Seafood - Party Food Ideas

Party Food Ideas

If you’re looking for party food ideas, you must be doing some event planning. If you are, don’t overlook seafood. Most people love seafood of all types. Of course, it’s best if you know your party guests, as some might be allergic to shellfish or other types of seafood. Because of that, it’s important to make sure your attendees know which dishes contain seafood. Don’t be bashful about telling them. Because of seafood allergies, you’ll want to include other party food ideas in addition to seafood. Of course, if you already know for sure that everyone attending your event enjoys seafood, all your finger foods and other party foods can focus on shrimp, oysters, crab, scallops, finned fishes, crawfish, clams, mussels, and other gifts from the ocean. If you’ve never served seafood appetizers at any of your celebratory functions, give some seafood recipes a try. In this article, I’m providing you with some party food ideas I’ve used, and they all contain seafood.

Seafood

I love seafood, and so do all our friends and family members. In fact, I know only one person with any seafood allergies, and he’s only allergic to shrimp. He can eat crab, lobster, oysters, scallops, and fish with no problems. It surprises me how so many hosts and hostesses overlook seafood with their party planning and party food ideas. I’m not usually guilty of this crime. We host a lot of parties, and I usually offer at least one or two party foods that contain crab, shrimp, or both. The dish might be something as simple as crab dip or shrimp spread, or it might just be a platter of cold boiled shrimp with cocktail sauce and saltine crackers.

I think seafood is a lot more versatile than some people realize. Most of it’s even good served cold, and it lends itself well to easy finger foods. Of course, there are also plenty of finger food ideas you can serve hot, too. In that case, you might want to serve such party foods in chafing dishes to keep them at the proper temperature. If the dishes need to be served chilled, place the platter or bowl on a bed of ice, or offer small amounts of the food at one time and replenish the dish frequently from your refrigerator.

Something else that’s pretty cool about serving seafood at parties is that you can use the spreads to make interesting shapes. I sometimes make a big batch or seafood spread and use my hands to mold it into the shape of a fish. I add thinly sliced cucumbers to serve as scales, al olive for the eye, and a strip of red bell pepper for the gills. You might also want to use unflavored gelatin to make a mold in a metal form with the shape of a crab, a shrimp, or a fish.

Seafood Recipes

I have a few friends who think seafood recipes are too difficult to make for party foods. Nothing could be further from the truth! You can buy shrimp that have already been cooked, peeled, and deveined. Crabmeat is already cooked when you buy it. You can buy smoked oysters in small cans at practically any supermarket in the United States. Imitation crabmeat and imitation lobster are cooked and ready to eat or use in a recipe. What could be easier? Okay, I’ll concede that not all seafood recipes are easy to prepare, but many are. Unless you’re throwing a dinner party, you’ll probably want to stick to easy seafood recipes.

Some hosts and hostesses might also avoid serving seafood at their parties because of expense. Serving a lot of guests can get expensive, and as you already know, some types of seafood are costly. You can often solve this problem by serving one or two expensive party foods, along with lots of cheaper dishes. Also, you might want to start with cheaper ingredients for your recipes, like canned tuna, canned salmon, and imitation crab or imitation lobster. You can also save money on lobster and crab recipes by using a combination of real and imitation seafood. You might be surprised at what a great strategy this is!

Finger Food Ideas

Finger food ideas are great party food ideas! Most people love seafood, and a little can go a long way. It’s true that most types of seafood are relatively expensive, but in some cases, just a small amount will give your party foods a lot of flavor. For example, seafood can turn a boring dip into a delicious dip, and it can do the same for spreads.

Some types of seafood you might want to consider for finger food ideas are shrimp, crabmeat, imitation crab meat, blue crab claws, salmon, smoked mullet, tuna, lobster, oysters, clams, and scallops. Dips, spreads, cheese balls, and finger sandwiches are typical finger foods, but seafood provides many more party food ideas. Typically, finger foods should provide just one or two bites each, and a lot of seafood is just the right size to fit the bill. Think: shrimp, oysters, scallops, clams, and blue crab claws. Depending on their size, stone crab claws might also qualify.

Of course, all finger foods don’t have to eaten completely with the fingers. You can use fancy wooden or plastic toothpicks, small skewers, or even tiny little fork-like picks. If your party has a theme, you might want to use food picks that echo the theme of the party. Check your local party supplies store. If they don’t have what you’re looking for, check online at Oriental Trading.

Easy Finger Foods

Easy finger foods should be quick and easy to prepare, and they should be easy for your guests to pick up and eat without needing a fork, knife, or spoon. These types of appetizers or party foods make it easy on you and easy for your guests to enjoy your creations. As I’ve already mentioned, dips and spreads make easy finger foods, and you can make them more interesting by providing your guests with a variety of items to use for dipping and spreading. Of course, potato chips and crackers are popular, but you can also use lots of other foods to enjoy with your dips and spreads. Try bagel chips, toasted baguette slices, tortilla chips, mini rye bread slices, quartered bagels, Melba toast, pita chips, quartered English muffins, bread sticks, or pretzel sticks.

Easy finger foods also include finger sandwiches, and you can use seafood here, too. Seafood salad, for example, makes great sandwiches. Make your finger sandwiches small and attractive. Use different types of breads, and make the sandwiches into different shapes. You can toast the bread or leave it soft. You might want to include some small open-faced sandwiches, too. Soft rolls are also tasty with seafood salad.

Below are some finger food ideas you might wish to try. All the examples provided are tasty, and all qualify as easy finger foods.

Scroll to Continue

The Hamlin Miracle

What is a "LOWES #00907 - 866-483-7521 NC" Charge on My Credit Card Statement?

Should I Watch..? 'Sonic The Hedgehog 3' (2024)

Unwrap an eight-ounce block of cream cheese and place it on a serving plate. Spoon cocktail sauce over the cream cheese. Top with small boiled shrimp or flaked crabmeat and surround with crackers.

Cut white sandwich bread into circles. Spread with cream cheese and mayonnaise. Place a cucumber slice on each bread round. Top with a boiled shrimp that’s been peeled and deveined. Sprinkle shrimp with paprika.

Combine soft cream cheese and flaked crabmeat. Add your favorite seasonings. Use the mixture as a filling for celery sticks.

Combine cream cheese, chopped seafood, and a packet of dry ranch dressing mix. Form the mixture into a ball and roll in chopped nuts or fresh dill. Serve like a cheese ball, with crackers.

Fill phyllo cups with seafood salad and top with chopped chives or green onion curls.

Fill Tostitos Scoops with flaked crabmeat. Sprinkle with hot sauce and top with grated cheese. Broil in the oven until cheese melts.

Make an easy spread with soft cream cheese, canned smoked oysters, and seasonings.

Crab claws are super easy finger foods. They’re almost always cooked when you buy them, so you’ll just need to serve them with a tasty dipping sauce. Before serving, you’ll probably want to remove or at least crack the shell on the claw. Leave a pincer – it makes a great grabbing point. For blue crab claws, try serving a dipping sauce like cocktail sauce or remoulade. For stone crab claws, a seafood mustard sauce is yummy!

Finger Food Recipes

Okay, I’ve given you a few super easy finger food ideas you can use for your next party or get-together. Now I’m going to give you some more party food ideas that are just a little more complicated. With these, I’m providing finger food recipes. And yes, they’re all seafood recipes! Really, though, none are particularly difficult, so you shouldn’t have any problem preparing them. Feel free to add your own favorite herbs, spices, and other seasonings, but be careful not to overpower the delicate natural flavor of the seafood you’re using.

If you’re making finger food recipes with shrimp, you’ll probably want to leave on the tails. That makes them much easier for your guests to pick up and hold. If you’re making clam, oyster, or scallop party foods, consider serving them in their shells. Just make sure you separate the meat from the shell before preparing and/or serving. Choose the best looking shells, and scrub the shells before using them as serving pieces.

Crab-Stuffed Peppers

These make awesome finger foods! My youngest daughter made them for my and my husband's surprise anniversary party, and the guests devoured every one of them. A few days later, my middle daughter made a batch, with some of her own tweaks, and hers were even better. I added crabmeat to mine, and WOW! We all used small sweet assorted peppers called "Bella peppers." I got them at Publix. They come in red, yellow, and orange, so they'd be especially good to serve at fall parties and get togethers.

Rate my stuffed pepper recipe. Thanks!

Cook Time

Ingredients

• 2 pound bag mini sweet peppers
• 8 ounces cream cheese
• 1 cup crabmeat
• 1 cup grated cheddar cheese
• 1/3 cup chopped onion
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt
• thin sliced bacon

Instructions

1. Rinse peppers and remove tops, ribs, and seeds. If large, cut peppers in half, lengthwise, to form squares or rectangles.
2. Heat cream cheese in microwave for one minute, or until very soft.
3. Mix cream cheese with crab meat, cheddar, onion, and garlic salt.
4. Use a small spoon to fill peppers and/or pepper sections with crab mixture.
5. Wrap peppers with bacon, making sure to cover open ends of peppers. Secure with toothpicks.
6. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.
7. Drain on paper towels.

Seafood Salad

Seafood salad can be used with several finger food ideas. You can serve it in a bowl surrounded by sturdy crackers or bagel chips, you can serve it in phyllo cups, or you can make it into finger sandwiches. In your salad, you can use shrimp, crabmeat, calico scallops, and/or imitation crabmeat. My personal favorite version is made with real crab and boiled shrimp, but make substitutions, if you like. You might want to think about serving your seafood salad in an interesting container, like a scooped-out pineapple shell, avocado shells, cherry tomatoes, or hollowed-out cucumbers.

Ingredients:

½ pound boiled shrimp, peeled and deveined

½ pound flaked crabmeat

2/3 cup mayonnaise

2 tablespoons chopped onion

2 tablespoons chopped green bell pepper

2 tablespoons sweet pickle relish

1 tablespoon lemon or lime juice

1 stalk celery, chopped

½ teaspoon cayenne

½ teaspoon garlic salt

½ teaspoon black pepper

Directions: Chop shrimp. Combine with remaining ingredients and toss several times. Cover and chill in fridge. Serve with crackers or on sandwiches.

Bacon-Wrapped Shrimp

Ingredients:

12 jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined, with tails on

Lime juice

Seasoning blend*

6 slices bacon, cut in half lengthwise

Directions: Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Rinse shrimp and pat dry. Sprinkle both sides with lime juice and a seasoning blend. Wrap each shrimp with ½ slice bacon. Secure with a toothpick, if needed. Place shrimp on a rack in a large pan. Roast for about 14 minutes, until bacon is done and shrimp flesh is opaque.

*Cajun seasoning, Creole seasoning, Old Bay seasoning, Soul Food seasoning, or BBQ seasoning

Curry Shrimp Dip

Ingredients:

1 pound steamed or boiled shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 pint sour cream

¼ cup cocktail sauce or ketchup

2 green onions, chopped

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon red curry powder

1 teaspoon sugar

½ teaspoon ground ginger

Directions: Combine all ingredients and process in blender or food processor until smooth. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.

Stuffed Clams

Ingredients:

1 dozen quahog clams, steamed in shells

1 stick butter

¼ cup chopped onion

1 teaspoon finely chopped jalapeno pepper

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1 cup Ritz cracker crumbs

¼ cup grated parmesan

½ teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 egg, slightly beaten

Directions: Remove clams from shells and chop meat. Separate top and bottom shells. Place 12 of the shells on a foil-lined shallow baking pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Melt butter in a skillet and sauté onion and jalapeno until soft. Add garlic and cook for one minute longer.

In a mixing bowl, combine cracker crumbs, parmesan, and black pepper. Pour contents of skillet over crumb mixture. Add clam meat, Worcestershire, and lemon juice. When mixture has cooled, add egg and stir. Fill shells with mixture and bake for about 20 minutes.

Seafood Stuffed Mushrooms

Ingredients:

1 pound small mushrooms

¼ cup chopped onion

3 tablespoons chopped green bell pepper

2 tablespoons butter

1 ½ cups Ritz cracker crumbs

1/3 cup mayonnaise

1 egg, slightly beaten

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

½ teaspoon garlic powder

½ teaspoon black pepper

¼ teaspoon cayenne

½ pound flaked crabmeat

¼ cup chopped cooked shrimp

Grated cheese (Swiss, mozzarella, pepper jack, etc.)

Directions: Rinse mushrooms and remove stems. Save stems for another use. Place mushrooms in a large baking dish or pan. Add onion, bell pepper, and butter to a microwave-safe bowl and cook until veggies are tender. Combine veggies and butter with cracker crumbs, mayo, egg, Worcestershire sauce, and seasonings. Fold in crabmeat and shrimp. Divide mixture among mushrooms and cover bottom of dish or pan with water. Top stuffed mushrooms with grated cheese. Bake for about 15 minutes at 400 degrees.

Baked Oysters

Ingredients:

Raw oysters in the shell

Melted butter

Toppings*

Directions: Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Shuck oysters and remove from shell. Drain oysters on paper towels and return to shells. Place oysters on a foil-lined shallow metal baking pan. Add toppings and drizzle with melted butter. Bake, uncovered, for 12-15 minutes.

*crabmeat, parmesan cheese, chopped jalapeno, cooked and crumbled bacon, grated pepper jack cheese, or any combination

Smoky Salmon Spread

Ingredients:

1 can pink salmon, drained and flaked

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

¼ cup mayonnaise

3 tablespoons grated onion

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon Liquid Smoke

½ teaspoon garlic powder

Pinch cayenne

Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions: Combine all ingredients. Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour before serving.

Microwave Hot Crab and Cheese Dip

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons minced onion

2 tablespoons finely chopped red bell pepper

2 tablespoons butter

8 ounces cream cheese

1 cup grated mozzarella cheese

½ cup mayonnaise

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon garlic salt

1 teaspoon cayenne (or to taste)

½ teaspoon black pepper

1 pound flaked crabmeat, drained well

paprika (optional)

Directions: Heat onion, bell pepper, and butter in microwave until veggies are just starting to get tender. Add next 8 ingredients and microwave until cheeses have melted. Remove and stir. Add crabmeat and microwave until crab dip is hot. Transfer to chafing dish. Sprinkle with paprika, if desired.

Cold Crab Dip

Ingredients:

16 ounces sour cream

1 cup mayonnaise

1 cup crab meat

1 envelope Lipton onion soup mix

2 tablespoons chopped dill pickle

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon garlic powder

½ teaspoon cayenne

Directions: Combine all ingredients. Cover and store in refrigerator overnight. Serve with potato chips, crackers, or pita chips.

Buffalo Shrimp

Ingredients:

1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined

Peanut oil

Buttermilk

Flour

Peanut oil

Anchor Bar Buffalo Wing Sauce (or your favorite)

Directions: Rinse shrimp and dry on paper towels. Heat 2 inches of peanut oil to 350 degrees. Dip shrimp in buttermilk and dredge in flour. Fry until both sides are gold brown. Drain on wire racks and toss with wing sauce. Serve with chilled blue cheese dressing.

Tiny Tuna Melts

Ingredients:

1 can albacore tune in water, drained and flaked

1 tablespoon mayonnaise

½ teaspoon prepared mustard

½ teaspoon sugar

½ teaspoon black pepper

Melba toast rounds

Block sharp cheddar cheese

Directions: Combine tuna, mayo, mustard, sugar, and pepper. Spoon onto Melba toast. Top with thin slivers of cheese. Broil until cheese melts.

Fried Crab Claws

Ingredients:

1 pound peeled blue crab claws

½ cup milk

2 eggs

1 teaspoon hot sauce

½ cup self-rising flour

½ cup cornmeal

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon black pepper

Peanut oil

Directions: Rinse crab claws and dry on paper towels. In a mixing bowl, whisk together milk, eggs, and hot sauce. Add claws.

In a large bag or bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, cornstarch, salt, and pepper. Shake or roll claws in flour mixture. Fry a few at a time in 1 ½-2 inches peanut oil that has been heated to 350 degrees. When claws are golden brown, remove and drain on racks. Serve with cocktail sauce, remoulade, tartar sauce, and/or lemon and lime wedges.

Seafood Wontons

These are pretty much the same as Crab Rangoon you find in most Chinese restaurants. I use real crab and shrimp in mine, however, while they usually use imitation crabmeat.

Ingredients:

8 ounces cream cheese

½ cup crabmeat

½ cup finely diced cooked shrimp

3 tablespoons finely chopped green onions – white and green parts

1 tablespoon sugar

½ teaspoon garlic powder

½ teaspoon ground ginger

Wonton wrappers

Peanut oil

Directions: Soften cream cheese in microwave. Combine with next six ingredients. Place a teaspoon of filling in each wonton wrapper. Moisten edges of wonton with water and seal closed. Try to push out all the air with your fingers before sealing. Make into triangles, “flowers,” squares, or bundles. While working, keep wontons covered with damp towel.

Fry in deep oil at 360 degrees until golden brown. Drain on wire racks.

How to make fried crab wontons:

Crab and Tortilla Roll-Ups

Ingredients:

8 ounces soft cream cheese

1 cup crabmeat, flaked

3 tablespoons ketchup

2 tablespoons finely chopped green bell pepper