guaranteed!
The Coined Breakdown
- Total Cost per serving: $4.18
- Total Cost (6 servings): $25.08
- Those Other Guys: $16.99 per serving
Ingredients
- Jumbo Shrimp - To give our crab stuffing a good vehicle, you want to get jumbo or XL shrimp. None of the smaller ones will suffice. And get them with the shell on: for better presentation and to use as a handle while eating.
- Crab Meat - Go with lump crab or (what I used) claw meat for the filling! You don't want to skimp on those juicy crab pieces.
- Panko Breadcrumbs - For just a little filler in the crab stuffing, grab panko breadcrumbs. They have a great, light texture that doesn't overwhelm the crabmeat.
- Old Bay Seasoning - No crab cake or crab-based stuffing is complete without Old Bay! You can find this by the seafood section or in the seasonings aisle.
- Garlic Butter - To take these stuffed shrimp bites to the next level, we're going to baste them straight out of the oven with a garlic butter mixture.
Variations and Substitutions
Spinach & Artichoke Stuffed Shrimp: Instead of crabmeat, mix up a quick spinach and artichoke dip and stuff your shrimp with it. You can use the spinach filling instructions from my Spinach Dip Quesadillas!
Jalapeño Popper Stuffed Shrimp: Fill the butterflied shrimp with a mixture of cream cheese, chopped jalapeños, and cheese.
Dirty Rice Stuffed Shrimp: Leftovers from a Homemade Dirty Rice recipe? Stuff them into seasoned shrimp for a true Cajun experience, similar to stuffed peppers.
How to Make Crab Stuffed Shrimp
Whether you're serving these at a party or gathering, or just want to elevate a night-in at home - these baked stuffed shrimp will satisfy your tastebuds in a way you won't believe! Trust me, the most time-intensive part is butterflying your shrimp, but it's SO worth it.
Step 1: Take a knife to the back of your deveined shrimp and slice down the middle - but don't cut all the way through.
Once you're done, they will look like little "butterflies". Don't forget to leave the tail of the shells on!
Step 2: Season your butterflied shrimp with a seasoning mix containing Old Bay, garlic powder, smoked paprika, black pepper, and oregano. Set the bowl to the side.
Step 3: In another bowl, mix together the mayo, panko breadcrumbs, seasoning mix, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Stir until smooth.
Step 4: Gently fold in your crabmeat to avoid excess breakage. It'll look something like this at the end. Preheat your oven to 350℉ at this step.
Step 5: Meanwhile, add a spoonful of crab filling to the top of the butterflied shrimp. Set it into a large skillet, tuck the bottom shell into the filling, and repeat until done.
Step 6: Bake for about 10 minutes, then broil for another 1-2 minutes until the tops have a beautiful brown crust.
Baste your cooked shrimp with a mixture of melted butter, dill, and minced garlic. Serve hot - these will literally fly off of the plate!
Recipe Pro Tips
- Keep the tails. Take the shells off of the heads of the shrimp (to properly butterfly them) but keep the tails on! They act as a handle for easily picking up the shrimp, and the final presentation looks a lot better with them on.
- Use fresh herbs. Using fresh parsley in the crabmeat filling, and fresh dill in the garlic butter makes all the difference in terms of flavor!
- Broil towards the end of cooking. Shrimp cooks really fast; so right when it's almost ready to go, we turn the oven to broil to brown the crab cake tops. This makes a beautiful crust on the filling.
Recipe FAQs
Sure, you can make these up to 1 day ahead of time! Simply prepare and store both the crab filling and the marinated raw shrimp in separate containers in the refrigerator. When you're ready to eat, prepare the stuffed shrimp per the recipe instructions.
Nope! The crabmeat you buy from the store is already cooked, and we don't have any raw eggs in the filling. Simply assemble, stuff the shrimp, and bake!
Shrimp cooks really fast, and the filling is already cooked (it just needs to be heated up.) I normally just time the shrimp for 10 minutes, but you can also use an instant read thermometer. Once the shrimp reaches 145°F (63°C), you're ready!
Other Easy Appetizers You'll Love!
If you tried this Crab Stuffed Shrimp Recipe, or any other recipe on my website, please leave a star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. I love hearing from you! Thanks for visiting!
Crab Stuffed Shrimp
Equipment
- Chef's Knife
- Mixing Bowl
- Pastry Brush
- Cast Iron Skillet or Baking Dish
Ingredients
Shrimp
- 2 pounds deveined shrimp, shell on
- 2 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon Old Bay seasoning
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon oregano
Crab Stuffing
- ¾ cups mayonnaise
- ½ cup panko breadcrumbs
- 2 teaspoons grated parmesan
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
- ½ count lemon juiced
- lemon zest from the halved lemon
- 1 tablespoon fresh chopped parsley plus extra for garnish
- 8 ounces lump crabmeat/claw crabmeat
Garlic Butter
- 2 tablespoons salted butter melted
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- ½ teaspoon dill
Instructions
Shrimp Preparation
- Start out by deveining and peeling the top of the shells off of the shrimp. Leave the tail pieces of shell on for presentation/functionality.
- Butterfly the shrimp by slicing down the back, but don't cut it all the way through. You should be able to sit the shrimp flat on a surface.
- In a medium-sized bowl, mix the butterflied shrimp, olive oil, Old Bay, garlic powder, smoked paprika, black pepper, and oregano together. Set aside to marinate.
Crab Filling
- In another bowl, stir together all of the filling ingredients together, except the crab, until fully combined.
- Gently fold in the crab meat, being careful not to break up too many pieces.
Baked Stuffed Shrimp
- Preheat your oven to 350℉.
- Take a butterflied shrimp and add a dollop of crab filling to the top.
- Set the shrimp on a large skillet, then press the bottom shell into the filling to seal everything together.
- Repeat with the remaining shrimp in a circular pattern.
- Bake the shrimp for 10 minutes, then cut the oven to broil and broil the top for another 2 minutes so the crab filling gets a little color.
- Stir together the melted butter, minced garlic, and dill. Brush the garlic butter mixture on the hot shrimp, fresh from the oven.
- Serve hot with extra fresh parsley sprinkled on top. Enjoy!
Jan Hoefler says
First time making these and they did not disappoint! We swapped the old bay for our creole seasoning, which contained the other spices.
This is a bit putzy, but comes together easier that expected.
They were absolutely delicious. We served them as a main dish with an asparagus and mushroom risotto.
Shani W. says
Yum, that sounds so good especially the risotto as a side! Thank you for your review Jan 🙂
Catzav says
Such a great recipe I/my family love it simply DELICIOUS
Shani W. says
Thank you so much Catzav! One of my favorite holiday appetizers to really make an impression 🙂 I appreciate you commenting!
Julz Hammond says
Mouth wateringly delicious. Fabulous recipe. So tasty. Thank you for our lovely meal. We just had a beautiful baguette and fresh crisp salad. Perfect with a cold glass of prosecco.
Shani W. says
Love your pairings, especially the cold Prosecco 😉 thanks so much for your comment!
Jody says
Confession: I wanted to make this, but I didn't want to spend forever. So I used the same ingredients but bought raw tail-off shrimp, cut them in half, and, after marinating, spread them across the bottom of a baking dish. Then I mixed the ingredients for the crab topping and spread that on top. Baked and broiled as directed. Served with crackers and toasted sliced baguette. Fabulous! We all loved it! One thing I will say is I appreciate that your ingredient list doesn't include things like bell pepper or green onion that overpower the flavor of the crab. Really an excellent recipe!
Shani W. says
Thank you SO much for that feedback! Your substitutions and cooking methods sound amazing. I'm so glad everyone enjoyed it!