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Zest up your Holiday dinner table with this promisingly easy baked stuffed shrimp recipe. It’s easy, it’s efficient & it’s delicious!
Easy baked stuffed shrimp with crabmeat & ritz crackers is an impressive appetizer to include in your holiday dinner table! It’s a quick delicious entree that will keep your guests asking for the recipe.
Crabmeat takes this baked prawns to a whole new level. The buttery stuffing, the meaty Jumbo shrimps create an exquisite taste that lingers..ummm perhaps forever!
Stuffed shrimps are not only impressive but so so easy to make. You can even prepare the stuffing well ahead of time and store it in the fridge. That way you will just need 10 mins to prepare this baked shrimp appetizer.
The ease of fixing this recipe makes it a star candidate for parties or to even light up your weekend evenings.
What is baked stuffed shrimp?
Baked stuffed shrimp is an impressive entree or appetizer recipe that’s prepared with Jumbo shrimps that are cut into butterfly shapes and stuffed & baked with an easy crabmeat stuffing that’s so tasty!
It sure does add a bit of sophistication to an appetizer table and brings in so much of delicious. You can never go wrong with this stuffed jumbo prawns recipe, yes it’s that easy to fix.
How do you make crab stuffing?
Crab stuffing is very easy to make. Here’s how you can make it easily and efficiently:
*First, finely chop onion and garlic. Set aside.
*Then sautee them in butter for about 5 mins.
*Whilst you chop the crab meat, celery, bread, white fish and keep them ready.
*Crush the Ritz crackers, add whole egg, breadcrumbs, the sauteed onion + garlic, the kept-ready chopped ingredients, a drizzle of spices and mix well to form a stuffing. Voila!
Your crab meat stuffing is ready in a Jiffy! Took me around 15 mins from start to finish.
How do you cook baked stuffed shrimp?
*Butterfly the jumbo shrimps, keep the shell intact. This helps them to hold shape beautifully and you can always discard the shell while eating.
*Scoop about 1 tablespoon of the stuffing and mound it on the shrimp with shell side facing down (refer the stepwise pictures). I like to place the stuffing on the slit side (refer the stepwise pictures).
*Brush the stuffing with the leftover butter from the pan. Press gently with a spoon so that the stuffing stays intact and don’t roll over while you bake the prawns.
*Bake away for 15 mins at 350 F or until the stuffing takes on a light golden hue.
How long does it take to cook bake stuffed shrimp?
It takes about 15-20 mins to bake stuffed shrimp at 350 F. Though it depends entirely on your oven! So it’s wise to check them in between. I generally check them after 10 mins.
You will know when it’s fully cooked when:
*The stuffing takes on a light golden hue.
*The tails of the shrimp turn red/pink and curl.
*The shrimps turn white or opaque.
What to serve with baked stuffed shrimp?
Baked stuffed shrimp can be served with cocktail sauce and celery sticks. We love it that way when we eat them as our appetizer.
You can also rustle up a simple greek salad or lettuce, tomato, and cucumber salad for a light supper menu.
Which crab meat can you use for the stuffing?
The package or tinned crab meat that is readily available in the supermarket work wonderfully well for this recipe. I used the same for this stuffed prawn recipe.
If you want you could use fresh crabmeat as well.
Can you make baked stuffed shrimp with crab meat & ritz crackers well ahead of time?
If you plan to organize cocktail parties or simple get-togethers you could generally prepare the crab stuffing and store it in the fridge in an airtight container.
It stores well for 5 days!
You could also butterfly the jumbo prawns and freeze them. It’s easy peasy that way.
Thaw-stuff-bake is my motto, what’s yours let us know?
Step by Step Method to prepare easy baked stuffed shrimp with crabmeat & Ritz crackers:
How to Butterfly Jumbo Shrimp:
Step 1: Keep ready the shell on Colossal or Jumbo Shrimp either fresh or frozen (If frozen defrost completely).
Step 2: Take a shrimp, lay it on your working surface. With the help of a paring knife slit it all through moving the knife towards the tail. Be careful not to cut it into two halves! You need to stop at the tip of the tail.
Step 3: Carefully and gently pull the shell (do not remove it completely) in order to expose the flaps of the shrimp.
Step 4: Remove the vein and gently press the slit side with the help of your fingers in order to form a butterfly shape.
How to prepare the Stuffing?
Step 1: Roughly chop onion + garlic and set aside.
Step 2: Heat butter over medium-high heat.
Step 3: Add the chopped onion + garlic and saute for 5 mins.
Step 4: Roughly chop the crab meat, celery, any white fish (I used Pollock), any bread (I used Ciabatta bread) and keep aside.
Step 5: Crush the Ritz crackers (not fine grains, refer to the picture).
Step 6: Add the sauteed onion +garlic and mix with the Ritz cracker.
Step 7: Now add mayonnaise to the mixture and mix well.
Step 8: Add the chopped crab meat, bread, celery & fish and mix well.
Step 9: Add egg and mix well. The egg helps to bind everything together.
Step 10: Finally add pepper & salt and mix everything well. The stuffing is ready!
How to Stuff the Butterflied shrimps with the stuffing & bake them in the oven?
Step1: Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil, spray or brush oil so that the shrimps do not stick to the foil. Lay all the shrimps on the sheet with the butterflied top up.
Step 2: Scoop about 1 tablespoon stuffing, roll it within your palm to form a ball, lay it over the butterflied shrimp.
Step 3: Gently press the stuffing with the help of a spoon. This will keep the stuffing intact and will prevent it from rolling over.
Step 4: Brush the top of the stuffing with the leftover butter from the pan.
Step 5: Bake for 15 mins at 350 F or until the stuffing gets a subtle golden hue.
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Easy Baked Stuffed Shrimp with Crabmeat & Ritz Crackers
Ingredients
- 1 Dozen OR 12 Colossal Prawns shell on, deveined (fresh or frozen)
- 1/3 Cup Finely chopped white onion.
- 1 tablespoon Finely Chopped Garlic.
- 5 tablespoons Butter
- 1/4 cup roughly chopped crab meat ( either packaged or fresh).
- 1/4 cup roughly chopped pollock fish or any white fish.
- 1/4 cup roughly chopped white bread (any, we used ciabatta)
- 2 tablespoons roughly chopped celery.
- 14 Ritz crackers ( roughly crushed, not fine)
- 3 tablespoons Mayonnaise.
- 1 teaspoon crushed pepper powder.
- 3 tablespoons bread crumbs (any, we used the regular variety)
- 1 large egg.
- Salt (to taste)
Instructions
- How To Make the Stuffing:1. Over medium-high heat melt the butter & then add the chopped onion and garlic and saute for 5 mins.2. In a clean dry bowl take the roughly crushed Ritz crackers and add the sauteed onion + garlic and mix everything well.3. Next, add the mayonnaise to the above mixture and mix well.4. Now add the chopped Pollock fish, bread, celery & crabmeat and mix everything well.5. Crack one egg and add to the above mixture, mix well to bind everything.6. Next, add the crushed pepper and salt and mix well until everything comes together into a nice doughy form ( refer the stepwise pictures).7. The stuffing is ready.How to Stuff the butterflied Prawns with the stuffing:1. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and spray or brush oil.2. Arrange the Butterflied Shrimps on the cookie sheet with the shell side facing down and butterflied side facing up.3. Next, scoop about 1 tablespoon stuffing, roll it within your palm to form a ball, lay it gently over the butterflied shrimp.4. Gently press the stuffing with the help of a spoon. Repeat the process with all the Shrimps.5. Now, brush the top of the stuffing with the leftover butter from the pan.6. Preheat oven at 350 F or 177 C.7. Bake the stiffed Prawns for 15 mins or until the top of the stuffing turns light golden.
Notes
- Refer the stepwise pictures to learn how to butterfly Shrimps.
- Follow all the steps carefully.
- The Stuffing stores well for 5 days inside the fridge when kept in an airtight container.
- The butterflied prawns freezes very well.
- You can make the stuffing and butterfly the prawns and store them in the freeze.
- Just take them out, assemble and bake away!
- Keeping the shell intact will help the shrimps to retain a better shape when they are baked, they won't curl up ridiculously! You can always discard the shell while eating.
Nutrition
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