Seafood Enchiladas are creamy and cheesy and full of shrimp, scallops, and crab. A seriously good enchilada recipe! This Mexican-inspired recipe is flavor-packed with vegetables and melted cheeses, wrapped in a low carb flour tortilla then smothered in our bold green enchilada sauce.
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❤️ Why You'll Love This
"These creamy seafood enchiladas are just what you need when you want a change-up from a traditional enchilada recipe. No need to go out to eat, invite your friends over and impress them with this easy meal!"
Simply delicious
Creamy seafood enchiladas filled with tender seafood (shrimp, crab, and scallops) and lots of veg like mushrooms, spinach, and zucchini - then smothered in our most delicious green enchilada sauce. Yes, PLEASE! If your family or friends love seafood they will be all over this recipe.
Amplified Enchiladas
These enchiladas are a seafood lover's dream. The creamy sauce pairs perfectly with the seafood and are very balanced. Customize your favorites into this dish to make them made just for you.
Healthy
There are several ways you can adapt this recipe to meet your dietary needs:
- You'll love how many vegetables are in this recipe - much more than most enchiladas - zucchini, mushrooms, spinach, and onion.
- There is no added sugar in this recipe.
- Choose gluten free tortillas if you are gluten intolerant.
- Make it low carb and keto friendly by using low-carb tortillas or another keto option. You can also make this without tortillas and turn it into a casserole - just bulk up with extra vegetables and reduce the enchilada sauce by half.
- To lower the fat: Choose lower fat dairy options when shopping for ingredients to help keep this recipe lower in fat.
🥗 How To Serve
The nice thing with these seafood enchiladas is that they are such a filling main dish. You can serve these on their own or pair them with a quick side dish.
- Garnish with cilantro or green onion for that pretty green and freshness.
- Top off your enchiladas with some of your favorites! We like to use sour cream, avocado, tomatoes, green onions, or black olives.
- Spanish or Mexican rice is our favorite side dish to any Mexican meal. Make it healthier by using riced cauliflower in place of white rice.
- A side salad is quick and easy to put together for this meal. A lighter side pairs well with these filling enchiladas! Try our Avocado Dressing, it would go perfect with this recipe!
🥘 Ingredients
Here are the ingredients you will need to make this Seafood Enchilada recipe:
See the recipe card for exact quantities.
Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
Sweet Onion - love the very mild sweetness that this onions lends to the dish. You could also use a yellow onion.
Baby Portabella Mushrooms - this is a personal preference on mushrooms. Baby portabella mushrooms add extra flavor and tend to hold their texture when cooked.
Zucchini - adds freshness to the enchiladas.
Baby Spinach - gotta get your vegetables in!
Lump Crab - You can use lump, flaked, and even imitation "crab" if you like. Imitiation crab has a different texture that real crab but it's significantly less expensive but still has good flavor.
Bay Scallops - these scallops are preferred due to their size. Bay scallops are smaller and bite size. Sea scallops are larger and would need to be cut down for this recipe.
Shrimp - raw, medium sized shrimp is what we used. Raw shrimp tend to be more tender and hold better in baked recipes. Look for already peeled, de-veined and tail-off to decrease your prepping time.
Sour Cream
Course Pepper
Ground Cumin
Queso Fresco - a traditional cheese used in Mexican recipes and comes in many forms. I used fresh and crumbled over top the enchiladas.
Low Carb Flour Tortillas - replace flour tortillas with your preferred tortilla in this recipe.
Green Enchilada Sauce - use what you prefer here. I really love my homemade green tomatillo enchilada sauce in this recipe. You can also use store-bought canned green enchilada sauce.
Monterey Jack Cheese - I love the light mild taste and creaminess that jack cheese gives to the recipe.
🍽 Equipment
Equipment and tools needed to make this enchilada recipe:
- Cutting Board
- Chef Knife
- 12" Skillet
- Measuring Cups
- Measuring Spoons
- Mixing Spoon
- 9" x 13" Casserole Dish
- Nonstick Spray
- Instant Read Thermometer
- Aluminum Foil - used to cover your enchiladas
📖 Variations
Here are a few ways you can customize to your Seafood enchiladas recipe:
- For added flavor use a combination of butter and olive oil
- You can use any combination of seafood in the recipe as long as you keep the same end amount called for in the recipe. That should be about 24 ounces total. An example would be to use all shrimp or all crab etc.
- If you are not following a low carb or keto diet feel free to use regular flour tortillas.
- Seafood not your thing? Substitute with your favorite protein! Make it chicken enchiladas and use a rotisserie chicken and shred the meat. You could also grab your favorite steak and cut into thin strips.
- Substitute corn tortillas with flour tortillas if you prefer.
- Make it spicier by adding diced jalepeno pepper to your skillet when you add the vegetables and onions. You could also top your enchiladas with fresh diced jalepeno pepper as well.
🔪 Instructions
Here's how to make this Seafood Enchilada recipe:
For complete instructions, please see the printable recipe card below.
Prep
Preheat oven to 350-degrees F.
Grease a 13 x 9-inch casserole dish.
Saute Vegetables
Preheat a 12" skillet over medium-high heat with butter and oil. Add onion, zucchini, and mushrooms to the skillet. Saute until the onions are translucent and the vegetables are tender.
Add spinach to the skillet and stir until wilted.
Add Seafood
Add shrimp, scallops, and crab to the skillet. Saute until the shrimp just turn pink
Finish Seafood Filling
Stir in sour cream, 1 cup of the enchilada sauce, salt, pepper, and cumin.
Assemble
For each tortilla, spread ½ cup of seafood mixture in the center then sprinkle 1 tablespoon of queso fresco, and 1 tablespoon jack cheese.
Roll each tortilla, leaving the ends open. Place each enchilada seam side down into your prepared baking dish.
Spread any remaining filling and enchilada sauce over the enchiladas, then sprinkle with the remaining jack cheese.
Bake
Cover the enchiladas with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake for 15 more minutes, or until heated through and bubbly.
💭 Top Tips
- Be careful not to overcook your shrimp, scallops, and crab. This will make them chewy or have a rubber-like consistency. Only saute until they are just done. They will finish baking in the oven.
❓FAQs
What other enchilada sauce can I use?
Because of its milder flavor, green enchiladas sauce goes best with the seafood in this recipe. There are two versions on our site Green Enchiladas Sauce and Tomatillo Enchilada Sauce. Both use green chili peppers but the tomatillo sauce uses predominately tomatillos.
Both can be made ahead of time and kept in the fridge until you make this recipe. You can also freeze them. For ease and time, you can also use store-bought canned sauce.
Can you make it ahead of time?
Yes, absolutely. It is best to make the filling in advance and prep what else you can like grate the cheese. When you are ready to bake continue with the recipe filling the tortillas then baking. If the filling is cold let it come to room temperature or add some time in the oven.
How do I store this?
Store leftovers in the refrigerator in an airtight container. I like to store my leftovers in individual servings sizes to pull out and reheat for lunch or dinner.
How long will this keep?
Up to 3 days if stored in an airtight container.
Can you freeze this recipe?
I do not recommend freezing this recipe. When frozen and then thawed, the ingredients in this recipe release a good amount of moisture, making the enchiladas full of water. This recipe also uses sour cream in the sauce, and cream, in general, does not freeze and then thaw well.
✔️ More Enchilada Recipes
If you are looking for more fantastic enchilada recipes, check these out:
- Healthier Green Enchiladas
- Chicken Enchilada Soup
- Carne Enchiladas
- Green Enchiladas with Chicken
- Green Enchiladas Chicken Soup (Slow Cooker + Instant Pot)
- Low Carb Chicken Enchiladas (Zucchini Enchilada Boats)
Enchilada Sauce Recipes
- Enchiladas Sauce Recipe - A delicious homemade red enchiladas sauce.
- Tomatillo Enchilada Sauce
- Green Enchilada Sauce Recipe
📋 Recipe
Seafood Enchiladas
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 8 ounces medium-size shrimp (peeled and deveined)
- 6 ounce can lump crab meat (drained)
- 8 ounces bay scallops
- 1 large sweet onion (diced)
- 6 ounces mushrooms (sliced)
- 1 cup zucchini (cut into ½" pieces)
- 4 ounces fresh baby spinach
- 12 ounces sour cream
- 1½ teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 8 8" low carb whole wheat flour tortillas (regular flour tortillas are fine too)
- 20 ounces green enchilada sauce
- 4 ounces queso fresco (crumbled)
- 12 ounces monterey jack cheese (grated)
Instructions
Enchilada Filling
- Preheat oven to 350-degrees F.
- Preheat a 12" skillet over medium-high heat with butter and oil.
- Add onion, zucchini, and mushrooms to the skillet. Saute until the onions are translucent and the vegetables are tender, about 8 to 10 minutes.
- Add spinach to the skillet and stir until wilted, about 3 minutes.
- Add shrimp, scallops, and crab to the skillet. Saute until the shrimp just start to turn pink, about 3 to 5 minutes.
- Stir in sour cream, 1 cup of the enchilada sauce, salt, pepper, and cumin.
Assembly
- For each tortilla, spread ½ cup of seafood mixture in the center then sprinkle 1 tablespoon of queso fresco, and 1 tablespoon jack cheese.
- Roll each tortilla, leaving the ends open. Place each enchilada seam side down into a greased 13 x 9-inch casserole dish.
- Spread any remaining filling and enchilada sauce over the enchiladas, then sprinkle with the remaining jack cheese.
- Cover the enchiladas with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake for 15 more minutes, or until heated through and bubbly.
Notes
- Don't miss all of our helpful hints, substitution ideas, cooking tips, and other delicious recipes that can be found in our post. Check it out!
- Substitutions: You can use any combination of crab, shrimp, and scallops as long as you keep the same volume called for in the recipe (24 ounces total). For example, use all shrimp, or just crab and shrimp! Use Keto-friendly tortillas or low-carb tortillas if watching your carbs. Shredded rotisserie chicken is a very excellent substitute as well as thinly sliced carne asada or ground beef.
- Top Tips: Be careful not to overcook your seafood. Only cook it until it's almost done. The crab, shrimp, and scallops will finish off in the oven as the casserole bakes.
- Serving Suggestions: I serve my enchiladas with rice or riced cauliflower. Top with sour cream, avocado, and cilantro - or other favorite toppings such as tomatoes, black olives, or diced onions.
Nutrition
© 2023 Seeking Good Eats™
Seafood Enchiladas are creamy and cheesy and full of shrimp, scallops, and crab. A seriously good enchilada recipe! This Mexican-inspired recipe is flavor-packed with vegetables and melted cheeses, wrapped in a low carb flour tortilla then smothered in our bold green enchilada sauce. The whole family will love this dinner recipe. A make ahead casserole recipe that's freezable! Instructions for adapting to a low carb and keto recipe provided. #seafoodnchiladas #enchiladas #seekinggoodeats #mexicancuisine #casserole #dinner #seafood #crab #shrimp #scallops
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