Maryland Crab Cakes with Quick Tartar Sauce
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A Maryland staple, these crab cakes are made from fresh lump crab meat and just enough filler to bind the crabmeat together.
Photo by Alexandra Grablewski (Chronicle Books, 2018)
When you live in Maryland, eating Chesapeake blue crabs and crab cakes is practically a religion—and, in my family, we are all loyal devotees. Every summer, we hit all of our favorite crab shacks, from local joints all the way to the Eastern shore, where you can look out over the bay and put your feet in the sand.
I’d never attempt making steamed blue crabs at home. Live crabs, giant steamers—yikes! But I do often make crab cakes, which are just as delicious and easier to prepare (not to mention eat). The key is using fresh lump crabmeat and just enough filler to bind the crabmeat together. I love them with tartar sauce, but you could also serve them with lemon wedges or cocktail sauce. Don’t forget the peel-and-eat shrimp, hush puppies, and cornbread.
Table of Contents
What You’ll Need To Make Maryland Crab Cakes
It’s very important to use fresh, good-quality lump crab meat. Look for fresh-off-the-boat crab meat, which is sold in a clear plastic container, usually resting on ice in the seafood department. It’s expensive, but one pound is enough to make six generous crab cakes (or 12 mini ones).
If fresh lump crab meat is not available, the second-best option is refrigerated crab meat, such as Phillip’s, which is readily available year-round. Avoid shelf-stable canned crab meat, which contains additives that affect the taste and texture of the meat. (For a less expensive alternative to crab cakes, or when fresh crab meat is not in season, try fresh salmon cakes.)
Note that celery is not traditional in Maryland crab cakes, but I love the little crunch it adds; feel free to leave it out if you’re a purist.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Make the Crab Cakes
To begin, combine the eggs, mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire, Old Bay, salt, celery, and parsley in a bowl.
Mix well to combine.
Add the crab meat (be sure to check the meat for any hard and sharp cartilage) and panko.
Gently fold the mixture together until just combined, being careful not to shred the crab meat.
Shape into 6 large crab cakes (about ½ cup each) and place on a baking sheet. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. This is really important to help the crab cakes set.
Preheat a large nonstick pan to medium heat and coat with oil. When the oil is hot, place crab cakes in the pan and cook until golden brown, about 3 to 5 minutes.
Flip and cook 3 to 5 minutes more, or until golden. Be careful as the oil may splatter.
Make the Tartar Sauce
Combine the mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, sweet pickle relish, red onion, lemon, salt, and pepper in a small bowl.
Whisk well, then cover and chill until ready to serve.
Video Tutorital
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Maryland Crab Cakes with Quick Tartar Sauce
A Maryland staple, these crab cakes are made from fresh lump crab meat and just enough filler to bind the crabmeat together.
Ingredients
For the Crab Cakes
- 2 large eggs
- 2½ tablespoons mayonnaise, best quality such as Hellmann's or Duke's
- 1½ teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup finely diced celery, from one stalk
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley
- 1 pound lump crab meat (see note below)
- ½ cup panko
- Vegetable or canola oil, for cooking
For the Quick Tartar Sauce
- 1 cup mayonnaise, best quality such as Hellmann's or Duke's
- 1½ tablespoons sweet pickle relish
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon minced red onion
- 1-2 tablespoons lemon juice, to taste
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
For the Crab Cakes
- Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil for easy clean-up.
- Combine the eggs, mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire, Old Bay, salt, celery, and parsley in a large bowl and mix well. Add the crab meat (be sure to check the meat for any hard and sharp cartilage) and panko; using a rubber spatula, gently fold the mixture together until just combined, being careful not to shred the crab meat. Shape into 6 cakes (each about ½ cup) and place on the prepared baking sheet. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. This helps them set.
- Preheat a large nonstick pan over medium heat and coat with oil. When the oil is hot, place the crab cakes in the pan and cook until golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes per side. Be careful as oil may splatter. Serve the crab cakes warm with the tartar sauce.
For the Quick Tartar Sauce
- In a small bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, relish, mustard, onion, and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Cover and chill until ready to serve.
- Make-Ahead Instructions: The crab cakes can be formed, covered, and refrigerated a day ahead of time before cooking. The tartar sauce can be made and refrigerated up to 2 days in advance.
- Note: If you can only find jumbo lump crab meat, you may need to break the pieces up a bit. If the clumps are too large, the crab cakes won't hold together well.
- Note: The nutritional information does not include the tartar sauce.
Pair with
Nutrition Information
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- Serving size: 2 crab cakes
- Calories: 299
- Fat: 14 g
- Saturated fat: 3 g
- Carbohydrates: 9 g
- Sugar: 1 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 32 g
- Sodium: 1141 mg
- Cholesterol: 275 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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Delicious but I would add more bread crumbs and less mayonnaise the next time.
I have made these twice and both times fantastic. I made them with jumbo lump tonight (bought by mistake) and I have to say- with the addition of probably 1/4 c breadcrumbs because I could see they weren’t binding as well (again, my fault)- they were just as delicious. My entire family went nuts for them. Thank you for another great recipe.
The best crab cake recipe! I have made these a few times now, and this is definitely the only recipe I will use. Thank you!
Hi
Made these crab cakes and followed the recipe but couldn’t keep them looking pretty in crabcake form fell apart didn’t come together at all.
Will make them again because the taste is so good but would rather they look good too rather than hash like
Hi Sara, Sorry you had trouble getting them to hold together. Did you use jumbo lump crab meat? Sometimes if the lumps are too large, they can be hard to form into cakes. You don’t want to shred the meat, but smaller lumps work best. Hope that helps.
After I reviewed this delicious recipe a few days ago, I wondered how the same ingredients would taste using shrimp or mild white fish like tilapia and pollock. Happily I can report that whether it’s a fish cake, shrimp cake or crab cake… this recipe is delicious.
Shrimp, like crab, as one doesn’t shred with gentle handling so it represented lump crab better than the white fish. Tilapia and pollock fell apart easily, but that didn’t take away from the delicious flavor.
I want to try salmon and cod next. Btw, successfully cooking these in oil in a pan gave me confidence to try Jen’s “restaurant-style Salmon she emailed a week or so ago. Delicious!!
I tried this yesterday. My husband and I loved it. Prep was quick and easy and the crab cakes were delish. I’ve been recommending it to family and friends.
I am making today. Just want to know if I can bake instead of fry
Sure, Doreen – that will work. Enjoy!
This is the second time I’ve made these. Last time the Old Bay made them much too salty. This time I omitted the Old Bay. For me and us, perfect! Other than the Old Bay I followed the recipe exactly. Next time I might add some finely diced onions but that’s just me tinkering. We aren’t tarter sauce fans so instead we have small bowls of 1000 Island dressing cocktail sauce along with. I prefer these on their own.
Great recipe, Jenn. Well done!
Made these for Valentine’s day dinner and my husband said these are the best crabcakes he had ever tried! He orders them at restaurants all the time, so he should know. They truly were delicious!
I did half the recipe and made 4 crabcakes, 2 for each. Also, instead of mayo I used mashed avocado (both in the crabcake and for the sauce). To die for! Will make these many more times for sure!
I live in the U.K. Old Bay seasoning is not available here ( at least I haven’t seen it).
What else can I use as an alternative? V.T.
Hi Vicky, I don’t know of a great substitute for Old Bay but it’s easy to make your own. Here’s a recipe. Hope that helps!