Delicious Crab Cakes recipe
Posted August 23, 2023 by: Admin
Delicious and easy crab cakes, simple to make, ready in no time, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. These succulent deep-fried crab cakes are quick, easy, full of flavor, and don’t fall apart when deep-fried.
- This is an older popular recipe from the Super Easy Crab Cakes blog that I wanted to re-share with you guys with better photos and a video! Crab cakes are all about crab meat, but they don’t have to be expensive. We still use a lot of crab, but using canned crabmeat still makes delicious crab cakes, but much cheaper.
This is also a very easy recipe, and if you’re like me and love crab cakes, you’ll probably eat them plain. But I’m not here to judge! Like I said, crab cakes should consist of the crab meat, the rest of the ingredients should give it a bit of extra flavor and also hold and bind it together.
Crab Cake Highlights
- Incredibly fast and easy. With just a few ingredients and just over 30 minutes you can enjoy these delicious crab cakes! All you have to do is mix everything together, shape into patties and fry.
- Perfect for frying, air frying or baking. They are incredibly versatile when it comes to how you cook them. Do you want to save some calories? No problem, cook them in your deep fryer or bake them in the oven.
- Seriously satisfying. If you’re a fan of crab like me, you’ll love these cakes! Serve them as is with your favorite sauce or make them into sandwiches for a complete meal.
Ingredients you will need
- Crab Meat – I used 4 small cans of crab meat for a total of 12 ounces of crab. Be sure to drain it well and squeeze out as much water as you can. Fresh crab meat will also work. I would not recommend using imitation crab.
- Egg – The egg will act as a binder for the cakes, so they don’t break.
- Mayonnaise – This mayonnaise will not only add a bit of flavor to our cakes, but it will also help bind them together. You can make your own mayonnaise using my recipe or store-bought mayonnaise will work just fine too.
- Onion – I love using green onions in these cakes for a pop of color, but you can also use grated regular onion or even shallots for a milder flavor.
- Breadcrumbs – Like Panko breadcrumbs or unseasoned Italian breadcrumbs, any kind will do! You can also use crushed crackers.
- Parsley – I love adding some fresh parsley to these cakes, but it’s totally optional. You can change it for other herbs like fresh dill.
- Lemon – You will want freshly squeezed lemon juice for this recipe!
- Hot sauce: Use your favorite hot sauce, like sriracha or Frank’s hot sauce.
- Seasonings: I just used salt and pepper here, but a great spice to add would be Old Bay seasoning for great flavor.
- Oil – You can use light olive oil or vegetable oil to lightly fry the crab cakes. Alternatively, you can also use butter.
- Combine the ingredients. Add all the ingredients (except the olive oil) to a bowl and mix them all gently.
- Form burgers. Shape into patties with the crab mixture, depending on the size you want, I made 12 patties out of my mixture.
- Fry the cakes. In a skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Place the burgers in the skillet, a few at a time, I did 6 at a time, and cook until golden brown, about 5 minutes per side. Flip gently and cook for another 5 minutes until golden brown. Repeat with the remaining burgers.
- Serve. Serve with lemon wedges, your favorite sauce like tartar sauce, lemon garlic aioli, or garnish with parsley.
What are crab cakes?
Crab cakes are a variety of fish cakes popular in the United States. They are made up of crab meat and various other ingredients, such as breadcrumbs, mayonnaise, mustard, eggs, and seasonings. Crab cakes can be baked, broiled, pan-fried, air-fried, or broiled.
I love to add a little hot sauce to mine for a bit of flavor, lots of green onions, an egg, some breadcrumbs, and mayonnaise to hold it together. That’s it in the recipe. Easy peasy! Just watch out for the crab as you mix it all together and shape it into patties.
Can you air fry crab cakes?
Absolutely! Crab cakes are perfect for the air fryer. Just spray your air fryer with some cooking spray and then air fry them for 10 to 12 minutes at 375°F, flipping halfway.
How do I bake crab cakes?
Simply preheat your oven to 375°F, spray a baking sheet with cooking spray, and bake them for about 15 minutes or until golden brown.
Maryland Crab Cakes
You can tell these are Maryland-style crab cakes because usually these cakes are all about crab meat, with very few fillers. Fillers are usually ingredients needed to bind the crab meat together, such as mayonnaise, breadcrumbs, or eggs. The main difference between these and Maryland crab cakes is probably the crab meat used. You would have to use fresh crab and larger crab pieces than you are likely to find in canned crab meat.
Expert advice
- Tip ahead of time. You can make your burgers ahead of time and simply refrigerate them for up to a day before frying.
- You can refrigerate the crab mixture for 30 minutes in the refrigerator before forming patties. This will not only give the crab meat a chance to meld with all the other flavors, but it will also hold together better when shaping into cakes.
- Use a non-stick pan. This will help a lot to keep the cakes from sticking to the pan and will make it much easier to flip them.