Baked Crab Cakes

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These fantastic crispy baked crab cakes are easy to pull together. They're a great appetizer or main dish.

The best crab cakes, Maryland-style crab cakes, only have a little filler so the flavor of the crab shines through!

The seasonings and filler that we add to these cakes are essential though - the egg, mayo, and panko act as a binder, and the seasonings complement the flavor of the crab.

Why You'll Love These Baked Crab Cakes

There are several types of crab cakes you can make, but these are in the style of Maryland crab cakes - meaning they have pieces of crab meat and just a little filler holding them together so the focus is on the flavor of the crab.

This crab cake recipe makes 8 crab cakes which are the perfect size to serve as an appetizer! They can also be served as a main course if you'd like to pair them with a green salad or some asparagus.

Types of Crab Meat

This recipe will work with both fresh lump crab meat and backfin meat from blue crabs. Lump crab meat comes in larger chunks and is white meat. Backfin meat will be smaller pieces and a mix of darker meat from the crab.

Here's more on the types of crab meat if you'd like to learn more. If you are unsure what type of crab meat to use or is currently available, ask someone at the seafood counter at the grocery store or visit your local fishmonger.

One note, unless you live on the East Coast and can get Maryland crabs cheaply, I wouldn't recommend using jumbo lump crab meat (frankly, it's too nice and too expensive to use in crab cakes)! It's also quite large and would need to be broken into smaller pieces to form crab cakes.

If you're on the West Coast, you'll likely have access to fresh Dungeness crab. You can use that for this recipe as well!

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Ingredients You'll Need

Crab - You'll need 1 pound lump crab meat or backfin crab meat to make these crab cakes.

Egg - You'll need 1 egg. This will serve as the base of the binder for the crab cakes.

Mayonnaise - You'll use ¼ cup of mayonnaise as an additional binder for the mixture and to add a bit of creaminess and flavor.

Seasonings - To add flavor to the crab cakes, you'll use 2 tablespoons of finely chopped fresh parsley, 2 teaspoons of dijon mustard, 1 teaspoon of Old Bay Seasoning, 1 teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce, 1 teaspoon of fresh lemon juice, ½ teaspoon of kosher salt, and ¼ teaspoon of ground black pepper.

Bread crumbs - You'll add ½ cup of panko breadcrumbs to give the cakes more heft.

Lemon & Sauce - Serve the crab cakes with a few lemon wedges and a dipping sauce of your choice.

How to Make this Recipe

Prepare the Mixture - Add the egg to a large bowl and whisk it. Then add the mayonnaise, parsley, dijon mustard, Old Bay seasoning, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Whisk till fully combined.  Add in the crab meat and panko breadcrumbs. Gently fold all the ingredients together with a spatula.

Make the Cakes - Press the crab mixture into a ⅓ cup measuring cup and then place crab cakes on a greased baking sheet. The mixture should make 8 cakes.

Refrigerate - Cover the baking sheet with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to 24 hours.

Bake - Preheat oven broiler on high.  Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake crab cakes for 5 to 6 minutes under the broiler. Watch carefully to make sure they are not burning.  Remove the crab cakes from the oven when they are golden brown and crispy. 

Serve - Serve the crab cakes with homemade tartar sauce, remoulade sauce, or cocktail sauce.

More Seafood Recipes to Try

If you love seafood recipes, try some of our other favorites!

• Mediterranean Tuna Salad - a bright and zesty salad perfect for lunch.
• Drunken Mussels - classic white wine mussels that are ready in minutes.
• Grilled Red Snapper - seasoned to perfection, this grilled snapper is lightly spicy.
• Blackened Tilapia Tacos - incredibly flavorful fish tacos.

Tips for Making this Recipe

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Cooking Tips - Make sure to grease your baking sheet with a little cooking spray before placing the crab mixture on it. This will keep the baked crab cakes from sticking to the pan.

Specialty Ingredients - I highly recommend using a good mayo like Duke's Mayonnaise or Hellman's.

Crab Meat Recommendations - Fresh crab meat is always going to taste better, but not all of us have access to that year-round. I used canned crab meat (a mix of backfin meat) to make this recipe and it's still wonderful!

Recommended Tools - You'll need a ⅓ cup measuring cup to portion out the crab cakes.

Storing Tips - You can make the crab cake mixture and store it in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours before baking it. After you've baked the crab cakes, you can save them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Reheat them in the oven or in a frying pan over medium heat on the stove.

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