The elegance of Crab-Stuffed Shrimp is just a recipe away, and it’s amazingly simple to prepare.
Just imagine baked, succulent, jumbo Gulf shrimp stuffed with sweet blue crab meat and crushed buttery Ritz Crackers. It’s a gourmet dish that can be made at home in minutes and will have your taste buds doing a happy dance.
Crab Stuffed Shrimp, like my Fried Crab Claws, Bacon Wrapped Shrimp, and Crispy Fried Oysters, make a sumptuous appetizer or can be served as a classy main dish for a special occasion or dinner party. They also make a tasty addition to a seafood platter.
What is stuffed shrimp:
Stuffed shrimp is a delectable seafood dish where the shellfish are butterflied, filled with a flavorful deviled crab stuffing mixture, and then baked to perfection.
This dish combines shrimp and blue crab’s natural sweetness and texture, creating a delightful fusion of flavors.
Why this recipe is a keeper:
- I’ve included step-by-step photos and a video to show how easy it is to butterfly and stuff the shellfish.
- Your family and friends will think you are a superstar in the kitchen.
- You can make it ahead; the shrimp can be stuffed up to a day ahead of time and then popped in the oven right before you are ready to serve it.
Ingredient notes and substitutions:
This seems like a lot of ingredients, but you probably already have most of them in your pantry, and this recipe comes together quickly.
Crabmeat stuffing ingredients:
- Lump blue crab meat – is the star of this show, and I always use fresh. Crabmeat is typically sold cleaned, cooked, and pasteurized. Grades include jumbo lump, lump, backfin, and claw meat. Jumbo lump is the most expensive. I like using lump in this recipe, although any of these grades work.
- Butter – unsalted butter is used to saute the vegetables and combined with the crackers for the crunchy topping.
- Scallions – also called green or spring onions, provide a mild onion flavor.
- Celery – provides just a bit of crunch and an herby flavor.
- Green bell pepper – is another veggie that provides excellent flavor and color.
- Mayonnaise – is the glue that holds everything together, along with the egg.
- Egg – and mayonnaise bring everything together and provide a bit of structure when cooked.
- Sour cream – adds a nice creamy tang.
- Round buttery crackers – the most common brand is Ritz.
- Dry mustard – adds a nice tangy flavor. If you don’t have dry mustard, you can substitute a half tablespoon of Dijon mustard.
- Worcestershire sauce – a common condiment containing anchovies- gives this dish the “deviled” flavor.
- Old Bay Seasoning – a seasoning blend specially designed to enhance the flavor of seafood.
- Lemon pepper – is lemon zest combined with regular ground black pepper. It is typically used to season seafood and adds a bit of citrus flavor.
- Creole seasoning – is a blend of dried peppers, herbs, and spices that adds a lovely flavor to this dish.
Stuffed shrimp ingredients:
- Gulf shrimp or prawns – Jumbo or colossal peeled and deveined, 12 to 15 pieces per pound with the tails left on. Fresh or frozen. If using frozen, be sure to let them thaw and pat them dry before stuffing. Prawns tend to be larger.
- Ritz Cracker crumbs and butter – are mixed together to form the crispy topping, and as a final touch, melted butter is drizzled over everything before baking.
Here’s how to make crab stuffed shrimp:
- Preheat the oven to 400° F.
- While the oven is preheating, make the crabmeat stuffing by melting butter in a medium-sized skillet over medium heat. Add the scallions, celery, and bell pepper. Cook and stir for about four minutes or until the veggies are tender and translucent. Remove from the heat and set aside.
- Crush the crackers using a food processor or by placing them in a plastic bag and crushing them with your hand or a rolling pin.
- Spread the crab meat on a plate and carefully “pick through” it to remove and discard any bits of shell or cartilage. The shell pieces are easier to feel than to see. Set aside.
- Add the cooled veggies, mayonnaise, beaten egg, sour cream, dry mustard, Worcestershire, Old Bay seasoning, lemon pepper, and Creole Seasoning to a large bowl and mix well.
- Add the crushed crackers and crab meat and toss gently to prevent the lumps from breaking up.
- Cover and chill this mixture for about 30 minutes to allow it to set up a bit.
- While the mixture chills, butterfly your shrimp and place them on a baking sheet topped with parchment paper or coated with non-stick spray. They should be placed with the butterflied edge down and flattened and the tail flipped up to form a “C.”
- Use a small ice cream scoop (about 1.5 inches in diameter) to take a level scoop of the crab meat mixture and place it on the top side of the butterflied shrimp. You might want to pack down the crab mixture a bit, and you may have to lift the tail to place it. Repeat.
- To make the topping, melt the butter and combine one tablespoon with the crushed crackers. Reserve the other two tablespoons.
- Sprinkle a little of the cracker mixture over the filling and drizzle each crab stuffed shrimp with the remaining melted butter.
- Bake at 400° F for 10 to 12 minutes. The shrimp are done when the meat is opaque and their tails have turned a pinkish red.
- Remove from the oven and serve immediately.
Top tip:
Buy the right size! For the best results, you need jumbo or colossal shrimp with 12 to 15 pieces per pound.
How to buy shrimp and prawns:
Shrimp and prawns have no uniform naming or classification system, so you should always buy them by the count per pound. For example, purchasing “extra-large” at five different places, you might have anywhere from 21 to 30 shrimp per pound.
The larger the shrimp or prawns, the less you will get per pound.
As you might imagine, this recipe calls for jumbo, sometimes known as colossal, which means that you should purchase crustaceans that, when weighed, equals about 12/15 per pound.
How to butterfly shrimp and prepare them for stuffing:
- With one hand, hold the shrimp with the curved side facing up. With a small paring knife, make a lengthwise incision along the back, starting from the head end and stopping just before the tail. The incision should be shallow, about halfway through the meat.
- Gently spread the shrimp open with your fingers by pressing down on the back where you made the incision. Be careful not to break it completely in half; the goal is to create a butterfly or “butterflied” shape.
- Press the shrimp down gently, butterflied side down, with your fingers to flatten them out. This will help them cook evenly and make it easier to stuff.
If you have any questions, check out my “how-to” video.
How to “pick” through crabmeat?
Spread the crab meat out on a plate or cutting board. Gently run your fingers through the crab meat, feeling for any hard or sharp shell fragments or pieces of cartilage, and discard them. Be careful not to break up any lumps of crab meat.
How to serve it:
As an appetizer, for a game day or cocktail party, serve crab stuffed shrimp with any of the following: Corn Dip with Cream Cheese, Cheese Quesadillas, Chicken Egg Rolls, Creole Shrimp Toast, Lemon Pepper Chicken Wings, Hanky Pankies, or Loaded Potato Skins.
As a main dish, with these simple sides: Cheesy Grits or Cheese Grits Casserole, Cucumber and Tomato Salad, Purple Hull Peas, White Acre Peas, Green Beans with New Potatoes, Parmesan Smashed Potatoes, or Grilled Vegetables.
On a seafood platter, Fried Fish, including Fried Grouper, Pan Fried Shrimp, Buffalo Shrimp, Blackened Grouper or Blackened Mahi Mahi, Pan-Seared Red Snapper, and Hush Puppies.
Leftovers, storage and reheating:
In the event you have leftovers, store them covered in the refrigerator. Because both shrimp and crab are so perishable, I wouldn’t keep them for over two days. I’ve never tried freezing them.
Leftovers can be heated up in a 350°F oven for a few minutes or just until warm, or you can microwave them for 30-45 seconds.
Recipe FAQs:
Crab Stuffed Shrimp is rich, and the servings are large, so I usually only plan on four to five pieces per person as a main dish or two to three as an appetizer.
Fresh blue crab meat is pasteurized and cooked when you purchase it. The grades include a jumbo lump, lump, backfin, and claw meat. Jumbo lump is the most expensive. I prefer using lump in this recipe, although any of these grades will work.
I’ve never tried this recipe with canned crab meat, and I wouldn’t recommend imitation.
Yes, preheat your air fryer to 375° F and lightly grease the basket. Place the stuffed shrimp in a single layer in the air fryer basket, ensuring they are not overcrowded. If your air fryer is small, you may need to cook them in batches.
Cook for approximately 8 to 10 minutes. The exact cooking time may vary depending on the size of the shellfish and the stuffing. Be sure to check for doneness; the shrimp should be opaque, and the stuffing should be heated through and golden brown.
If you’re uncertain about the doneness of the shrimp, use a cooking thermometer. The internal temperature should reach 145° F
Yes, they can be used interchangeably in this recipe.
Expert tips and tricks:
I usually use Ritz crackers, but you can use any brand of buttery crackers you prefer when making this baked stuffed shrimp recipe.
For bite-size appetizers, you can use a smaller shrimp. This also means using a smaller ice cream scoop to add the crab mixture.
Don’t skip the step of “picking-over” the crab meat to remove any bits of shell that might be lurking. Taking a bite of food with a piece of shell or cartilage in it is like eating egg salad and biting down on a piece of eggshell.
No sour cream, no problem. Combine a quarter teaspoon of fresh lemon juice with three tablespoons of heavy cream. Let this mixture sit for at least 20 minutes to thicken. Voila, sour cream!
When butterflying, be gentle to avoid tearing the flesh. Use a sharp paring knife for clean cuts.
Overcooked shrimp can become tough and rubbery. Be careful not to overcook them, they should be tender and juicy.
More seafood recipes:
If you have been on my blog you can see we love seafood by the number of seafood recipes I have. Luckily, we live near the Gulf of Mexico, seafood is plentiful, and we have a great seafood market just down the street.
You might also like these popular recipes: Broiled Halibut, Blackened Shrimp, Pecan-Crusted Fish Fillets, and Southern Blue Crab Cakes.
Here is a link to all of my seafood recipes if you need more menu inspiration or ideas.
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Crab Stuffed Shrimp Recipe Easy & Elegant
Ingredients
- 2 pounds shrimp or prawns, Jumbo or Colossal – 12/15 per pound, peeled and deveined with the tails left on
- 1 pound lump blue crab meat, picked
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter,
- 4 scallions, white part only, finely chopped
- 1 celery rib, finely chopped
- ½ green bell pepper, finely chopped
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- 1 egg beaten, can use extra-large or large
- 3 tablespoons sour cream
- ½ teaspoon dry mustard
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- ½ teaspoon Old Bay Seasonings
- ¼ teaspoon lemon pepper
- 1 teaspoon Creole Seasoning
- 24 round buttery crackers I use Ritz
Topping:
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter melted, divided
- 14 round buttery crackers
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- While the oven is preheating, melt butter in a medium-size skillet over medium heat. Add the scallions, celery, and bell pepper. Cook and stir for about four minutes or until the veggies are tender and translucent. Remove from the heat and set aside.
- Crush the crackers using a food processor or by placing them in a plastic bag and crushing them with your hand or a rolling pin.
- Spread out the crab meat on a plate and carefully pick through it to remove and discard any bits of shell or cartilage. The shell pieces are easier to feel than to see. Set aside.
- Add the cooled veggies, mayonnaise, beaten egg, sour cream, dry mustard, Worcestershire, Old Bay seasonings, lemon pepper, and Creole Seasoning to a large bowl and mix well. Add the crushed crackers and crab meat and toss gently to prevent the lumps from breaking up.
- Cover and chill this mixture for about 30 minutes to allow it to set up a bit.
- While the mixture is chilling, butterfly your shrimp by inserting a knife about half-way into the shrimp near the head and cutting nearly all the way down the center of the back to the tail. Use your hands to gently open up the shrimp and place it cut side down on a lightly greased baking sheet with the tail folded over in a "c".
- Use a small ice cream scoop (about 1.5 inches in diameter) to take a level scoop of the crabmeat mixture and place it on the top side of the butterflied shrimp. You might want to pack down the crab mixture a bit, and you may have to lift the tail to place it. Repeat with the remaining shrimp.
Topping
- Melt the butter and combine one tablespoon with the crushed crackers. Reserve the other two tablespoons.
- Sprinkle a little of the cracker mixture over the filling and drizzle each shrimp with the reserved melted butter.
- Bake at 400°F for ten to twelve minutes. The shrimp are done when the meat is opaque and their tails have turned a reddish pink.
- Remove from the oven and serve immediately.
Laura
This is awesome! I made it for Christmas Eve snd everybody loved it.