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.
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!
Dennis Sugumele
Greetings!
You indicate that the recipe serves 4, but the instructions state that you should use 1/2 the crab mixture on each filet. Should that be 1/4 of the mixture on each filet?
Also, how far in advance can this be made before baking, and does it need to be refrigerated. Many thanks. I look forward to making this recipe later this month.
Chef Dennis Littley
Thanks for catching that. It should be 1/4 of the crabmeat mixture. You can make it up 6-8 hours ahead of time and it does need to be refrigerated. Longer than that and the imperial mixture will start to weep.
Jo Ann
I have made this recipe many times and it always turns out delicious. I wouldn’t change a thing.
Chef Dennis Littley
Thank you for letting me know you’ve been enjoying my stuffed flounder recipe! It was always a favorite during my restaurant days in the Jersey shore.
Hanne Funk
Going to try this recipe tonight as my husband went flounder gigging last night. Wondering what you suggest to serve with it? Maybe a light pasta? I’m not sure. Looking forward to trying it!!
Chef Dennis Littley
It all depends on your tastes. A light pasta would be nice, with a salad. Any green vegetable and a potato or rice dish are also good choices.
Christine
I absolutely love this recipe. It’s so easy but looks so extravagant and decadent when served. I make it in individual dishes for dinner parties and it never fails to go down really well. I also like that I can make it in advance so can spend time with guests.
Chef Dennis Littley
I’m happy to hear you’ve been enjoying my stuffed flounder recipe! Its one of my wifes favorite dishes.
Sandy Monahan
Can this be made with Shrimp in stead of Crab?
Chef Dennis Littley
the recipe would need to be reworked. The imperial sauce wouldn’t work as well with shrimp. I have another stuffed flounder recipe that you could easily add shrimp to -> https://www.askchefdennis.com/stuffed-flounder-florentine-and-enstroms-toffee/
Rachael
Love this! Everyone was so impressed. Thank you
Russ
I used fresh ling instead of flounder. Other then that i followed the recipe as is. Came out great. Very easy and the taste in amazing.
Chef Dennis Littley
I’m happy to hear you enjoyed the dish Russ!
Teri
THIS was absolutely fantastic!!!
Chef Dennis Littley
thank you, I’m very happy to hear you enjoyed the flounder!
Russ
I used fresh ling and canned claw meat. We love ling and claws. Cooked it exactly as you said. Added a side of baked asparagus, and it was a meal fit for a King. Great, not good but great recipe. Thanks. We will be trying more of your recipes.
Gregory
My wife and I had crab stuffed flounder on our first date over 30 years ago and I used your recipe for our anniversary dinner earlier this year.
Definitely a family favorite now and better than anything we’ve had at restaurants.
Substituted turbot for the flounder and now I have a new favorite fish! Thanks for the wonderful recipe.
Brenda
Found this recipe on line…..OMG it was so good! Followed recipe as it was written I am sorry Mom but this was BETTER than yours which i grew up on and have made for years! I used fresh flounder and fresh lump crab meat the only way to go!! thank you so much for a delicious recipe!!
Chef Dennis Littley
I’m happy to hear you enjoyed my stuffed flounder, it’s one of my wife’s favorite dishes.
Mark
If I can’t find 16 ounces of crabmeat can I substitute 1 pound instead? Seriously though, if crab claw meat is sweeter why is lump meat preferred?
Chef Dennis Littley
I don’t think claw is sweeter. It’s got a stronger flavor and is great for crab cakes, soups, pasta red sauce, and even stuffing mushrooms. But you can’t beat good jumbo lump.
Leigh
Successfully made several of your delicious recipes. However, the first time I made the crab stuffed flounder it was so easy to make, but I used imitation crab, it was ok. So I tried claw crab meat to hopefully make it better. I give up, it was edible but not that good. Maybe a better cook and only use chunk premium fresh caught. We didn’t save this recipe, because it has made me feel like such a failure 😂. That being said, we will definitely try a few others. Sharing so it might help someone else with ingredient choices. It has been said, the dish is only as good as the ingredients.
Thank you for sharing your wonderful recipes.
Chef Dennis Littley
You can’t expect it to be that good using imitation crabmeat and claw really isn’t a good choice for stuffed flounder. Claw is good for crabcakes or stuffed mushrooms.
Rhonda
Hi Chef Dennis, I plan on making this tonight using Tilapia (I couldn’t find flounder). If I make this in an individual style au gratin dish, should I still add water and lemon juice to keep them moist? I like the idea of everything staying in one place and making it easier to serve instead of trying to transfer from pan to plate. In your Baked Seafood Casserole, the flounder was baked a bit first with water, then drained before adding the seafood mixture so I’m concerned that the water might not be a good choice for this since its not drained before serving. Another reviewer mentioned covering with foil for 20min then uncovering for the last 5-7min. I’m not sure if they added water and/or used individual dishes. Looking for any advice you can give. Thanks!
Chef Dennis Littley
hi Rhonda
If you’re baking them in au gratin dishes, you won’t need the water and lemon. just put a small piece of tilapia on the bottom and finish building the dish. You should be fine baking uncovered for 20-25 minutes. Check the internal temp to make sure its gotten to at least 165 degrees before removing from the oven.
Rhonda
Thanks for the reply! This is an excellent dish. The seasoning did not overpower the crab and the fish wasn’t too fishy. I even received compliments from some who don’t often give them. Thank you for that! Well, things don’t always go as planned. I had decided to bake them in a pan, like your photos, at first. My imperial sauce looked perfect! When I added the sauce to the jumbo lump crab meat, the sauce got really runny. I tried transferring the crab/sauce mixture to the fish on the sheet pan, but the pan started filling with liquid. I poured the remaining non-crab imperial sauce over the top, but it didn’t improve anything much. I also had a hard time keeping the sides of fish around the crab. At this point I went to plan B and transferred each stuffed fish to an individual au gratin dish. I divided the leaked liquid from the first pan into the individual dishes and added a bit of lemon juice, so as the fish baked, the sauce thickened around it in the dish. I wonder if the reason my sauce was so runny was that my crab was purchased frozen. I thawed it and let it sit in a colander to dry off a bit before adding it to the sauce. I think next time (and there will be a next time) I will squeeze/press the crab to get as much of the remaining liquid out before using it. Despite my problems with execution, it was delicious! Imagine if I had done it right?