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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Very excited to try these have just put them in the fridge to chill. Also was lazy and used Always Fresh tinned crab meat, Im sure its not as good as fresh meat. Also just a tip I found was to use a heaped 1/2 cup to scoop the mixture onto the baking tray made exactly 6 and it saves you from getting messy hands and you get a nice round crab cake.
Mrz Cracker-
i used your idea of putting the crab mixture into the 1/2 Cup for measuring…worked to a tee! Put it in, lightly smashed it down, then hit the bottom of the measuring cup with my fist and they all came out perfect! Thanks for the tip! My hands didn’t get dirty once during this step!
I made these for my mom and I toight. I was a little frustrated because they would not stay together when I was shaping them into the cakes, and then they began falling apart in the oil. This was annoying since I had followed teh recipe exactly.
My mom also thought that they would be good as “meatball/appetizer bites.”
Hi Liz, Sorry you had trouble getting the crab cakes 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.
Liz, There become hard to stick together because there’s very little filler. I only use 1 T mayo and 1 T yellow mustard, mixed with 1 egg, Old Bay, Parsley and 2 pieces of chopped white bread. One trick to making them stick, is to refrigerate them for at least 1 hour before frying. Or, broil them which doesn’t require handling or flipping. And yes, you can make them into small “crab balls!”
I am a Maryland girl, born and raised, and I LOVE crab cakes. I like using chopped green pepper instead of celery, and I coat them before frying in either flour or seafood coating, They turn out beautifully golden brown, does not really add to the filling, just makes them stay together, and not fall apart
Thanks for the tartar recipe as well, much better than from a jar, yum!
I am curious….why the no to the celery? It’s fine to say no, but even better to explain why 😉
Folks are saying “no” to the celery because it’s not traditional. I’ve lived in “slower, lower” DE all my life & was raised eating crabs, crab cakes & soft shell crabs. w/ crab cakes, less added is more… This was originally a rustic dish not a high-brow fancy one, thus the suggestions of white bread crumbs & yellow, not dijon mustard. But I say, every recipe is open to interpretation & today dijon mustard & panko are available in most home kitchens & every grocery store… This recipe undoubtedly benefits from the swaps, they just deviate from the “old school” recipe…
Thanks this is my favorite seafood dish….what brand/type of crab to use…..I agree that a little finely minced celery is great addition
Hi Marva, I don’t have a particular brand that I always buy…sometimes I get it at Whole Foods and other times I get it at the Maine Ave fish market downtown.
This sounds fantastic! I am DEFINITELY gonna try this as my soon to be husband is a FANATIC when it comes to crab cakes. HIS FAVORITE food! I had never eaten them before due to the fact that I didn’t like salmon patties. However, I now LOVE LOVE LOVE them. Only have eaten store bought since we do live in the N.east Ga. Mtns. Therefore, I don’t know how to find fresh crab around this area. What brand/type of crab should I buy for this recipe that will make mine taste just as delicious as these and I SAY YES to the celery… the ones we eat have small amounts of celery as well as small amounts of onion. 🙂 Just sayin… my opinion. THANKS FOR THIS RECIPE!!! 🙂
Sounds wonderful! Going in my recipe file!
I can’t wait to make these. The recipe sounds yummy!!
I agree about no celery and fresh bread for authentic md crab cakes. the simpler the tastier it is. We don’t use parsley. Traditional to eat them with saltine crackers.
My Maryland born husband and brother to a professional Annapolis seafood chef says.. NO to celery and use only fresh bread crumbs instead of panko. He also thinks good old yellow mustard is best, but doesn’t realize that my crab cakes, which he loves and thinks are better than his brother’s, include dijon like yours. shhhhhhh and I also add a small amount of finally diced sweet vidalia onion.
I usually sauté my cakes in half butter/half oil. The butter adds some wonderful flavor, the oil tempers the butter so it doesn’t burn.
Grew up on the Chesapeake and dad was a commercial crabber. Agree with everyone above that says NO on the celery, regular mustard is fine. We never added any bread filler at all but I guess a tiny bit wouldn’t hurt. We used plain old flour to coat the outside.
Looks great. I was wondering if you could use salmon or would that be too soft?
Hi Simone, I’ve never tried this recipe with salmon but I think your instincts are right about it being too soft. Hope that helps 🙂
This WILL work great with salmon, I do it all the time, just drain off one can of the salmon juices and use the other in the recipe. This will make it stick together better, and coat it with with either flour or seafood coating before frying, also helps to prevent falling apart. The flavor and taste are awesome.
gotta try
Simone: My grandmother taught me to make salmon cakes using mashed potatoes and following the same crabcake recipe. Dip the salmon cakes in flour before frying in your favorite cooking oil.
Arlene, my mom used to make the salmon cakes with potatoes all the time. I loved those! So sad, she hasn’t made them in years though. I might have to try those salmon cakes using this recipe. Thanks for the suggestion
Has any one tried fresh crab meat.You do not have to use any any thing and the meat holds together——–Ony fresh