Easy Maryland Crab Cakes
My grandmother is from Crisfield, MD. It’s known locally as “The Crab Capital of the World” thanks to the abundance of blue crabs found in our very own Chesapeake Bay. My grandmother moved away eventually, but not so far that she couldn’t take me to visit on the regular. Family reunions and random day trips made for a large part of my childhood. So did eating lots and lots of crab dishes and learning a ton of family crab recipes.
Maryland Style Crab Cakes
With so many recipes, you’d think my favorite would be something fancy like crab etouffee or even crab soup. But no, my favorite is the simple, no frills, crab cake. Simple but oh so delicious, especially when using fresh lump crab meat. I get mine from the local seafood dealer, but if you have the patience, you can pick your own.
There are a lot of recipes that will tell you to use bread crumbs, but this isn’t one of them. I find them completely unnecessary and with the omission of them and the bun, these are keto-friendly crab cakes! All you need are 5 simple ingredients and a bit of oil for frying. These are delicious served plain, but you can add tartar sauce or any other condiments you prefer.
I managed to get 7 crabcakes out of this mixture but if you need more you can make them smaller. Be sure to work in batches and don’t overcrowd your pan.
Easy Maryland Crab Cakes
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp. vegetable oil
- 1 lb. lump crab meat (claw preferred)
- 2 tbsp. mayonnaise
- 1 tsp. yellow mustard
- 1 egg
- 2 tbsp. Old Bay seasoning (more or less to taste)
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large, heavy frying pan.
- Mix together the remaining ingredients.
- Using a spoon, scoop up about 1/4 cup of the mixture, and carefully drop into the pan. Press with a spatula and form into a patty.
- Fry until the bottom forms a crust. Flip and fry the other side until a crust forms. About 4 minutes on each side.
- Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate to drain off excess grease.
Notes
Fry the crabcakes in batches of 3 or 4 and make sure not to overcrowd your pan.
