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.
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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.
Lydia
This is the best crab cake recipe I have ever come across, and it’s so easy. I did however up the Old Bay to 2 tsp, and added about 1/4 cup of parsley. I only had claw meat on hand, so i can only imagine how much better they will be with jumbo lump meat.
Chef Dennis Littley
thanks for the great review and comment Lydia. I’m happy to hear you enjoyed the crabcakes and I make them with whatever type of crabmeat I can get. Often I combine lump and claw, my wife actually likes those better.
Robert Butts
I’m going to try your crab cake recipe
Sanna
I’m vegetarian but my son loves crab. He will definitely try this recipe. Thanks
maren
These sound awesome
Magali
I love crab cakes! This recipe sounds yummy!
Amanda
These crab cakes are wonderful! I love how versatile they are in terms of cooking methods, and all your tips were super helpful. Will definitely make these again!
Amy
Oh my…..these look beyond delicious and certainly very doable! It’s Father’s Day in Australia in a couple of weeks and I was looking for something a little different to make and this is awesome. Definitely going to try it and hopefully it looks a perfectly golden brown as yours!
Capri Lilly
These crabcakes tastes phenomenal! Thank you for the easy to follow recipe! My crabcakes turned out delicious!
Andréa Janssen
I don’t know crab cakes very well, because we don’t eat them a lot around here. But these are really delicious. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Taleen | Just As Tasty
I love crab cakes, and these look like they have such great flavor and texture! Thanks for the recipe!
Doug from Massachusetts
The recipe looks great, and i would definitely give it a try. But what impresses me the most is the ability to print the recipe based on the number of portions you intend to make! Thanks, Chef Dennis for the technique and the technology! BTW, the best crab cake i ever had was at the Madison Hotel in D.C. This reminds me of it! (It was $26 for a lunch order 20+ years ago; but that was almost a half-pound of Extra Jumbo Lump)
Chef Dennis Littley
Thanks Doug, it is a nice feature of the recipe card I use. It also converts to metric for other countries.
Janet Wallace
Hello Dennis,
I have a question about the **Notes part after the instructions..
You said if BROILING, place in a dish with some water and BAKE at 350 for 20 minutes. I’m confused here, can you clarify for me? Thanks
And they look delicious, can’t wait to make them.
Chef Dennis Littley
if you are going to bake the crabcakes place them in a baking pan. Add a little water to the pan and bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Hope that helps
DAVID B RICKLY
Cannot wait to create these crab cakes for my visiting brothers! I’m a really good cook, yet I always trust to a real Chef to put me on the right track! Having a Navy Dad I literally was weaned onto Seafood of all types at a young age even eating mussels well before I was ten years old. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and expertise, Chef!
Chef Dennis Littley
It’s a really easy recipe David and can be used as a stuffing mixture for shrimp, lobster or seafood. I hope your brothers enjoy them!
Michele Guindon
Bonjour Chef Dennis
I really need a liquid sauce ( like they would use in NOLA) that i can layer warm crab claws and have them live in the sauce till our Christmas turkey is ready! I am feverishly trying to find more of a liquid floating sauce than a dipping sauce. (Now that I have seen these crab cakes – there are basically zero to bring to the event.) I think I have been able to piece everything together – but all recipes call for red wine. HUH?! Could I not go with a nice white and not worry? Hope to hear from you before this is served lol!!
Chef Dennis Littley
hi Michele
sadly I have never made this type of sauce so I don’t know what to tell you.
Best of luck with your dinner and Merry Christmas
Kristina Savoy
I know it is a year later 😃 but I think a Dijon hollandaise with a hint of honey would be perfect
FoodFlurries.com
Yay! An awesome crabcake recipe!! Thx for sharing.
Chef D
thanks!