Individual seafood pasta salad servings made with jumbo pasta shells filled with an easy homemade recipe for seafood salad perfect for entertaining and lunch on the go!
JUMP TO RECIPEMy original seafood salad recipe is one of the most popular recipes here on the blog and here at the house. I love to make it during the summer to serve with crackers, on sandwiches or just a scoop by itself!
I had the idea to make a pasta salad with it using little pasta shells – which is nothing new but I’d never made it to post the recipe here and thought y’all might enjoy it.
So I went to the store to pick up the ingredients and when I was looking for the little shells on the pasta aisle, I spotted the jumbo shells and had an idea…
How cool would it be to stuff the jumbo shells with seafood salad to sort of make little individual handheld seafood pasta salads?!
I made these for y’all and really didn’t have anyone else to feed them to so I popped them in the fridge. We couldn’t stay out of them! Every time one of us walked through the kitchen, we’d grab one and gobble it up!
It’s the same concept as Walking Tacos (ya know, where you spoon taco meat and toppings into a bag of fritos then eat it with a fork? presumably while walking around?). I should call this Walking Seafood Pasta Salad {snort}.
These would be perfect for entertaining! You literally just scoop one up then neatly eat it in just a few bites. You could serve them at:
- Bridal showers
- Pool parties
- Potlucks
- Buffets
- Beach themed parties
- Baby showers
- Coastal weddings
- Literally anywhere you want!
You can make the seafood salad to suit your fancy. You can use all shrimp or all crab. You can you real crabmeat or imitation crab. I used half shrimp and half imitation crab in this batch.
If your grocery store has a seafood department, most will happily steam or boil the shrimp for you. Since I didn’t need much, I actually just bought a little ready-to-serve package of shrimp cocktail for my shrimp. The quantities don’t have to be exact. If you have a little more or less of either type of seafood just adjust the mayo and seasonings accordingly.
And I don’t have any issues whatsoever with using imitation crab in a recipe like this. I mentioned this in my Seafood Salad recipe post but I feel like imitation crab gets a bad rap.
Yes, it’s just fish shaped to look like crab but it’s processed no differently than all the lunch meat we happily buy every week. When was the last time you saw a perfectly round turkey breast or rectangle ham?
If you were looking for an easy recipe for Baked Seafood Stuffed Shells try this! Reduce the mayo to 1/4 cup, add garlic powder to taste then assemble everything the same. Place shells in a greased 13x9 baking dish then pour a jar of prepared alfredo sauce over the shells. Cover then bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until everything is heated through and the alfredo sauce is bubbly.
If you just love stuffed shell recipes, be sure to check out my recipes for Sausage and Spinach Stuffed Shells with Garlic Cream Sauce or Classic Stuffed Shells. Both of these recipes freeze well for quick suppers too!
Recipe for Seafood Salad Stuffed Shells
Seafood Salad Stuffed Shells
Ingredients
- 1 box jumbo pasta shells
- 1/2 lb. cooked shrimp
- 1/2 lb. lump crabmeat or imitation crab
- 1/2 cup finely diced celery
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1/2 teaspoon Old Bay or Cajun seasoning
- 1 tablespoon fresh minced dill
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Cook pasta shells per manufacturer’s instructions in liberally salted water. Rinse shells in cold water then set aside.
- Meanwhile, combine remaining ingredients to make a seafood salad. Spoon seafood salad into jumbo pasta shells. I am usually able to fill about 18 shells. Garnish with extra fresh dill if desired.
- Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Make up to 24 hours in advance if needed (they’re just as good the next day if not better!).
I love this idea! It's so much more fun than pasta salad!
ReplyDeleteGreat idea!
ReplyDeleteGreat idea! Need to know how to freeze these since you indicate they do freeze well.
ReplyDeleteThe baked shells I mentioned above freeze well but I'm not too sure these would. For my baked shells, I stuff them then place on a pan to freeze. Once frozen, I move them to a large zip-top bag.
DeletePretty nice, but IMO the shells needed to be sitting in some kind of a 'light' sauce, and not to be served as 'bare' shells, ugh! I was born & raised in a coastal town on the Atlantic Ocean in New England, where fresh seafood was plentiful, so we naturally used it on a regular basis. I once tried using imitation crab meat, and all I can say is that it should be called "CRAP Meat". If you've never had REAL crab meat, you don't know what you're missing. Also, this Seafood Salad could use a bit of finely minced shallots or chives for more flavor. A good quality mayonnaise is also important. We use "Duke's".
ReplyDeleteWow! You're a real joy, aren't you! I'm sure Mandy appreciates your "Ugh's", calling one of her ingredients "crap" and especially where you were raised! (Figures). And no one cares what kind of mayo you use...
DeleteI agree with you...why bother even saying anything, most likely didn't even try to make before they thought their opinion was necessary. And I prefer Hellmans! LOL
DeleteI made this and it was delicious! However it was missing something. A bit of scallion is all it needed!
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness, these were amazing!!! Served them at our daughter’s birthday dinner and they were a huge hit! I don’t like shrimp so I doubled the crab and they were so delicious! The shells were a perfect way to serve them too - no waste! So quick, easy and delicious! Thanks so much for sharing this keeper!
ReplyDelete