Easy Crab Cakes
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These delicious and Easy Crab Cakes are simple to make, ready in no time, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. These succulent pan-fried crab cakes are fast, easy, loaded with flavor and won’t crumble when you fry them.
Are you guys all ready for the holidays? Have you even started Christmas shopping? I did, for one person only, but hey it’s a start! Though I will tell you one thing. I am ready to put up my Christmas tree, or two.
I have two trees and I’m tempted to put them both up. I’m a bit crazy, I know, but I love Christmas! So you know what’s great when you put up your tree, make some mulled wine, put on the Christmas music and go nuts. That’s what I’m going to do.
But today I was in the mood for some crab cakes and these crab cakes here are all about the crab. Lots and lots of crab. Such an easy recipe too, and if you’re like me and love your crab cakes, you’ll probably eat these all by yourself. But I’m not here to judge!
What Are Crab Cakes
Crab cakes are a variety of fishcakes popular in the United States. They are composed of crab meat and various other ingredients, such as bread crumbs, mayonnaise, mustard eggs, and seasonings, particularly the cake is then sautéed, baked, grilled, deep fried, or broiled, and then served.
I love to add a little hot sauce to mine for a bit of spice in them, lots of green onions, an egg and some breadcrumbs to hold them together, some parsley and mayo. That’s pretty much it to the recipe. Easy peasy! Just be gentle with the crab as you mix it all together and form it into patties.
I chose to fry mine here, but you know what? I’ve baked these before and still just as yummy.
How to Serve Crab Cakes
I love having these for lunch with a nice side salad, or sometimes I’ll even make a sandwich with them, or crab cake sliders, which are my all time favorite. Here a few more suggestions:
- Mashed Potatoes
- Italian Roasted Mushrooms and Veggies
- Baked Potatoes
- Balsamic Parmesan Roasted Asparagus and Tomatoes
- Lemon Orzo with Asparagus
Feel free to make a double batch too, just double all the ingredients and enjoy!
Freezing
Yes, you can! To freeze, place the uncooked cakes on a baking sheet in the freezer just until firm, about 2 hours. Wrap each cake in plastic wrap and place in a plastic freezer bag. Freeze for up to 1 month. Defrost the crab cakes in the refrigerator overnight before cooking.
Craving More Seafood Recipes? Try These:
- Lemon Garlic Scallops
- Chili Garlic Shrimp
- Firecracker Shrimp
- Brazilian Shrimp Soup
- Maple Mustard Glazed Salmon
- Tomato Shrimp Pasta
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Easy Crab Cakes
Prep: 15 mins
Cook: 20 mins
Total: 35 mins
Serves: 10
These delicious and Easy Crab Cakes are simple to make, ready in no time, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. These succulent pan-fried crab cakes are fast, easy, loaded with flavor and won’t crumble when you fry them.
Ingredients
- 12 oz crab meat
- 1 egg
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- 3 tbsp mayonnaise
- 1 tsp Sriracha sauce
- 2 tbsp parsley fresh, chopped
- 3 green onions chopped
- 1/2 cup breadcrumbs I used Panko
- 1/2 tsp salt or to taste
- 1/4 tsp pepper or to taste
- 1 tbsp olive oil for frying
Instructions
- Add all the ingredients (except the olive oil) to a bowl and gently mix it all together.
- Form the crab mixture into patties, depending on how big you want the patties, I got 10 patties out of my mixture.
- In a skillet heat the olive oil over medium heat. Place the patties in the skillet, a few at a time, I did 5 at a time, and cook until golden brown, about 5 min per side. Gently flip them over and cook for another 5 minutes until golden brown. Repeat with remaining patties.
- Serve with your favorite side dish.
Recipe Notes
You can bake these crab cakes as well, simply preheat your oven to 375 F degrees and bake for about 15 minutes or until golden brown.
Nutritional information is per 1 patty based on 10 crab cakes for this recipe. Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.
Nutrition Information:
Serving: 1crab cakeCalories: 98kcal (5%)Carbohydrates: 4g (1%)Protein: 7g (14%)Fat: 5g (8%)Cholesterol: 32mg (11%)Sodium: 370mg (16%)Potassium: 100mg (3%)Vitamin A: 130IU (3%)Vitamin C: 4.8mg (6%)Calcium: 32mg (3%)Iron: 0.6mg (3%)
Andres Felipe Agudelo G says
Great and easy recipe for dinner
Melissa Mumfrey says
Can I freeze the cakes either cooked or not? Thanks.
Jo Cooks Team 2 says
There’s an entire section on freezing the crab cakes in the post! 🙂
Melissa Street says
Omg. Yes. Yes yes yes. So my online groceries subscription company put a 16oz can of crab because of the surplus of inventory due to restaurants not buying because of covid19. And I honestly had no idea what to do with it. When I think of crab, i think of crab cakes. So I followed this recipe but used what I had. The recipe calls for 12oz crab but I had 16 oz.. so I just added a little bit more of each ingredient.
I used Avocado mayo instead of regular mayo.
I didnt have any parsley, so I added just a tiny smidge more of green onions.
I used gluten free panko.
I couldnt make it right away and I was concerned on it being soggy or too moist. But i had no choice. I had to prep, and set it aside in the fridge for 2 hours before i was able to cook it.
I pan fried it with olive oil. About 5-6 mins on each side. (I think I made mine a little too thick so that’s why I cooked it for that long)
But it was PERFECT. Tasted so good. My husband loved it. I have found my new fave! thank you!
Jo Cooks Team 2 says
Sounds awesome! So glad you liked it 🙂
Kim harris says
Can you substitute Greek yogurt for the mayo? (I am one of those weirdos who gags at the very sight of mayonnaise.)
jo says
Ha! Sure you can!
John says
Do you rinse the canned crab meat in brine before using.
Jo Cooks Team 2 says
I just used a 12oz can of crab meat for these! Just be gentle with it when forming the crab cakes
Diana Lewis says
I soak it in ice water for 10 minutes and then drain and rinse. It removes the metallic taste.
Jenny M says
Fantastic recipe and so easy.
Nan Lowe says
We didn’t have crab being on the East Coast but substituted lobster. The recipe was easy and delicious. Thanks.
Julie Rooney says
Quick easy and tasty. What more could you want.
Jo Bill says
Can I leave out the sriracha? I don’t have any and won’t buy for just 1 tsp. I’d never use it again. I plan on air frying in my Ninja Foodi.
Thanks.
Jo Cooks Team says
For sure you can!
Kevin Simala says
Of all the available recipes I picked this one because it doesn’t have that stinking old bay brand seasonings in it. It was a VERY good way to prepare and cook crab cakes. You may find as we did that some personal tweaking was needed but that’s the fun in preparing something new!
Just to mention, we fine tuned this excellent recipe by 1.) Sauteed 2 chopped shallots with 2 chopped garlic cloves in butter to add to the mix 2.) Omitted sriracha sauce 3.) Substituted butter for olive oil for frying. All other ingredients are the same but if you’re using canned crab remember to soak it in ice water for 10 to 12 minutes and drain to remove the metallic taste.
Grover Smith says
This was a quick tasty appetizer that my guests praised me for!!! Thanks for sharing!
Candy P says
Eliminated the srisacha , doubled the recipe and added 2 tbsp more of lemon juice. Also added 4 tbsp of sautéed bell peppers. Absolutely delicious. A new staple fo Christmas Eve and the 7 fishes.
Candy P says
Eliminated the srisacha , doubled the recipe and added 2 tbsp more of lemon juice. Also added 4 tbsp of sautéed bell peppers. Absolutely delicious. A new staple fo Christmas Eve and the 7 fishes.
Janedoe says
Easy and delish
Laura D. says
Quick, easy and delicious. I did not have the green onion so omitted that, swapped crushed hot pork rinds for the panko crumbs, and dried parsley for fresh- sometimes you need to go with what you have. Spicy and flavorful enough my husband did not reach for the hot sauce. Also used this to stuff mushrooms. Will make these again,
Sharon says
How long can you store cooked crab cakes?
jo says
THey’ll last 3 to 5 days in the fridge.
Christopher Johnson says
I loved this recipe so much! I made some modifications to the ingredients, instead of regular panko, I used spicy Japanese panko. I also used jumbo lump crab meat so I had to break them into slightly smaller pieces in order for the cakes to stay together. I had 16 oz of crab meat so I had to adjust ingredients accordingly. Finally, I baked them in the oven instead of cooking on the stove top.
The crab cakes came out delicious! Seasoning was perfect and they were the perfect texture. Because I used a pound of crab meat instead of the 12 oz that the recipe called for, I was able to make 9 nice very sized cakes. I had three that night and I paired them with steamed broccoli and that filled me up. I had another the next morning, and saved the remaining five for my son. He made short work of them as expected.
I will definitely use this recipe again.
Katherine says
Can I use imitation crab with this recip.
jo says
No, that won’t work. Canned crab is great and pretty affordable.
Genevee Suba says
I did and my boyfriend who hates seafood, liked it made with imitation crab. However, I love seafood and prefer it with real crab meat.
Stanley Melvin says
I made crab bombs using this recipe and got 6 cakes. They held together well and I froze then since my wife was just coming off surgery. Just like I wanted, you full taste the crab and not a lot of filler. Splendid recipe!
karen says
delicious they were a big hit!