TOSTADAS | Crab and Shrimp Tostada Recipe
TOSTADAS | Crab and Shrimp Tostada Recipe
These crab and shrimp TOSTADAS are fantastic for a party or just for all-around every day snacking. This NO COOK recipe is a great make-ahead dish that you can eat as a healthy, low carb, delicious snack or even as a whole meal. This is basically a crab and shrimp salad, almost like a ceviche.
Start with frozen, cooked shrimp
You can cook the shrimp yourself and chill it or use small, frozen, precooked shrimp to save time and energy. There is no need to heat up your kitchen to make these crab and shrimp tostadas. Simply thaw the shrimp in the fridge or run them under cold water until they are ready to eat. Be sure to drain off any excess water.
Add some sweet crab meat
The first time I made this recipe I used jumbo lump crab meat. This is my favorite kind of crab meat to use because it comes in big chunks and it’s so sweet and flavorful, but it’s just so expensive. The next time I made this recipe I used crab claw meat. This is flavorful as well (its the dark meat of crab) but it comes in smaller pieces and is much more affordable. Either of these is a good choice but for a nice bite of sweet crab flavor, I prefer a jumbo lump crab meat. Whichever one you choose just be sure to get crab meat from the refrigerated section of your grocery store, usually near the fresh fish. The canned kind that is near the tuna fish doesn’t taste quite as good to me. Gently pick through the crab meat with your exceptionally clean hands (glove would be a good idea) to pick out any cartilage.
Mix in some salsa
You can make your own homemade salsa with chopped tomatoes, cilantro, jalapeno peppers, and lime juice or you can use store-bought salsa. I opted to use my favorite store-bought medium spicy salsa and saved myself a lot of time. If you want to make your own salsa, here is a fantastic HOMEMADE SALSA RECIPE by one of my favorite food bloggers Sweet Tea and Thyme!
PIN IT FOR LATER
Add some fresh, in-season veggies
Chopped cucumbers and chunky, fresh summer tomatoes are a must for this dish. Corn is so sweet right now that the last time I made this I didn’t even cook the corn. I just cut it off the cob and put it straight into the salad. You can definitely roast or grill the corn if you don’t want to eat it raw. Thinly sliced shallots add a mild onion bite.
Mix things up a bit
Toss all of these ingredients together with a squeeze of lime juice and let them sit in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. Overnight works well too. That’s what makes this such a great make-ahead dish. Just before you are ready to serve, chop up some avocado and mix that in. If you add the avocado too early it will turn brown.
Get the TOSTADAS ready
Tostada just means “toasted” and refers to the toasted or fried corn tortillas. You can buy packaged pre-made tostadas or pick up a package of corn tortillas and fry them until they are golden brown. I opted to fry the tortillas at home because I think they taste a whole lot better than the pre-packaged tostadas. If you buy the pre-packaged tostadas, pop them in the oven to warm them at about 300ﾟ for 5 minutes. This will help bring out the roasted corn flavor.
If you’re frying corn tortillas to make fresh tostadas just heat about half an inch of oil in a skillet to about 350ﾟ and fry the corn tortillas for 2 to 3 minutes. Drain them on a wire rack or paper towels and sprinkle with a little salt.
Serve your crab and shrimp tostadas
Let the tostada shells cool to Room temperature then spoon some of your delicious crab and shrimp salad on top. Squeeze a little fresh lime juice over the whole thing and you’re ready to go. You can add some sour cream or Mexican crema to the top if you like.
You can also serve this like chips and dip at a party. Just mix up a big bowl of the salad and serve it with some corn tortilla chips. This is how I served it at my last birthday party and it was a huge hit.
If you like this recipe you’ll LOVE my CAST IRON SKILLET SHRIMP SPINACH TORTILLA STACK!
TOSTADAS | Crab and Shrimp Tostada Recipe
Ingredients
- 12 ounces of frozen cooked small shrimp thawed
- 1 cup of crab meat
- 2 cups of salsa
- 2 cups chopped cucumber about 1 large cucumber
- 1 cup chopped fresh tomato
- 1 shallot sliced thin
- 1/2 cup of corn kernels optional
- 1/4 cup of lime juice from about 2 limes. Get an extra lime incase you need more
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt
- 1 cup chopped avocado
- 12 to stada shells or a bag of tortilla chips
Instructions
- Mix together all of the ingredients except the avocado and the tostada shells/tortilla chips.
- Let it chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes
- Before serving chop the avocado and mix it in
- Serve on top of tostadas or with tortilla chips
- Squeeze a bit more lime over the top if you like
