Crab Enchiladas
These Crab Enchiladas are made with a cheesy green sauce–packed with shrimp and crab. It’s seriously a good enchilada recipe that is on the elegant side, served with a side slaw and a glass of white wine. It’s the best summer dinner to serve for a small dinner party if you love seafood cooking!
Oh, I love a good enchilada recipe! This time our Mexican-inspired Cheesy Crab Green Enchiladas are flavor-packed with seafood and cheese. The tortillas are smothered in our bold, green enchilada sauce, and it’s just a delightful 9×13 pan of deliciousness!
These Crab Enchiladas are truly made with love, and delicious for the family or dinner guests. We love to change up the traditional recipes for Cinco de Mayo, which we usually serve tacos, with these made-from-scratch crab and shrimp-stuffed enchiladas.
What are Crab Enchiladas?
Crab enchiladas are a rich and flavorful seafood dish made with tender crab tucked inside soft tortillas, then baked in a creamy, savory sauce until hot and bubbly. The delicate sweetness of the crab pairs beautifully with onion, garlic, cheese, and a smooth enchilada sauce that brings everything together. They’re cozy, comforting, and just a little special—perfect for a dinner party, holiday meal, or any time you want an easy seafood dinner that feels restaurant-worthy.
Why you’ll love these seafood enchiladas
- Cheesy, creamy, and so delicious with a flavorful green enchilada sauce
- The green sauce adds a tangy, savory flavor that pairs beautifully with seafood
- A cozy seafood dinner recipe that feels a little extra special
- Easy enough for dinner, but also perfect for guests or holiday entertaining
- You can easily swap in your favorite seafood, like crab, shrimp, scallops, or a mix
- Want to stretch the filling? Add rice and beans to make it more budget-friendly
- Can be assembled ahead of time for easy serving
- Feels restaurant-worthy, but is simple to make at home
From scratch Green Sauce for a creamy dip, too!
Seafood Enchiladas are my favorite thing to order at our local Mexican restaurant. The savory seafood filling goes perfectly with sweet white onion and garlic, and saucy, creamy, tangy green sauce. In this recipe, I add fish sauce to the enchilada sauce, as the fish sauce doesn’t make the enchilada sauce taste fishy, but rather adds depth and a subtle complimentary seafood flavor to accompany the filling.
The green sauce, whether you make it from scratch or use remade ingredients, is not solely for baking enchiladas, but it can also make for a delicious, creamy dip, and can be added to tacos, burritos, quesadillas, and even drizzled over sautéed veggies or spread onto toast.
Ingredients needed:
Creamy Chili Green Sauce:
This recipe makes 3-4 cups, and takes about 30 minutes to make:
- Poblano chilis
- Tomatillos
- White onion
- Jalapeño
- Green onions
- Garlic
- Fresh cilantro
- Ground coriander
- Cumin
- Fish sauce
- Mexican crema or sour cream
Crab Filling:
This part of the recipe takes about an hour, because you season the shrimp, dice the onion, crush the garlic, chop the green onion, and then saute, then assemble.
- Crab (Crab meat)
- Shrimp
- Kosher salt + black pepper
- Cumin + dried oregano
- Oil
- Yellow onion + garlic
- Green onions
- Shredded jack cheese or Mexican cheese blend
- Corn tortillas
How to make Cheesy Seafood Green Enchiladas
We just love this Cheesy Seafood Enchiladas recipe! It’s the ultimate dinner option, perfect for Cinco de Mayo or year-round.
- Make the sauce, or optional to substitute the green sauce with 3-4 cups of salsa verde (I love Trader Joe’s salsa verde), blended with 1 Tbsp fish sauce and 1/2 cup of Mexican crema or sour cream. Taste for salt and additional seasonings.
- Spread 1 cup of sauce down the center of a 7 1/2’’ x 10 1/2’’ baking dish (or a similar sized pan). Evenly divide about 1 1/4 cup of the cheese and the seafood filling into each tortilla, roll them up, and place them seam side down, centered in the pan.
- Pour the remaining sauce over and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Cover with foil and bake for 15 minutes. Remove the foil and bake 15 minutes more until cheese is melted and gooey.
- After sprinkling the cheese over the enchiladas before baking, garnish, serve and enjoy!
How to serve Seafood Enchiladas
These Creamy Seafood Enchiladas taste like the ones served at a popular Mexican restaurant in my area, but I love how you can serve these at home!
Remove from the oven, garnish with cilantro and radish. You can also serve with:
- pico de gallo
- cotija cheese
- fresh lime juice
- fresh acovado
- black beans
- rice
Tips and substitutions:
- Try these enchiladas with chicken instead of shrimp.
- DOUBLE the crab (and leave out the shrimp).
- Buy the freshest tortillas you can find to help reduce cracking.
- Before assembling the enchiladas, the tortillas should be lightly steamed or fried. To fry tortillas, heat about 1/2 cup of oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add a tortilla and fry about 30 seconds per side. The edges should sizzle, the center puff up with bubbles, and the oil will become fragrant. Remove from the oil and place on a paper towel to absorb excess oil.
- Substitute the green sauce with 3-4 cups of salsa verde (I love Trader Joe’s salsa verde), blended with 1 Tbsp fish sauce and 1/2 cup of Mexican crema or sour cream. Taste for salt and additional seasonings.
- Change out the cheese for your favorite cheese.
- I’ve made it with chicken instead of fish, too. Just saute until done.
- We often DOUBLE the recipe for company.
- STORAGE: Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2-3 days. Delicious as leftovers!
Whether you’re cooking at home or eating out, it’s fun to get together with friends for some of the best Mexican-inspired food, with cold drinks to cool down the spiciness. Right? You may enjoy this sangria recipe. You may also want to try my Green Enchilada Chicken Bake Casserole.
More enchilada recipes to try:
- Slow Cooker Chicken Enchilada Soup
- Zucchini Cheese Enchiladas Verde
- Skillet Veggie Chicken Enchilada Melt
- Trader Joe’s Red Sauce Enchiladas
- I’ve also made Recipe Girl’s Salsa Verde Chicken Enchiladas many times!
Get the Recipe:
Crab Enchiladas with cheesy green sauce
Ingredients
Creamy Chili Green Sauce:
- 2 poblano chilis
- ½ lb tomatillos, 3-4 large
- ¼ white onion
- 1 jalapeño
- 2 green onions
- 2 cloves garlic
- ¾ packed cup cilantro leaves and stems
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 Tbsp fish sauce
- ½ c Mexican crema or sour cream
- 1 tsp Kosher salt
Crab Filling:
- ½ lb crab meat, substitute extra shrimp
- ½ lb shrimp, peeled, deveined, and cut into large 1’’ pieces
- 1 tsp kosher salt, plus more to taste
- 1 ½ tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 Tbsp dried oregano
- 2 Tbsp oil
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced or crushed
- 5-6 green onions, minced
- 2 cups shredded Jack cheese or Mexican cheese blend
- 6 6-inch corn tortillas, steamed or fried in oil
Equipment
Instructions
Make the sauce:
- Preheat broiler. Arrange poblanos, tomatillos, onion, jalapeño, green onions, and garlic on a sheet tray. Broil until blistered, flipping once: 2 minutes per side for the green onion and garlic, 5-6 minutes per side for the peppers, tomatillos, and onion.
- Once blistered, remove the tray from the oven. Transfer poblanos and jalapeño to a bowl and cover tightly to steam: Let all ingredients cool about 10 minutes.
- Peel the blistered skin off and seed the the peppers, then add the poblanos, tomatillos, onion, jalapeño, green onion, and garlic to a blender, along with the cilantro, coriander, cumin, fish sauce, and salt.
- Blend until mostly smooth, then add the crema. Blend until smooth and set aside. SEASON TO TASTE (add more salt if needed).
Make the filling:
- Season the shrimp with salt, pepper, cumin, and oregano. Cover and refrigerate.
- In a medium skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion, garlic, and salt. Cook until softened, 8-10 minutes, then add the crab meat and green onion. Taste for salt and cook 5 minutes, then add the shrimp. Cook, stirring frequently, until shrimp are just cooked—5 minutes. Take off the heat and toss the seafood in about ½ cup of the sauce.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Spread 1 cup of sauce down the center of a 7 1/2’’ x 10 1/2’’ baking dish (or a similar sized pan). Evenly divide about 1 ¼ cup of the cheese and the seafood filling into each tortilla, roll them up, and place them seam side down, centered in the pan. Pour the remaining sauce over and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Cover with foil and bake for 15 minutes. Remove the foil and bake 15 minutes more until cheese is melted and gooey.
- Remove from the oven, garnish with cilantro and radish, and serve with pico de gallo, cotija cheese, cilantro, fresh lime juice, fresh acovado, black beans, or rice.
Notes
Before assembling the enchiladas, the tortillas should be lightly steamed or fried. To fry tortillas, heat about 1/2 cup of oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add a tortilla and fry about 30 seconds per side. The edges should sizzle, the center puff up with bubbles, and the oil will become fragrant. Remove from the oil and place on a paper towel to absorb excess oil.
Substitute the green sauce with 3-4 cups of salsa verde (I love Trader Joe’s salsa verde), blended with 1 Tbsp fish sauce and 1/2 cup of Mexican crema or sour cream. Taste for salt and additional seasonings. Updated from May 2022.
Hello and welcome to my home and table!
I’m Sandy—lover of food, family, cooking, THE BIG BOARD, travel, and bringing people together. Through great recipes and connection around the table, we become better, stronger, and more courageous people. Feasting on Life is real, and every time we do it, we grow a little more. Read more...
This recipe is amazing!! thank you so much!
This recipe was just ‘ok’ considering the time it took to prep. Needed more salt, flavor didn’t have much depth for my taste buds. Took a LOT of hot sauce for us!
The recipe does say to taste for salt. We never want to add too much. Other reviews say they loved it. Thanks for letting us know!