Easy party appetizer made healthy with shrimp, spaghetti squash and low fat cheese. Once baked, the shrimp puffs melt in your mouth and the guests are all over you. That necessarily might not be a good thing…
Store bought appetizers are full of bad stuff (that’s me being very nice), expensive and do not compare in taste. We are not friends. Instead I make shrimp puffs and then feed you. And then you feed your peeps and send them over here for a recipe. We got a deal.:) Oh, and these can be prepped ahead of time.
So….Shrimp puffs are finger food appetizer that is perfect for Holidays season. Traditionally made with puff pastry, which I swapped for spaghetti squash. It added body and texture I was looking for, with virtually no extra calories.
These puffs are tender, melt in your mouth balls of vegetables, shrimp and melted cheese. And of course everything tastes better with garlic…if you are Ukrainian.
They turned out better than I expected and so easy to make and clean up! One bowl, get other ingredients ready while squash is baking, and off they go in the oven for 15 minutes.
Meet Mr. Spaghetti Squash. It takes 30 minutes to bake and then 2 minutes to separate into strands.
For this recipe, the trick is to squeeze the liquid out really well. Use your hands. The volume will shrink a lot, don’t panic. Also do not overcook squash. 30 minutes @ 375 degrees F is plenty. If you cook squash longer, it will be too watery.
Now, onto shrimp. The beauty of this recipe is that you can use the cheapest cooked shrimp. It will get chopped anyways. I defrosted small frozen shrimp from Costco in a bowl with warm water, then gave it a good old squeeze. So, 8 oz should be the dry amount. That probably equals 3 cups frozen.
I used mayo. I know! A whole lot of 2 tablespoons. A jar of mayo lasts me a year. I buy only organic and use a tiny little bit to keep the recipe clean. Any regular mayo like Hellman’s doesn’t count. Buy organic or vegan.
Sometimes, using Greek yogurt won’t cut it. Trust me, don’t try. OK, you can use 1 tbsp of each and let me know how the puffs turn out.
Shrimp puffs can be made ahead. Just freeze small scoops of batter on parchment paper and once frozen transfer to a large Ziploc bag. Once ready to bake, just pop frozen puffs in the muffin tin and bake. Baking time will be longer by a couple minutes. Just watch until the edges will turn golden brown.
And just in case you are wondering…yes, that’ s a pink snowflake. I’m not just a pretty face. Ha! I can still wow 7 year olds.
Ingredients
- 1 medium spaghetti squash
- 8 oz cooked shrimp, liquid squeezed out & chopped
- 1 cup low fat mozzarella cheese, shredded (not packed)
- 2 tbsp organic mayo
- 1 1/2 cup Panko or whole wheat breadcrumbs
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 1 tsp parsley flakes
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- Pinch of salt
- Cooking spray, for baking
Directions
- Preheat oven to 375 F degrees. Wash squash, cut in half lengthwise and spoon the seeds out. Punch randomly with a fork, place cut side down on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 30 minutes
- Take out of the oven, let it cool and separate the strands with the fork.
- Squeeze the liquid from squash very well using your hands. Place in a medium bowl. Add remaining ingredients and mix well.
- Spray mini muffin baking sheet with cooking spray and fill each opening full. Puffs won't rise, so be generous. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and let shrimp puffs cool for 5 minutes before transferring onto a platter. They will slide out of the tin with a fork's or spatula's help. Serve warm or cold.
Nutritional Info
Servings Per Recipe: 30 shrimp puffs
Amount Per Serving = 1 shrimp puff:
Calories: 44.0
Total Fat: 1.7 g
Cholesterol: 17.4 mg
Sodium: 83.1 mg
Total Carbs: 3.7 g
Dietary Fiber: 0.3 g
Protein: 3.1 g
WW Points+: 1