Shrimp and Capers and Sharp Cheddar and Good Bread. What More Do You Need?
Nothing. Clearly, these shrimp melts are the end all, be all of shrimp recipes. And we should know, we have tried a lot of shrimp recipes! In fact, this shrimp salad sandwich is easily the best shrimp sandwich we’ve ever encountered. Why? Well, a few reasons:
- Shrimp. OK, this is a pretty obvious one, but shrimp makes everything better. Loaded with protein and—thanks, pre-cooked shrimp!—so fast, shrimp is a weekly dinnertime staple for us, and we think it should be for you, too.
- Old Bay seasoning! It’s common knowledge that seafood and Old Bay seasoning are best friends—all we did was take Old Bay and sprinkle it generously into our shrimp salad recipe, along with...
- Capers! These briny, pickle-y little buds (yes, they’re buds!) team up with a little squeeze of fresh lemon juice to give our mayonnaise-based shrimp salad recipe just the lift it needs. Their sharpness also plays well with the sharp cheddar that makes our shrimp melt, well—melty!
- Tomato. What it is about fresh tomato slices that is just so good with hot melted cheese? Their sweet juices run into the shrimp salad as you bite into the shrimp melt and make for a delightfully messy, totally indulgent meal.
Shrimp Melts for All!
Because we cook these shrimp melts on a baking sheet in the oven, it’s really easy to make a lot of them. For a casual lunch with friends or even a low-key dinner party—they go surprisingly well with a bottle of bubbly!—these hearty, toasty, melty hot sandwiches are absolute perfection. All you need is about ten minutes, and a good appetite. Here’s how to make our shrimp sandwich recipe:
- Whip up a batch of shrimp salad. We bet you know how to make tuna salad, and shrimp salad comes together in the same way. Along with classic tuna salad ingredients like mayo, celery and capers, this shrimp salad recipe takes on a lobster roll-vibe thanks to some Old Bay, Worcestershire sauce, and fresh lemon juice. (Tip: you can usually find already-cooked shrimp in the fresh fish case at your local grocery store.)
- Toast the bread! You’ll be tempted to skip this step—”the bread will toast when we put it under the broiler to melt the cheese!” you say you yourself—but don’t. We’re asking a lot of these slices of bread, and we need them to be as sturdy as possible. A good, quick toast helps them to hold up under the weight of shrimp salad and all that melty shredded cheese. For the type of bread, you could even get fancy and use homemade Sourdough (featuring homemade Sourdough Starter!)
- Assemble! Mound the shrimp salad on top of the toasted bread slices, top with tomato slices, then crown the whole thing with mountains of shredded sharp cheddar cheese.
- Melt! Pop the shrimp melts under the broiler until the cheese is molten and bubbly.
- Devour! Dig in as soon as they’re cool enough to eat. If a hushed silence fills the room as everyone gobbles their shrimp melts, don’t be surprised—just know you’ve nailed it.
Tools You’ll Need:
- Baking sheets.
- A bowl for mixing.
- Box grater (or just buy pre-shredded cheese)
- A sharp knife(always, always, always)
Shrimp Recipes for When You Max Out on Shrimp Melts
As if that would ever happen. But just in case it does, here are three of our favorite ways to serve shrimp:
- Old Bay Shrimp and Sausage Sheet Pan Dinner
- Baked Coconut Shrimp
- Chimichurri Shrimp with Creamy Polenta
Move Over, Tuna Melt.
There’s a new melt in town, and it’s made with SHRIMP. Therefore, it’s the best sandwich ever, and there’s just no going back. Let us know how you liked this shrimp salad sandwich recipe. Snap a photo of your cheesy shrimp sandwich and maybe even a video of the beautiful people you feed it to. Tag us on Instagram using @themodernproperand #themodernproper. Happy eating!
