Enjoy a New England-style seafood dinner at home with my Crab Stuffed Flounder with Lemon-Dill Aioli. This recipe has been sponsored by my friends at Stonewall Kitchen. As always, all opinions expressed are my own.
It isn’t summer until I’ve headed for the coast and had a proper seafood dinner! Crab Stuffed Flounder has been one of my favorite dishes to order at seafood restaurants for years.
From the creamy, spiced-crab filling, to the delicate white fish, and the buttery crumb topping, I can practically hear the ocean waves as I’m thinking about it!
With the help of Stonewall Kitchen’s family of products, it’s a cinch to make this New England classic in your home kitchen. Ready in under an hour, this stuffed flounder is a great option for a busy summer night, or for entertaining dinner guests.
Gourmet Cooking with Stonewall Kitchen
Stonewall Kitchen’s extensive catalogue of award-winning specialty foods have been a favorite of home cooks and connoisseurs for more than 25 years.
I still remember when my mother and I discovered their products in the mid 90’s, while vacationing in New England. We stocked up our bags at the market that summer, and Stonewall Kitchen has been a constant in our home ever since.
In recent years, the Stonewall Kitchen family has expanded to include new brands and partnerships. They acquired the wonderful Napa Valley Naturals line of gourmet olive oils and vinegars in 2018, and launched a partnership with Legal Sea Foods in early 2019, bringing restaurant-quality seafood products to home kitchens.
Stonewall Kitchen Products You’ll Need for Stuffed Flounder
Legal Sea Foods by Stonewall Kitchen Lemon Dill Aioli
This rich, creamy aioli is blended with fresh herbs and citrus for the perfect seafood pairing. Since its release, I’ve spread it onto fish sandwiches, mixed it into shrimp salad, and served it alongside grilled swordfish. My family and friends have loved it!
In this recipe, I use the aioli to both flavor and bind the crabmeat stuffing, and to create a creamy topping for the stuffed flounder bundles.
Have leftover aioli in the jar after making this recipe? Try this easy Legal Sea Foods’ Lemon Dill Salmon!
Stonewall Kitchen Maine Seafood Rub
This hand-blended spice rub is everything you’d expect to taste in a New England seafood dinner. With warm flavors, like paprika, it adds a gentle spice to fish without being too assertive.
Here, I use the seafood rub to season the fish fillets themselves, the crunchy topping, and the crabmeat stuffing.
You can order both of these products online, or find them in Stonewall Kitchen’s Company Stores and at local retailers. Visit their Store Locator to find where Stonewall Kitchen is sold near you.
Buying the Seafood for Crab Stuffed Flounder
To make this recipe, you’ll need four flounder fillets, weighing about six ounces each. You’ll want a nice-sized fillet for stuffing, so that you can easily roll it around the filling without the delicate fish tearing when it cooks.
The fillets should be skinned. If you feel any small pin bones in the center of the fillet, just beneath the surface, remove them prior to stuffing. Most of the time, the seafood market will have done this for you, but I’ve sometimes found a few strays.
A pair of needle nosed pliers or kitchen tweezers makes quick work of removal. Feel for the bones by running your fingertip near the center of the fillet, and go in with your pliers or tweezers to remove them with a firm tug.
I make this recipe most often with flounder, but you can substitute other white fish fillets, like sole or haddock. Go for what looks fresh and beautiful at your local market!
Crabmeat Stuffing
I like to use fresh, briny crabmeat whenever possible in this recipe. If you’re unable to source it, pasteurized crab also works well. You don’t need to splurge on the most expensive jumbo lump grade of crab here, since the pieces will naturally break up a bit when mixing the filling.
Our favorite crabmeat to use for stuffed flounder is lump, a mixture of the jumbo lump and special grades. You’ll still get discernible chunks of crab in your stuffing, without the highest price tag.
Serving Crab Stuffed Flounder
Since this Crab Stuffed Flounder has such great flavor, I like to keep the side dishes simple. I most often serve it alongside crisp-roasted asparagus or a simple salad. You could also go with my Haricots Verts with Lemon-Herb Brown Butter, or Stonewall’s recipe for Lemon Potato Salad.
For a wine pairing, I love a crisp, unoaked or lightly-oaked Chardonnay with this dish. Choose a wine that will stand up to the spice rub, but not so bold that it will overpower the delicate flavors of the fish and crab.
Make it a meal! My Roasted Shrimp Cocktail with Two Dipping Sauces (which also uses some of these Stonewall Kitchen products) is the perfect starter for your seafood dinner menu.
CRAVING MORE? Subscribe to my newsletter and join me on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram for the latest recipes and news.
📖 Recipe
Crab Stuffed Flounder with Lemon-Dill Aioli
Ingredients
- 3-½ teaspoons extra virgin olive oil , divided
- ¼ cup red bell pepper , finely diced
- ¼ cup celery , finely diced
- ¼ cup scallions , thinly sliced
- 1 clove garlic , minced
- ½ cup finely-crushed butter crackers , divided
- ¾ teaspoon Stonewall Kitchen Maine Seafood Rub , divided, plus extra for seasoning flounder fillets
- ½ cup Legal Sea Foods by Stonewall Kitchen Lemon Dill Aioli , divided
- 1 tablespoon flat leaf parsley , chopped (plus extra for garnish)
- 6 ounces lump crabmeat , picked over for cartilage
- 4 flounder fillets about 1-½ pounds, skin and pin bones removed
- kosher salt and freshly-ground black pepper
- lemon wedges , for serving
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly butter or oil a 13×9 baking dish, or line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Heat 2 teaspoons olive oil in a skillet. Sauté red bell pepper and celery until softened, but not browned, about 5 minutes. Add scallions and garlic and cook for another 2 minutes, until scallions are wilted and garlic is fragrant. Stir in ½ teaspoon Maine Seafood Rub, and ¼ cup crushed butter crackers. Immediately remove from heat and let cool slightly.
- In a bowl, stir together the sautéed vegetable mixture with ¼ cup Lemon Dill Aioli, and the parsley. Gently fold in lump crab meat, being careful not to break it up too much. Season filling mixture to taste with salt and pepper.
- Place flounder fillets on a cutting board, skinned side up. Season each with a pinch of Maine Seafood Rub. Place ¼ of the filling mixture in the center of each fillet and roll the flounder around the stuffing to secure.
- Place stuffed flounder bundles in the prepared baking dish, seam sides down, leaving a little space between each. Spread about 2 teaspoons of Lemon Dill Aioli onto the top of each bundle.
- Stir together ¼ cup crushed butter crackers with 1-½ teaspoons extra virgin olive oil and ¼ teaspoon Maine Seafood Rub. Sprinkle each flounder bundle with about a tablespoon of cracker crumbs.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, until flounder is opaque and flakes with a fork. Sprinkle with parsley to garnish, and serve hot, with lemon wedges.
Billy says
Such a great recipe. My family is going to love this. Cannot wait to make this at home. Thank you for sharing!
Marie says
I made this for my husband for dinner last night and WOW. A lot of stuff online is described as “restaurant quality” but this one really is! I love Stonewall Kitchen and will try some more of the items in the Legal Seafood line. Thank you!
Tina says
I really do love the Stonewall products, it’s my go-to for gift giving to my foodie friends. Foodies really appreciate quality products so it’s always delightful to see their reaction to the gift boxes from Stonewall. I can usually find their goods at our local Harmons. Your flounder looks amazing, especially with the crab. That’s pretty brilliant. I like to use aioli with fish, it rounds out the flavors and textures. You gave me so many good ideas, can’t wait to try this. Thanks Amanda!
Marisa F. Stewart says
Well, aren’t I lucky that I found this recipe! Hubby and I are on Saint Simons Island, GA and he loves to fish! He just caught a flounder and guess what I’m going to make? This recipe using your ingredients. We love fish and I can’t wait to try this out. PLUS!! This is blue crab season here so we can get some fresh crab for the stuffing. YAY!! Love the breadcrumbs on top and thanks for the heads up on the olive oil – we use olive oil like water. Thank you!!!
Gloria says
WOW….fish stuffed with fish. How delicious this sounds. Stonewall Kitchen products are so good. I often get them when I shop in the kitchen specialty stores and gourmet markets here in Canada. This would be a great dish for a dinner party.