These crab and shrimp enchiladas smothered in a luscious, creamy sauce are easy to make at home!
What do you like to order when you go out for Mexican? If there is seafood on the menu, I usually choose it. Fish tacos, shrimp burritos, and seafood enchiladas are some of my favorites. These crab and shrimp enchiladas make me feel like I’m in a restaurant at home! The creamy enchilada sauce is made from scratch, and since it starts with butter, you know it’s going to be good. I wanted to make this dish easy, affordable, and accessible to everyone even if you don’t have access to fresh seafood. To do that, I used canned crab meat and frozen salad shrimp. You get all the flavor without it costing you an arm and a leg for fresh crab! I planned to make this recipe last week, and it kept getting bumped because I had other ingredients that needed to be used or weariness got the best of me. After a few days of telling my husband in the morning that we would have enchiladas and then changing my mind by dinner time, I think he had given up! I finally made them over the weekend, and we agreed that they were worth the wait. Because my boys are generally against sauces, I added some of the filling to their quesadillas instead, and that was a hit too!
I slightly adapted this recipe from my original written for TodaysMama.com.
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Creamy Crab and Shrimp Enchiladas From Scratch
These crab and shrimp enchiladas smothered in a creamy sauce will make you feel like you are at a fine Mexican restaurant!
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
Ingredients
- 16 oz. can seasoned black beans drained and rinsed
- 6 oz. can lump white crab meat drained
- 2 c. frozen, fully-cooked salad shrimp (no need to thaw)
- 1/2 c. green salsa divided
- 1–1/2 c. shredded Mexican blend cheese divided
- 1/2 c. sour cream I use reduced fat
- 2 tbsp. butter
- 2 tbsp. flour
- 1/2 tsp. chili powder
- 1/4 tsp. ground cumin
- pinch kosher salt
- 1–1/2 c. chicken broth
- 1/4 c. half and half or substitute sour cream
- 8 corn or flour tortillas I prefer corn/whole wheat blend
- finely shredded cabbage optional
- cilantro for garnish optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spray a 9 x 13″ baking dish with cooking spray.
- In a medium bowl, stir together beans, crab, shrimp, ¼ c. salsa, ½ c. cheese, and sour cream. Spoon about ⅓ c. of this filling down the center of each tortilla, fold sides to the middle to cover filling, and place rolled enchiladas seam side down in the prepared baking dish. Enchiladas should fit tightly together in the pan.
- Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Whisk in flour until combined. Slowly add chicken broth about ¼ c. at a time, whisking constantly to keep mixture smooth. When all chicken broth is added, bring to a simmer. Stir in chili powder, cumin, salt, ½ c. cheese, ¼ c. salsa, and half and half. When cheese is melted, turn off heat and pour sauce evenly over prepared enchiladas.
- Cover dish with foil, and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil, and sprinkle remaining ½ c. cheese over the top. Bake an additional 5-10 minutes until cheese is melted and bubbly. Serve enchiladas on a bed of shredded cabbage and garnish with chopped cilantro if desired.
- Prep Time: 20
- Cook Time: 35
- Category: Main Dish
- Cuisine: Mexican
Belita says
Do you taste the sour cream in the crab & shrimp enchiladas? I don’t care for it in burritos _ does it melt in the enchiladas
Angela W Broyles says
These were wonderful! My family loved them!
Jayne says
Can this recipe be put in the freezer?
Joanne says
My husband and I love crab and shrimp, so these enchilada’s will be on my menu soon!
Jenelle says
Went to the store yesterday to get everything I needed to make these for dinner tonight! Yummy, can’t wait!
Andi Gleeson says
Oh, I hope you loved how they turned out, Jenelle. Let me know! Thank you :)
Lauren says
I made these tonight for dinner. My husband and I both loved them! Great recipe.
Andi says
I’m so happy to hear it, Lauren! Thank you!
jabette miller says
i cant find the recipe for the creamy crab and shrimp enchillada’s. where can i find it?
Andi says
Hi, Jabette. I’m sorry the print feature wasn’t working, but I fixed it now. Can you please come back and try again? Let me know if you have any more trouble! Thank you.
jabette miller says
thanks so much. love your recipes :-)))))))
Andi says
Thank you!! xo
Corris Freigang says
love seafood enchiladas & the 2 restaurants I would get them from have them no more :( will try these this week for sure & come back & post results
Andi says
I hope these can live up to your favorite restaurant enchiladas, Corris! Thanks for your comment :)
janet says
Can I leave out the Black beans and the green sauce? Would it be ok with red salsa?
Andi says
Hi, Janet! Yes, you can leave out the beans if you prefer. I haven’t made this recipe with red salsa because I usually think green goes better with seafood, but that’s just my personal preference. I’m sure it will turn out tasty with red too! Thanks for asking :)
Liz says
Thank you, Andi. A nice recipe. Have a Great Week!
Andi says
Thank you, Liz!
Linda Warren says
My husband would love you for this recipe! I usually make either chicken or beef enchiladas but I love the seafood addition. It looks so good that I will definitely be whipping this up soon.
Andi says
Thank you, Linda! I hope you both like it, and you just made me want to make beef enchiladas next :)
Lea Ann (Cooking On The Ranch) says
Chicken Mole is my favorite thing to order because I’ve never taken the time to make Mole at home. That photo of the fork full of that enchilada made me instantly hungry. I’ve yet to plan what I’m making for Cinco … you may have just solved my problem. I love the addition of black beans in this.
Andi says
Thank you, Lea Ann! The other day I briefly had the idea to make chicken mole and then immediately knew it would be too much work for me. Enchiladas I can do ;)
Jackie Logan says
I can’t wait to try these. So perfect for my kind of cinco de mayo! I sincerely appreciate what you do!
Andi says
Thank you so much, Jackie! I hope you like them :)
Kelly says
These look fantastic Andi! My husband is obsessed with chicken enchiladas and it’s on our dinner menu weekly but I am a bigger fan of seafood so this is perfect to change things up! Love it and can’t wait to give it a try :) Pinned!
Andi says
Thank you, Kelly! As I mentioned in another comment, you could also make these with shredded chicken or beef if you didn’t want to use seafood, but of course I like the flavor of the shrimp and crab. I hope you like them whichever version you try :)
Jaren (Diary of a Recipe Collector) says
I’m such a shrimp girl…this will be on my “MUST TRY SOON” list! I could eat shrimp everyday. I guess it’s a culture thing:)
Andi says
Where do you live with a shrimp culture, Jaren? I’m from the Mississippi coast which of course has plentiful shrimp, and I wonder if you are from the same area. We can have fun exchanging shrimp recipes :) Thanks so much for stopping by!
Jaren (Diary of a Recipe Collector) says
I’m from Southwest Louisiana (Lake Charles), about 50 miles from the Gulf Coast. Cajun restaurants and seafood are a way of life down here:)
Andi says
I was just really close to you! We went home to Biloxi in April and flew in/out of New Orleans. Maybe the next time we’re down there we could meet. That would be fun!
SMD @ Life According to Steph says
These look amazing and are now a contender for my Cinco de Mayo dinner plans.
Andi says
I’m happy you like them, Steph! I should have mentioned in the recipe that you could use shredded chicken instead of the seafood in this recipe and keep everything else the same. Just thought I would mention it in case the seafood didn’t float your boat. It’s great to hear from you!
Serene @ House of Yumm says
Andi, I love this!! I love all Mexican food. Fish and shrimp tacos are one of my favorites! Can you believe I’ve NEVER had a seafood enchilada though! I will definitely be giving this a try. Pinning!!
Andi says
Thank you, Serene! We just had salmon nachos tonight. I need to eat salad for a few days now! ;) Thank you so much for your visit and pin. Talk to you soon!