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    Home » Wild Mushroom Recipes

    Crab Stuffed Morel Mushrooms

    Published: Feb 27, 2021 Modified: Apr 10, 2023 Author: Alan Bergo

    Jump to Recipe

    Stuffed morels filled with crab meat napped with melted butter, a dusting of breadcrumbs and baked to a golden brown are a classic, and make for a great appetizer made with both fresh or dried mushrooms.

    Crab Stuffed Dried Morel Mushrooms Recipe_-9

    With the end of winter coming, I thought it was about time I start really using up the previous year's stash of dried Molly Moochers. I mean really, is there a better mushroom for stuffing, especially one that works so well dried, and fresh? 

    Rehydrating dried morel mushrooms
    Time for dried morels to wake up and meet their destiny.

    Of course, I have a few tips here for making some attractive stuffed morels, not the least of which is that I like to see them whole. Sure, you can cut them in half, but it's not as good. Halving them is easier, but it's not as pretty, and then you're likely going to be eating more stuffing that mushroom, and were all here for the morels, aren't we? 

    Only real crab will do

    You don't need to go out and buy a whole Dungeness crab, steam and pick the meat, but you do want some decent canned crab. You don't need a lot, so you can spring for smaller vacuum sealed or frozen pouches of crab if they're available.

    I usually get the cans of blue swimming crab you're likely to find in the fish sections refrigerated selection—a pound will run you about 18-25$, which means you'll have 8 oz leftover to make a herbed crab omelet in the next day or two. 

    Blue swimming crab meat
    Some good blue swimming crab. I like the cans you can find at the fish counter's refrigerated section.

    What's heretical to use, whether or not morels are involved, in any dish, is mock crab. Mock crab, as the name implies, is definitely not crab, it's an oddly sweet, ultra-processed seafood abomination made from white fish, egg whites, sugar and starch formed and squirted from a tube. I'd rather stuff mushrooms with gravel and larvae.

    Crab Stuffed Dried Morel Mushrooms in a baking dish.
    Dusted with breadcrumbs and drizzled with butter.
    Dried morel mushrooms stuffed with crab meat
    Stuffed and nestled in a dish.
    Mixing crab meat stuffing with herbs and lemon zest in a metal bowl.
    Crab meat filling should be mostly crab.
    Cutting morel mushrooms with a scissors.
    Cut the morels with a scissors to keep them whole and make stuffing easier.
    Baked stuffed dried morels with crab filling in a baking dish topped with herbs.
    Ready to eat.

    The only other thing I feel is worth mentioning is that this is a great time to break out some kitchen shears or just a pair of scissors to keep the morels whole.

    Trying to stuff morels without a filling that can go into a pastry bag is clumsy and awkward, so I use a scissors to cut open the side of each mushroom, which I stuff with filling, and fold over to have them resemble complete mushrooms. 

    A welsh rarebit dish filled with baked stuffed morels topped with breadcrumbs and herbs on a napkin.
    A welsh rarebit dish filled with baked stuffed morels topped with breadcrumbs and herbs on a napkin.
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    4.59 from 12 votes

    Crab Stuffed Morel Mushrooms

    Fresh or dried morels stuffed with crabmeat, baked under a dust of buttered breadcrumbs is a classic appetizer, and a great way to use dried morels in the off-season. Makes about 15 medium to large morels (giant morels are another story). Feel free to scale the recipe to your needs.
    Prep Time30 minutes mins
    Cook Time15 minutes mins
    Total Time45 minutes mins
    Course: Appetizer
    Cuisine: American
    Keyword: Crab, Morels, Stuffed Morels
    Servings: 6 Servings
    Calories: 230kcal
    Author: Alan Bergo
    Cost: 10

    Equipment

    • 1 small baking or gratin dish

    Ingredients

    • Dried or fresh morels about 15-20 medium to large size

    Crab stuffing

    • 8 oz lump crab meat
    • 4 tablespoons breadcrumbs such as panko
    • ¼ cup mayonnaise
    • ¼ cup high quality grated parmesan cheese
    • 2 Tablespoons chopped fresh herbs like parsley or cilantro, or a combination of parsley, chives and tarragon
    • ½ teaspoon Old Bay seasoning optional, substitute a pinch of cayenne and an extra pinch of salt and pepper and celery seed if you don’t have any, or skip.
    • ¼ cup finely chopped scallions
    • Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
    • 1 medium clove garlic grated on a microplane grater
    • Fresh grated lemon zest if you can find a meyer lemon, use it to taste

    For baking

    • 5 tablespoons melted butter
    • 1 tablespoon breadcrumbs
    • 1 tablespoon grated high quality parmesan cheese

    Instructions

    Dried morels

    • If you’re using fresh morels, skip to cutting the morels with a scissors.Soak the dried morels (fresh morels never need soaking, no matter what Grandpaddy said) in room temperature water to cover.
    • You want to use clean mushrooms here. If, for any reason you suspect your morels are especially sandy, rehydrate them in a larger volume of water so that you can swish them vigorously to remove grit.
    • When the dried morels are hydrated, squeeze them dry, save the liquid for making a pan sauce or adding to a soup. You can also reduce the liquid to a syrup, and then add the butter to it, just make sure there's no grit.
    • Trim the ends of the mushrooms to clean them up a bit and make for a pretty presentation (optional).

    Cutting the mushrooms

    • Using a scissors, cut open one side of each morel. Large morels that will be easy to stuff can be left whole, but I prefer to cut them to make stuffing easier. Reserve the cut morels.

    Crab stuffing

    • For the crab filling, combine all the filling ingredients gently, trying to keep some of the crab pieces intact, then taste a spoonful. Adjust the seasoning as needed for salt, lemon zest and herbs until it tastes good to you. Lemon zest is important here as this is a heavy dish--the citrus acts as the high note of a song, lifting it up and lightening it.
    • Mix the breadcrumbs and parmesan.
    • Preheat the oven to 450
    • Take a tablespoon or so of the filling and stuff each morel, then fold them closed. Put the morels, cut side down in a baking dish that will fit them snugly, then press them down a bit to flatten the surface. Note that if the morels aren't fitted snugly in a dish, the breadcrumbs may fall off.
    • Sprinkle the mushrooms with the breadcrumbs and parmesan, drizzle over the butter and bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden and puffed, then serve. They’re great by themselves, alongside a steak or as a lunch with a green salad.

    Notes

    Using dried or fresh morels 

    You can use dried or fresh morels for this recipe. To use fresh mushrooms, saute them quickly until they're wilted to make sure they're cooked thoroughly. Dried mushrooms do not have to be par cooked. 

    Nutrition

    Serving: 2oz | Calories: 230kcal | Carbohydrates: 7g | Protein: 10g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 0.4g | Cholesterol: 48mg | Sodium: 579mg | Potassium: 115mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 385IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 90mg | Iron: 1mg

    More 

    Forager's Guide to Morel Mushrooms

    « Chinese Enoki Mushroom Pancakes
    Wild Mushroom Chowder with Leeks and Bacon »

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Scott Burney

      May 25, 2024 at 3:15 pm

      Do you have to par cook the fresh morels or can you just bake longer at a lower temp?

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        May 25, 2024 at 3:24 pm

        I recommend par cooking the morels to ensure they’re safe to eat. But, you can probably get by baking them at a lower temp for longer.

        Reply
    2. Wendy

      April 10, 2023 at 6:45 pm

      Is it better to combine the bread crumbs, Parmesan and butter before pouring over the mushrooms? All of my Pablo bread crumbs fell to the bottom of the pan

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        April 10, 2023 at 7:12 pm

        Hi Wendy, thanks for commenting, I think I could have described that better. The breadcrumbs are an accent here, just a dusting to help soak up any liquid. If you want to sprinkle a few more on top that's fine.

        Reply
    3. Judy K

      February 27, 2021 at 3:18 pm

      5 stars
      This certainly looks and sounds delicious! I always cut my morels in half when I dry them, just to be sure there are no "critters" inside. So, I'll have to remember to try drying a few whole, so I can make this NEXT winter!

      Reply
      • Mitch carpenter

        June 18, 2024 at 11:08 am

        5 stars
        I have made this twice now! The first time was on mother's day, for the wife. The second time was this past weekend when my mother-in-law came to visit. 10 out of 10 will make again!

        Reply
        • Alan Bergo

          June 18, 2024 at 11:09 am

          Hey thanks Mitch! Great one for special occasions. Thanks for the help with the half free morels this year too.

          Reply
    4. Judy J

      February 27, 2021 at 1:36 pm

      5 stars
      Stuffing recipes always call for Dungeness crab. Sometimes the canned stuff has an off taste to me. Can Snow Crab be used?

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        February 27, 2021 at 1:44 pm

        Of course you could use snow crab. Blue swimming crab is one of the most common and that’s fine too, although you may have smaller pieces. My comment about the dungeness just means you don’t need to buy and shell a crab, although you could. Canned or processed however you like is perfectly fine. Getting a whole crab does mean you get shells though, which are a great ingredient all by themselves for making crab stock, sauce, and shellfish oil...

        Reply
      • Rose

        December 08, 2024 at 2:41 pm

        I knew you would have a recipe I could use for Christmas Eve dinner. I saved some out to dry so I could make something wonderful!!! I can't wait. Thanks again for the inspiration!!

        Reply
        • Alan Bergo

          December 08, 2024 at 3:10 pm

          Hey that’s a great idea.

          Reply
    5. Betsy

      February 27, 2021 at 11:00 am

      5 stars
      It’s simple culinary cruelty to present your readers with such a mouthwatering recipe!! Now all I can think about is morels (my fave) stuffed with fresh crab (my other fave) and laced with melted butter (ok, so I have a lot of faves, and butter’s one, too). If I leave now, I’ll be there in time for dinner. Thanks for always inspiring me to be more creative AND eat better! YUM.

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        February 27, 2021 at 11:03 am

        Thanks Betsy. You’ll be happy to know I just did the final proof edits on the MS and mailed it in. Thanks so much for your help.

        Reply
    4.59 from 12 votes (6 ratings without comment)

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