Maryland Crab Cakes

By á-32417

You don’t need to be from the Chesapeake to appreciate a Maryland-style crab cake. With a hint of Old Bay seasoning – which you can omit or substitute with seasoned salt or a pinch of cayenne for added kick – and fresh crab, you can’t go wrong serving these crab cakes for dinner.

If you’re a crab cake aficionado, then you know everyone’s got a preference – things like breadcrumbs vs. crackers in the filling, or sautéing vs. baking vs. frying when you’re cooking. We wouldn’t turn down a crab cake made any of these ways, but this recipe gives instructions on the skillet and in the oven, depending on what you’d like.

To keep the crab cakes from falling apart while you’re cooking them, you’ll want to refrigerate them for a bit before cooking. Keep that prep time in mind when making these crab cakes, and you’ll be good to go.

Ingredients

• 1 pound jumbo lump or backfin lump crabmeat, fresh or pasteurized
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise (or sour cream)
• 1 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 cups breadcrumbs, ideally fresh from white or sourdough bread
• 1/4 cup panko breadcrumbs
• 1 tablespoon freshly chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt
• Lemon wedges for serving

Preparation

Step 1

Decide whether you’d like to sauté or bake the crab cakes. If you want to bake them, preheat the oven for 400 degrees F.

Get a small bowl and whisk the egg, mayonnaise, mustard, Old Bay seasoning (or substitute), lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, and salt. Pour the mixture on top of the crab and gently mix until well-combined – be careful to gently break up lumps with your fingers and not to over-mix.

Add the breadcrumbs and parsley to the mixture, and gently mix them until well combined. You want the mixture to still have a loose, meaty texture – not mashed together too much.

Mold the crab mixture into eight crab cakes – each should be about an inch thick.

If you want to sauté the crab cakes, heat the butter and olive oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat. Once the butter is frothy, add the cakes to the pan and cook on one side for four minutes – about when the underside will be golden-brown. Then, flip the crab cakes and reduce the heat to medium low. Cook the cakes for another four minutes, or until the other side is golden-brown.