Gimme Some Oven

Crab and Avocado Enchiladas

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This Crab & Avocado Enchiladas recipe is brought to you by Old El Paso.

Crab and Avocado Enchiladas Recipe | gimmesomeoven.com

So…pretty sure that whenever I’m in a restaurant and see the word “crab” on the menu, the first thing that comes to mind is not the rich, salty, delicious shellfish that I love to eat. Oh no, that would be too reasonable. My word association with crab as a food blogger at age 31 is apparently the same as when I was 6.

I’m guessing some of you know who I’m talkin’ about.

Sebastian!!

Oh yes. Without fail, the second I hear someone mention crab, the singer of my favorite “hot crustacean band” inevitably comes to mind. Which then inevitably cues up the song that stays in my head all day, about how “this little snail here knows how to wail here, that’s why it’s hotta down in the wata, yeah we in luck here, down in da muck here, unda da sea.” Which then inevitably requires me to follow that up by belting out “Part Of Your World” (because who didn’t want to be Arial back in the nineties, or ahem, today). Which then inevitably makes me want to research sunny beach vacations where I can “explore that shore up abooooooooooooove.” (Stop! DRAMATIC PAUSE!)  “Out of…the sea. Wish I…could be. Part…of…your….”

I digress.

(See?! This is precisely what I have to deal with in my Disney-musical-loving mind.)

How about we pick up a dinglehopper instead and dive into these killer good Crab & Avocado Enchiladas?

Crab and Avocado Enchiladas Recipe | gimmesomeoven.com

I’m afraid that poor Sebastian might not be too happy with this recipe. But I will admit that I am a mega fan.

When having lunch recently with some friends in Austin at the South Congress Cafe, I spied crab enchiladas on the menu and immediately put in an order. I absolutely love seafood enchiladas of any kind, and theirs did not disappoint. The only problem was that they were so good that I didn’t save any for leftovers. So later that week, I decided to make a batch for myself at home.

Crab and Avocado Enchiladas Recipe | gimmesomeoven.com

Although actually, the enchiladas I made ended up being hardly anything like the restaurant’s. First off, I love pairing crab and avocado together, so I picked up two Texas-sized avocados to pop inside and on top of these enchiladas. (So jealous of Texas’s avocados, btw. They are super cheap, and enormous!!)  Then instead of a red sauce, I decided to go with a Greek-yogurt simple cream sauce that I like to make with diced green chiles and cumin. And since I can never resist adding beans to my enchiladas for extra protein and filling, I tossed a can-full of white (Great Northern) beans into the mix. Plus cheese, of course.

Then I rolled ’em all up, poured the extra sauce on top of the enchiladas, and popped them in the oven to bake.

Crab and Avocado Enchiladas Recipe | gimmesomeoven.com

About 20 minutes later, I pulled them out. And then topped them with extra avocado, cilantro and some cotija cheese. And then proceeded to snap photos in about 2.2 seconds because I could not wait to DIVE IN.

Crab and Avocado Enchiladas Recipe | gimmesomeoven.com

And dive in, I did. These were amazing!

Seriously, I feel like I have made creamy chicken enchiladas a zillion times in the past. But the crab takes things to an entirely new level. It paired perfectly with the creamy sauce, rich avocado, fresh cilantro, and tangy cheese. And with only requiring about 20 minutes of prep time…well…let’s just say you’re probably going to need to make these “part of your world”. ;)

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Crab and Avocado Enchiladas

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 3 reviews
  • Prep Time: 20 minutes
  • Cook Time: 20 minutes
  • Total Time: 40 minutes
  • Yield: 8 servings 1x

Description

This crab and avocado enchiladas recipe is made with a delicious cream sauce, and comes together with just 20 minutes of prep time!


Ingredients

Scale
  •  3 tablespoons butter
  • 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 2 cups chicken stock
  • 1 (4 ounce) can Old El Paso chopped green chiles
  • ½ teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 cup plain Greek yogurt or sour cream
  • 8 Old El Paso burrito-sized flour tortillas
  • 3 (6-ounce) cans lump crab meat*, drained
  • 1 (15-ounce) can Great Northern beans, rinsed and drained
  • 3 cups shredded Pepper Jack* cheese
  • 2 medium avocados, peeled, pitted and diced
  • 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
  • (optional) 1/4 cup crumbled queso fresco or cotija cheese

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9×13-inch baking pan with cooking spray, and set aside.
  2. Heat butter in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add flour, and whisk to combine. Cook for 1 minute until lightly browned, stirring frequently. Add half of the chicken stock, and whisk until combined. Then add the remaining chicken stock, green chiles, and cumin, and whisk until combined.
  3. Let the mixture continue heating until it reaches a simmer and thickens slightly, about 2-3 minutes. Stir in Greek yogurt (or sour cream) and whisk until combined. Remove from heat and set aside.
  4. To assemble the enchiladas, lay out a single tortilla on a flat work surface.  Cover evenly with a few spoonfuls of the white sauce.  Then layer about ⅛ of the crab, beans, cheese in a line down the middle of the tortilla, plus about ⅛ of a single avocado.  (Reserve the second avocado as a topping for the enchiladas once they have cooked.)  Roll up the tortilla and place it in the baking dish.  Repeat with the remaining tortillas, crab, beans and cheese.  Once all of the enchiladas are in the pan, spread the remaining white sauce evenly on top of the enchiladas.
  5. Bake for 20-25 minutes, uncovered, until the tortillas begin to brown around the edges and the casserole is cooked through.
  6. Remove pan, and sprinkle with the remaining avocado and fresh cilantro. Serve warm.

Notes

*To prevent the avocado on top of the enchiladas from browning, simply toss the diced avocado pieces in a few tablespoons of lime juice.

Feel free to also use Monterrey Jack cheese if you would prefer something milder to Pepper Jack.  You may also use fresh crab meat instead of canned if that’s available to you.

This is a sponsored post in partnership with Old El Paso. I was compensated for my time in developing this recipe, and all opinions are my own as always. Thanks for supporting the brands which help make this site possible!

 

Crab and Avocado Enchiladas Recipe | gimmesomeoven.com

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33 comments on “Crab and Avocado Enchiladas”

  1. I cannot tell a lie. I have never been much for crab.
    But I am MUCH for ANYTHING with avocado. And cheese. And enchilada-ized. SO these look amazing!! Pinned!

  2. Girl… that white sauce? Such a great idea! What an interesting combination of flavors, I bet it tastes phenomenal with the crab and white beans all wrapped up in blanket of tortilla love. I’ll be honest, when I think enchiladas, my first thought is not “crab” but I can’t stop my mouth from watering when I read this recipe and look at those gorgeous pictures! I think this could be a new favorite. Oh, and I know you’ll get 38748158893 comments about love for Disney movies, but let me be the first to say – I LOVE the Little Mermaid :) Great post and recipe!

  3. Looks amazing! Never tried crap enchiladas, but would love to try these!

  4. Oh my word! I am dying for these enchiladas!!!

  5. I am dying over this recipe. Love everything about it. I have canned crab meat that I picked up from Costco recently, I never know what to do with it (seems silly). Crab and avocado enchiladas sound heavenly that’s for sure!

  6. I’m really disappointed that I was there when you ordered the crab enchiladas and yet I did not get a performance of Under the Sea. 

  7. Now that’s all I’m going to think about when I see crab, too!  Too funny :)  These enchiladas look incredible…a fun change from the regular chicken enchiladas!

  8. OMG!!! I’m dying over these. CANNOT wait to recreate this dish! PINNED!

  9. I could definitely find myself making a pan of these! And yes, I associate crab with Sebastian too! Especially since I just showed my girls The Little Mermaid for the first time last week. They were mesmerized!!! Maybe I won’t tell them there are crabs in these enchiladas… =)

  10. Oh my goodness! Those enchiladas looks incredible! …loving all those delicious flavors :D

  11. I don’t mind eating Sabastian, these look amazing!!

  12. Holy crab! This is completely inspiring and mouthwatering to look at. Thanks for sharing. Cannot wait to try this out!!

  13. this looks “outta dis world”!

  14. Beautiful! Those pictures! Those flavors!
    I am obsessed with enchiladas actually….anything with that much cheese and sauce? Hellz ya!

  15. These looked so good I had to go get the ingredients! Guess what’s in the oven at this very moment?

  16. Oh. My. Gosh. Totally blaming you when I go into a food coma. Those look seriously amazing! I’ve never had crab enchiladas, but this makes me think I’ve been missing out all my life. 

  17. WIth 2 little girls, one could say Sebastian and the Little Mermaid is pretty big around here. It’s my life. My daughter wanted a Crab/Ariel cake for her 3rd birthday! This meal would have been the perfect complement to the cake. (As long as I didn’t tell them there was crab in it because kids, well, they think they’re eating sebastian and would probably start crying.) 

  18. I’m trying to cut down on how much bread I eat, but this looks so good! Could this be made as a casserole without the enchiladas?

  19. These sound amazing. Can’t wait to give them a try.

  20. Haha! You had me sold at your Little Mermaid reference! <3

  21. Looks delicious! Crab and avocado- two of our favorite foods :)

  22. I love The Little Mermaid. But seriously the crab and avocado enchiladas look deeeelish. I have to make these, soon. Actually am craving them now!! Great post and thanks for the recipe. Sammie

  23. I am super seafood illiterate–is the crab raw initially? Thanks!! Heading to the beach soon and going to pick some crab up at a festival-this looks like the perfect recipe to make!

  24. I couldn’t wait to try this recipe.  It was the first one I tried after discovering this amazing blog!  It was fantastic, so good!  I live in East Texas where there are many places to get fresh tortillas, so that was a must.  

    The one thing I didn’t’ realize is that crab meat you would actually want to eat is not so easy to come by.  I dutifully went to the store and bought Chicken of the Sea “fancy” crab meat.  It was really, really bad (but cheap).  I ordered expensive canned lump crab meat from Amazon and can’t wait to try it again. I know it will be fantastic.  Thanks for a great recipe to break us out of the chicken rut!

  25. Can I use corn tortillas and almond flour as replacements?

    • Hi Ashley! Yes, you can use corn tortillas instead, but we would use cornstarch or arrowroot powder instead of almond flour. We hope you enjoy these!

  26. I liked these a lot! They ended up a little on the dry side (perhaps my pan was too narrow so they stuck out the top too much?) but were good with salsa. I added more avocado and beans than the recipe called for, and I used cheddar cheese inside. Also I added a bit of cayenne. Good way to use some crab we had in our fridge!






  27. I wish it had the macros posted for the serving… kinda bummed

  28. Be still my heart..
    Made your Shrimp Tacos last night and just had to spend an hour this morning, going through your site, saving recipes to get us through the winter and beyond.

    These Crab and Avocado Enchiladas are next (this weekend) on my list of must makes.

    Thank you. :o)

  29. Made this recipe for the first time last night. Had to reduce it for two of us and that worked very well.
    The end result was wonderful.
    Thank you for another winner. :O)






  30. My first time making Crab enchallidas and I used king crab legs, and that white sauce was just scrumptious with the chili’s in it. My family loved them. My side dishes were Spanish rice and Shrimp Ceviche Can’t wait to make them again. Awesome recipe, Thanks!!