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These Easy Crab Cakes with Sriracha Aioli are so good! Crispy on the outside, tender on the inside and full of lump crab meat, these crab cakes make a simple meal on their own or an impressive appetizer.

Crab cakes on a white platter with sriracha aioli and lemon wedges.

Easy Crab Cakes Recipe

Crab Cakes are such a favorite, I love ordering them when I see them on the menu at a restaurant. I also love making them for special occasion dinners, like Christmas Eve or a fancy date night in. Little did I know that they were so easy to make! These just have just 8 ingredients, to let the flavor of the crab really shine

Ingredients for crab cakes: green onions, super lump crab, egg, lemon juice, old bay seasoning, panko breadcrumbs, mayonnaise, Worcestershire sauce, sriracha.

What is the best kind of crab meat to use for crab cakes?

You will want to use Super Lump crab meat or Lump crab meat for the best crab cakes. Super Lump is a mix of jumbo lump and smaller pieces of broken jumbo lump and backfin meat. This will give you great flavor and nice large pieces of crab.

Ingredients

  • Lump Crab Meat. Drain in a mesh sieve and pick over for pieces of shell.
  • mayonnaise
  • lemon juice – fresh squeezed.
  • egg
  • panko breadcrumbs
  • green onions – finely diced.
  • Old Bay seasoning
  • Worcestershire sauce
  • Sriracha (or another hot sauce)

Instructions

  • In a medium bowl, whisk together egg, mayonnaise, green onions, old bay seasoning, sriracha and Worcestershire sauce.
  • Fold in panko breadcrumbs and lump crab meat.
  • Shape into patties – I use an ice cream scoop for easy portioning.
  • Refrigerate uncooked patties for at least one hour before cooking.
  • Meanwhile, make the sriracha aioli. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
  • When ready to cook, heat 1/4 cup canola or other high heat oil in a large frying pan.
  • When oil is hot, arrange 4-5 crab cakes in the frying pan. Allow to fry, undisturbed, or 3-4 minutes, or until golden brown on the bottom. Flip and cook on the other side for another 3 -4 minutes. Remove from pan, repeat with the remaining crab patties.
  • Serve while hot with lemon wedges and sriracha aioli.

How to make the best sauce for crab cakes

Although many people serve tarter sauce with crab cakes, I like to make a simple, two ingredient sriracha aioli for mine. It makes a creamy, slightly spicy sauce that enhances the flavor of the crab cakes and makes them irresistible. You can control the spiciness of the sauce by how much sriracha you put in.

How to make the sriracha aioli: mix 1/4 cup mayonnaise with 1 tablespoon of sriracha. Stir until fully mixed. That’s it! You can make it more spicy by adding more sriracha, or less spicy by adding less.

Crab cakes on a white platter with lemon wedges, green salad and sriracha aioli.

What Keeps Crab Cakes from falling apart?

The trick to keep crab cakes from falling apart is to shape them into patties and then chill them in the fridge for at least one hour before frying them. This allows you to use as little filler as possible and still have the crab patties stay together when cooking.

Stack of three crab cakes in a white plate, topped with sriracha aioli.

Leftovers

Store leftovers in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to two days. They can be reheated in the oven on a baking sheet at 350 degrees for 5-10 minutes, or until just heated through.

Overhead view of crab cake topped with sriracha aioli.

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Easy Crab Cakes

No ratings yet
Prep 15 minutes
Cook 15 minutes
Chilling Time 1 hour
Servings 10 crab cakes

Ingredients 

For Crab Cakes

  • 2 tbsp mayonnaise
  • 1 large egg beaten
  • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
  • 1 pound jumbo lump crab meat drain in a fine mesh sieve and picked over for shells
  • 1 tsp old bay seasoning
  • 1 tsp lemon juice
  • 3/4 cup panko breadcrumbs
  • 3 green onions white and light green parts only, finely diced

For frying

  • 1/4 cup canola oil for frying

For Sriracha Aioli

  • 1/4 cup Mayonnaise
  • 1 tablespoon sriracha

Instructions 

  • In medium bowl, whisk together egg, mayonnaise, green onions, old bay seasoning, sriracha and Worcestershire sauce.
  • Fold in panko breadcrumbs and lump crab meat.
  • Shape into patties – I use an ice cream scoop for easy portioning.
  • Refrigerate uncooked patties for at least one hour before cooking.
  • Meanwhile, make the sriracha aioli. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
  • When ready to cook, heat 1/4 cup canola or other high heat oil in a large frying pan over medium high heat.
  • When oil is hot, arrange 4-5 crab cakes in the frying pan. Allow to fry, undisturbed, or 3-4 minutes, or until golden brown on the bottom. Flip and cook on the other side for another 3 -4 minutes. Remove from pan, repeat with the remaining crab patties. Watch the heat of the pan, reduce heat if crab cakes are browning to quickly.
  • Serve while hot with lemon wedges and sriracha aioli.

Notes

Store leftovers in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to two days. They can be reheated in the oven on a baking sheet at 350 degrees for 5-10 minutes, or until just heated through.

Nutrition

Serving: 1crab cake | Calories: 172kcal | Carbohydrates: 4g | Protein: 10g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 6g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 39mg | Sodium: 534mg | Potassium: 137mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 85IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 39mg | Iron: 1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Did you like this recipe?Please comment, rate and share! And don’t forget to tag me on Instagram @foxandbriar AND #foxandbriar so I can see what you made!
Hello! I’m Meghan.

I am so glad that you are here! I am the recipe developer, photographer, and writer here at my blog Fox and Briar. I am a passionate, self-taught home cook and believe that most things are better homemade and that good food doesn’t need to be complicated.

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2 Comments

  1. Would really have loved to try this recipe but the price of the crabmeat makes it prohibitive for a mere mortal such as myself. First of all couldn’t find it in regular store and then at nearly $20 for a tub….Def. not in my budget. Would love to try old bay seasoning, but again, hard to find. I am in canada.

    1. Hi May, I hear you, it is definitely expensive! I found it at Costco for a better price, but it is more of a special occasion ingredient.