Easy Prawn Canapés

Who doesn't love prawn canapés?

These little morsels are really easy to make in just a few minutes and they will happily sit in the fridge until you are ready to serve.

With an easy prawn cocktail canapé and a delicious avocado and prawn skewers, these simple appetisers will be devoured by your guests.

Perfect for drinks with friends, buffets or a little nibble before a dinner party, these seafood canapés will be a recipe to come back to.

Enjoy!

Jump to:

• Why you will love this recipe
• 🥘 Ingredients
• 🍽 Equipment
• 🔪 Instructions
• 🥗 Serve with
• 🥙 Substitutions
• 📖 Variations
• 🍣 Storage
• 🍱 Prepare in Advance
• 🤔 FAQs
• 📋 Recipe
• 💬 Comments

I always like to serve little snacks if people come round for drinks and it's much nicer to have something homemade but easy on hand, rather than always just opening a bag of nuts and crisps.

These prawn canapés take just a few minutes of your time, as it's just a bit of chopping and assembly. This makes it really easy to make a larger quantity if you are feeding a crowd.

There are also endless combinations of flavours, so you can great creative in the kitchen with your favourite ingredients or just leftovers from the fridge!

Why you will love this recipe

• uses frozen king prawns for convenience
• makes 8 of each canapé
• easy to make in a few minutes
• great for making in advance
• simple ingredients
• only 59 calories a serving!
• perfect for Christmas, Easter and any celebration

🥘 Ingredients

• Prawns (shrimp) - for ease I have used frozen and defrosted peeled king prawns. They are the exact shape to fit onto a slice of cucumber and are easy to thread onto cocktail sticks.
• Avocado - half of a ripe avocado. Cover the other half in lemon juice and wrap in cling film and store in the fridge. Or, cut the remainder into chunks, open freeze and then place in bags.
• Cucumber - English cucumber ideally a similar or larger diameter as the prawns.
• Capers - small pickled capers from a jar or tin. They give a great piquant flavour to the prawns.
• Tomatoes - small cherry tomatoes for garnish.
• Mayonnaise - low fat or very low fat mayonnaise is fine for this recipe as other flavours will be added to make the cocktail sauce.
• Basil - small fresh basil leaves as basil goes particularly well with fish.
• Paprika - sweet paprika powder.
• Lemon - lemon juice to keep the avocado from turning brown. Bottled lemon juice is fine for this.
• Tomato purée - for the prawn cocktail sauce.

The recipe card with ingredient quantities and detailed instructions can be found at the bottom of the post.

🍽 Equipment

• sharp knife
• 8 cocktail sticks or picks
• chopping board
• small bowl
• fork

🔪 Instructions

💭 Top Tip

• If you are using frozen and defrosted prawns or fresh prawns from a packet, let them rest on some kitchen paper to drain.

For the prawn cocktail canapés

Cut 8 slices of cucumber about a centimetre or just under half an inch thick as the base for the prawn cocktail canapés.

Place a prawn on top of each one.

Mix the mayonnaise with tomato purée and divide between the shrimp canapés. I find that it's easier to do this by using two teaspoons to control the mixture.

Sprinkle over the paprika and decorate each one with 3 capers.

For the avocado prawn skewers

Start by threading 8 prawns onto cocktail sticks, keeping their natural shape.

Mash the avocado with a fork and mix in the lemon juice.

Add a spoonful of the avocado mix to each prawn skewer.

Top with a basil leaf and a quarter of a cherry tomato.

Arrange on a platter to serve.

🥗 Serve with

Try some of these light bites, hot or cold at your next gathering.

• Smoked Salmon Canapés
• Salmon Gravlax
• Smoked Salmon Pâté
• Bacon Wrapped Onion Rings
• Courgette and Sweetcorn Fritters
• Coronation chicken - serve spoonfuls on slices of cucumber, toast or savoury biscuits.
• Cod Cheeks in Panko
• Turkey and Cranberry Sausage Rolls
• Breaded Garlic Mushrooms
• Lincolnshire Haslet
• Baked Halloumi Fries
• Ham and Cheese Palmiers
• Smoked Salmon Tartines
• Smoked Salmon and Avocado Mousse

🥙 Substitutions

• Tomato purée - use some reduced sugar tomato ketchup
• Prawns - top the cucumber with smoked salmon pâté, egg mayonnaise or coronation chicken if you prefer
• Mayonnaise - use Greek yogurt if you prefer.
• Avocado - use a spoonful of ready made guacamole. If you dislike preparing avocadoes, or find it difficult to find ripe ones, I often keep a bag of frozen avocado in the freezer It's great for salads, sandwiches and dips.

📖 Variations

• Seafood - use cooked mussels from a jar, smoked salmon, canned tuna or salmon with mayonnaise or canned crab.
• Garnishes - swap the tomatoes and capers for pieces of sliced lemon or cucumber, lumpfish roe, sliced olives, roasted pepper slices or thinly sliced radish.
• Cocktail sauce - make it spicy with cayenne pepper and some sriracha sauce to taste. Alternatively add lemon zest to the mayonnaise or stir in some green pesto.
• Basil - use sprigs of dill, fennel or parsley instead.

🍣 Storage

• Refrigerator - keep in the fridge for up to 2 days.
• Freezer - not suitable for freezing.

🍱 Prepare in Advance

• These will happily sit in the fridge all day if you are serving them in the evening. Cover loosely with cling film or in a container.

🤔 FAQs

More seafood dishes

If you love fish for more than just a n appetiser try some of these seafood recipes.

• Pan Seared Sea Bass
• Baked Monkfish Tails in Bacon
• Baked Lemon Side of Salmon
• Cod Mornay
• Fish Burgers
• Salmon and Avocado Parcels
• Salmon Mac and Cheese
• Smoked Haddock Kedgeree

📋 Recipe

More fish recipes to try

Food Safety

• Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat.
• Wash hands after touching raw meat.
• Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods.
• Never leave cooking food unattended.
• Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds.
• Always have good ventilation when using gas.

Do you have a question or did you make the recipe?

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