Barbecue season is upon us. And as much as we need a great sundress and cute pair of wedge heels, we also need great party recipes. What makes a party food recipe great? Three qualities: 1. Tasty (obviously) 2. Travels well (in the event of off site parties) 3. Possible to sit at room temperature for a period of time without becoming a huge mess (sorry cheese dip and ice cream cake, we still love you)
Here are some of my favorites:
1. Jalapeno Popper Filled Potato Bites. The marriage of two great bar snacks
2. Olive & Goat Cheese Tartlets.
3. Caprese BLT Sliders with Puff Pastry Buns
4. Boozy (or not) Watermelon Stars.
5. And the reason you are all here today: Cucumber Cups Stuffed With Spicy Crab
I saw these a few years ago on Iron chef. Cups made of cucumber. Brilliant. I am embarrassed to say that it took me nearly a year to figure out how it was done. Turns out, it’s so easy. All you need is a melon baller.
For a vegetarian filling, check out my Cucumber Cups With Goat Cheese Caprese
Ingredients Instructions
http://domesticfits.com/2011/07/07/cucumber-cups-stuffed-with-spicy-crab/
What a fantastic and delicious idea!! I love this and am printing this recipe as we speak! Gorgeous presentation as well! 🙂
Thank you!! If you try it, let me know how it goes!
How were you able to print it? I can’t even print page…
I just updated the post to make it easier to print. Try it again, you should see a “print” button 🙂
I like the combination of cool cucumber and spicy crab filling. Lovely presentation.
Love it! When I have things like this I feel less guilty since the veggie is up in there. LOL- I am not opposed into being tricked into eating something this cute and delish.
Thanks! I think if you used low-fat/fat-free sour cream and cream cheese, these will be super low cal!
Fantastic idea..very creative, delicious, fresh and healthy! Perfect in every possible way!
This looks like a great summer appetizer or tapas!
looks great! I love the cucumber cup idea. I can even make some veggie stuffing for it. I think it can be a great party snack 🙂
Veggie sounds great, maybe artichoke? Yum!
I love hollowing cucumbers out and stuffing them with hummus, etc. But spicy crab? That sounds so, so good!
They look gorgeous! A friend made these for a cocktail party this past winter but she used a Greek cheese spreadto fill the cucumber cups. I think I’d prefer this spicy crab filling with the cool, fresh cucumber cups. I’d love to serve these at my sister’s bridal shower luncheon which I am hosting here at home, just hoping I will find the time to prep the cucumbers!
great for parties! 🙂
Great idea. I have done them myself with cream cheese filling.
I absolutely love this appetizer. They look great. I always wanted to make the cucumber cups, but I never knew what to put in them. I will give this a try!
Hi! These look delicious! What did you sprinkle on top of them? Was it Cayeene Pepper and green onions? I can’t wait to make these!
Thanks Linds! It was just a little paprika for color, but chili powder or cayenne would be great also =)
These make such a lovely appetizer – so pretty and I’ll bet the taste is awesome. The fresh cucumber with the creamy mixture would make it impossible for me to stop eating these.
Thank you!
It says to serve within 2 hours of making. Is this all or just the cucumber part? Can the crab mixture be made ahead of time?
Yes, you can make the crab mixture up to 24 a head of time, just store in tupperware in the fridge.
These look so good! 🙂 I have two questions, what kind of crab meat are you using? Canned? Also, how spicy is it? Just a little tangy? Can’t wait to try it!
I’ve used it with both fresh and canned. Either way, just make sure you drain off as much liquid as you can or it will get watery. It’s not too spicy, if you are worried, just keep tasting as you add the spicy stuff and adjust to your taste 🙂
…I came across this recipe of yours on Pinterest…..I’m SO making this for an appy this weekend! Thank you! What a GREAT recipe!
…Do you have a suggestion, for an alternate to brown mustard?
Not sure. Make it without and see how it tastes. Maybe a bit of mustard powder, or even a tiny bit of cream style horseradish?
I’m planning on making this for Christmas, about how many servings does this make?
It really depends on how thick you cut the cucumber slices and how full you fill fill them. But about 18-24 cucumber cups.
i read comment about making stuffing ahead. would that be all the ingred. including the crab. i want to make the stuffing tonight and serve in cups for brunch but wasnt sure if i can add the crab to mix and let it sit for the 24 hours. help
thanks
If you want to make the filling ahead, the best way to do it is to mix every together except the crab and the salt. Right before you fill the cups, add the crab and a pinch of salt. Make sure the crab is drained well. Enjoy!
can you add the crab to the mix and let is sit overnight also or mix with out the crab and let it sit. help
thanks and sorry for the doulble comment!
happy holidays
This looks like a healthy option to satisfy my sushi craving! Thanks!
looks delish! can you recommend another meat that might go well with this besides crab? i want to make it for a party, but some guests don’t eat seafood…
I would try doing artichoke heats instead of crab. Just chop them up pretty good.
I bet chicken would work.
Awesome! I made diferent version with brie cheese, walnuts and freshly ground pepper: http://bitedelite.pl/2011/03/ogorkowa-przekaska/
I do these all the time for wedding and use chicken salad
Would immitation crab meat work just as well?
Pinning! This looks both easy and elegant.
I tried this out over the weekend and I have to admit I was disappointed. =(
1/2 teaspoon of salt is WAY TOO MUCH for this recipe! It was soooo salty for my pallet and practically inedible.
I made it for my dad’s b-day and he LOVES food like this and he only ate about 2-3 of them over the whole weekend.
I suggest not even adding salt until you taste test the filling after it’s prepared, then add salt as desired.
Thanks for the feedback! I’ll correct the recipe. I have had so many people make these and haven’t yet had that comment, but I can see where that may be a bit much. It also depends on the other products you use and the sodium content in those.
Thanks!
I love cucumbers! I like to make tuna salad and put it on top of sliced cucumbers for a healthy lunch. I can not wait to try this recipe, it looks yummy!!! Thanks!
Do you know how many carbs are in these?
Kelly over at Eat Yourself Skinny made these and did the calorie counts and WW points: http://www.eat-yourself-skinny.com/2012/01/cucumber-cups-stuffed-with-spicy-crab.html
Just wanted to share that this has been featured on our SMITTEN: SPRING 2012 GUIDE!
http://limefishstudio.blogspot.com/2012/03/smitten-spring-2012-guide.html
My BFF and I just made this today and its soooo good!!!! I don’t even want to take it to Girl’s Night, I want to eat it all myself!!!
Yay!! That makes me so happy 🙂
This looks like such a healthy fresh snack! Would love to try it. Thanks for sharing. 🙂
http://www.brandavenues.net
I am going to try this recipe with lobster!
looking at those pictures made me drool! I really want to try this recipe one of these days! keep on inspiring us! 😀
nice idea! i think im gonna try making this with a guacamole filling cause im not big into sea food part 🙂
Sounds fabulous! Also, artichoke dip is great as well, or hummus 🙂
looks good!! i’m going to try to make it 🙂
I have not done the crab but I will. I did make diced ham salad and filled the cucumbers…yum!
I was wondering instead of crab can I use tuna but add those same ingredients??
I don’t think it would work out, but I’ve never tried it. If you don’t like crab, or can’t find it, try to use artichoke hearts instead. You can also substitute just about any dip that you like that you think could be eaten with cucumbers. I’ve had people say that they served these with that buffalo chicken ranch dip that everyone makes and it turned out really great.
Do you know how many carbs this dish has? Its very delicious, thank you for the recipe!
Thank you! I’m not sure. Eat-yourself-skinny.com made it and calculated the stats but I can’t remember.
Think ill try to make a shrimp version, my daughter allergic to crabmeat
You can also sub any dip that you love, people have been using cold artichoke dip and loving the results. Just a thought!
we eat a paleo diet and this will so fit in with a few modifications. the presentation is what totally does it for me. with always trying to make things fun for the children, this will be a hit! thanks!
Made these tonight. Very good! After tasting the original recipe, we added some horseradish. WOW! Next time, we’ll do more horseradish, less hot sauce.
Making these today for Family Fun Nite at Church. Sounds refreshing for the heat down here in Texas!
I’m thinking about making these with greek yogurt and not the sour cream. Do you know anyone who has tried it that way??
Making these for a happy hour tomorrow! Am very excited to try these and to make other dishes you have posted!!
I don’t know if anyone has tried it that way, but it sounds great!
Hi Jackie. I made these today to take with to a work Christmas party. After I cut the cukes I though they looked a bit big for an appetizer so I cut them to 1″ pieces and used my daughters baby spoon to scoop them out. (She’s now 32!) and they look a little more managable. I think next time I would make them 3/4″ so they would look a little more like finger food. I gave hubby a end piece with crab mixture and he really enjoyed them. I tried mixture on cracker as I don’t care for cukes. The spice is a good flavor that hits your mouth slowly. This is an excellent recipe and I would make it again.
These were pretty good. Needed a little more kick (next time I’ll either add more hot sauce or maybe some chili powder into the mixture) and I shouldn’t have left out the green onions. I’m not really a fan but others said that it could use some onion. Will use it next time.
Just thought you might like to know that this person has posted your entire recipe on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nonnie.sandifer
thank you! I can’t understand why someone would think that stealing other peoples work is OK.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings, but I thought you’d want to know that your recipe’s been scraped by a content thief on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=480628065361811&set=a.478621598895791.1073741828.478619752229309&type=1&theater
thank you for looking out for me!
I love these!!! Thanks for the recipe 🙂 I’ve made them in phyllo cups too, and they were great and really easy. Last time I made them I used half cucumber cups and half hollowed out cherry tomatoes, they were great and really looked amazing!
Love the cherry tomato idea!
Hi there…can you also prep the cucumbers the day before? Need to do as much ahead as possible. Thanks.
You can, just wait until right before serving to stuff them. And if you make the stuffing ahead, don’t add any salt until right before serving, it draws out moisture and will make the filling watery.
I made the cucumber stuffed with spicy crab dip from my daughters small wedding reception. I added little more kick by adding some cayenne pepper & finely chopped scallions into the crab dip. They were the big hit out of all the other great things we served. Thanks for this awesome recipe!
Just a little trick I learned from my ex, who is a chef. Mix a few drops of sesame oil into your cream cheese whenever you’re making anything that includes crab or lobster (real or imitation). OMG! you won’t believe the difference it makes. We used to fill English muffins with this. YUM!
But I love the idea of using cool cucumber, because it uses up more calories to digest than it actually contains, so whenever you can, substitute it for bread and VOILA! a healthy option for all things spreadable that are savoury.