Portuguese Baked Stuffed Shrimp Recipe - Sizzling Eats (2024)

Looking to make Portuguese Style Baked Stuffed shrimp appetizer? Look no further because this recipe is exactly what you need in your life. It is loaded with all the Portuguese flavors you love and features buttery, Ritz Crackers!

Portuguese appetizers are some of my favorite things to enjoy locally here in Southeastern Massachusetts. I love nothing more than to indulge in a Stuffed Quahog, Chourico Sandwich, or enjoy some Shrimp Mozambique when I dine locally.

In fact, thanks to growing up with Portuguese family, I can enjoy these meals anytime since my mom is a great Portuguese cook. She might only be half Portuguese, but my dad was a Portuguese-American.

Stuffed Shrimp is one of my favorite appetizers to get at most local restaurants, but some places are better than others. So, today, I am perfecting the Baked Stuffed Shrimp recipe and making it a Portuguese -American style.

This Stuffed Shrimp recipe features a small amount of white cooking wine, garlic, onion, and chourico. But, the best part that ties all these amazing flavors together is the buttery Ritz crackers I used as the base.

Some people use Portuguese bread, but I still prefer easy to work with Ritz crackers. My Vavo used to use these in her Crab Meat Stuffing recipe that I need to share someday. That was a dish worth raving about, but I would have to recall it by memory.

This shrimp recipe was so fragrant and really made my home smell so heavenly. It only made 18 large shrimp so if you are feeding a crowd, you will need to double or triple this recipe. However, since these are so rich, you might just want a few.

Baked Stuffed Shrimp Ingredients

If you are tempted to make these savory, baked stuffed shrimp, you will need the following ingredients. If you cannot find Portuguese Chourico locally, you can use Spanish Chorizo.

• 1/2 lbs of jumbo or large stuffed shrimp (Jumbo is the best)
• 1/3 lb chourico
• 1 stick of unsalted butter
• 60 Ritz Crackers
• 2 tablespoons white wine
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 tablespoons onion
• 2 tablespoons fresh parsley
• black pepper

How to Make Portuguese Baked Stuffed Shrimp

The key to making this recipe is make sure all your ingredients (besides the wine, shrimp, parsley & butter) and finely ground.

Your food processor will be your best friend for this recipe because you will be using it to grind your Ritz crackers finely. Add Ritz to a large mixing bowl

Then, you will be using it to grind your chourico, onion, and garlic finely.

Once your chourico mixture if finely ground (almost to a paste), add it to a frying pan with the wine, and brown for about 3-5 minutes or until fragrant.

After the chourico mixture is done, turn off the heat and add the full stick of butter to the pan. After it melts, transfer the mixture to the bowl with Ritz Crackers. Sprinkle mixture with chopped parsley and black pepper.

Using clean hands, mix thoroughly until to forms one large ball that smaller balls can be plucked out of.

Heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and spray a casserole dish with nonstick.

On a cutting board peel your shrimp leaving only the tail on.

Place shrimp on your cutting board and slice horizontally through the middle section 3/4 of the way through (do not cut all the way through).

Open each side and spread them out. This is where your stuffing will sit.

After each shrimp is opened, add one heaping tablespoon of stuffing to each.

Bake for 15-18 minutes. Stuffing will be lightly browned, and shrimp translucent with an orange tip.

Enjoy warm! These can also be easily reheated in the microwave. They stay fresh-tasting in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.