Crab Stuffed Mushrooms are an elevated appetizer that’s perfect for serving at any occasion! These stuffed mushrooms are the perfect combination of cream cheese, herbs, crab meat, and grated parmesan cheese.
Don’t miss our other stuffed mushroom recipes like the classic Stuffed Mushrooms and Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms.
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Crab stuffed mushrooms are a wonderful appetizer for absolutely any occasion. They’re fancy enough to serve for a special occasion or a holiday party, but it’s also simple enough for a weeknight family dinner. Tender mushrooms are stuffed to perfection with a mixture that features crab meat, parmesan cheese, garlic, and more! It truly is like taking a little bite of heaven from all of the complimentary flavors and textures.
It’s a great appetizer for a crowd and you can easily double the recipe as needed. When I’m preparing for a larger group, I almost always double this recipe! For the best results, try to get portobello mushrooms that are close to the same size and ones that are not too small or too large. Although, you can use smaller mushrooms to create a one-bite appetizer but make sure to get more of them in that case.
These stuffed mushrooms are really very easy to make with simple ingredients in just under an hour from start to finish. This is a reliable recipe that you can count on, so don’t be afraid to whip up a big batch just before the party starts. If your friends and family are anything like mine, you’ll watch these crab stuffed mushrooms disappear with a quickness!
Ingredient Notes
Portobello Mushrooms – Try to pick out mushrooms that look nice and firm, no dark and soft spots. Don’t discard the stems! You’ll need them for the filling.
Crab Meat – You can use claw or lump crab meat, either will work just fine. SIFT THORUGH the crab meat thoroughly with your hands because there are always pieces of crab shell left behind.
Cream Cheese – I recommend using a full fat cream cheese for the best results. Remember to let it soften to room temperature prior to using!
Parmesan Cheese – Freshly grated parmesan cheese is the way to go for both superior flavor and consistency.
Bread Crumbs – you can also use gluten free bread crumbs if you need to make gluten free stuffed mushrooms.
See recipe card for complete information on ingredients and quantities.
PRO TIP: When working with crab, always spread the crab meat out and sift through it to find leftover shells. 90% of the time you will find some shells.
How To Make Crab Stuffed Mushrooms
Prepare the mushrooms: Rinse whole mushrooms under cold water and gently pat them dry with a paper towel. Carefully pop off the mushrooms stems, right where it connects to the cap.
Cook the veggies: Preheat a pan with 1 TBSP of olive oil over medium-high heat. Sauté the diced mushroom stems and diced onion until they begin to caramelize. Press the garlic into the onion/mushroom mixture and sauté just until fragrant. Add the cooked veggies to a mixing bowl.
Check your crab meat: Sift through the crab meat thoroughly with your fingers to make sure there are no pieces of shells accidentally left behind! Then, add crab meat to the mixing bowl.
Create the filling: Add all of the remaining ingredients for the filling to the mixing bowl and mix very well until it’s all combined.
Stuff the mushrooms: Set the mushroom caps in a slightly greased baking dish, cup side up. Generously fill each cap with stuffing mixture, pressing down lightly with your finger to fit a little bit more.
Bake: Sprinkle with some parmesan cheese over the top of stuffed mushrooms, then bake at 375°F for 20 minutes.
Recipe FAQs
This recipe isn’t naturally gluten-free, but it can easily be made that way!
Simply substitute breadcrumbs for gluten–free breadcrumbs and increase the amount slightly. Add an extra 1 or 2 tablespoons of gluten-free bread crumbs since they are not as dense as regular bread crumbs.
There have been a couple of occasions where I had some stuffing leftover. It all depends on the size of mushrooms and how much stuffing you can fit into them. If you want to make sure to use up all the filling, you can get an extra pack of mushrooms when shopping for the ingredients, just in case.
Otherwise, there is a very simple and delicious way to use up leftover filling. Spread some filling on baguette slices, flatbread triangles, or crackers. Bake it for 10-15 minutes at 375°F, depending on how much filling you add to each slice.
Yes, you can wash whole mushrooms but avoid washing cut mushrooms. Mushrooms are like little sponges so when they’re cut, they will absorb a lot of liquid when exposed to it. Whole mushrooms won’t absorb liquid easily or quickly. So you can quickly rinse whole mushrooms under cold water and wipe them with a paper towel right away.
Make sure to wash mushrooms right before cooking them, not ahead of time.
Try More of the Best Crab Recipes
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Crab Stuffed Mushrooms Recipe
Ingredients
- 16 oz medium portobello mushrooms
- Save mushroom stems
- 1 tbsp olive oil to cook veggies
Filling:
- 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
- diced mushrooms stems
- 2 garlic cloves
- 4 oz claw or lump crab meat
- 4 oz cream cheese softened
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup bread crumbs
- 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 tbsp minced fresh parsley
- 1 tbsp minced chives
- Salt
- black pepper
Topping:
- 1/4 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese for topping
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375° and lightly grease a baking dish.
- Rinse whole mushrooms under cold water and pat them dry with a paper towel. Carefully pop off the mushrooms stems, right where it connects to the cap.
- Preheat a saute pan and 1 tbsp of olive oil on medium high heat. Saute diced mushroom stems and diced onion until starting to caramelize. Press garlic into the onion/mushroom mixture and saute just until fragrant. Add cooked veggies into a mixing bowl.
- Sift through the crab meat thoroughly with your fingers to make sure there are no pieces of shells accidentally left behind and add crab meat to the mixing bowl.
- Add all remaining ingredients for the filling to the mixing bowl and mix very well until all combined.
- Set mushroom caps in a slightly greased baking dish, cup up. Generously fill each cap with stuffing mixture, pressing down lightly with your finger to fit a little bit more.
- Sprinkle with some grated Parmesan cheese over the top of stuffed mushrooms.
- Bake stuffed mushrooms for about 20 minutes (about 25 for larger mushrooms).
Rosemary says
Can you suggest an alternative to crab? My husband has a crab allergy.
LyubaB says
Hi, I also have Sausage stuffed, bacon stuffed, and regular stuffed mushrooms. Here are the links if you would like to check them out.
https://www.willcookforsmiles.com/stuffed-mushrooms/
https://www.willcookforsmiles.com/sausage-stuffed-mushrooms/
https://www.willcookforsmiles.com/bacon-spinach-and-four-cheese-stuffed-mushrooms/
Anthony says
If he can eat shrimp that is another common seafood stuffing for mushrooms. You may want to add some lemon juice out lemon zest or both
April says
Can you make these and freeze before baking
Judy Rothell says
Can the crab stuffed mushrooms be made the day before?
LyubaB says
Yes! You can either make the stuffing ahead of time or stuff the mushrooms ahead of time and bake them later. The only bad part about stuffing the mushrooms to bake later is that mushrooms start to get soft. So I would not recommend doing that longer than the night before you actually need to serve the mushrooms.
To make just the stuffing ahead of time, follow the recipe to make the stuffing but do not rinse or wipe the mushroom caps. Simply cut off the mushroom stems and save the caps for the next day when you’re cooking. Once the stuffing is mixed, place in an air-tight container and refrigerate it until ready to use. About an hour before cooking stuffed mushrooms, pull the stuffing out of the refrigerator and let it warm up on the counter to soften.
Kim says
You did not say in your crab stuffed mushroom recipe what vegetables to use how am ito completel the recipe if I don’t know all the ingredients
LyubaB says
Hi Kim,
If you look in the recipe card you will see the ingredient list the only vegetables in this are 1/2 cup finely chopped onion, diced mushrooms stems, and 2 garlic cloves. If you do not see the recipe card please let me know. Enjoy.
Deborah Shannon says
the vegetables she is referring to are the mushroom stems onion and garlic. Thats all 🙂
Alice Hondie says
I believe she was referring to the onions, mushroom stems and garlic that was sauted.
Pat Rapini says
This was definitely a 10! Had this tonight (New Years Eve) with a steak and salad. I will absolutely make them again! Thank you for this recipe!
LyubaB says
Awesome! I am so happy you liked them!
Mary says
For those of not familiar with buying crab, can you provide some details about exactly what you buy? The recipe looks amazing.
LyubaB says
Hi Mary,
I like to use a lump crab meat and I go over the different kinds here at this post I will add the link to the bottom of this comment.
https://www.willcookforsmiles.com/crab-cakes/
Rebecca says
Thanks for sharing this yummy stuffed mushroom
We often make the Chinese way. We must not wash
The fresh mushrooms as they are clean, just wipe
with a wet cloth. Do you mean to chop the mushroom
stem and b not some mushroom , right? Thanks
lyuba says
Hi Rebecca! I do mean to chop the stems, it’s a good way to use up the whole mushroom. If you don’t feel like dealing with the stems, you can mince a mushroom cap. 🙂
Thank you!
Miz Helen says
Thank you so much for sharing your awesome recipe with Full Plate Thursday. Hope you have had a great weekend and have a fabulous week.
Come Back Soon!
Miz Helen
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
Wow Lyuba! These mushrooms look amazing!
Tonia@thegunnysack says
Wow! Best of luck with school this year!
Carolyn says
This recipe looks and reads amazing . I am having my dinner party group soon and this may very well be my appetizer of choice. Congrats on your new job, you’ll be fine, don’t be nervous.
Carolyn/A Southerner’s Notebook
lyuba says
Thank you, Carolyn!
I bet everyone would love them!
Sumo says
Oh my goodness, I feel like I need these asap. They look and sound amazing! I’ll be featuring these on my blog tomorrow!
http://www.sumossweetstuff.com
Thanks for linking up!
Sumo:)
lyuba says
Awww, thank you so much, Sumo!