These easy peasy crab stuffed mushrooms make an awesome holiday appetizer; perfect for your next party!
There are SO MANY parties, potlucks, and gatherings coming up that I’m out of my mind excited!
Many require me to get my booty in the kitchen, which I’m 100% okay with as long as what I’m bringing is quick, easy, and MAKE AHEAD.
Are those not the two most glorious words ever?
I always like to have a few default make ahead recipes for each season that I can whip up the night before when the chickpea is sleeping and simply bake or toss together the following day.
These crab stuffed mushrooms have quickly become a MUST for the holidays. They look fancy, taste FANTASTIC, and are a total breeze to make! Also, everyone loves them!
★★★★★ “Couldn’t have been more perfect! Excellent taste, and the favorite appetizer at the party. I made them in my air fryer.” – Shelley
★★★★★ “I made these for our family New Years Eve family get together and my family gave them a thumbs up! HOWEVER, to reheat the leftovers for New Years Day, we deep fat fried them for 1 minute. They are super FANTASTIC and were snatched up as fast as they came out of the pot!” – Diane
These scrumptious seafood stuffed mushrooms can be made the previous day and baked up to bubbly perfection just before serving.
I’ve employed this technique both when hosting my own little shindig and even when taking goodies to friends houses. Granted you’ll have to commandeer their oven for 20 minutes but chances are, they won’t mind one bit. Especially once they bite into one of these fresh-from-the-oven crab stuffed mushrooms. Just be sure to bring the tray out to the guests before someone camps out in the corner of the kitchen popping mushroom after mushroom in their face.
Oh yes, this has happened multiple times.
I promise not to name names. Y’all know who you are!
what type of crab should I use?
For these crab stuffed mushrooms, I typically grab a package of fresh, chilled lump crab meat from the seafood section of my grocery store. I also like using chilled crab claw meat which is has great flavor.
I’ll usually snag whichever is on sale!
You could even run with the seafood stuffed mushroom vibe and add some chopped sautéed shrimp or cooked salmon to the mix. It’s delicious!
Without further ado, let’s stuff some mushrooms!
Crab Stuffed Mushrooms
These EPIC crab stuffed mushrooms always vanish fast! We love them so much I even make them as a side dish with dinner every few weeks. We can’t get enough of this easy mushroom appetizer!
Crab Stuffed Mushrooms
Ingredients
- 24 oz button mushrooms (around 25-35 mushrooms)
- ¼ cup minced red bell pepper
- ¼ cup minced celery
- ¼ cup minced yellow onion
- 3 cloves garlic smashed + minced
- ½ TBSP butter
- ½ tsp Old Bay Seasoning
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
- ¼ tsp salt or to taste
- ¼ tsp paprika plus extra for topping
- 4 oz fresh crab meat lump or claw
- ½ cup grated gouda cheese plus extra for topping
- ¼ cup panko breadcrumbs
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F and line a rimmed baking sheet with foil.
- Drizzle foil with a little olive oil or use butter for extra oomph.
- I alternate between the two and it’s great either way. Alternatively you can skip the baking sheet altogether and use your favorite cast iron skillet to do the job. Make sure you use a little butter or oil for either option and you’re good to go!
- Remove the stems from your mushrooms and arrange mushrooms on the baking sheet/skillet.
- Finely dice your veggies and, with a ½ TBSP of butter, saute the celery, onion, and red pepper.
- Towards the end, add your garlic and continue to saute until onions and celery are translucent and tender.
- Season with old bay, garlic powder, paprika, salt, and pepper, stir, and pour into a mixing bowl.
- Add your crab and cheese, then mix.
- Depending on preference, you can add the panko to the stuffing mixture along with the crab and cheese or save it as a crispy topping. I love them both ways, choose your favorite!
- Spoon mixture into mushroom caps and sprinkle with paprika.
- Toss your panko breadcrumbs with a little melted butter (or oil) and press gently on top of the filling to overstuff each mushroom.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes or until mushrooms are tender and panko is golden.
- Grab a fork and attack!
Notes
Nutrition
If you get a chance to try these crab stuffed mushrooms, let me know!
Leave some love in the comment form below or tag your photos with @peasandcrayons on Instagram so I can happy dance over your creation. Easy appetizers FTW!
You miiiiight want to double the batch.
Quadruple even.
These scrumptious crab stuffed mushrooms get scarfed FAST!
Questions & Reviews
I made these for our family New Years Eve family get together and my family gave them a thumbs up!
HOWEVER, to reheat the leftovers for New Years Day, we deep fat fried them for 1 minute. They are
super FANTASTIC and were snatched up as fast as they came out of the pot! There were no
leftovers.. barely enough to get to the table! Ha! The deep fat frying added
just enough crispiness to the topping and outer shell , but left the interior just the perfect texture!
I’m sorry but the crab stuffed mushrooms are NOT vegetarian. Crab is SHELL FISH! Also classified as SEAFOOD. Vegetarian does contain dairy and eggs but no flesh food.
Peggy I have no idea how this recipe got tagged as vegetarian as it’s for sure pescatarian. My apologies. My blog is a mix of all dietary needs but I did spend many years as a strict vegetarian, and enjoy creating those recipes most of all!
Made last night. I ate 7 and called it dinner. My comment is: In what universe can this recipe be made with a 10 minute prep. time? Try more like 1 hour prep. time, at best. Finely dicing celery, red pepper, and onion took over 10 minutes. Saute was another 15 plus minutes. Removing stems from mushrooms was another 10 minutes. Then after mixing all together, after grating cheese in my food processer (another 10 minutes), stuffing the mushrooms was another 30 minutes. Result was delish. A 10 minute prep. time is laughable!
Couldn’t have been more perfect! Excellent taste, and the favorite appetizer at the party. I made them in my air fryer.
So stoked they can be made in the air fryer! (aka more reason for me to finally buy one – lol!) — Thanks Shelley!
I go to our local mushroom farm and buy a huge box of mushrooms and make a big batch of my cheesy crab stuffed mushrooms, cook them then freeze them. So easy to pull out and warm how every many you want, especially during holidays!
Ohmygosh I had no idea they were freezer friendly! That’s so awesome Wendy – thanks!
Leave out the cream cheese, substitute pork sausage for the crab. It is also really good.
Hi, I need clarification on something. Step 6 says “Towards the end, add your garlic and continue to saute until onions and celery are translucent and tender and mushrooms are fully cooked.” Which mushrooms is this referring to? In step 4 it says to arrange the mushroom caps onto the baking sheet, I’m assuming they just sit there until the mixture is done so they can be stuffed…. So I’m a little confused on which mushrooms are to be sauteed with the veggies?
Hi Alexandria! So sometimes I add some chopped mushroom stems into the filling and I’ll usually explain that within the recipe. For some reason I was a space cadet here and did not. So sorry about that! Updating it right now – thanks for your help! xo
So this recipe does not normally include the stems? Just making sure I understand 🙂
Right! Almost all my other stuffed mushroom recipes utilize the stems though so if you’re a fan, add some in for sure!
Okay, thank you! Just one more quick question… Which type of mushroom compliments the mixture the best, in your opinion? 🙂 Just regular white? Or maybe baby bella? Or some other type? 🙂
Baby Bella are my *favorite* for stuffed mushrooms lately! I grew up on plain button so those are always a hit with me as well so I’m probably no help – I love both haha!
Hi, Jen! I made these last year for a Christmas appetizer and I want to make them again. Do you have any tips on dealing with the moisture that’s released from the mushrooms? Mine tasted delish last time but the serving platter was a bit messy. Thank you for the awesome recipe!
Hey Stephanie! So excited these bad boys are making a second appearance!
I’ve actually read a few things offering tips and it seems like pre-cooking the mushrooms is the best bet! They’ll give off their water and then you can stuff and heat them just long enough to warm the filling and you’re good to go.
Via TheBump.com – “To cook the mushrooms in a skillet, oil a preheated pan and lay the mushrooms in a single layer, cap side down, for about 10 minutes until they release their water. Or, roast the unstuffed mushrooms, tossed with oil, salt and pepper, in a 450-degree Fahrenheit oven for 10 minutes on each side. Set the mushrooms on a wire rack placed in a baking sheet to keep them above the liquid.”
I’ve had something like this at a restaurant before but never tried making it at home. I’m so craving these right now! I’m going to have to check out your other stuffed mushroom recipes too! Thanks for sharing!
Who doesn’t love great party food? These are the perfect bites to serve and celebrate with! Love them!
I’m a total mushrooms lover and this is where I head when they’re on the party table. Love them!!!
Oh my goodness, these are so amazing!!! My mushroom hating husband doesn’t want them in the house, so we’ll make them when he’s on a business trip, haha!
In your recipe for crab stuffed mushrooms you mention removing the mushroom stems but you don’t mention trimming the foot and then chopping the stems and adding them to the crab filling. I use portabella mushrooms and hate to waste any part. Store bought mushroom stems are very edible.
Hi William! You are totally welcome to use the stems in the filling! They’re for sure edible and I try to use them in many of my recipes. The only issue with using all the stems in this stuffed mushroom recipe is the fact that there are so many stems, it would change the filling’s taste and texture here (since we’re going crab stuffed vs. traditionally mushroom and breadcrumb stuffing) so you could also choose to just use the stems in an additional dish like a veggie omelette or mushroom risotto. XO
Do you shred the gouda? I’m assuming, but unsure. Have you ever tried this recipe using an egg and parmesan instead? Planning to make these for Christmas dinner.
Hey Jill! So stoked you’ll be making these mushrooms – love them so! Correct, you’ll for sure shred the cheese. I’ll make a note in the recipe so it’s super clear, thank you! I’ve never used a whisked egg in my stuffed mushrooms but I know for sure it’ll be tasty with parmesan! 🙂
I want to make these soon but how much crab meat do I need? I don’t see it in the ingredient list. I make a Beard recipe which is awesome but want to try your variaties also. I hope you will respond. Thank you
Hi Rosary! You’ll use 4 ounces of crab meat for this recipe. 🙂 Enjoy!
I have made the similar recipe using Large Portobello mushrooms, take out the gills, use similar stuffing mix and then grill them or bake them in the oven. This makes a meal in itself using the Portobello’s and then a small salad and your enjoying the best. I have used crab and also shrimp as well as chicken and sausage inside the Portobello’s, then you can change up the other ingredients to match what protein you are using, or go totally vegan if you wish. My mother loved to come visit if I served stuffed mushrooms with salad and shrimp cocktail for dinner with a few drinks before dinner naturally. She always said I had to fix that menu whenever she and my step father were on their way to Texas and past thru our town to visit on their way to winter at South Padre Island. Miss that lady so much. Bon Appetite.
Thank you for sharing your story and mushroom technique with us Ronald, much appreciated! 🙂
Did you add chopped up mushrooms to the sauté veggies? Not clear on that step on your recipe…so I added 4 chopped up mushrooms to it.
Hey Susan! Yes I did, I’ll be sure to rewrite that part to better clarify. Thanks for pointing it out! 🙂
Another fun party recipe!! I make my stuffed mushrooms with a vegetarian filling. Need to give this crab version a try. Looks SO good.
Heck yes, these look wonderful! So delicious!
Thanks Annie! They’re beyond addictive!
Dang these look and sound awesome! I’ll have to make these for my husband, he would LOVE these!
Thanks Kimberly! Hope they’re a total hit!
These look and sound amazing! Pinned for future use!
My mouth is watering! I know what I am making for dinner tomorrow night, these look great!
Yay! Thanks Megan!
I used this recipe with a couple of modifications and these were great! I used cream cheese as my cheese, and I also added 1/2 tsp of ground mustard and a bit of lemon zest. Next time I will also add a dash of Worcestershire. One thing that was confusing to me, however, was the instructions for the mushrooms. I read this as the actual mushrooms should be cooked before stuffing. I would clarify between stems and mushrooms. Thankfully I have made stuffed mushrooms before so I did not precook the actual mushrooms. I actually just used more crab and discarded the stems.
Thanks Dan! I’m sorry that step was a bit confusing, I’ll fix it right away! I’m glad you loved the mushrooms and appreciate the feedback! Hope you have a lovely holiday weekend!
Yay for food blogger rambling glad I’m not the only one. These are perfect for making ahead – I’ll take a whole batch please!
Thanks Lauren! 🙂
These sound amazing! I’m pinning to make for one of our many holiday parties coming up.
Thanks so much Emily! <3 Hope they're a hit!
Ohhh i love this idea!! It’s been ages since i’ve had a stuffed mushroom and what better stuffing than crab? And you’re right – sooo many parties to look forward to coming up. I can’t wait!
Right? Crab is one of my favorite thing to stir into appetizers – I love it! Thanks Beverley! 🙂
Mushrooms are one of the best veggies to be stuffed with wholesome goodness!
Yessss! Thanks Maureen!
Damn it Jenn! Why do you do this to me? Haha.
Blame my stomach! It makes me do things 😉
Oh my gosh, these look so good! I learned “late” in life how much I love mushrooms, so this would be a great party dish!
Whenever I post them people freak out – “OMG GAH NO MUSHROOMS!” – but they’re so so good! I’m glad you’re team mushroom now! 🙂
These look amazing!! 2 amateur cooking questions- and apologies if I misread something:
1. Are the diced mushrooms the stems that you removed?
2. Is the 1/4 cup Panko mixed in and an additional amount used for topping??
Thanks so much, looking forward to trying these!!
Hey Heather! There’s an optional step of adding some chopped mushrooms into the stuffing too (I add them sometimes and skip it other times) and I totally botched explaining that so I fixed it now. I have 4 variations on the same recipe and I’m all over the place, so I’m super glad you said something! <3 You can add the panko in the stuffing or on top, or do a little of both. I've had them every which way and it's great so if you have a favorite technique for stuffing shrooms - go for it! 🙂