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Cinco de Mayo is coming up, and I couldn’t be more excited!! Growing up in California, Cinco de Mayo is almost a state holiday. Everyone gets together for parties with some of the best Mexican food around, and lots of ice cold drinks to cool down the spiciness of the salsa and Creamy Seafood Enchiladas…..
Not that we only celebrated once a year! 😉
I may have grown up eating Mexican food, but I have never gotten used to the heat of spicy peppers! This gringa blanca likes her comida mild, muchos gracias!! So I learned how to tone down the heat, but not the flavor. These Creamy Seafood Enchiladas are the perfect example of delicious Mexican food that does not burn your mouth off…..
Unless you want it to. Don’t worry, I will give you some suggestions to kick up the heat if you so desire. 😉
How to make Creamy Seafood Enchiladas:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a 9 x 13 baking dish with cooking spray and set aside.
Melt the butter in a large skillet. Add the onions and cook until translucent, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for one minute…..
Add the crab meat, shrimp, cumin, chili powder, and pepper, stir to combine. Cook just until the shrimp starts to turn pink…..
Stir in one cup of grated cheese and 1/4 cup of cilantro, remove from heat…..
Divide seafood mixture between the tortillas, placing it in the center of each one…..
About 2 ice cream scoops full.
Roll up each enchilada and place it seam side down in prepared baking dish, set aside…..
To make the creamy sauce: Melt the butter in a saucepan. Whisk in the flour and simmer for one to two minutes. Stir in the milk, sour cream, jalapeno, and pepper…..
When the sauce starts to thicken, add one cup of shredded cheese and stir until melted and smooth…..
Pour the creamy sauce over the enchiladas…..
Sprinkle with remaining cheese…..
and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until sauce is bubbly and the cheese is melted. Remove from oven and garnish with crumbled queso fresco and remaining cilantro and serve…..
The seafood is the star of this dish. It has a relatively mild flavor, and I wanted a subtle sauce that would not dominate or overpower the seafood flavor. You can taste the jalapeno, but it won’t burn your mouth. The cumin and chili powder add a little something to the filling, but not enough to stand out and scream “I’m in here”!! LOL
Notes:
- If you like it spicy, use habanero or serrano pepper instead of the jalapeno. Substitute Pepper Jack for the Monterrey Jack cheese, and add cayenne pepper instead of chili powder. And of course pour on some chile sauce so your face will turn red and steam will come shooting out your ears.
- I did not add any salt to this dish because seafood and cheese are naturally salty and I don’t need any extra saltiness. Feel free to add salt if you so desire.
I made these Creamy Seafood Enchiladas for a school potluck 10 years ago, and they were gone in seconds! I baked them in a foil pan and cut them down the center to create more servings. Afterwards, everyone was asking me for the recipe…if I only had a food blog back them, LOL
For the ultimate Cinco de Mayo celebration, check out these other awesome Mexican recipes:
- Simple Chicken Enchiladas Verde
- Instant Pot Adobo Chicken
- Instant Pot Pork Carnitas
- Mexican Style Shredded Beef
- Shredded Beef Chimichangas
- Queso Blanco Dip
- Refried Black Beans
- Mexican Rice & Instant Pot Spanish Rice
- Shredded Beef Enchiladas.
- Chicken Enchiladas with red chile sauce
What is your favorite Mexican recipe? I am always looking for new ideas.
Enjoy!!
Creamy Seafood Enchiladas
Ingredients
Seafood Filling
- 1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup finely diced onion
- 2 large cloves garlic (minced)
- 1 pound shrimp (peeled, deveined, and coarsely chopped)
- 6 ounce lump meat crab (drained)
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon chili powder (use cayenne if you want spicy)
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 1/2 cups shredded Monterrey Jack cheese (divided)
- 1/2 cup chopped cilantro (divided)
- 6 large flour tortillas (9-inch)
Creamy Sauce
- 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 cup whole milk (I used unsweetened CashewMilk)
- 1/2 cup Greek yogurt or sour cream
- 1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
- 1 teaspoon minced jalapeno pepper (with seeds removed unless you want more spice)
- queso fresco or cojito cheese (to garnish)
Instructions
To Make the Seafood Enchiladas
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a 9 x 13 baking dish with cooking spray and set aside.
- Melt the butter in a large skillet. Add the onions and cook until translucent, 3 to 5 minutes.
- Add the garlic and cook for one minute.
- Add the crab meat, shrimp, cumin, chili powder, and pepper, stir to combine. Cook just until the shrimp starts to turn pink.
- Stir in one cup of grated cheese and 1/4 cup of cilantro, remove from heat.
- Divide seafood mixture between the tortillas, placing it in the center of each one.
- Roll up each enchilada and place it seam side down in prepared baking dish, set aside.
To Make the Creamy Sauce
- Melt the butter in a saucepan. Whisk in the flour and simmer for one to two minutes.
- Stir in the milk, sour cream, jalapeno, and pepper.
- When the sauce starts to thicken, add one cup of shredded cheese and stir until melted and smooth.
- Pour the creamy sauce over the enchiladas. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until sauce is bubbly and the cheese is melted.
- Remove from oven and garnish with crumbled queso fresco and remaining cilantro and serve.
Notes
- If you like it spicy, use habanero or serrano pepper instead of the jalapeno. Substitute Pepper Jack for the Monterrey Jack cheese, and add cayenne pepper instead of chili powder. And of course pour on some chile sauce so your face will turn red and steam will come shooting out your ears.
- I did not add any salt to this dish because seafood and cheese are naturally salty and I don’t need any extra saltiness. Feel free to add salt if you so desire.
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Audrey says
All the spices must make it incredibly flavorful. I like my food medium+ but my husband and sone are definitely in the mild category.
Thanks for sharing on #TastyTuesdays.
Rachael says
Goodness, I rarely comment on recipes but I made this last night and it was beyond delicious! The only speaking my family did during the entire meal was to say ‘oh my god’ and ‘this is SO good’. I made it as stated except I added mushrooms to the mixture during the sautéing. Adding this to my favorites, thank you for sharing!
Lisa Johnson says
Yay, I am so glad your family enjoyed it Rachael! Thanks so much for letting me know, you made my day. 🙂
Tania says
Hello. My husband and I made this last night and it was soooo good. We had a lot of ingredients to make crab enchiladas and were looking for a simple yet delicious recipe and came across yours. We did have to modify the recipe slightly to what we had on hand, but it turned out amazing. We used corn tortillas instead of flour. Additionally, we finally diced carrot, celery, and mushrooms and added it to the onions and garlic. I didn’t have a jalapeno, but had some roasted hot hatch chilis in the freezer and chopped one of those for the sauce. We only added crab because that is what we had and this recipe was top notch. I really thought it was going to be a super rich tasting dish, but all the flavors melded really well together. The sauce is to die for! Thanks so much! I will certainly make this again and will try it with the shrimp next time.
Lisa Johnson says
Thank you so much Tania, I am so glad you enjoyed it!!
Tiffany says
Can this be made using corn tortillas? I have a gluten allergy! If so, any ideas about necessary adjustments? Thank you!
Lisa Johnson says
Yes, you could use corn tortillas Tiffany and the time should be about the same, but I have not personally made them with corn tortillas before. 🙂 Let me know how they turn out!!
Kristin says
I have always wanted to try seafood enchiladas, but not sure my kids would like them so I made your recipe for our church group with more adult palates present. The only change I made was in using a combination of shrimp, scallops, and cod. I would have LOVED to have spiced things up a bit too, but I omitted the jalapeños out of respect for our friends who are not big on the heat. Oh. My. Word. WOW! These enchiladas were a HUGE hit! I only wish I would have made TWO pans because after I let all of our guests dish up, there was just 1 tiny square left for me, but it was enough of a taste that I am going to be making these again next weekend for our family only! Kudos to you on these. The white creamy sauce paired perfectly with the seafood. Yum with a capital Y!! 😋
Lisa Johnson says
Yeah, I am so happy everyone enjoyed them, Kristin! I actually made that same mistake the first time that I made them and took them to a school potluck. I had to go home and make a second batch so I could try them, lol