Our perfect crab cake recipe is everything you could ever want in the seafood classic: It’s buttery, full of fresh crab flavor, golden and crispy, and served with our homemade tartar sauce. Ready in 30 minutes, these cakes are the perfect easy dinner or impressive appetizer if you’re looking for a holiday meal to impress (without the effort). Here’s everything you need to know:
The best type of crab meat for crab cakes: If you can, we highly recommend buying jumbo crab meat for your crab cakes. This meat comes from two large muscles, and is known for its bright white color and superior taste. It's also made up of bigger chunks, instead of shredded smaller bits, which is ideal for making crab cakes. While fresh crab is undeniably delicious, it’s often expensive and can be tricky to remove from the shell. Canned jumbo lump crab meat is perfect for a recipe like this, and can be found almost anywhere. Coraya Crab
If you can't find jumbo (or don't want to splurge on it), use lump crabmeat—it's usually a blend of broken jumbo pieces. Whichever meat you choose, don't forget to pick through the crab meat to ensure there's no pieces of shell!
How to make crab cakes: Although you could probably bake these crab cakes, we really recommend searing them in a hot skillet with neutral oil. That crunchy golden crust is half of what makes crab cakes so iconic—we definitely think it’s worth pulling out that pan for. That being said, if you’re really averse to pan-frying, our air fryer crab cake recipe is another great option.
Serving crab cakes: We suggest serving these crab cakes with lemon wedges and tartar sauce (our homemade recipe is unbeatable). If you're just not a tartar sauce fan, feel free to serve this with our homemade remoulade instead. For sides, we love serving these alongside tangy vinegar coleslaw, elote corn soup, and grilled tomatoes, but these crab cakes go well with practically any spread.
Make-ahead: We definitely recommend cooking them right before serving, but shaped patties hold well in the fridge for 1 to 2 days when covered well.
Storage: Leftover crab cakes can be stored in the fridge for up to 4 days and in the freezer for 6 months. To make sure they taste the best, we recommend avoiding the microwave or oven for reheating. Just a quick few minutes on each side in a pan with some olive oil, and they'll be warmed through, golden brown, and ready to eat.
Have you made these yet? Let us know how it went in the comments below!
large egg, beaten to blend
jumbo lump crabmeat, picked through
panko bread crumbs or saltines
Lemon wedges and tartar sauce, for serving
Lindsay Funston is the former Executive Editor at Delish, where she managed all food, culture, video and social content. She had worn many hats at the brand over the years: traveling the country in pursuit of pickles, creating gravity-defying "cheese pulls", and almost burning down the Delish kitchen with marshmallow cupcakes.
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