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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I would eliminate the salt as Old Bay has a lot of salt in it!! This ruined our Very Expensive Crab for our Anniversary dinner! I may make my own Old Bay seasoning from now on so I can control the salt!!
Just made these. Delicious! SO important to chill in the refrigerator before cooking! I chilled for almost 2 hrs. Stayed together perfectly!
I used regular bread crumbs and it was very good!! Thanks !!!
Jenn, my family on my mother’s side were watermen in St. Mary’s county Maryland all the way back, according to church records, at least to the 1700’s, maybe even earlier. I remember having meals with my grandmother and great grandmother in the 50’s having stuffed ham, crab cakes/balls, imperial crab, Oysters, snapping turtle, ducks. geese etc. All that said, I enjoyed your crab cake recipe, but it’s absolutely critical if you want a traditional recipe, the meat needs to be in the same proportion as it picked out of the crab. There is no one who uses just the swimmer meat. To get the sweetness you need clawmeat, again proportionate to the whole crab. Lastly, if you were at my grandmother’s table and tarter sauce came anywhere close to that crabcake you’d have a willow branch on your backside. Ask for Heinz 57 at Ruth Chris and see how that works.
This was a great recipe! We got some really nice jumbo lump crabmeat, and it was just enough binder to hold the crab together. Not a tartar sauce fan, so we made a quick sriracha mayo, which went beautifully. Thanks!
How did you make the sriracha Mayo? Ingredients?
This was so easy to make and the steps were easy to follow they came out amazing! Definitely following more recipes!
I tried this recipe this past weekend. Absolutely delicious! I will make this again. My husband also gave it 5 stars.
BEYOND amazing!!! My 11 year old loves to cook and no longer likes most meats, so really experimenting with seafood. She made this herself and the only addition was about a Tbs of green onion. Simply amazing. We didn’t have relish, so diced some pickles and added in pickled red onion bc we had it….that tartar was amazing as well. We served them on toasted brioche rolls with a side of roasted broccoli and fresh veggies. We ALL want her to make it again tomorrow! YUM!!!
Dear Jenn,
I’ve made these a couple times now and they are absolutely delicious. However, they fall apart in the frying process. I’m following your recipe faithfully! Please advise.
Glad you like them, but sorry you’re having a problem with them falling apart! 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.
As per usual with your recipes Jenn, , these were delicious! Simply perfect in flavour and texture! I’m curious if you have a recipe for Coquilles St. Jacques? Wondered if you have made it, what you typically serve with it?
Thank you for your most delicious guidance!
Hi Anita, So glad you liked the crab cakes! As of now, I don’t have a recipe for Coquilles St. Jacques – I’ll have to add that to my list of recipes to potentially develop. Although I don’t have a recipe for it, because it’s a pretty rich dish, I’d suggest something on the lighter side like roasted asparagus. Hope that helps!
This is an excellent recipe. Simple ingredients, easy to prepare, and delicious. Made it for our party the other day and everyone loved it. I have made crab cakes in the past but these by far the best!