For a long time, the thought of making crab cakes intimidated me. I’ve never lived closer than 300 miles away from any ocean. Seafood has always been a big luxury for us landlocked folks, so I assumed luxury meant difficulty! In reality, the fresher and lighter handling, the better your seafood will turn out. This is especially true when making high-quality, classic crab cakes. If you can get your hands on great lump crab, they come together in about an hour for an amazing, easy dinner.
Tips for Making Crab Cakes
Like other seafood recipes, high quality ingredients with a light touch will yield high-quality results. As a Denver resident, fresh crab can be hard to come by, but it matters the most to the recipe. I get my seafood at Tom’s Seafood & Gourmet Market in Lakewood! This is not an ad for Tom’s (although, Tom, I’m open, call me), they just have the best seafood in the Denver area, flown in fresh daily.
Types of Crab
US Crab Species
In the United States, you have a few choices of species: blue crabs (the species most common on the east coast), Dungeness crab (found along the Pacific Coast of the US) and Alaskan King crab. Maryland crab cakes use blue crab, but where I live I can find Dungeness crab much more easily. I recommend snow crabs for legs, not cakes, as their bodies are too small, but any of the other kinds will make fantastic crab cakes.
Lump vs. Jumbo Lump
This recipe uses lump crab meat. That’s not a casual descriptor, it’s one of the ways crab meat is sold! Lump meat comes from the body of the crab, and usually costs less than jumbo lump, with smaller pieces of meat that flake less than other parts of the crab’s body. Lump is both cheaper than jumbo lump, and the smaller pieces make for cakes that are easier to handle. If you can’t find lump, specifically, jumbo lump will work fine. You can also use backfin or “flake” crabmeat to save a few dollars. Canned crab will save you a pretty penny, but frankly it’ll make for a just-okay cake.
Other Ingredients
The other ingredients – eggs, mayo, Worcestershire – are standard pantry staples. I rarely recommend specific brands, but in this case Old Bay is the only way. It’s been the staple of good Maryland cooking for 75 years for a reason – it provides the perfect compliment to good seafood.
Other than that, make sure you use Dijon mustard, not any other kind. The bolder, more complex flavor adds an extra depth to the cakes than standard yellow mustard. Plus, it’s not as sweet, which balances out the slightly sweet Ritz crackers better. If you don’t have Ritz, you can use a similar quantity of saltines or a similar cracker.
Classic Crab Cake Recipe
Classic Crab Cakes
Equipment
- measuring cups and spoons
- Mixing bowl
- rubber spatula
- whisk
- baking sheet
- Silicone mat (optional)
- Pastry brush (optional)
Ingredients
- 1 large egg
- ¼ cup mayonnaise
- 2 tsp Dijon mustard
- 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp Fresh lemon juice
- 1 ½ tsp Old Bay seasoning
- 2 tsp dried parsley
- ¼ tsp Salt
- 1 pound fresh lump crab meat
- 40 g Ritz Cracker Crumbs one sleeve of fresh stacks, 13 crackers
- 2 Tbs melted butter
- 1 lemon sliced for serving
- 1 Tbs fresh parsley optional, for serving
Instructions
- Whisk the egg, mayo, mustard, Worcestershire, lemon juice, and seasonings together in a mixing bowl until evenly combined.
- If your crab meat is packed in liquid, drain out excess.
- Stir the crab meat and crackers into the wet mixture with a spoon or rubber spatula. (Gently! you want to keep the meat together as much as possible!)
- Cover the bowl tightly and cool in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, but up to 1 day.
- Preheat your oven to 450°F. Prepare a baking sheet by greasing it (with Pam nonstick spray or butter) or lining it with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- Spoon the crab cake batter into 6 equal portions on the prepared baking sheet. DO NOT press down on the cakes, but feel free to use the spoon (or a clean hand) to group the crab cakes together.
- Brush the top of each cake with a small amount of melted butter with a silicone pastry brush, or drizzle melted butter over the top of each.
- Bake the cakes for about 12–14 minutes, or until the cakes are slightly browned.
- Serve the cakes warm, with a drizzle of fresh lemon juice and fresh parsley.
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