A delicious copycat recipe of tender shrimp stuffed with buttery crackers, seafood, and savory spices. These stuffed colossal shrimp are so easy to prepare and taste incredible!
- Prep time: 30 minutes
- Bake time: 15 minutes
- Total time: 45 minutes
- Servings: 4
- Prep level: Beginner +
What You’ll Love
- Classic New England flavors – Juicy shrimp paired with buttery cracker stuffing is a coastal favorite that tastes like it came straight from the harbor.
- Perfect for entertaining – Elegant enough for holidays, date nights, or dinner parties, yet simple enought for a weekend treat.
- Light yet satisfying – Baked, not fried, so you get all the flavor but with a lighter taste.
If you live in the northeastern part of our nation, you might have heard of Legal Sea Foods. It’s a favorite seafood restaurant for many people who live in Massachusetts where it all began.
If you visit Boston, a visit to the iconic seafood chain is a must! Generations of Bostonians have grown up on their clam chowder and lobster rolls.
One of the restaurant’s popular dishes is the baked stuffed shrimp and when I lived in Massachusetts for a few years, I fell in love with this dish. Tender shrimp with a seafood stuffing, it is so delicious. I’m back in Florida now and often crave their stuffed shrimp.
This is a copycat of the recipe and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!
Ingredients
Fun Fact
Legal Sea Foods began as a fish market in 1950 in the Inman Square neighborhood of Cambridge, MA. The first Legal Seafood restaurant opened right next to the market in 1968. Currently there are 23 locations along the Eastern Seaboard.
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Preheat oven. Melt butter in a large fry pan over medium heat.
- Add onions, celery, red pepper, and garlic and cook, stirring until softened. Remove from heat and let cool.
- Place crackers in a food processor and pulse them until they become crumbs. Put the cracker crumbs in a large mixing bowl.
- Add the crabmeat, scallops, seasoning, pepper, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, lemon juice, and wine to the cracker crumbs.
- Toss in the sautéed onions, peppers, celery, and garlic.
- Add the slightly beaten egg. Mix throughly.
- Line baking pan with aluminum foil or spray with non stick cooking spray. Butterfly shrimp and devein shrimp.
- Place shrimp on greased or lined baking pan. Mound crabmeat stuffing on each shrimp. Drizzle remaining melted butter over the shrimp and cook.
- Serve with sprinkled fresh parsley and a lemon wedge.
Substitutions
- Garlic powder for fresh minced garlic
- Store bought lemon juice for fresh lemons
- Lobster meat for crabmeat (fresh or imitation)
- Fresh lump crabmeat for imitation crabmeat
Laura Belle’s Tips
- If you don’t have a food processor or blender, put the crackers in a zip top plastic bag and crush them with a rolling pin.
- To butterfly shrimp – After the shrimp are peeled and deveined, cut lengthwise along the top curve almost completely through. Split and press open.
What To Serve With Stuffed Shrimp
Pair this delicious shrimp with:
- Mixed greens salad – Blue Cheese Chopped Salad or Roasted Sweet Potato Salad
- Filet mignon from Wholesome Yum
Legal Sea Foods Baked Stuffed Shrimp Recipe (Copycat)
A delicious copycat recipe of tender shrimp stuffed with buttery crackers, seafood, and savory spices.
These stuffed colossal shrimp are so easy to prepare and taste incredible!
Ingredients
- 4 ounces buttery crackers ( roughly 1 sleeve of Ritz crackers)
- 4 tablespoons butter (which 2 tablespoons is melted butter)
- 1/3 cup green onions which are scallions – chopped (both white and green parts)
- 1/2 cup celery – chopped
- 1/4 cup red pepper – chopped
- 2 garlic cloves – minced
- 2 tablespoons dry white wine
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon hot sauce
- 2 teaspoons Old Bay seasoning
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 8 ounces imitation crabmeat – chopped
- 4 scallops – rinsed and chopped
- 1 large egg, slightly beaten
- 15 to 20 shrimp – peeled (jumbo or colossal, larger sizes work best)
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley – chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees f
- Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large fry pan over medium heat.
- Add onions, celery, red pepper, and garlic and cook, stirring until softened. About 4 minutes.
- Remove from heat and let cool.
- Place crackers in a food processor and pulse them until they become crumbs.
- Put the cracker crumbs in a large mixing bowl.
- Add the crabmeat, scallops, seasoning, pepper, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, lemon juice, and wine to the cracker crumbs.
- Add the sauteed onions, peppers, celery, and garlic. Add the slightly beaten egg.
- Mix throughly.
- Line baking pan with aluminum foil or spray with non stick cooking spray.
- Butterfly shrimp and devein shrimp.
- Place shrimp on lined baking pan.
- Mound 2 tablespoons of crabmeat stuffing on each shrimp.
- Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and drizzle over the shrimp.
- Cook for 12 – 15 minutes.
- Serve with sprinkled fresh parsley and a lemon wedge.
Notes
Substitutions
- Garlic powder for fresh minced garlic
- Store bought lemon juice for fresh lemons
- Lobster meat for crabmeat (fresh or imitation)
- Fresh lump crabmeat for imitation crabmeat
Successful Tips
- If you don't have a food processor or blender, put the crackers in a zip top plastic bag and crush them with a rolling pin.
- To butterfly shrimp – After the shrimp are peeled and deveined, cut lengthwise along the top curve almost completely through and press open.
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