This baked shrimp toast features rich and creamy shrimp mixture on top of crispy bread. If you are looking for a quick and easy appetizer for your next party, give this a try.

slices of baked shrimp toast on a baking sheet, a quick and easy appetizer for parties, holidays or any occasions.

There’s a non-traditional Vietnamese dish called “banh mi quet tom” that has a mixture of shrimp and mayonnaise spread on baguette slices. The baguette slices are then fried or baked until golden and crispy. This recipe is my version of Vietnamese shrimp toast.

Making Baked Shrimp Toast

The main ingredients to make this dish are bread, shrimp, garlic, scallions, black pepper, mayonnaise, and butter. I also like to serve it with fresh basil because of how well its sweet aroma goes with shrimp.

Bread

Regarding bread, I used ciabatta for the photos in this recipe. I have also tried baguette and it works too. Generally, I think just stick with crusty bread and it will turn out fine.

You can cut baguette vertically into thin slices or divide in half horizontally. For ciabatta, cut in half horizontally. Regardless of the choice of bread, each slice/half shouldn’t be too thick. I like to keep them under 1 inch thick.

Other ingredients

Shrimps are chopped into small pieces and mixed with mayo, butter and aromatics. You can chop the shrimps as large or as small as you want by hand. Another option is to run a food chopper/food processor very briefly to chop the shrimps. I often do a coarse chop in my KitchenAid 3.5 cup food chopper.

After mixing all the ingredients, spread the mixture on the bread and bake it in the oven.

Cooking Notes

I personally think shrimps don’t go well with cheese since the heavy and strong flavor of cheese can easily overwhelm the sweetness of shrimp. In contrast, the slight tanginess of mayonnaise and richness of butter pair better with shrimps. However, this is just a matter of personal preference.

I know a lot of Viet cooks in the U.S. use cheese instead of butter to make baked shrimp toast. If you like shrimp and cheese combination, you can use cheese instead of butter, or keep the butter and sprinkle some cheese on top and broil until melted and golden.

Please feel free to try it with parmesan, mozzarella or other kinds of cheese you like. A lot of readers have added cheese to this recipe and love it.

slices of baked shrimp toast on a baking sheet.

Finally, Thanksgiving is approaching and this will be my third Thanksgiving in the U.S. In previous years, I usually looked forward to it as a great time for traveling and enjoying good food.

When I tested this recipe, I thought this might be a tasty and easy appetizer for Thanksgiving celebration, as well as other holiday occasions (like Christmas) and parties. This baked shrimp toast comes together quickly (under 30 minutes) and you can easily double, maybe even triple, the recipe to serve a bigger crowd.

I’m not sure what I will do on Thanksgiving day this year, but I will enjoy Black Friday shopping for sure :). Happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate :)! If you need another quick appetizer or side dish for your party, also try these recipes: