Crispy and creamy Vietnamese shrimp toast is the ideal appetizer to make for your next hosting event! This easy and delicious under 30-minute baked shrimp toast recipe is your next go-to bite-sized snack when you are in a hurry!
For a delicious appetizer, it needs to be 1) bite-sized, 2) easily mass-produced, and 3) pack in a lot of flavor in one bite. This Vietnamese shrimp toast or bánh mì nướng tôm checks off everything from that list.
My mom is the definition of extra. She loves to host my extended family on the weekend almost every month and would make a four-course meal for 30+ people. One of her most popular appetizers was this Vietnamese shrimp toast. Everyone would fight for a handful of these baked shrimp toast and it would disappear in minutes.
This baked shrimp toast recipe is made with shrimp, imitation crab, celery, onion, garlic, mayonnaise, and shredded cheese on top of thin slices of a French baguette for the ultimate creamy and savory seafood flavor experience. For more easy appetizer inspiration, check out my pate chaud, Vietnamese chicken wings, and spicy tuna crispy rice.
Table of Contents
❤️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- You'll have a tasty shrimp and crab appetizer that is an instant crowd-pleaser
- This baked shrimp toast recipe can be doubled or tripled to make for large parties.
- This easy Vietnamese shrimp toast recipe only can be completed in under 30 minutes!
🍽 Kitchen Equipment
For this Vietnamese shrimp toast recipe, you will need only a few basic kitchen tools.
- Mixing Bowl: you will need a large mixing bowl to mix all the ingredients together.
- Bread Knife: you will need a sharp bread knife to slice the baguette into thin strips
- Half sheet baking sheet: use an aluminum half sheet baking sheet to bake the shrimp toast on.
- Wire rack: you will need to cool the shrimp toast over a wire rack so they don’t have soggy bottoms.
🛒 Ingredients
You can find all of the ingredients for this shrimp toast recipe at your local grocery store. No hard-to-find ingredients are necessary!
- Shrimp: make sure the shrimp are peeled and deveined for best tasting results. You will need to chop the shrimp either in a food processor or by hand into small bits.
- Imitation crab: adds a delicious flavor component to the shrimp toast making it more hearty and flavorful. You can always omit the imitation crab and add more shrimp if preferred.
- Green onion: adds an aromatic flavor to the toast
- Yellow onion: adds a subtly sweet aromatic flavor and moisture into the mixture
- Garlic: adds a subtle aromatic flavor to the mixture.
- Celery: adds a touch of crunch and brightens up the dense seafood flavor.
- Mayonnaise: I recommend using regular American mayonnaise for this recipe. The mayonnaise will melt and bake into the bread yielding a crispy and delicious toast.
- Salt and pepper: to season the shrimp and crab mixture
- Shredded Cheese: adds a gooey, cheesy flavor. The best cheese that pairs well is mozzarella or a mild cheddar and mozzarella blend.
- Cilantro: chopped cilantro for garnish
- French baguettes: my favorite French baguettes to buy are the ones from Vietnamese banh mi shops. They are softer and more tender and the crust is not overly firm.
✨ Substitutions and Additions
- Real Crab: if you have access to real crab meat, I highly recommend using this instead! I don’t recommend canned crab meat though since that will muddy the flavor. You can also alternatively, remove the crab altogether as well.
- Aromatics: instead of using yellow onion and garlic, you can substitute this with minced shallots instead.
- Bread: instead of a french baguette you can also use any sturdy type of bread that can hold its own such as ciabatta or sourdough. Or for a gluten-free option, you can use your preference of gluten-free bread.
📝 How to Make Vietnamese Shrimp Toast
The best part of this Vietnamese baked shrimp toast is that it is so easy to assemble. All you need to do is prep all the ingredients and then mix them all together. What are you waiting for? Let’s get started.
- Preheat your oven. Preheat your oven to 350°F
- Prepare the shrimp and crab. In a food processor, chop the shrimp until finely ground. Stop before it fully becomes a paste. Remove and set aside. Then pulverize the imitation crab until finely minced.
- Mix together. In a large mixing bowl, add the chopped shrimp, minced imitation crab, finely chopped green onion, diced yellow onion, minced garlic, diced celery, mayonnaise, shredded cheese, salt, and pepper. Mix until combined.
- Assemble. Slice the french bread diagonally into ¼-1/2 inch thick slices. Add about 1 tablespoon of the shrimp mixture on top of each slice and spread the mixture evenly to the edges.
- Bake. Place a single layer of the toast on a baking tray about 1 inch apart from each other and bake for about 20-25 minutes or until the shrimp is cooked through and the top is lightly golden brown.
⭐️ Tips for the Best Vietnamese Shrimp Toast
- For an all-around crispy Vietnamese shrimp toast, cool on a wire rack. If you don’t want a soggy bottom and a crispier shrimp toast, I recommend cooling the slices over a wire rack immediately after you remove them from the oven.
- Double or triple the recipe for hosting. This recipe yields a serving size of about 30 pieces of toast. For larger gatherings, I recommend doubling or tripling the recipe!
- Taste the shrimp mixture. If you’d like to taste the shrimp mixture before committing to the toast, simply scoop a small tablespoon onto a plate and microwave it for 15 seconds, and taste. You can adjust the seasoning after.
- Generously apply the shrimp mixture to each toast. You want a heaping portion of the shrimp mixture on top of each toast. Don’t be afraid to add a large dollop to each slice.
🥡 Storage Instructions
You can store this baked shrimp toast in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. To reheat simply pop them back in the oven or toaster oven at 350°F for 5 minutes or until warm.
💬 Frequently Asked Q’s & A’s
Each Asian culture has its own form of shrimp toast. It originated in Guangzhou, China over 100 years ago. It then proliferated across Asia and became a staple dish in Hong Kong restaurants and dim sum carts. Shrimp toast originally is made with small triangles of bread covered in a minced shrimp paste and cooked by deep-frying.
Shrimp toast tastes delicious on its own but it also pairs deliciously with Vietnamese nuoc cham sauce or a Thai sweet chili sauce.
You can make this shrimp toast mixture a maximum of 1 day in advance because you are using raw shrimp. I do not recommend freezing the raw mixture in advance since it contains mayonnaise. This dish is best served immediately.
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👩🏻🍳 Recipe
Vietnamese Shrimp Toast (Bánh Mì Nướng Tôm)
Ingredients
- ½ lb shrimp finely chopped
- ½ lb imitation crab finely minced
- 2 stalks green onion finely chopped
- 2 stalks celery finely diced
- ½ yellow onion finely diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- ½ cup shredded mozarella and cheddar cheese blend
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 long French baguettes sliced
Instructions
- Preheat your oven. Preheat your oven to 350°F
- Prepare the shrimp and crab. In a food processor, chop the shrimp until finely ground. Stop before it fully becomes a paste. Remove and set aside. Then pulverize the imitation crab until finely minced. Set aside.
- Mix together. In a large mixing bowl, add the chopped shrimp, minced imitation crab, finely chopped green onion, diced yellow onion, minced garlic, diced celery, mayonnaise, shredded cheese, salt and pepper. Mix until thoroughly combined.
- Assemble. Slice the french bread diagonally into ¼-1/2 inch thick slices. Add about 1 tablespoon of the shrimp mixture on top of each slice and spread the mixture evenly to the edges.
- Bake. Place a single layer of the toast on a baking tray about 1 inch apart from each other and bake for about 20-25 minutes or until the shrimp is cooked through and the top is lightly golden brown. Cool the baked shrimp toast on a wire rack for 5 minutes before serving.
Notes
- For an all-around crispy Vietnamese shrimp toast, cool on a wire rack. If you don’t want a soggy bottom and a crispier shrimp toast, I recommend cooling the slices over a wire rack immediately after you remove them from the oven.
- Double or triple the recipe for hosting. This recipe yields a serving size of about 30 pieces of toast. For larger gatherings, I recommend doubling or tripling the recipe!
- Taste the shrimp mixture. If you’d like to taste the shrimp mixture before committing to the toast, simply scoop a small tablespoon onto a plate and microwave it for 15 seconds, and taste. You can adjust the seasoning after.
- Generously apply the shrimp mixture to each toast. You want a heaping portion of the shrimp mixture on top of each toast. Don’t be afraid to add a large dollop to each slice.
Steph
Can you make the mixture ahead of time?
takestwoeggs
Hi Steph,
Raw shrimp should only be kept in the refrigerator for a maximum of 1-2 days. If you want to make the mixture ahead of time, I recommend freezing it in the freezer to keep the shrimp fresh and thaw it out in the fridge before you bake.
Tracy
Can I use an air fryer and if so for how long?
takestwoeggs
Hi Tracy! I have not tried baking this in an air fryer, but you can try cooking it in an air fryer for about 18-20 minutes. I recommend baking this recipe since the air fryer might dry out the shrimp filling on top if you overcook it.