Crab Cakes Recipe
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Most crab cakes are unappetizing pucks made of breadcrumbs, Old Bay Seasoning, eggs, and hardly any crabmeat. Our crab cakes, on the other hand, contain no filler—just crabmeat bound with a light aioli, with a light coating of panko for a crispy coating.
What to buy: Panko is coarse Japanese-style breadcrumbs. It’s available in the international section of most supermarkets.
Game plan: The crab cakes can be prepared ahead of time and reheated just before serving. To freeze, cook them as instructed, let them cool completely, then freeze uncovered until solid. Wrap the frozen cakes well and return them to the freezer. To reheat, set the frozen crab cakes on a baking sheet in a 350°F oven and cook until heated through.
This dish was featured as part of our Valentine’s Day All-Star Recipes
For the aioli:
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- Finely grated zest of 1 medium lemon (or 1 teaspoon packed)
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped cilantro
- 1 medium garlic clove, minced
- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
For the crab cakes:
- 1/3 cup finely diced celery
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh chives
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped cilantro
- 1 pound lump crabmeat, picked over for shells, pulled into bite-size pieces, excess water squeezed out (do not rinse)
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 3 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 2 cups panko
- Vegetable oil, for frying
- 1 medium lemon, cut into wedges, for serving
- Mix all the measured ingredients in a small bowl until combined. Season to taste with salt and pepper; set aside.
For the crab cakes:
- Place 1/4 cup of the aioli, the celery, chives, and cilantro in a medium bowl and stir to combine. Fold in the crabmeat and season with salt and pepper as desired.
- Using a 1/4-cup measuring cup, scoop 10 portions of the crabmeat mixture and place on a large plate or baking sheet. Wet your hands with warm water and gently pack each portion into 3/4-inch-thick disks (about 2 1/2 inches in diameter).
- Place the flour, eggs, and panko in 3 separate shallow bowls for dredging the cakes. (Keep in mind that without a binder, the cakes will fall apart as you work with them. But don’t worry; do your best to re-form them as you go.) First coat the cakes in flour, shaking off any excess. Next coat them with egg, and finally coat them with panko, placing each back on the baking sheet as it is dredged.
- Line a plate with paper towels; set aside. Heat a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add enough oil to just coat the bottom of the pan. Place half of the cakes in the pan and cook until golden brown and crisp, about 2 to 3 minutes per side. Transfer to the prepared plate. Repeat with the remaining cakes, adding more oil to the pan as needed.
- Place 1 or 2 cakes on a plate and top with a spoonful of the remaining aioli. Serve immediately with a lemon wedge.
Not enough seasoning in these crabcakes. If you are going to spend the bucks on crab, do the cakes right. Use fresh breadcrumbs made from a tasty day old bread, fresh parsley, green onions and more seasonings. Forget the cilantro as it will overpower the wonderful taste of the crab. The coating should be just simpe panko, no egg.
Blue crab purist here - A few crushed Saltines are easier to work with than Panko (no more than a 1/3 sleeve to a pound of lump crab meat - serves to soak up any lovely crab juices too). A simple beaten egg seasoned only with a little salt, black pepper, a bit of minced flat leaf parsley & a bit of minced Fish pepper (green & red) is all that is needed if one is using Callinectes sapidus. Just fold the crab meat, Saltines & egg mix together lightly & let sit 10 -15 minutes before shaping then pan sautee in your favorite butter. Something about the Blue crab's flavor - a certain sweetness with fresh salty brine - that stands on its own. Makes the picking worthwhile. Dungeness seems to benefit from the Stinking Rose treatment but Blue crab just doesn't IMAO.
my only issue with this is the mayonnaise!! I would rather try an emulsion of olive oil, garlic & cilantro for the binder ingredients. I'm also omitting the chives, too many herb flavors going on here, let the crab shine through!! I do like the use of the Panko on the outside only.....will be trying this!!
Hi All, Glad you are enjoying these crab cakes. As many of you pointed out and I mentioned in the recipe, these crab cakes do fall apart as you dunk them from flour, to egg, to panko. Work quickly and don't sweat it if a few pieces fall into the egg or flour (just pick them up and reincorporate the pieces into the cakes). Also, use one hand for dunking into the flour and panko and the other for dunking into the egg. Trust me, the mess is worth it. The reason these are so tasty is that there is no filler (the filler is only on the outside). Chilling the crabmeat before is a good idea. I made about 20 of these the other night. The last few crab cakes that I dunked into the flour, egg, panko were super messy. This recipe is best to make in small batches, but if you are cooking many, just keep going (mess and all). They still taste amazing and will come nicely back together in the pan. Also, if cooking these in large batches, keep adding fresh flour, egg and panko to help prevent/contain the mess. Also, I made mini versions of these crab cakes for my wedding by cooking them all off, then freezing them, and then reheating them. They worked beautifully. Another tip for serving to a large group. Jill
To dafchef. Amen on the Eastern Shore Crab
I make these dudes in August with sweet corn. I pan-fry the corn in cumin and high fat butter, then add corn flour. This is the glue that holds 'em together. My bud's in B.C. send me fresh Dungeness crab and trust me, these are the cakes of the gods. My lady makes fresh mayo from local eggs and I make the Chipotles on my B.B.G. from our own Jalapenos for the yummy sauce. A lot of work...but I'm so retired.
This was delicious! I used an egg and some sour cream in the crab cake mix instead of the aoili to help it hold together and it worked pretty well.
There are way to many herbs in this recipe to taste the delicate flavor of crabmeat. I am an Eastern Shore crab eater and we like to TASTE the crab meat!
This was great...messy as stated but worth it! Made with a roasted red pepper aoili (I'm not big on garlic) and we both loved it!
If having trouble holding together refrig them for an hr prior to cooking.
I use egg as well. still tough to get it to the pan in one piece but if you can manage it, soooo good.
My husband does not like mayo (understatement!) so I use a beaten egg in the crab mix to hold them together.
These crabcakes are extremely fragile. I added some panko to the mix to try to help them stay together. Still extremely crumbly. I'd also cut the lemon to 3/4 the amount as I found the lemon a bit overpowering. Aside from that, good.