Crab Puffs are an easy, elegant appetizer for any holiday or party! Creamy, cheesy crab meat filling baked in store bought mini pie shells!
Creamy, Cheesy Crab Puffs
When we need an easy, elegant appetizer recipe for parties or holidays, we often turn to these Crab Puffs. Not only are these crab appetizers extremely tasty, but they only take about 5 minutes to prep using a little help from the store.
When I first saw these mini pie crusts, I immediately started thinking about what I was going to put in them. A sweet filling? A savory filling? My mind usually goes to savory, so here we are. These crab puffs turned out even better than I thought they would. Cheesy, creamy crab meat filling stuffed inside buttery, crispy mini pie crusts!
How To Make Crab Puff Appetizers
First you need to grab a package of these mini pie crusts. The pie crusts are perforated in the package, so all you do is unfold the dough and separate the crusts.
- Tuck them inside a muffin pan and your mini pie crusts are ready to be filled!
- Make a crab meat filling by adding 8 ounces of crab meat to a bowl along with dicd red pepper, parsley, mayonnaise, seasonings and shredded mozzarella cheese.
- Stir to combine and then taste the filling for seasonings, adjust if needed.
- Fill the mini pie crusts with the crab meat filling, top with more mozzarella cheese and bake. Just 12-14 minutes is all these crab appetizers need in the oven to come out perfectly brown and beautiful.
Can You Make This Crab Appetizer Ahead Of Time?
Yes, and you can do it in a couple of different ways. One way to make these crab appetizers in advance is to prepare the filling, cover it with plastic wrap and keep it in the refrigerator. Then just pop your mini pie crusts into a muffin pan, add the filling and bake.
Another way to make these crab puffs ahead of time is to bake them all the way through and then let them cool. Place them in a container in the refrigerator until ready to use.
Place the crab puffs on a baking sheet and then into a 350 degree oven for 7-8 minutes until warm. Cover with aluminum foil if they start to get too brown while reheating.
Can I Use A Different Seafood In The Filling?
Definitely! Try using cooked lobster meat if you’re supah fancy, or cooked, chopped shrimp. You can even use imitation seafood like we use for making this Lobster Delight appetizer. Just make sure to dice the imitation crab into small pieces before making the filling.
Can You Freeze Crab?
You can absolutely freeze crab meat, as well as these Crab Puff appetizers. Let the crab puffs cool down completely after baking and then place them into a resealable freezer bag in a single layer.
Freeze these appetizers for up to 3 months, then remove as many as needed and bake frozen at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Again, cover the tops with foil if they start to get too brown.
What Cocktails Go Well With Seafood?
Have you come to the right place. We’ve got so many cocktails here, there’s WAY to many to list. Head over to our Cocktail Menu for all the drink recipes you could ever need!
- Whiskey Champagne Cocktail
- Cranberry Champagne Sparkler
- Champagne Moscow Mule
- Lime Drop Martini
- Caramel Apple Martini
- Blue Moon Sangria
Looking For More Crab Recipes?
- Perfect Crab Cakes (can make in mini form for appetizers!)
- Crab Stuffed Mushrooms
- Hot Crab Dip
- Crab Salad Appetizers
- Tex-Mex Crab Dip
Crab Puffs
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 13 minutes
- Total Time: 23 minutes
- Yield: 6 Servings 1x
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeCrab Puffs are an easy, elegant appetizer for all your holiday parties! Creamy crab meat filling topped with cheese, baked in store bought, mini pie shells!
Ingredients
- Store bought mini pie crusts (look for perforated mini pie crusts like Pillsbury® brand)
- 8 ounces crab meat (lump or claw meat)
- 1/3 cup mayonnaise
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1/3 cup diced bell pepper (any color)
- 1/4 cup fresh, chopped parsley
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- Fresh black pepper to taste
- 1 1/2 teaspoons Old Bay seasoning
- 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
- Paprika for topping
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
- Add the crab meat to a fine colander and rinse with cold water (if using canned crab meat) carefully pick through the crab meat to make sure that there aren’t any shells left behind. Add the crab meat to a bowl along with the mayonnaise, Worcestershire sauce, bell pepper, parsley, salt, pepper, Old Bay and 1/4 cup of the mozzarella cheese. Fold the ingredients together to combine and set aside.
- Separate the mini pie crusts and tuck them into the wells of a muffin tin. This recipe uses just 12 of the 14 mini pie crusts, so you can either discard the extra 2 pie crusts or bake the for another use.
- Divide the crab meat filling between the 12 muffin tins and then top with the remaining 1/4 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese. Finish with a sprinkle of paprika on top.
- Bake the crab puffs for 12-14 minutes until the pie crust is brown and the cheese on top is melted. Remove from the muffin tins and serve.
Recipe Notes
Store: Cool down leftover crab puffs and then store in a container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Reheat: Reheat crab puffs in the microwave for 20 seconds, or in the oven at 350 for about 7-8 minutes until warmed through.
Freeze: Let the cooked crab puffs cool down completely and then freeze in resealable freezer bags. Bake from frozen at 400 degrees for 15-17 minutes.
- Category: Appetizers
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
