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These beautiful, juicy, tender, absolutely delicious Crab Cakes are packed with lump crabs and some delicate seasoning that bring out the flavors of crabs. Just imagine a bite full of beautifully flavored crab.

Crab cakes are those juicy, delicately flavored, and absolutely tempting savory cakes with no-nonsense fillers and loads and loads of crab meat. This is any crab lover's dream come true. Can you imagine having a nice flavorful bite of the chunky crab without having to deshell it? I mean who wouldn't love it.

Crab cakes are on the menu of almost every seafood restaurant in the US. They are originally from Maryland and hence mostly referred to as Maryland Crab Cakes. So you would find them popularly in Maryland and also in Virginia. Slowly and gradually almost every good restaurant around the country has started serving them.

I first experienced the joy of having them on my visit to Savannah. They were so flavorful and packed with crab that it blew my mind. The flavors were astonishing, mind you, they were not the traditional Maryland version but the chef had put his own twist on it. With the beautiful influence of southern flavors, they were the best crab cakes I ever tried. I loved them so much that I made a point to have them on my next visit to Savannah too.

When you make any seafood patty or a cake I believe that the base seafood should be the hero of the dish and the other thing that you add to the recipe should just be supporting ingredients that help bring the cake together.

This crab cake recipe that I am sharing is filled with chunks of crabs with just a little panko crumbs and eggs to help with the binding. When you have a bite all you feel is the delicious, juicy, and flavorful crab.

What are Crab Cakes?

Unlike the popularly known term cake, this dish is nothing like regular sweet cakes. Crab cakes are savory patties made from Lump crab meat, some seasoning like old bay seasoning, parsley, lemon juice, salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce, Dijon mustard, and a little egg, mayonnaise, and bread crumbs for binding.

They are the easiest way of eating some absolutely tender and flavorful crabs. And the best part is that the one we are going to make is baked so no frying on the griddle and no seafood cooking smell in the house.

How to make the Baked Crab Cakes?

Making the baked crab cakes is so very easy, we just need to mix all the ingredients properly and make them into patties or crab cakes and bake. So let's get going!!

Ingredients for Crab Cakes

Lump Crab Meat - A good quality of lump crab meat is the most essential ingredient in this recipe. Since the crab meat is the star and the only main ingredient in this recipe it is very imperative to use the best crab meat that has some good chunky meat and not just some thready parts of the crab. A jumbo lump, it's white and has a delicate flavor. Because lump is a mixture of large and small pieces, it's a good choice for crab cakes. On a rare occasion, I have deshelled my own fresh crab meat, and trust me those were the best crab cakes ever.

Old Bay Seasoning - Old bay seasoning is a blend of herbs and spices that bring out the seafood flavors and enhance the taste of crab cakes. This was the seasoning originally used in Maryland when the Crab Cakes recipe was created and since then it became an important part of this recipe. If you can't find old bay seasoning look in the FAQs and Tips section below in the post for alternative options.

Mayonnaise - Mayonnaise is one of the binding ingredients in this recipe and it also adds moisture to this recipe so the crab cake does not dry out while baking.

Fresh Parsley - Fresh parsley is always excellent for this recipe. If the fresh one is not available then you can use dried parsley too but the fresh one has a much richer taste.

Dijon Mustard - Dijon mustard gives a nice zing flavor to the crab cakes.

Worcestershire Sauce - Worcestershire Sauce brings in some complex flavors to the crab cakes. It has that umami flavor that comes from soy sauce, It is also sour from tamarind and vinegar and has a hint of sweetness from molasses and sugar with an after-taste of a little spice.

Panko Crumbs - I like using panko crumbs in my crab cake. They bring a little crunch when baked and also do not take away the moisture of the crab cake yet give it a nice binding. You can always use regular bread crumbs or cracker crumbs instead of panko crumbs.

Lemon Juice - Lemon juice is for a little tartness and it also enhances the flavor of the crab cake.

Salt

Butter - Use regular salted butter.

Step-by-step instructions for Crab Cakes

Take a big mixing bowl and add Worcestershire sauce, Dijon mustard, salt, old bay seasoning, mayonnaise, and lemon juice. Whisk it all together.

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Now add the egg and parsley and mix it.

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Add crab meat on to and fold it in gently, try not to break the crab meat chunks.

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Now add the panko crumbs and melted butter and mix it all together till well combined without breaking the crab chunks.

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Refrigerate the mixture for about an hour. You can even refrigerate it overnight and it will stay good.

Pre-heat the oven to 450F.

Line the baking tray with parchment paper or grease the pan with room temperature butter.

Take the crab cake mixture out of the refrigerator. Using a ring mold or ½ cup flat measuring cup grease it with oil or butter.

Fill the cup with crab cake mixture and gently press down the mixture to form a cake. Flip the cup over the lined baking tray. Repeat the same process with the remaining crab cakes.

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Once all the crab cakes are ready put the tray in the oven to bake for 10 to 13 minutes.

Since we are baking them the butter in the crab cake will melt and this will help with browning the base of the crab cake as well as making the base crisp.

So if you bake though straight for 12 minutes you will get the browning only on one side which is absolutely fine. Just flip the crab cake over while serving so that the brown and crisp side is on top. However, if you want to brown on both sides, turn over the crab cake at about 10 minutes very gently to brown the other side too and bake for another 2 to 3 minutes.

Serve the crab cakes hot with tartar sauce and salad and corn on the cobs. I love enjoying just the crab cakes with tartar sauce or Boom boom shrimp sauce.

These delicious crab cakes are so irresistible and a total crowd pleaser and so much better than the one in the restaurant.

PRO tips for best results

• Even if you are using the store bought pack of crab meat like the Phillips lump crab meat that you get at Costco, you should check for any shells in the meat before using it.

• Do not over mix the mixture as it will break the crab lumps.

• Do not be tempted to use more fillers as they will take away the flavor of crab meat.

• Do not forget to grease the measuring cup or the ring mold that you use to shape the crab cakes. and grease them again after 2 or three crab cakes.

• Use extra ½ teaspoon old bay seasoning for more spice level.

• Always chill the mixture for 30 minutes at least before making the crab cakes. This will help flavors to seep in as well as the butter will chill that will make the cake making easy.

• Bread crumbs make a difference. I used panko crumbs in this recipe as they are light and less dense than the regular bread crumbs. This keeps the crab cake tender.

You can also check some other interesting recipes

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Which are the best crabs for crab cakes?

Lump Crab meat is the best meat for a crab cake, it has jumbo chunks and is off-white in color. You will need a lot of this meat for the cakes and so it is usually very expensive. But if you are going to use store-bought crab meat to make crab cakes then I would suggest using the best jumbo lump crab meat.

When I make the crab cake by removing lump crab meat from the crab I either get live crab or pre-cooked ones. If it is a live one then you will have to cook it before removing the meat. However, the easier way would be to get pre-cooked crab which is either frozen or thawed from frozen. Using a crab cracker you can remove the meat from legs, claws, and other big chunks from the body of the crab.

You get different crabs in different areas, like blue crab, stone crab, snow crab, king crab, Dungeness crab, and mud crab.

As per the availability of crab in your area you can use its meat. However, the most preferred crab for crab cakes is the blue crab.

Can I use canned crab meat for the crab cakes?

For best results, it is always good to use fresh crab meat. But I know it's not always possible or easy to do that. It is fine to use pre-packaged lump crab meat but you should get the one from the refrigerator section or sometimes the stores keep it in the seafood section in the ice-covered packages area.

Never use the crab meat from the aluminum tin containers in the non-refrigerator section. The tin meat has a bad smell, is over salty, and tastes bad. Making crab cakes from this meat will not yield satisfactory results.

What can I use if I do not find old bay seasoning?

If you are not able to find old bay seasoning the closest option is to use Cajun seasoning. Cajun seasoning won't provide those complex flavors of old bay seasoning. Also, Cajun seasoning has more heat than old bay seasoning.

What are crab cake fillers?

We are using mayonnaise, and egg as binding agents however we also need some ingredients that will gel with these binders to hold the crab cake together and not let it fall apart. Fillers are the ones who do that task in a crab cake recipe. There are many different ingredients that you can use as fillers.

In this recipe, I am using panko crumbs as they are light and keep the crab cake light and delicious. However, there are also other fillers that are used in general in a crab cake like regular bread crumbs and cracker crumbs.

HAVE YOU TRIED THIS RECIPE?

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