This Seafood Mac and Cheese recipe is made with crab, shrimp, and macaroni pasta. This is the perfect, simple cheesy casserole to add to any spread. Add Old Bay Seasoning for an additional kick of flavor!
What Type of Seafood to Use
I love to use shrimp and jumbo lump crab in this recipe. You can also use scallops, lobster, mussels, or pretty much whatever you like.
What Type of Shrimp to Use
Shrimp can be found at the grocery store in a few different ways. There is raw, pre-cooked, raw and frozen, deveined, tails on, tails off, etc.
I never use pre-cooked shrimp. There is an obvious difference in taste due to the lack of quality. The shrimp is cooked and then frozen and you have to cook it/warm it up again. This usually overcooks the shrimp. Raw shrimp only takes minutes to make, just buy it raw.
Can You Use Frozen Shrimp? How to Thaw
You should thaw it first. You can thaw frozen shrimp in a bowl of cold water for 20 minutes.
Do You Keep the Tails on the Shrimp?
This is completely up to you and is a matter of preference. Often the tails are left on for presentation purposes only. The shrimp simply looks nicer and will have a nice curve to it when the tails are left on.
Leaving the tail on is often inconvenient when it comes to devouring the meal!
What Type of Crab to Use
I use lump crab meat. You can find it in the refrigerated meat section of the grocery store. Lots of people use imitation crab meat, sometimes called krab meat. You can use that if you wish, it’s also sometimes easier to find.
Imitation crab is processed fish meat. It is seafood and comes from surimi that has been deboned and minced into a paste. It does not contain crab. Crab extract is sometimes added for flavor.
