If you love shrimp, then this easy Shrimp Stuffed Garlic Bread recipe is a must-make! Fresh ciabatta bread stuffed with loads creole seasoned shrimp and hot, melted cheese is so good, you’ll find reasons to serve this recipe all the time.
Can you ever have enough stuffed bread? Try everybody’s favorite Spaghetti Stuffed Garlic Bread, plus Green Chile Chicken Stuffed Bread or Easy Olive Stuffed Cheesy Bread.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- FLAVOR! I know I always say it, but how good this recipe tastes is the #1 reason to make it. The downright gorgeous savory flavors of this cheesy shrimp garlic bread are what good seafood eats are all about.
- Melty, stringy, cheesy goodness. For real.
- Hot baked garlic bread with that perfect crisp bottom.
- Well-seasoned, plump shrimp.
- Versatility. This Shrimp Stuffed Garlic Bread makes a great lunch or dinner when paired with soup and/or salad, like my simple Green Salad with Mayo Vinaigrette and Creamy Tomato Basil Soup. Serve it on baguette slices to create a Shrimp Bread Appetizer.
Recipe Ingredients & Overview
I’ll walk through an overview of ingredients & steps in these next sections along with helpful tips!
Look for specifics at the end of the post in the recipe card.
- large shrimp, tail off, peeled, deveined
- loaf of ciabatta bread
- yellow onion
- green bell pepper
- celery
- mozzarella cheese
- mayonnaise
- cream cheese
- all purpose creole seasoning
- Italian seasoning
- minced garlic
- red pepper flakes
- chives (or green onion tops)
- lemon juice
- olive oil & butter
Shrimp Stuffed Bread Recipe Variations/Substitutions: Try grilling your shrimp instead of sautéing them on the stove top.
Replace ½ of the shrimp with crawfish tails for a seafood bread or use crawfish tails instead of shrimp to make a delicious crawfish stuffed bread.
Mix a little shredded Parmesan in with your mozzarella for more savory flavor, or use Pepper Jack instead of mozzarella for an extra kick.
Have you run out of my all purpose Creole seasoning blend? It’s time to make some more! If you’re in a pinch, use Old Bay seasoning to whip up this shrimp bread recipe anyway.
Instead of ciabatta, try French bread or sour dough bread. (Ciabatta is my favorite because of the way it crisps like pizza crust on the bottom.)
How to Make Shrimp Stuffed Garlic Bread
Make the bread boat. Using a bread knife cut around the edges of the ciabatta bread and pull out the center of the bread to create a hollow or boat. Whisk together olive oil, Italian seasoning and garlic. Brush olive oil mixture on the inside bottom and sides of the bread boat and around the outside edges. Place bread on a baking sheet and bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes.
Season the shrimp. Rough chop the shrimp into 2-4 pieces each. Toss them in creole seasoning, coating each piece and set aside.
Sauté. Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add diced bell pepper, onion and celery and cook until onions are soft. Add seasoned shrimp. Cook 3-4 minutes, just until all shrimp are pink. Remove from heat.
Make the Filling. In a medium bowl, stir together mayo, cream cheese, lemon juice and mozzarella cheese. Add to shrimp and veggies in the skillet and fold together until all ingredients are well incorporated.
Stuff & Bake. Stuff toasted bread boat with shrimp mixture. Top with more mozzarella and a sprinkle of red pepper flakes. Bake for 20 minutes. Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes before slicing. Top with chives and serve!
Tips for Making the Best Shrimp Stuffed Bread
- Make sure to only sauté your shrimp for 3-4 minutes, just until all of the shrimp are no longer translucent. Overcooked shrimp are tough and rubbery, and your shrimp will continue to cook while your stuffed bread bakes.
- Go lightly on the olive oil when brushing the bread boat to toast before stuffing. Too much oil will make the bread soggy instead of nice and crisp.
- Stick with large shrimp. Even though we’re chopping the shrimp to smaller pieces, larger shrimp are still the best option for this recipe because they can take the bake time.
- Don’t skip the cooling time for better slices.
How To Buy Good Shrimp
Knowing how to buy shrimp is important, not just for taste and texture but for food safety too! Here are 7 of my tips for buying good shrimp at your grocery store.
- Unless you live on or near the coast, probably all of the seafood available has been frozen at some point because of its highly perishable nature, even the shrimp at the grocery store seafood counter. So don’t be fooled.
- When you approach the seafood counter at your store, it should not smell fishy or like ammonia at all. Those smells mean something there is spoiled.
- Speaking of, when selecting your shrimp, smell it. Don’t purchase it if either of those smells or a sulfur smell exists.
- Also, the shrimp should be firm, not limp, broken or slimy.
- In many cases (unless you live on the coast), frozen shrimp is just better. It is flash frozen at sea after being caught so that it maintains its freshness.
- When buying frozen shrimp, look for individually frozen shrimp. Your shrimp should not be clumped together in ice.
- Lastly, avoid packages of frozen shrimp with broken or freezer burned shrimp.
To thaw your shrimp, run them under cool (never warm or hot) water until thawed. Pat dry.
Make Ahead Instructions
To make this shrimp stuffed garlic bread ahead of time, prepare your shrimp mixture the day before. Cover tightly and store it in the refrigerator. The next day, make your bread boat, toast and stuff it. Then bake your shrimp bread per the recipe.
How To Store Shrimp Stuffed Garlic Bread
Store any leftover shrimp stuffed bread in an airtight container in the refrigerator. It’s best to eat those leftovers the next day.
More Shrimp Recipes to Enjoy
Ingredients
- 14 ounce ciabatta loaf
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic, generous
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- ½ stick butter
- ½ medium green bell pepper, diced
- ½ medium yellow onion, diced
- 2 ribs celery, diced
- 1 pound large raw shrimp, tail off, peeled, deveined
- 1 tablespoon Creole seasoning
- ¼ cup mayonnaise
- 4 ounce cream cheese, room temperature
- 2 cups grated mozzarella cheese (separated into 1 ½ cups + ½ cup)
- juice from ½ lemon
- chives & red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400℉.
- Using a bread knife cut around the edges of the ciabatta bread and pull out the center of the bread to create a hollow or boat. Whisk together olive oil, Italian seasoning and garlic. Brush olive oil mixture on the inside bottom and sides of the bread boat and around the outside edges. Place bread on a baking sheet and bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes.
- While the bread is baking, dice bell pepper, onion, and celery. Rough chop shrimp into 2-4 pieces each. Toss shrimp in creole seasoning, coating each piece and set aside.
- Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add vegetables and cook until onions are soft. Add shrimp. Cook 3-4 minutes, just until all shrimp are pink. Remove from heat.
- In a medium bowl, stir together mayo, cream cheese, lemon juice and 1 ½ cups mozzarella cheese. Add to shrimp and veggies in the skillet and fold together until all ingredients are well incorporated.
- Stuff toasted bread boat with shrimp mixture, poking it down and piling it high. Top with remaining ½ of mozzarella and a sprinkle of red pepper flakes.
- Place bread back in 400℉ oven and bake for 20 minutes. Remove shrimp stuffed bread from oven and allow to cool for 5-10 minutes before slicing. Top with chives and serve!
Video
Notes
- Make sure to only sauté your shrimp for 3-4 minutes, just until all of the shrimp are no longer translucent. Overcooked shrimp are tough and rubbery, and your shrimp will continue to cook while your stuffed bread bakes.
- Go lightly on the olive oil when brushing the bread boat to toast before stuffing. Too much oil will make the bread soggy instead of nice and crisp.
- Stick with large shrimp. Even though we’re chopping the shrimp to smaller pieces, larger shrimp are still the best option for this recipe because they can take the bake time.
- Don’t skip the cooling time for better slices.
Nutrition
absolutely delicious! will definitely make this again!
Yay! I am so glad to hear this! Thank you, Kim. You made my day!
This recipe is a keeper. Thank you
Hi, Maya! You are so welcome! I’m over the moon that you liked it!