How To Make Crab Cakes
What do you do when you return from the beach with buckets full of fresh caught crab? Our family feasts on crab cakes! This easy crab cake recipe made with fresh caught lump crab really rocks, especially when paired with my zesty homemade crab cake sauce! Read below for more on how to make these delicious crab cakes.
I’ve had crab cakes many, many times. Sometimes, I find them perfectly delightful, and others I’m left totally underwhelmed. What I’m mostly left disappointed by is the lack of yummy crab taste when so little crab meat is used.
After harvesting SO MANY crabs at the beach last weekend, I can see why chefs may use such little amounts of crab in their crab dishes. It is not easy to remove the crab meat. It takes a little time. I’m sure if you were to do this task every day, you would find shortcuts, but it still takes time. It is truly worth it though, I assure you. I’ll show you how in the video below.
Crab is just delicious in fish stews, stuffed crab dishes, bisque, or in a West Indies Salad. Though many balk at the levels of cholesterol in crab meat, it’s actually quite healthy. It is low in calories and high in protein, Omega-3 Fatty Acids, and full of vitamins and minerals. Experts are finding that cholesterol from your diet isn’t the main cause of high LDL cholesterol. The real culprit is actually saturated fat. You’ll be glad to know that crab meat doesn’t have much of that at all!!
So don’t feel guilty about partaking in this delicious feast of crab cakes, because this recipe is going to Rock. Your. World.
By the way, these are amazing in between two slices of bread slathered with the sauce recipe!
How to Make Crab Cakes
Ingredients
- 2 pounds crab meat
- 1 red or green Jalapeño pepper deseeded and minced
- 6 scallions finely chopped
- 3 ounces cooked bacon
- 1/3 cup Panko or breadcrumbs plus more for coating crab cakes
- 2 limes zest only
- 2 teaspoons seafood seasoning
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 large egg
- 5 tablespoons mayonnaise
- hot sauce
- lime wedges for serving
- olive oil for frying
Crab Cake Sauce
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- lime juice of 2 limes
- 2 teaspoons seafood seasoning
- hot sauce a few dashes
- olive oil if needed for consistency
Instructions
- Preheat a cast iron skillet over medium high-heat.
- In a large bowl, add crab meat, jalapeño pepper, scallions, bacon, Panko crumbs, lime zest, seafood seasoning, salt and pepper. Gently mix together mixture with your hands, being careful to keep some large pieces of crab intact.
- In a medium bowl, stir the egg, mayonnaise, and a few dashes of hot sauce together. Mix the mayonnaise mixture gently into the crab mixture until just combined. Handle the crab mixture as little as possible to keep it light and from becoming too dense.
- Form the crab cake rounds into 1-inch thick by 2-inch diameter and place on a plate, then place them in the refrigerator for about an hour. When ready to cook, remove from the refrigerator and preheat a skillet until almost sizzling. Add a little olive oil to the skillet and when the olive oil is shimmering, arrange a few of the crab cakes in the skillet and fry for about 3 minutes on one side, or until the crab cakes are golden brown on the bottom. Gently turn each crab cake over and allow to cook for 3 more minutes.
- Remove crab cakes to a serving platter.
Crab Cakes Sauce
- Mix together mayonnaise, lime juice, seafood seasoning, and a few dashes of hot sauce. If the sauce is too thick, add a little olive oil to loosen it a bit.
- Serve crab cakes with a dollop of sauce, a few lime wedges, a dash or two of hot sauce, and a smile!! Enjoy!!
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