Easy Baked Shrimp Toast
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.
There is a non-traditional Vietnamese dish called “bรกnh mรฌ quแบฟt tรดm” 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.
The recipe requires just a handful of main ingredients: 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
Shrimp are chopped into small pieces and mixed with mayo, butter and aromatics. You can chop the shrimp 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 chopped shrimp with the other ingredients, spread the mixture on the bread and bake it in the oven.
Variations and Substitutions
I personally think shrimp 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 really well with shrimp. 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 shrimp toast.
If you like shrimp and cheese combination, go ahead and 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.
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:
Easy Baked Shrimp Toast
Equipment
- Mixing bowl
Ingredients
- 6 oz shrimp, peeled and deveined (I use raw shrimps)
- 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 3 tablespoons butter, melted
- 1 1/2 teaspoons grated garlic
- 1 1/2 tablespoons thinly sliced scallions (about 2 stalks of scallions)
- black pepper
- baguette or ciabatta (see notes)
- basil, thinly sliced
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F.
- Chop shrimps or process in a food chopper into small pieces. Don't process into a paste. Mix shrimp with mayonnaise, melted butter, grated garlic, scallions and a generous amount of black pepper.
- Slice ciabatta or baguette in half horizontally, or cut baguette into thin slices. Each slice/half should not be thicker than 1 inch.
- Spread the shrimp mixture on the cut side of the bread. Place into the oven and bake for 15-18 minutes or until the top is golden and bread is crispy.
- Remove bread from the oven. Sprinkle fresh basil and serve immediately.
Notes
- The amount of shrimp mixture in the recipe is enough to spread on one half of aย 6”x8” ciabatta bread. It’s enough for 10-15 slices of baguette, depending on how big each slice is.
- I think shrimp don’t go well with cheese, but it is just my personal preference. If you have no problem with shrimp and cheese combination, you can use cheese instead of butter, or keep the butter and then 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.
- Also feel free to add your favorite seasonings to the shrimp mixture, such as Old Bay seasoning, ground cayenne pepper and onion powder. You can also add salt and pepper to taste.
Nutrition
I’d love to hear what you think about the dish, so please feel free to leave a comment. I add new recipes every week so let’s connect on Youtube, Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for the latest updates.
I have a similar recipe and I add a drop or two of Tabasco.
This was delicious I used pita bread. Oh so good.
Rather bland.
Hi Stephen,
Please feel free to add seasonings to your liking. This dish is quite versatile and you can try adding cheese, cayenne pepper, onion powder – just some examples of what other readers have tried.
May you use the cooked, frozen shrimp?
Hi Joan,
I had a reader who commented that she used precooked shrimp and it turned out fine for her. I personally haven’t made it with cooked shrimp though. If you give it a try, please let me know if it works for you. Thanks!
My husband liked this so much he asked if we can have it tomorrow night also.
Very easy to make and no big mess to clean up. โค๏ธ Love it.
Definitely a keeper! Such a simple recipe but a huge hit. It was devoured so fast that I had no time to take a picture! I was also surprised that the recipe didnโt call for salt but didnโt need any at all.
Big hit! Used onion powder instead of scallions. Lots of black pepper, and no cheese. Was even asked for the recipe. No leftover!
Delicious recipe. I was surprised there is no salt but I believe that is why you stated a generous amount of pepper. Once I added red pepper flakes it was perfect. I may try Old Bay being a Maryland girl next time.
Hi Adrienne,
I’m happy that it turned out perfect for you. The sodium content in mayonnaise was enough for me, and a lot of readers like to add cheese which also contains sodium. It’s totally fine to sprinkle a bit more salt to taste if you want :). Thank you for the comment!
Made this as a side for the family. I used cilantro since I didnโt have basil. These were a hit! Will be making this for Thanksgiving. Super easy and most of the ingredients you will most likely already have on hand. Thank you!
Hi Jackie,
So glad your family loved it, and I hope you had a great Thanksgiving celebration. Thank you for trying the recipe and leaving me a comment!
I’m going to make this today, but am confused about the shrimp. Is it 6 oz of shrimp or 6oz shrimps and if so how many
Hi Patricia,
Itโs 6 oz of shrimps. I hope you will like it and sorry for any confusion.