On a recent trek to my tried and true recipe websites, I found an unexpected dinner gem on a site known for its desserts and baked goods.
But the site is so good, I had to go for it. Read on for one of the easiest, tastiest crab cakes that I’ve tried and succeeded in making! (But beware, you’re going to have to get your hands sifting through crab…)
Sally’s Maryland Crab Cakes
Equipment
- 1 baking sheet
- 1 silicon mat
- 1 ¼,⅓, or ½ cup measuring cup
Ingredients
- 1 lb lump crab meat
- 1 large egg
- ¼ c mayonnaise
- 2 tsp dijon mustard
- 2 tsp worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp Old Bay seasoning
- 1 tsp lemon juice plus more for serving
- ⅛ tsp salt
- ⅔ cup Saltine cracker crumbs (about 14 crackers)
- 2 Tbsp butter melted
Instructions
- Remove crab from packaging, and fully inspect for shells, making sure to not break up large lumps of crab. Place in a small bowl, then set aside.
- Whisk the egg, mayo, Dijon, Worcestershire sauce, Old Bay, lemon juice and salt in a large bowl. Place crab meat on top, followed by the cracker crumbs. With a rubber spatula or large spoon, very gently fold together (Don't break up the crab meat!)
- Cover tightly and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, and up to 1 day.
- Preheat oven to 450° F. Prepare a baking sheet with the silicon mat. If a mat is not available, use a rimmed backing sheet greased with butter or non-stick spray.
- Using your chosen measuring cup, portion the crab cake mixture into mounds on the baking sheet. (With a ½ cup, you should get 6 mounds. With a ⅓ cup, you should get 8. With a ¼ cup, you should get 9-10.) Brush each with melted butter.
- Bake for 12-14 minutes, until just browned on the edges and top. Serve warm!
Notes
There are multiple benefits to this particular recipe. First, not a ton of ingredients, and nothing crazy – I had everything except the crab on hand. Second, no oil! No frying! No flipping to brown on both sides, splattering oil all over the place and me! And finally, it’s really tasty – no need for adders like cocktail sauce (though MM rarely turns away cocktail sauce). If you go for the smaller cakes (using the quarter- or third-cup scoop), you’ll get a fair amount of crispy edges, which provides another kick of taste, too.
The most finicky part of this recipe is actually inspecting the crab – going through each bit to see if there are any shells or whatever could be part of the crab that you don’t want to eat. And you have to do it with your hands!
That’s where I typically have trouble maintaining the large chunks of crab meat that I want. You can see in the picture that I haven’t been too successful, but by the time I’m eating the finished product, I don’t really care that much!
The downside is that the mixture tastes better with time – the original recipe says to put the mixture in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. I’ve had best results in terms of taste making the recipe the night before. Which means it requires a bit more forethought. Though, to be fair, 30 minutes is good enough in a pinch.
Go. Go now. Get some crab from your grocery store, thaw it if you need to, and get to having some awesome crab cakes!