My Crab Stuffed Flounder Recipe is the ultimate restaurant-quality dish that you can make in your own kitchen.
Sweet crab meat blended with an easy-to-make imperial sauce stuffed between fillets of ocean-fresh flounder couldn’t be easier to make. Whether it’s for your next dinner party or date night, be prepared to impress your guests with this delicious seafood dish.
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One of the most popular dishes on my restaurant menu at the Jersey shore was flounder stuffed with crab imperial.
If you were a seafood lover, my stuffed flounder was at the top of the list of choices. One of my other favorites is my baked seafood casserole.
The secret is in the imperial sauce, which takes 3-5 minutes to make. And that same sauce mixed with crab meat can be used to make Crab Cakes, Crab Imperial, Stuffed Lobster Tail, and so much more!
Ingredients to make Stuffed Flounder?
Let’s start by gathering the ingredients we need to make Stuffed Flounder. In Chef Speak, this is called the “Mise en Place,” which translates to “Everything in its Place.”
Not only does setting your ingredients up ahead of time speed up the cooking process, but it also helps ensure you have everything you need to make the dish.
*My choice of crabmeat is always from blue crabs, and while I do love fresh flounder fillets, frozen is definitely acceptable.
WHAT TYPE OF CRAB MEAT CAN I USE?
The source of crab meat can be from any part of the world that has crabs and includes varieties such as Blue Swimming, Dungeness, Snow, King, and of course, my favorite is Blue Crab from the east coast and gulf of the US.
- Jumbo lump crab meat
- Lump crab meat
- Backfin crab meat
- Claw crab meat
- Imitation crab meat
What other types of fish can I stuff with Crab Imperial?
If you want the same type of presentation, fish fillets that are thin work best.
- Tilapia
- Sea Bass
- Sole
- Turbot
But any fish can be topped with crab imperial. The stuffing doesn’t have to go between the fillets, it can simply go on top of the fish before baking.
How do I make Imperial Sauce?
The first step is making the imperial sauce for the crab meat. In a small bowl, mix all the ingredients for the imperial sauce together until well blended.
Gently blend the sauce into the crab meat, don’t add it all in, in case you don’t need quite that much sauce.
How do I make Crab Stuffed Flounder?
- Place a small piece of flounder on the sheet pan. This will be the placeholder for the crab meat.
- Add four ounces (or more) of the crab imperial mixture on top of each fillet.
- Place a piece of flounder on each side of the stuffing, leaving the top visible. It will look great as it browns, and you want your guests to see all of that lovely crab meat!
- Place a little water in the pan with a squeeze of lemon juice. This will help keep the stuffed flounder moist, and if you’re feeling really decadent, brush the stuffed flounder with a little melted butter (that’s how we would have done it in the restaurant). It’s definitely worth the extra effort!
*You can also make the stuffed flounder in individual au gratin style baking dishes.
Bake the Flounder stuffed with crab meat at 350 degrees F for 25-30 minutes or until you reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees.
*If you want the top to be extra brown, make the last minutes under the broiler.
The nice thing about this dish is that it can be prepped ahead of time, so the only work you really have to do is pop it in the oven when your guests arrive.
Recipe FAQ’s
Crab Imperial is a classic American dish made with crabmeat that has been combined with an imperial sauce made with mayonnaise, egg, lemon juice and old bay seasoning. It is used as a stuffing for various seafood and can be baked in small shallow baking dishes or decorative shells. No bread is used in crab imperial!
The flounder itself can be cooked to 140 degrees, but the imperial crab meat stuffing needs to reach 165 degrees to be safe because it contains raw egg.
Flounder as, known as winter flounder, faces right with its mouth up. Fluke is also known as summer flounder, faces left with its mouth up. The flavor of both fish is mild and very similar. Some say the texture of fluke is better.
More Crab Meat Recipes You’ll Love!
Crab Stuffed Flounder
Ingredients
Ingredients
- 16 ounces crab meat lump or jumbo lump
- 24 ounces flounder fillets
- 2 Tablespoons melted butter
Imperial Sauce
- ½ cup mayonnaise (Hellmans, Best foods or Dukes Mayo)
- 1 large egg lightly whipped
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon Italian parsley finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon old bay seasoning
- old bay sprinkle on top of the flounder before baking.
Instructions
- In a small bowl mix all the ingredients for the imperial sauce together until well blended.
- Gently blend the sauce into the crab meat, don’t add it all in, in case you don’t need quite that much sauce.
- Place a small piece of flounder on the sheet pan. This will be the place holder for the crab meat.
- Add four ounces (or more) of the crab imperial mixture on top of each fillet.
- Place a piece of flounder on each side of the stuffing, leaving the top visible. It will look great as it browns, and you want your guests to see all of that lovely crab meat!
- Place a little water in the pan with a squeeze of lemon juice. This will help keep the stuffed flounder moist, and if you’re feeling really decadent, brush the stuffed flounder with a little melted butter (that’s how we would have done it in the restaurant) and a sprinkle of old bay or paprika. It's definitely worth the extra effort!
- Place the baking dish in a 350 degree preheated oven for 20-25 minutes. It’s important not to let the flounder dry out, but you do want your crab imperial to be hot enough (if you have a food thermometer check its internal temperature to make sure its at least 165 degrees).
- Serve with your favorite side dish and sit back and enjoy!
Kathy says
Thanks, Chef Dennis! Hubby loved this recipe! Looks great and tastes great! Felt proud serving such a good looking dish! Will certainly make this again.
Robert says
Trying it out today chef but using crawfish tails instead of crab meat. Let ya know how it turns out.1
Peggy Scott says
Delicious, I loved it!
Dayle Brignac says
I am looking forward to trying your flounder dish. I live on Galveson Island and fish a lot. Yesterday you can guess what type of fish i caught. I will let you know how much I do r don’t enjoy it. Look forward to trying some of your other reciptes.
Dale
Nikki $ says
It was awesome! My husband loved it. Did tweaked it a bit. I put salt, pepper and old bay on all the fillets. Then topped it with Italian seasoning. Most recipes don’t have enough seasoning for my hubby and I. We also baked it covered for 20 minutes then uncovered it for 5-7 minutes to brown the top this helped keep the fish moist. Thanks for sharing. Will cook again. I also used imitation crab meat that’s what I had available.
Andy says
Tried this tonight! I worked in a cape cod restaurant during college and I was trying to remember how to prepare this old stand by. You recipe was closest… the only difference was I turned up the oven to 400, and checked it at 10 minutes… 12 minutes later it was done… The imperial sauce was SPOT ON! THANKS!
Mike Miroux says
Chef,
I followed you recipe last night and it was delicious! Everyone loved it! Thanks for the recipe! Keep them coming!
Mike
Chef Dennis Littley says
I’m happy to hear you enjoyed the stuffed flounder Mike! Thanks so much for letting me know.
George Sarricueta says
how long can i keep the stuffing of the stuff flounder in the fridge and freezer??
Chef Dennis Littley says
I wouldn’t keep it more than 2 days. It’s also going to start getting runny the longer it sits. You can freeze it but freezing crabmeat is the best thing for it. It will make it stringy.
Robbin says
Chef Dennis – this dish looks scrumptious. But I would like to try this with chilean sea bass stuffed with the crab imperial. Will I need to soak the fish in water so that it will not dry out? Also, would you recommend just salt and pepper on the fish. I don’t want to take away from the crab imperial, but I do want to enhance the flavor of the chilean sea bass.
Chef Dennis Littley says
hi Robbin,
I don’t think you need to soak the fish, the stuffing should help keep it moist, but when baking it I would add a little water to the bottom of the pan to help keep it moist. As for seasonings with the imperial as the stuffing I would keep the seasoning mild just using a little olive oil and salt and pepper on the fish.
Lin Ann says
I had stuffed flounder while on vacation and I now want to make it at home. So guess where I looked first – your blog. And here it is! I knew I could count on you!!!
Maranda says
Oh my goodness! Stuffed flounder is one of my favorite things to get at Red Lobster. I can't wait to try this!!! I pinned it on pinterest so I won't forget!
Thanks for the great information as well!
Betty @ scrambled henfruit says
Wegman's is my absolute favorite place to shop. 🙂 (You have to realize that I live in a place that doesn't have a Whole Foods or a Trader Joes.) Sigh. Your flounder dish looks fantastic- the crab is pricy but totally worth it. Congratulations to your wife!
Mari says
Flounder!!!! I love this dish; it came out perfect and mouthwatering. My dad used to love this fish. I will save this recipe, thanks Chef Dennis. As for the social media etiquette, I totally agree.Hasta Pronto 🙂
thecompletecookbook says
Congratulations to your wife Chef and what a fabulous meal to celebrate.
🙂 Mandy
Claudia says
I'm thinking I need to cross state lines to find some good lump meat. But what's a few borders between friends? That's how much this flounder excites me. Congrats to your wife! Exciting news!