Cajun Crab Cakes (No Breadcrumbs)

33 Ratings
  • 5 star values: 25
  • 4 star values: 6
  • 3 star values: 2
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Two of the most crucial ingredients used in New Orleans cooking are Cajun spice and local seafood! Crab has always been my favorite type of shellfish, but I have never really cared much for crab cakes. The overpowering presence of seasoned breadcrumbs used in most recipes interferes with the sweet and delicate flavors of the fresh lump crabmeat. After years of experimenting with many of New Orleans' most famous crab cake recipes, I have created a flavorful, mouth-watering, delicious piece of work! The key is to use a small amount of crumbled crackers instead of breadcrumbs. I hope you enjoy!

By Tracy
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Ingredients

6
Original recipe yields 6 servings
The ingredient list now reflects the servings specified

For the Crab Cakes:

For the Spicy Cajun Dipping Sauce:

Directions

  • Melt butter in a large, heavy skillet over medium heat. Stir in onion; cook and stir until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about 5 minutes.

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  • Stir in the celery, bell pepper, green onion, carrot, and garlic. Continue to cook and stir until vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes more.

  • Season with 1 tablespoon parsley flakes, 2 teaspoons Creole seasoning, basil, pepper, dill weed, oregano, and thyme. Cook and stir until fragrant, 5 minutes more.

  • Transfer cooked vegetables to a large bowl; allow to cool for about 10 minutes. Set skillet aside for later use.

  • Stir the beaten eggs into the vegetables. Mix in the crabmeat and cracker crumbs with your hands, making sure not to break up the chunks of crab too much.

  • Shape the crab mixture into 12 small cakes.

  • Heat vegetable oil in the skillet over medium high heat.

  • Pan-fry the crab cakes in batches until golden brown on each side, about 3 minutes.

  • To make dipping sauce: Whisk together the mayonnaise, chile-garlic sauce, 2 teaspoon Creole seasoning, 2 teaspoon parsley flakes, and paprika.

Cook's Notes:

I recommend using a good-quality food processor to finely chop all vegetables.

Feel free to prepare crab cakes ahead of time. Form into patties and refrigerate. Remove patties from refrigerator about 30 minutes before frying to allow time to reach room temperature. Serve as an appetizer, a side dish, or on top of a pasta dish.

Partner Tip

Reynolds® Aluminum foil can be used to keep food moist, cook it evenly, and make clean-up easier.

Nutrition Facts

Per Serving:
530 calories; 44.2 g total fat; 144 mg cholesterol; 1040 mg sodium. 13.3 g carbohydrates; 21.3 g protein; Full Nutrition

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Reviews (30)

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Most helpful positive review

PM
Rating: 5 stars
02/13/2012
I've tried crab cakes at different restaurants all of my life and can honestly say that I disliked them to the point that I stopped even ordering them anymore. These are delicious! Anyone who tries this recipe will never get them anywhere else again they are the best.
Helpful
(45)

Most helpful critical review

Anonymous
Rating: 3 stars
05/22/2013
I have made this recipe twice: the first time without dipping sauce and I used some fresh parsley I had around and made my own cajun seasoning. It was very good (4.5 stars). The second time I made it according to directions (2.5 stars-- maybe I misread them): dried parsley flakes do not hack it for me; Tony Cachere's seasoning has way too much salt; and I have to believe that there is a typo on the dipping sauce: we could not eat it way too salty. IMHO make it with fresh parsley; add 1/2 lemon's juice cut the Tony Cachere's seasoning in half; use one tsp of basil. Better yet make your own cajun seafood seasoning mix: 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp garlic powder 1/4 tsp black pepper 1/4 tsp white pepper 1/4 tsp cayeene 1/4 tsp crushed peppers (like you use on pizza) 1/4 tsp cumin 1/2 tsp paprika 1/2 tsp thyme 1/4 tsp oregano 1/4 tsp onion powder-- use 1/2 of this mix and add salt judiciously after tasting the final mix before forming the cakes. I don't know what to do about the sauce-- the cakes are so good alone we don't need it anyway. --Bill
Helpful
(2)
33 Ratings
  • 5 star values: 25
  • 4 star values: 6
  • 3 star values: 2
Reviews:
Most Helpful Most Positive Least Positive Newest
PM
Rating: 5 stars
02/13/2012
I've tried crab cakes at different restaurants all of my life and can honestly say that I disliked them to the point that I stopped even ordering them anymore. These are delicious! Anyone who tries this recipe will never get them anywhere else again they are the best.
Helpful
(45)
peacefulone
Rating: 5 stars
03/01/2012
These were fantastic. Even my non seafood eating daughter ate one... and loved it! I formed them and put them under the broiler for a few minutes till they browned nicely and them served them with a spicy remoulade. This method of cooking them was so good that I will probably never try them fried in oil! Who needs the extra calories! By the way the remoulade sace I made can be found on the Food Network: Patrick and Gina Neely's Fried Oysters recipe.
Helpful
(37)
Foracim
Rating: 5 stars
02/05/2012
Delicious! I just so happened to have some Louisiana lump crabmeat in my freezer (moved from New Orleans to Atlanta) that I was saving for something special. Special indeed! Thanks!
Helpful
(31)
greenlight007
Rating: 5 stars
02/13/2012
Tried this yesterday...turned out awesome! The texture along with the crab meat is great! Tastes great after re-heating in a toaster oven too. Thanks!!!
Helpful
(13)
Kara
Rating: 5 stars
03/05/2012
This was really yummy even my 8 year old ate it (with some ketsup of course). It looked like a lot of work with all of the ingredients but it was actually very quick and easy to make up. This is a great weeknight recipe. Next time I will double the recipe (because we had JUST enough and no leftovers for 2 1/2 of us)and I will spice it up a bit (not enough kick).
Helpful
(11)
Tressa Fancher
Rating: 5 stars
02/25/2012
So flavorful with all the spices and you can taste the crab because of the lack of breadcrumbs that are so much a part of other crab cake recipes. I broiled mine and they were light and tasty. I'll try frying and baking in the future just to see what a difference it makes. Thanks for the wonderful recipe!
Helpful
(8)
Beau'sCookin
Rating: 5 stars
03/22/2012
I am gluten free so seeing no breadcrumbs in the title definitely caught my eye. I used gluten free crackers and fried in coconut oil instead of vegetable oil which I believe is bad for you. Other than those two very minor changes to accommodate my eating lifestyle I didn't change a thing. These came out GREAT!! I will be making these again. I took a picture of mine also. It should be available to view soon.
Helpful
(8)
naples34102
Rating: 5 stars
06/23/2013
I must admit I was prepared not to like these. What no mayo? What s with all the herbs? (I used fresh). It also seemed liked an overload of seasoning and way too many vegetables for the small amount of crab. I thought Hubs would appreciate them even less. His sensitive innards would never be able to tolerate all that Sriracha in the sauce I thought. But he said he wasn t interested in having any crab cakes anyway so I proceeded. But he tried them and ended up eating two of them we were both surprised at how much we liked them! So different so flavorful spicy and fresh tasting! Proof that sometimes it pays to go outside of your comfort zone and try something new and different.
Helpful
(8)
just_jam
Rating: 5 stars
08/20/2012
came out super awesome.. didn't even need to use dipping sauce.. i think i like using bread crumbs more but maybe bc it's more uniform and less work.. i forgot the green onions and used fresh cilantro instead of dried parsley.. those were the only differences.. bf had a food-gasm over these.. ty for the recipe =)
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(7)
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