My Jersey Shore Famous Crab Cakes Recipe is made with very little filler and lightly seasoned with old bay, cooked to a golden brown. Every bite is packed with crab meat, and the best part is these delicious crab cakes can be on your dinner table in about 30 minutes.
Whether you serve them at your next date night or dinner party these crab cakes are guaranteed to be the hit of the night!
Ingredients to make Crab Cakes
Let’s start by gathering the ingredients we need for my crabcakes. In Chef Speak, this is called the Mise en Place, which translates into Everything in its Place.
Not only does setting your ingredients up ahead of time speed the cooking process, but it also helps ensure you have everything you need to make the dish.
How to Make the Best Crab Cakes
- Mix all the ingredients for the crabcakes together, being careful not to break up the lumps of crab meat.
- Mix the ingredients for the imperial sauce together in another bowl
Some recipes call for a little Dijon mustard in the imperial sauce, feel free to add a teaspoon to the recipe, I sometimes do.
- Add the imperial sauce to the mixture.
If you like this recipe, you will absolutely love my Crab Imperial Recipe.
- Gently mix the ingredients together, being careful not to break up the big lumps too much.
Refrigerate the mixture for 30 minutes to give the bread crumbs time to absorb the liquids.
- Shape the mixture into portions (feel free to make them as big or small as you like)
- Dust the crabcakes with a light coating of breadcrumbs. You can use seasoned breadcrumbs, unseasoned bread crumbs, panko bread crumbs, or cracker crumbs for this crab cake recipe.
*You can even skip the breadcrumbs if you’re cutting back on carbs and simply broil the crab cakes.
- Add the crabcakes to a hot pan with a little cooking oil to saute the crab cakes.
- Gently turn them over and saute the other side.
- Place the finished crab cakes on a baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 20 -25 minutes or until an internal temperature of at least 165 degrees is reached.
If they do break apart, you can squeeze them back together gently to reform them. This recipe can also be used for crabcake sliders.
This post includes affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Using a digital instant-read thermometer will help you cook the perfect crab cakes and check the temperatures of everything you cook.
Do I have to put onions and peppers in my crab cakes?
No, you don’t. True Maryland-style crab cakes would not contain either. I like added flavor that the onions give, but in all honesty, the peppers and fresh parsley are just for color.
What type of crab meat can I use to make crab cakes?
Be aware of what part of the world the crab meat is coming from, crabs from the east coast of the US and Gulf of Mexico produce the best crab meat. Crabs from other parts of the world have a different flavor and may come from questionable waters.
The source of crab meat can be from any part of the world that has crabs and includes varieties such as Blue Swimming, Dungeness, Snow, King, and of course, my favorite, Blue Claw (blue swimming is not the same as blue claw).
- Jumbo lump
- Lump
- Backfin
- Claw
- Imitation crab meat
How do I make Old Bay Seasoning?
If you can’t find Old Bay at your local grocery store, it’s easy enough to make at home.
- 1 tablespoon celery salt
- 2 teaspoons ground bay leaves
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1 ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ¼ teaspoon allspice
- 1 teaspoon dry mustard
- 1 pinch nutmeg
- 1 pinch cinnamon
- 1 pinch ginger
If you’d rather not make the seasoning, you can always use the recipe as a guideline and use seasonings that you enjoy eating with seafood.
Do I have to fry the crab cakes?
No, you don’t. They bake up nicely with or without the final bread crumb coating and will cook nicely in an Air-Fryer.
Then it’s just a matter of serving them up with your favorite side dish and enjoying a restaurant-style dinner that would have cost you a lot more if you had gone to eat. Serve with lemon wedges, tartar sauce, or hot sauce, and enjoy the Best Crab Cakes you’ll ever make at home!
Quick tarter sauce recipe
You can whip together a delicious homemade tartar sauce in a matter of minutes. Simply blend 1 cup mayonnaise, 1 tablespoon sweet pickle relish, 1 teaspoon prepared yellow mustard, and 1 teaspoon lemon juice. If you’re feeling fancy, add 1 teaspoon of chopped capers and any of your favorite herbs. With these additions, you’ve made a basic remoulade.
Recipe FAQ’s
You can either bake or fry these crabcakes. My personal preference is to saute them because I can cook them long enough to get a good color and freeze them for later dinners when I don’t feel like cooking. But if you’re trying to save calories, baking them is a good option.
Refrigerating the crabcakes before cooking is the secret to keeping them from falling apart while they’re cooking. Make sure to cover the uncooked crabcakes with plastic wrap and chill them for one to three hours before cooking.
Too much filler will result in mush crabcakes. You should only use just enough bread crumbs to help hold the crab cakes together.
Crab cake filler is generally bread crumbs but can also be made with saltine cracker crumbs and unsalted cracker crumbs.
More Crabmeat Recipes You’ll Love!
Jumbo Lump Crab Cakes
Ingredients
Imperial Sauce
- ½ cup Hellmann's mayonnaise
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
- 1 dash Worcestershire sauce
- 1 squeeze fresh lemon juice
Crab cakes
- 1 lb crab meat jumbo lump, lump or claw, wild caught
- 1 tablespoon onions finely chopped (optional)
- 1 tablespoon roasted red peppers or fresh red peppers finely chopped finely chopped (optional)
- 1 tablespoon Italian parsley finely chopped
- ¼ cup seasoned bread crumbs or plain bread crumbs
Instructions
Imperial Sauce
- In small bowl add the mayonnaise, and egg and mix together well. Then add the sugar, Old Bay, Worcestershire and lemon juice, mix well.
Crab cakes
- Mix crab meat, chopped parsley, onion, and peppers together. Gently mix them do not break up lump crab meat.
- Add the imperial sauce to the crab meat and mix together gently, add the bread crumbs and work them into the mixture.
- Allow this mixture to sit for about 10 minutes, the bread crumbs will soak up any extra liquid so you can easily form the crab cakes
- Divide the crab meat mixture into 8 small or 4 large crabcake
- If you are frying the crab cakes, lightly coat the crab cake in panko bread crumbs, and sauté in olive oil until golden brown on both sides. Place in a baking dish and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.If you'd prefer you can also bake them in a 350-degree oven for about 20 minutes. With or without the panko bread crumb exterior.
Chris's Gourmet Fashion
I love crabcakes and yours look delicious. The touch of Worcestershire with the lemon sounds really good. Great photos too!
Elin
Chef Dennis…one action word 'drooling' 🙂 that carbcake looks good and if I can get jumbo crabmeat I would want to make the same like yours !!!! So what can I say except I am drooling and getting hungry pangs !!! Thanks for sharing the recipe and the food porn sites. Will check them out 🙂
Weather here is bad…haze caused by the fire in Borneo and Sumatra 🙁 Have a wonderful summer,
Elin
All That's Left Are The Crumbs
Your crab cakes look amazing and I have never heard of Imperial Sauce, so I am looking forward to trying it. Thanks as always for your generosity in sharing your knowledge. I think we would find it hard to find a person who has not benefited in some way with all that you do.
Ann
I am deathly allergic to crab, but – believe it or not – I've made a decent chicken crab-style cake….it was delicious! I used roasted chicken in it's place and enjoyed it very much!
Thanks for a great post and more sites to check!
Amy's Cooking Adventures
Thank you so much for the wonderful resources, Chef Dennis – I'm checking them out now! (and your crab cakes make me want to forget that I don't care for seafood – and that's saying something!)
Rebecca from Chow and Chatter
great crab cake recipe and your right so hard to get wild caught from US waters
Baking Serendipity
Crabcakes are one of my mom's favorites. This recipe reminded me of her! And, thanks for the link line-up. Some I'm unfamiliar with. Will definitely have to check them out in my extra time this summer 🙂
Kathleen
Hey Chef Dennis! Your crab cakes look and sound fabulous!! I just started following your blog. Nice to meet you 🙂
Nancy
Hi Chef Dennis!!
It has been WAY too long since I have stopped by but I am so glad that I did! These crab cakes are gorgeous and if I am not mistaken I "think" I see some of your beloved zucchini blossoms in the photo!!
The sites you posted are new to me and I can't wait to check them out – thank you so much for sharing them with us all!!
Christine's Pantry
I was thinking about making crab cakes today, but didn't have all the ingredients, and didn't make it to the store. Seeing your recipe, makes me want to go to the store. I'm going to try your recipe. Looks wonderful! Yummy!
Torviewtoronto
these crab cakes are making me want to make some soon delicious looking presentation Dennis
thank you for the tips and post
regards
Lisa {Authentic Suburban Gourmet }
I adore crab cakes and keeping them simple is a great rule of thumb. I made some last weekend with a green godess dressing that was very tasty. Happy Wednesday!!
janet@cupcakestocaviar
Dennis, you should come cook for me. I'm a poor pitiful put upon stay at home mom who needs food and these look delicious. 😛
Cassie @ Bake Your Day
So mouthwatering! We have been eating crab cakes a lot lately, perfect for this weather and your sauce sounds so wonderful!
kitchenarian
These crabcakes are beautiful. Thanks for all the information on the foodie sites. I definitely need to check them out.