Crawfish Nachos are an easy, delicious, and nutritious meal. Enjoy this gluten-free, cajun-inspired meal with spicy crawfish and cheesy, veggie-covered chips
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About Crawfish Nachos
Whenever I need a quick dinner, I often turn to nachos. They're quick, easy, and satisfying.
Most of the time, we think beef nachos or maybe a vegetarian version like tomato basil nachos. Rarely does anyone consider seafood nachos.
Yet, these crawfish nachos are simple, quick, and delicious.
You can use leftover crawfish tails from a crawfish boil or defrost frozen crawfish tails.
A mixture of sautéed veggies, spices, crawfish, and cream cheese sprinkled over tortilla chips then covered with cheese and broiled.
These tasty cajun-inspired nachos are filling and packed with nutrients thanks to the veggies and crawfish.
More Crawfish!
Crawfish Recipes
Get more crawfish recipe ideas!
Ingredients
Oil: Sauté the veggies with olive oil, avocado oil, canola oil, bacon grease, or butter. It's a small amount but it adds a touch of richness without being too heavy.
Veggies: Bell peppers, onions, celery, and garlic add nutrients, flavor, and bulk to the nacho topping.
- Green, orange, yellow, or red bell pepper taste great.
- Yellow, white, sweet, red, and green onion are all good options.
- Fresh or frozen diced celery works well.
- Both fresh and powdered garlic are added to these easy crawfish nachos, but you can use all fresh or all garlic powder if you want.
Spices: To season the nachos, add paprika, cayenne pepper, and garlic powder. Dried parsley, red pepper flakes, and dried thyme are good additions as well. Or use a creole seasoning.
Cream cheese: Cream cheese adds richness and creaminess to the recipe. Either reduced-fat or regular cream cheese are best. I don't recommend using fat-free in cooking.
Lemon: All seafood dishes should have lemon juice in my opinion. It helps brighten the flavor and almost always makes it taste better. Fresh or bottled lemon juice will both work.
Crawfish: You can use leftover crawfish from a crawfish boil or find frozen crawfish tails in the freezer section.
For leftover crawfish, about 2 to 2.5 pounds of un-peeled crawfish with give you 6 ounces (1 cup of tails).
It's often in 12-ounce packages, so you'll only use half of the package. Either double the recipe or reserve the other 6 ounces to make Crawfish Bread.
Tortilla chips: Both yellow tortilla chips or white tortilla chips work equally well.
Cheese: Cheddar cheese, pepper jack cheese, monterey jack cheese, or shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese are all good options.
Recipe Cost
- Olive oil 1 teaspoon: $0.08
- Bell pepper 1 medium: $1
- Onion 1 medium: $0.50
- Celery 1 large stalk: $0.14
- Garlic 1 clove: $0.06
- Paprika ¼ teaspoon: $0.03
- Garlic powder ¼ teaspoon: $0.02
- Cayenne pepper ⅛ teaspoon: $0.02
- Cream cheese 2 tablespoons: $0.24
- Lemon 1 small: $0.50
- Crawfish 6 ounces: $6.72
- Tortilla chips 3 ounces: $0.45
- Cheese 2 ounces: $0.50
TOTAL COST: $10.26 or $5.13/serving (Based on San Diego grocery stores 2024)
Note that this is not the recipe; it's simply to show the cost breakdown of ingredients. Scroll down to the full recipe to see the specific ingredients and directions.
How to Make Crawfish Nachos
Time needed: 35 minutes
Crawfish Nachos are an easy and delicious meal. Enjoy this quick, gluten-free, healthy, cajun-inspired meal with crawfish tails
- Sauté veggies and add seasoning.
- Stir in cream cheese and lemon juice.
- Add crawfish.
Make sure there is almost not visible liquid in the skillet.
- Place chips on a large rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle with a layer of cheese.
I like to line the baking sheet with foil or parchment for easier cleanup.
- Cover with crawfish and veggie mixture. Sprinkle with remaining cheese.
- Broil and enjoy!
Top Tip
To prevent soggy nachos: Sprinkle cheese on the chips before you top them with the crawfish and veggies.
Recipe Tips
*Make sure that your crawfish-veggie mixture is not too soupy or thin before you top the tortilla chips. You want it to be pretty thick with no liquid.
How to Fix a Mistake
- Crawfish mixture is too thin: Let it cook for a little longer to let the liquid evaporate.
- Mixture is dry: Add an extra tablespoon of cream cheese or lemon juice depending on what you have.
- Lacks flavor: If it needs more flavor, add extra spices.
Make-Ahead Ideas
Nachos are best enjoyed immediately after broiling the cheese, so I recommend not making these in advance.
However, you can prepare the veggie-crawfish mixture in ahead of time, and store it in the fridge for up to 24 hours. Be sure immediately transfer to an airtight container and keep it in the coldest part of the fridge.
Then assemble the nachos when you are ready to eat.
Storage Suggestions
Keep in an airtight container (like a zip-top bag) in the fridge for up to 3 days.
To reheat:
- In the microwave: Place on a microwave-safe plate, and heat for 30-60 seconds at 100% power until warm.
- In a skillet: In a dry skillet over medium heat, place the nachos and cook for about 3-5 minutes until warm.
To Serve One
This recipe can also be made to serve one. Prepare the crawfish veggie mixture as written, reserve half of the mixture, and only use 1.5 ounces of chips and 1 ounce of cheese to make one serving. Then use the other half of the mixture for another meal.
Variations
Ingredient Substitutions
Veggies: You can use any color pepper or onion. You can also exchange the veggies for other ones. Use an extra onion if you don't have bell pepper, and vice versa. Or add extra celery. You want about 2 to 3 cups of diced veggies (before cooking).
Lemon: Lime juice, white wine vinegar, or apple cider vinegar can be used in place of lemon juice.
Crawfish: Shrimp can be used in place of crawfish if needed to make Shrimp Nachos.
How to Make Allergy-Friendly
Crawfish Nachos are naturally gluten-free, egg-free, soy-free, and nut-free. Double check that the ingredients you use don't have any allergens you are trying to avoid.
If you use dairy-free cream cheese and shredded cheese, it can be dairy-free.
Because crawfish is shellfish, this is not shellfish free.
Frequently Asked Questions
Top the tortilla chips with half of the shredded cheese. Cover with toppings, like the veggie-crawfish mixture, and add the remaining cheese. The first layer of cheese provides a kind of barrier to keep the chips from getting soggy.
Also, make sure that you enjoy the nachos right out of the oven.
Nutrition Benefits
One serving of this easy Crawfish Nachos recipe is an excellent source of protein (29 grams) and fiber (5 grams).
They're full of antioxidants thanks to the veggies and spices, and each serving has over 1 cup of veggies.
Plus, you get 107% RDA of Vitamin C, 52% of Vitamin A, 33% of Calcium, 33% of iron, and 20% of potassium.
What to Serve with Crawfish Nachos
Cover your crawfish nachos in your favorite nacho toppings like low sodium salsa, sour cream or yogurt, fresh parsley or cilantro, avocado, etc.
Or pair with a side dish like Cilantro Lime Beans and Rice.
Final thoughts:
Nachos never fail me for a quick, easy, weeknight dinner. And this easy recipe is perfect for those occasions.
They're also great for serving as an appetizer or starter for a party with seafood lovers.
Plus, crawfish nachos are as nutritious as they are delicious.
Oh and they're adaptable. I've used red onions or green onions, green bell pepper or red bell pepper, carrots or celery, and it always turns out tasty!
MORE CRAWFISH RECIPES YOU'LL LOVE:
Crawfish Nachos Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon oil
- 1 medium bell pepper diced
- 1 medium onion diced
- 1 large stalk celery diced
- ¼ teaspoon paprika
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 2 tablespoons cream cheese
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice ½ small lemon
- 6 ounces crawfish tails 1 cup
- 3 ounces tortilla chips
- ½ cup grated cheddar cheese 2 ounces
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large skillet. Add the bell peppers, onions, and celery. Saute veggies for about 7 to 10 minutes until soft.
- Stir in paprika, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper.
- Stir in cream cheese and lemon juice. Cook for 2 minutes until cream cheese is incorporated.
- Stir in crawfish, and cook for 1 minute until crawfish is coated in the mixture. Remove from heat.
- Spread the chips in a thin layer on a baking sheet (I usually line the baking sheet with foil).
- Sprinkle with half of the cheese.
- Top with crawfish mixture. Cover with remaining cheese.
- Broil for 3-5 minutes until the cheese is melted.
- Sprinkle with your favorite toppings like chopped cilantro, parsley, and/or green onions. Enjoy!
Notes
Meme
This post was originally published on April 16, 2016. Text, recipe, and photos have been updated.
Crawfish Nachos Nutrition Facts
Regan @ Cabot Creamery
Ironically, I had nachos last night for dinner #MondayNachoLove, but mine didn't have crawfish. And now I'm sad 🙁 These look yummy!
Meal Makeover Mom Janice
I have never put crawfish on my nachos but it sure seems like a great idea! Wish I could come to your house for lunch today. 🙂
Elizabeth Shaw
I love to see your recipe posts again! Can't wait to have you out here and maybe we can do some cool recipe videos together!! AHH, the times we will have 🙂
Henry
This dish is so wonderful and tasty, crawfish nachos for the win! I love how this recipe has a box where you can check off all the integrants. I cooked this for my family about a week ago when I came over to their house to eat dinner. From that day on, my family will still not stop talking about it, and during work, they will always call me and ask me to come over and cook this wonderful dish again for them. In addition, My wife cooks this meal for my kids, and they get lots of wonderful vitamins and protein from this meal. Meme Inge is such a wonderful and spectacular chef, and also, I want to give my grace to the Living Well Kitchen community. Once again this dish is very delicious. (For anybody who is wondering I and not a bot).
Meme
YAY! So glad you enjoyed them!! I also love that function in the recipe to check off the ingredients you've used!