Seafood Dinner Party Menu Ideas

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When preparing to make a seafood dinner party, you’ll want to figure out exactly what you want on the menu.

You can prepare a variety of seafoods for your dinner party including crab cakes, prawns, calamari, lobster, oysters, octopus and more.

You can make seafood appetizers ahead of time for your guests while they’re waiting for the main course.

seafood dinner party menu ideas

Crab Cakes

Crab cakes are easy to make right at home, even though they’re a bit delicate when frying them up.

Crab cakes are made by combining lumps of crab with mayo, herbs, and bread crumbs, and then forming it into a patty shape.

Crab cakes are fried to get a crispy outer layer on them on each side, and then they are serve warm with a creamy, savory dipping sauce.

Crab cakes go well with lemon basil aioli, tartar sauce or remoulade.

crab cake Seafood Dinner Party menu

Prawns

Prawns can be prepared for a seafood dinner party by making tempura, serving them as a prawn cocktail, or frying them.

If you’re frying prawns, you can serve them with garlic butter, or shrimp cocktail sauce for a bit of bite.

Prawns should be served with a lemon wedge for a little fresh lemon juice squeezed onto them right before serving. You can garnish with a bit of parsley as well if desired.

prawns seafood buffet menu

Calamari

Deep fried calamari is a favorite for many! Calamari has a crispy outside, with warm squid on the inside.

You can serve calamari with a ton of different dipping sauces like tzatziki, or lemon garlic aioli, and a lemon wedge to squeeze a little lemon juice over calamari before enjoying.

calamari seafood Dinner Party

Crab Legs

Crab legs are a specialty you can serve at your seafood dinner party.

Crab legs are heated, and then served melted butter for dipping crab into.

You can have the butter continue to be melted by using a butter warmer.

crab legs Seafood Dinner Party

Lobster

Lobster tails are cut, and butterflied to expose the meat inside of their hard shell.

Lobsters can be boiled, or simply baked in the oven.

You can prepare savory stuffed lobster tails that your guests will love by combining crab, bread crumbs, herbs, lemon juice, onions, and then stuffing it inside the lobster tail, and baking it in the oven.

lobster seafood dinner party menu ideas

Salmon

Salmon is a mild fish you can serve with savory sauces like white wine, or simply squeeze some lemon on top.

white wine sauce salmon Seafood Dinner Party

You can serve salmon over rice or garlic mashed potatoes for your seafood dinner as an accompaniment.

Seafood Dinner Party salmon

Oysters

Oysters can be grilled, fried, roasted, or broiled in the oven for a specialty addition to your seafood dinner menu.

You can entice your guests by making garlic oysters, herb and butter oysters, or three cheese oysters for your dinner party.

Octopus

Octopus can be grilled or simmered on the stovetop, and then served with lemon herb olive oil, or romesco sauce.

Octopus has a mild flavor to it, therefore it’s best if you serve it with an accompanying dipping sauce.

octopus seafood dinner menu ideas

Mussels

Mussels needs to be cleaned and debearded before cooking. Mussels have a tender and chewy texture to them.

You can prepare mussels for you guests by cooking mussels with white wine and garlic cream sauce, lemon garlic butter sauce, or tomato sauce.

mussels seafood dinner menu

Smoked Salmon

Smoked salmon can be served as an appetizer for your dinner party guests.

You can serve smoked salmon pieces with capers, chopped red onions, dill weed, cream cheese, and crackers as an appetizer, or as party of your seafood dinner party selection.

smoked salmon seafood dinner party

Crab Puff Pastry Bites

Crab puff pastry bites are filled with vegetables and lumps of crab for this seafood mini puff pastry appetizer.

Chopped onions and red pepper are cooked in a bit of olive oil and minced garlic in a frying pan on medium heat.

Vegetables are removed from the heat source, and mixed together with cream cheese, mayo, freshly grated parmesan cheese, and lumps of crab meat to make the base of the appetizer filling.

Chives, Worcestershire sauce, Dijon mustard, and fresh lemon juice are added to the cream cheese filling.

Puff pastry squares are placed inside a muffin tin (2″ square) to make a well for holding the cream cheese filling.

Crab cream cheese filling is spooned onto the puff pastry squares and baked in the oven until the pastry turns golden brown.