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.
Are you using the small tiny shrimp…..usually pink and cooked…..or the larger size. .?
Can the shrimp mixture be made a day ahead?
Salted or unsalted butter??
Hi Lisa,
I used unsalted butter.
Could this be made ahead and frozen?
Hi Colleen,
The recipe uses mayo which doesn’t freeze well I think. If you want to freeze it, I recommend replacing mayo with cheese that can freeze okay such as shredded mozzarella.
Try this on mini bagel halves. Also good with chopped cooked bacon instead of shrimp. I would imagine tuna or salmon in place of shrimp would also be good.
I’m glad you enjoyed how it turned out. And tuna or salmon sounds like a really good idea. I think I will try it with salmon soon. Thank you for the feedback!
I’d really like to try this with crab and Old Bay. Yumm.
I just made this for lunch and it was delicious. I used sourdough bread which crisps up great.and has alot of flavor. I also used frozen cooked shrimp and it was fine This recipe is so easy.I will have this often.
Thank you so much looking forward to try more
This is also called shrimp ciabatta bread i add shredded cheese the triple cheddar krafts
I have made this several times it is definitely a hit
Easy and so delicious. Itโs a perfect appetizer