This salad is delicious. We made two versions. We tweaked the ‘made recipe as written’ by subbing 1 tbsp Stevia in the Raw for the sugar and used fresh Italian parsley (probably closer to a tablespoon than a teaspoon). The 2nd version took the ‘made recipe as written’ and added about 1/8 teaspoon curry powder and 1/8 heaping teaspoon cayenne pepper powder. We felt the version with curry and cayenne took an already outstanding crab salad to an even higher level. While this was not tried, you might be able to cut the Hellmann’s mayo to 1/4 cup without sacrificing any taste while eliminating some fat. Rather than use crackers, we had this for lunch. We laid 3-4 romaine lettuce leaves on a 10 inch flour tortilla, spooned on the crab salad, and then wrapped them. Makes for a quick and easy lunch!! A really great recipe, Mel . . . and yes, we didn’t make enough.
I signed up just to review this recipe because this is now my favorite thing to eat! From the start, I substituted Old Bay for the sugar - there's enough sweetness in the crab already - and it worked out great. I use equal amounts of light mayo, fat free sour cream, and light ranch, just enough to coat the crab, not gloopy. I also use a ton more celery and parsley and add some finely chopped green onion.
Don't skimp on the fresh parsley!!! When you first taste it, you should think "Wow, I added way too much parsley." If you don't, add more. As it sits overnight, the flavors combine and the parsley really makes the crab flavors pop, and balances out the green onion in a beautiful way.
I struggled a bit at first with getting the crab to the right size. I tried chopping it, then tearing it by hand, and finally tried a potato masher, and this makes it so simple! Now, I just dump the crab in the bottom, throw the rest of the ingredients on top, then mash it to break up the crab, while thoroughly combining all the other ingredients. So easy and delicious!
Excellent flavor consistency and visual appeal. I'm not very keen on the light Ranch but it adds kind of tangy zip to this. I followed the recipe exactly and it does remind me of the Golden Corral recipe but I know this is low fat. Oh I also used reduced fat Helmans Mayo 15 cal a tbls. So it's pretty low fat too.
I've made this twice in 4 days it was that good! I followed the recipe exact and it was really good. The next time I made a few changes based on other reviews and a few of my own and somehow it was even better! I scaled the mayo back to 1/4 cup (used Hellman's light) and also added about 1/8 cup of light sour cream. I used about 2 tsp of parsley and 3/4 cup celery. I added a couple dashes of cayenne pepper and about 1/8 cup shredded mild cheddar cheese. The sour cream subdued the mayo flavor a bit which I prefer. The cayenne and small amount of cheese gave it a nice little kick. Follow the recipe to a T or make some small tweaks to suit your tastes like I did either way its delicious!!
My search for the perfect crab salad is over. I've made this several times and the only thing I've changed is cutting back the mayo to 1/4 cup. Definitely a keeper. Filed under my TNT folder.
how can anything this good be this easy? HEY I'm almost a food snob...ALMOST ok I used equal amounts sour cream mayo and ranch dressing. it was difficult to allow this to conjugate all night but never interrupt a love fest:) I did use all ingredients and then added some Cajun seasonings wrapped in romaine lettuce and added some Italian shredded cheese. my snob card has been officially cancelled. thanks mis7up!
I needed 5# of crab salad. I bought two 2.5lb. imitation crab flakes from Sam's. Quickly found out that I did not have the patience to pull the flakes apart so I stacked the layers and sliced diagonal strips with a sharp knife and set aside. I mixed all the other ingredients in small mixing bowl. Used Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing as that is my favorite ranch dressing. I also add sour cream for additional creaminess. I diced the celery as small as possible by hand as I love the flavor and coloring but did not want it to overpower the texture and flavor of the salad. I stacked the celery stalks 4 at a time cut it into thin strips and then another thin cut across about 4 inches at a time down the entire stalk. All ingredients were in proportion to the 5 lbs. of crab. Due to the amount of salad I was making I layered first the crab and then the creamy dressing in a large mixing bowl mixing after each layer. Refrigerated overnight. Flavorful and an excellent choice for one of my three contributions to the family get together for Christmas Day Dinner.
DELICIOUS! I mixed up a half batch of this to make a sandwich filling for the girls for lunch and they absolutely LOVED it! I couldn't quit taking 'tastes' of it and ended up eating the rest w/ pretzels...I can see why your daughter doesn't wanna share lol. This is a keeper YUM! Thanks for sharing Mel!:)
