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★ Why You'll Love this Recipe ★
A Delicious Appetizer
Creamy, refreshing, and perfect for gatherings! This adorable shrimp dip log is packed with flavor. Made with cream cheese, lemon-poached shrimp, and seafood boil seasoning then rolled up with a crust of bright green parsley.
This tasty seafood dip is a hit served with crackers, vegetables, or pretzels.
Shaped like a log, it's easy to transport, easy to slice, and looks great on the table.
Just 6 Ingredients
This simple recipe is easy to make, using just six ingredients. You can poach your own shrimp for added flavor and freshness, or go with pre-cooked shrimp as a shortcut.
Served Cold
This shrimp log is served cold so it's great for warm weather days when you want a weekend snack to enjoy while you lounge in the yard, or serve it up for happy hour on the back patio.
Allow for chill time to let the flavors marinate. This is a crowd-pleasing, make-ahead appetizer that tastes as good as it looks.
Travels Well
This shrimp dip roll is a welcome addition to parties and get-togethers year-round. It travels well in a cooler so, plan to bring it to your next potluck or tailgate!
This shrimp dip roll is:
Easy to make: With only 6 ingredients the shrimp roll won’t break the bank.
Fueling: Since the log is packed with protein, this recipe makes a delicious appetizer or a refreshing lunch on a warm day.
Versatile: Serve the shrimp roll with your favorite crackers, and tortilla chips, or cut-up fresh vegetables to make it into the kind of dip you crave that day.
★ Ingredients You'll Need ★
This shrimp roll is made with only 6 ingredients!
Here's a look at everything you'll need:
- Shrimp: Either tails-on or off will work. Leaving the tails on when you poach the shrimp will add a bit of flavor. If you want to save time, go with tails-off. Since the shrimp are chopped after cooking, you can use any size shrimp.
- Seafood seasoning: Zatarain's seafood boil seasoning is the most common here or you can use Old Bay. Each will add a distinct flavor so experiment and choose which you like best.
- Cream cheese: Let the cream cheese come to room temperature before you need to mix it. Full-fat cream cheese will give a richer flavor to the recipe.
- Lemon: You’ll need fresh lemon zest to make the flavors of the shrimp pop. Use the same lemon and cut it into slices for when you poach the shrimp.
- Shallot: Mince the shallot finely so that it combines easily into the roll. White onion can work here instead. Leave behind any excess liquid that is released from mincing. You want the shrimp log to be thick and not watery.
- Lemon zest: Make sure to use fresh lemon zest and do not substitute with lemon juice as juice will thin out the texture too much.
That's everything you need! Simple.
★ How to Make this Recipe ★
This shrimp log comes together in just a few steps. For fresh flavor and great texture, you'll start by poaching raw shrimp.
Here's a look at what you'll do, start to finish:
- Poach shrimp in water with lemon and seafood seasoning.
- Shock in cold water.
- Mix minced shrimp, shallot, and lemon zest with cream cheese.
- Spoon out mixture into log shape on plastic wrap.
- Wrap plastic wrap around log and shape as needed then refrigerate.
- Roll chilled shrimp roll in parsley then serve with crackers or veggies.
Simple as that!
★ Tips & FAQs ★
The roll needs time to set so that the flavors can meld together. Either place it in the fridge for 2 hours or pop it into the freezer for 45 minutes before serving.
This shrimp log tastes best the longer it sits, especially the next day!
Either re-wrap the roll in plastic wrap and store it in the fridge or place leftovers in an airtight container. It will stay fresh for up to 3 days. Note that the parsley coating will soften once refrigerated.
Poaching your own shrimp will give you the best flavor and texture. Raw shrimp with tails on work best for poaching. However, to save time, tails-off can be used.
Cooked shrimp works too. If you use shrimp that’s already cooked, add ¼ teaspoon of the seasoning to the cream cheese mixture when stirring and you may want to add extra lemon zest.
Shrimp dip can be served with any kind of crackers, bread sticks, hard or soft pretzels, tortilla chips, or raw vegetables. You can even serve it with slices of baguette.
Offer a serving knife for guests to easily spread the dip.
Sure! Cream cheese shrimp dip is a fun appetizer that can be formed into any shape you'd like. Get creative!
This cream cheese shrimp dip log was featured on South Your Mouth!
Shrimp Dip Log
Equipment
- spider strainer or slotted spoon to remove shrimp
Ingredients
Shrimp Log
- 12 oz raw shrimp deveined, tails-on (any size)
- 3 tablespoon seafood boil seasoning (or use old bay)
- 8 oz cream cheese (room temperature)
- 1 shallot minced
- 1 lemon zested then sliced
- ½ cup dried parsley
Serve with
- crackers, veggies, mini toast, sesame sticks, pretzels you choose!
Mighty Mrs. is a #WalmartPartner.
Instructions
- Zest and slice lemon. Zest lemon and set zest aside. Cut remaining lemon into thick slices.
- Poach shrimp. Bring a large pot of water to a boil(about 8 cups). Add lemon slices and seafood boil seasoning to water. Add shrimp, cover, then remove from heat. Allow shrimp to sit and cook for 5-6 minutes or just until shrimp are fully pink and no longer translucent. While shrimp are sitting covered, prepare an ice bath by placing a tray of ice into a large bowl. When shrimp are fully cooked, transfer just the shrimp to the ice bath. Allow to cool and remove tails (if needed). Drain away water and pat shrimp dry.
- Make shrimp dip. Place room-temperature cream cheese in a clean bowl. Mince shrimp and shallot and add to the bowl along with lemon zest. Mix until all ingredients are combined.
- Form a log. Place a large sheet of plastic wrap down on the counter. Spoon shrimp and cream cheese mixture onto the plastic wrap forming a log shape. Wrap the plastic around the log and smooth out the shape as needed.
- Chill. Place shrimp log in the fridge for 2 hours or 45 minutes in the freezer.
- Coat with parsley. Lay out a clean piece of plastic wrap or parchment paper and sprinkle generously with dried parsley. Unwrap shrimp roll and place on top of the parsley. Add more parsley until completely covered.
- Serve. Place shrimp log on a platter with crackers and a serving knife.
Notes
- The mixture needs to be refrigerated for the flavors to develop and meld. It is much better if refrigerated overnight.
- Do not use lemon juice instead of zest or the log will become too liquidy. The mixture needs to be thick so that you can roll it into a log.
- Using tail-on shrimp adds flavor during the poaching process; however, tails-off can be used if you prefer.
- Cooked shrimp can also be used to save time, but you’ll want to add a ¼ teaspoon of the seasoning directly to the cream cheese mixture. You may also need to add salt to taste.
- If desired, add fine grain sea salt to the shrimp dip before rolling into a log. Add to taste.
Margi says
what size shrimp should be used for log?
Angela G. says
Hi Margi, since you chop the shrimp, any size will work!
Esme Slabbert says
This does look so incredibly good.