Crab-Stuffed Shrimp

Nutrition Snapshot

• Three stuffed shrimp give you about 27 grams of protein and six grams of carbohydrate.
• Shrimp and crab supply vitamin B12 and iodine, which are easy to fall short of without seafood.
• About half the calories come from butter, so keep the brush coat thin or use two tablespoons in total.

Crab-stuffed shrimp bake in about ten minutes and put an entree’s worth of protein at the front of the meal. Three of them give you roughly the protein in three ounces of chicken breast, with six grams of carbohydrate alongside it. They also look like restaurant food on the plate, which is a fair return for about twenty-five minutes of prep.

Protein First and Six Grams of Carbohydrate Make for a Gentle Start

Blood sugar rises in response to carbohydrate. A serving of these shrimp holds six grams of it, most of that from the quarter cup of bread crumbs spread across twelve shrimp. Protein and fat slow the rate at which the stomach empties. Glucose then reaches the bloodstream more slowly.

The order of a meal matters too. Starting with protein instead of the bread basket keeps the opening of a meal low in carbohydrate, which leaves less to raise blood sugar early on. That habit is useful at a long dinner, where the appetizer often adds the most carbohydrate of anything before the entree.

What’s in a Serving

A serving is three stuffed shrimp. Nearly all of the protein comes from the shrimp themselves and the crab in the filling, both lean to start with. A little over half the fat is butter, two tablespoons of it in the filling and the rest brushed on before baking. The shrimp and crab supply what is left.

Sodium comes from three places: the crab meat, which is packed or pasteurized with salt, the bread crumbs, and the shrimp. Most frozen shrimp is treated with a salt or phosphate solution before freezing. The recipe card below shows the exact figures.

What to Buy: Shrimp, Crab, and Bread Crumbs

Raw Jumbo Shrimp, Peeled With Tails On

Look for raw shrimp sold at 16 to 20 per pound, labeled jumbo or extra jumbo depending on the store. That size leaves room to cut a pocket deep enough to hold the filling. Buy them peeled with the tails left on as a handle, or peel them yourself and leave the last segment in place.

Check the bag for a single ingredient. Shrimp treated with salt or phosphate holds extra water and extra sodium, which is a real difference in a dish that already sits near 400 milligrams a serving.

Crab Meat With Real Crab Flavor

Pasteurized lump crab in a tub, sold near the seafood counter, has the best texture for a filling. Canned crab costs less and works fine here. Drain it well and press out the liquid so the filling holds its shape in the shrimp. Imitation crab is made from processed fish with added starch and sugar, which changes both the flavor and the carbohydrate count.

Organic Bread Crumbs

Buy organic bread crumbs (to avoid glyphosate), since wheat is one of the crops often sprayed to dry the field before harvest, and organic growing does not allow it. Plain dry crumbs suit this filling best. Panko is coarser and drier, so use a little less of it and add a spoonful of the melted butter.

Who This Fits and Who Should Go Easy

Who It Fits

This suits anyone building meals around protein: a low-carbohydrate eating pattern, a blood sugar plan, or a night when the main course is already starchy. It also works when you want something small and filling before a late dinner.

Go Easy If

Go easy if you have a shellfish allergy, since shrimp and crab are two of the most common triggers. Shellfish is high in purines, which matters if you have gout. Three shrimp deliver close to 400 milligrams of sodium, so use the lower-sodium swaps below if you are working to a strict target.

How to Make It Your Own

The filling takes seasoning well, so treat the base as a starting point. A pinch of cayenne or a chopped scallion belongs here. A half teaspoon of Old Bay works too, though it adds noticeable salt to a dish that already has some.

The Health Swaps in Short

• Lower sodium: rinse and drain the crab meat, use unsalted or homemade bread crumbs, and season with extra lemon and black pepper.
• Lower sugar: the recipe uses no added sugar, so it already fits a lower-sugar plan.
• Dairy-free: use olive oil in place of the butter, in the filling and for brushing.
• Gluten-free: swap in gluten-free bread crumbs or almond flour, measure for measure.
• Nut-free: keep to the gluten-free crumbs rather than the almond flour.
• Lighter: use two tablespoons of butter in total, keeping the brush coat thin or leaving it off.

To turn the appetizer into dinner, plan on six shrimp a person over a green salad or a scoop of cauliflower rice.

Storage, Make-Ahead, and Serving

Stuff the shrimp up to a day ahead, cover the tray, and refrigerate. Bake them straight from cold and add a minute or two to the time. The filling itself keeps two days in a covered container, which makes this a reasonable dish to prep the morning of a party.

Cooked shrimp reheat poorly, since a second round of heat turns them rubbery. Bake only what you plan to serve and leave the rest stuffed and raw. Any that do get cooked are good cold the next day, sliced over a salad.

Crab-Stuffed Shrimp Put the Protein at the Start of the Meal

Three of these give you the protein of a small entree with very little carbohydrate, which is what makes them a steady way to open a meal. The butter is real. Swapping in olive oil changes the kind of fat rather than the amount, so use two tablespoons of butter in total when you want the dish lighter. Three shrimp is an appetizer; six with a salad is dinner.

Serve It With

A bright green vegetable balances the butter. Quick Skillet Asparagus With Garlic and Red Wine Vinaigrette cooks while the shrimp bake, and Easy Cilantro Lime Coleslaw can be made hours ahead. For your daily protein target, see Protein: How Much Do You Need And Where Do You Get It.