These Maryland crab cakes get the stamp of approval from locals and out-of-towners alike. This classic lump crab cake recipe combines the flavors of lemon, parsley, and Old Bay seasoning, but the most flavor comes from the crab meat itself. For the best texture, use lump crab meat, very little filler, and bake the cakes in a very hot oven.
I’ve lived in Maryland for over half my life and say with 100% honesty that crab cakes are as essential as the air this state breathes. My husband was born and raised here and has crab-feasting down to a science. Crab isn’t just food, it’s a way of life here. I’ve served these particular crab cakes to locals and out-of-towners alike, all of whom rave about the recipe. I’m really proud of it and am so excited to share these Maryland crab cakes with you!
One reader, Lois, commented: “I am 65 years old and from southern Maryland. I have finally found the BEST crab cake recipe ever! I have tried many over the years, but this is the one! My husband and I have these for dinner twice a month. I don’t like ordering crab cakes out at restaurants anymore, because I know I can make these at home, and they always taste amazing… ★★★★★”
Another reader, Annie, commented: “Oh my! I live in Ohio and I’ve never had the opportunity to get a real Maryland crab cake. I decided to make this recipe and I’m telling you, it is the best crab cake I’ve ever had. I love crab cakes but living in the Midwest, I rarely find a crab cake that’s worth eating at a restaurant. So glad I found your recipe. ★★★★★”
I’ve also published solid recipes for Maryland crab soup as well as crab dip!
Overview: How to Make Maryland Crab Cakes
Crab cakes make a wonderful main dish or even as a sandwich on a toasted bun. If shaped smaller, mini crab cakes are a fabulous finger food. With this recipe, you can be confident that you ALWAYS have a quick dinner recipe in your back pocket, as well as an impressive crowd-pleasing appetizer. They make great leftovers, too.
The full written recipe is below, but here’s an overview.
- Whisk the flavors and binders together.
- Add the crab meat & filler.
- Very gently mix together: Fold the ingredients together slowly and carefully. If over-mixed, the lump crab meat will break apart.
- Refrigerate for 30 minutes: This is a key step in the recipe. Make sure the crab cake mixture is cold before you shape it into individual cakes. There is little filler in this recipe, so the cakes will fall apart if the mixture is not refrigerated before cooking.
- Grease baking pan & preheat oven. The oven gets pretty hot, so I don’t recommend using parchment paper. Grease the pan or use a silicone baking mat.
- Portion into cakes: Use a 1/2 cup measuring cup to scoop and portion out the mixture. Form into individual cakes. Place on the greased baking sheet.
- Bake: Bake the cakes on very high heat for about 12–14 minutes.
Baking vs. Sautéing: Some cook crab cakes on the stove, but I prefer the baking method. When cooked on the stove, crab cakes are often flattened into patties so the center cooks. For thick jumbo-style crab cakes, I recommend baking them in the oven at a high temperature. They cook very quickly and remain extra plump.
Types of Crab Meat
- Jumbo Lump: Jumbo lump crab meat is off-white and comes from the crab’s swimmer fin muscles. Crabs only have 2 of these muscles, so you need a lot of crabs to make a serving of jumbo lump crab meat. This is why it’s the most expensive type. It’s very sturdy and is wonderful served alone or as a topping for dishes or salads.
- Lump: Lump crab meat is also off-white, but a bit smaller than jumbo lump. It’s still very sturdy and flavorful. It comes from the body of a crab and is ideal for chunky crab cakes.
- Backfin: Backfin crab meat, also known as flake crab meat, is off-white too. It also comes from the body of a crab. The term “backfin” can also include the broken pieces of lump crab meat. It’s flakier than big lumps of crab meat.
- Claw: Claw meat is darker than the other types of crab meat. It’s not as sweet, but it has a stronger flavor. Claw meat is the least expensive and is ideal for soups, dips, and stews.
Best Crab Meat for Crab Cakes
The Chesapeake Bay is home to Maryland’s famous blue crabs. Opinions vary on what the best-tasting crab variety is, and it’s usually determined by where you live. Maryland crabs are known for their delicately sweet, buttery flavor, and Dungeness crabs, found on the West Coast, are known for their impressive size and meatier texture. If you aren’t steaming your own crabs for crab meat, let me help you navigate which crab meat is best for crab cakes.
Whichever crab variety you use, make sure you purchase crab meat labeled “hand-picked” or “fresh-picked,” which means that the crab meat has been picked through for shells and cartilage. (Still, it’s good practice to gently run your hands through the meat for any hard cartilage remnants.)
Crab meat sold out of the shell has been cooked and can be consumed. It’s very rare to find raw crab meat sold out of the shell—it’s almost always cooked before it’s picked out of the shell. At the market, you can find canned, frozen, or fresh (refrigerated) crab meat. Unrefrigerated canned crab meat doesn’t have an ideal flavor for crab cakes. If you need to use canned, look for canned crab meat in the refrigerated section of your market. The fresher the crab meat, the better the crab cake will taste. Ask your grocer where to find the freshest crab meat in the store. I purchase fresh crab meat sold in a 1-pound tub from the seafood counter in my grocery store. Sometimes the tubs are behind the glass or found on ice next to the seafood counter.
For the absolute best crab cake (and crab dip!), I recommend using lump crab meat or a mix of lump crab meat and backfin meat. Lump crab meat guarantees those big, mouthwatering bites of crab. Don’t worry, all the other ingredients are pretty inexpensive.
Ingredients in Maryland Crab Cakes
Let’s walk through each ingredient so you understand its importance. While there are a few flavorful and binding ingredients, the real star of this crab cake is the crab itself. These flavors and binders simply enhance the true taste of crab.
- Egg: Egg is the main binding ingredient in crab cakes.
- Mayonnaise: Mayonnaise is another binding ingredient. I don’t like mayonnaise and I LOVE these crab cakes, so if you aren’t a mayo person, don’t worry. You can’t taste it.
- Fresh Parsley: Fresh herbs are a MUST in crab cakes. Sometimes recipes or restaurants use dill, but fresh parsley is most common. If needed, you can use dried parsley.
- Dijon Mustard: Dijon mustard is another must-have ingredient in crab cakes. I don’t recommend any other type of mustard—just dijon.
- Worcestershire Sauce: Just a small amount provides big flavor, just as it does in chicken meatballs, black bean burgers, and beer cheese dip.
- Old Bay Seasoning: What is Maryland crab without locally made Old Bay seasoning???
- Lemon Juice & Salt: Fresh, balancing flavors.
- Crab Meat: The leading role in the whole recipe.
- Cracker Crumbs: Drumroll please… the filler in this crab cake recipe is cracker crumbs. There is so much debate on what the best filler is and, trust me, some of the best crab cakes are made with CRACKERS! See more below.
Since we’re baking the crab cakes and not sautéing them in butter or oil, brush the cakes with a little melted butter prior to baking. This tiny addition gives them that unmistakeable restaurant flavor. When they come out of the oven, squeeze a little lemon juice on top!
Crab Cake Filler
While we have binding ingredients like mayonnaise and egg, crab cakes need a filler so they remain intact when cooked. And this is where people are very opinionated: what is the best filler? I’ve tested many and have even asked popular restaurants to spill the beans—most are very secretive about the crab cake ingredients they use! My #1 crab cake filler choice is cracker crumbs—specifically, saltine cracker crumbs. Bread crumbs are flavorless and too crunchy. Go for the saltines! To make the crumbs, you can place the crackers in a zipped-top bag and crush the heck out of them with a rolling pin, or you can use a little ninja, a big food processor, or even a blender.
What to Serve With Crab Cakes
Keep it simple and serve with a squeeze of fresh lemon. These Maryland crab cakes are so juicy and flavorful that they don’t need tartar sauce or cocktail sauce, but both are popular finishing touches. (I love a touch of cocktail sauce with mine.) If you’re making crab cakes for a big family meal or on your menu of Memorial Day recipes, here’s what I recommend serving with your crab cake dinner:
- Cornbread and/or corn on the cob
- Caesar salad
- Baked potatoes or roasted potatoes
- Zucchini casserole
- Steamed vegetables
- Dinner rolls
- Coleslaw
- Asiago-crusted skillet bread
- Homemade garlic bread
For even more inspiration here are 15+ summer dinner ideas! And don’t forget the chocolate chip cookies or vanilla cupcakes for dessert!
Print
Crab Cakes Recipe (Little Filler)
- Prep Time: 40 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 6 large crab cakes
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
For the best texture, use lump crab meat, little filler, and bake the cakes in a very hot oven. Serve with lemon wedges, a garnish of chopped parsley, and/or cocktail sauce or tartar sauce. For more success tips and to learn which crab meat to use, see blog post above.
Ingredients
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup (60g) mayonnaise
- 1 Tablespoon chopped fresh parsley (or 2 teaspoons dried)
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning (up to 1 and 1/2 teaspoons for a spicier kick)
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice, plus more for serving
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 pound (454g) fresh lump crab meat*
- 2/3 cup (41g) saltine cracker crumbs (about 17–18 2-inch crackers)
- optional: 2 Tablespoons (30g) melted salted or unsalted butter
Instructions
- Whisk the egg, mayonnaise, parsley, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, Old Bay, lemon juice, and salt together in a large bowl. Place the crab meat on top, followed by the cracker crumbs. With a silicone spatula or large spoon, very gently and carefully fold together. You don’t want to break up that crab meat.
- Cover tightly and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to 1 day.
- Preheat oven to 450°F (232°C). Generously grease a rimmed baking sheet with butter or nonstick spray, or line with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- Using a 1/2 cup measuring cup, portion the crab cake mixture into 6 mounds on the baking sheet. (Don’t flatten!) Use your hands or a spoon to compact each individual mound so there aren’t any lumps sticking out or falling apart. For extra flavor, brush each top with melted butter. This is optional but recommended!
- Bake for 12–14 minutes or until lightly browned around the edges and on top. Drizzle each with fresh lemon juice and serve warm.
- Cover leftover crab cakes tightly and refrigerate for up to 5 days, or freeze for up to 3 months.
Notes
- Freezing Instructions: You can freeze the portioned unbaked crab cakes for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator, brush with melted butter, then bake as directed. You can also freeze the baked and cooled crab cakes for up to 3 months. Thaw, then warm up in a 350°F (177°C) oven for 10–15 minutes or until warmed throughout. Or bake the frozen crab cakes at 350°F (177°C) for about 25–30 minutes.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Silicone Spatula | Baking Sheet | Silicone Baking Mat | Pastry Brush
- Which Crab Meat to Use: For any questions regarding which crab meat to use, see Best Crab Meat for Crab Cakes in the blog post above. I highly recommend fresh (refrigerated) lump crab meat.
- Smaller Sizes: For smaller crab cakes, divide the mixture into 12 1/4-cup portions. For mini crab cakes, divide into 24 2-Tablespoon-size portions. Bake at the same oven temperature. The bake time is shorter for these smaller sizes. The crab cakes are done when the tops and edges are lightly browned.
Reader Comments and Reviews
Have toured crab cake places in MD and DE. These were awesome restaurant quality crab cakes, and super easy to make.
The BEST Crabcakes !!!!!!!!
Made them for Christmas Eve. Guests requested the recipe.
So delicious!! Made these last nite, simple and easy and everyone loved them. At the end I put them under the broiler for 2 minutes for little extra crunchiness on top.
My husband is a Maryland native and I’ve been here for 30 years. We’ve made lots of crab cakes but this was by far the best recipe. Perfect amount of flavor to compliment the crab. I used a little less filler but that was the only change. Perfect!
By far THE BEST crab cake recipe EVER! What a wonderful way to cap off our New Year’s celebratory dinner. To die for!!
Yeah, ok, my Maryland-raised wife said they were the best crab cakes ever, so it worked. 🙂
Made these tonight for our last meal of 2020
. Love the detailed instructions about layering and folding the ingredients. My crab cakes were chilled for about 4 hours, I put a slight dent in each crab cake, to hold a bit of melted butter, and baked at 450ºF. Delicious! Thank you for the recipe.
Simple and awesome, showing off the crab. Was looking for a baked crab cake, found this and noted very simple instructions. Made 12 appetizer size cakes, a big New Year’s Eve hit! Go Jumbo Lump.
This recipe made wonderful crab cakes . We actually doubled it. And made baseball size crabcakes . Very simple, excellent results .
We have a New Years tradition now!
Well, sista girl – from this South Ga. chick – this was a SLAM DUNK win tonight 🙂 Pretty much followed recipe exactly (used 8oz. LUMP & 8oz. Claw) & 13 crushed RITZ crackers vs. your 14 Saltine. Anywhoo – results were AWESOME 🙂 We have MEYER lemons in backyard – so that was used for the fresh lemon juice. This will definitely happen AGAIN 🙂 Thank U very much for the ‘inspiration’ – and Happy 2021 !
I’m a Marylander. This is a good recipe. I also never eat mayonnaise and find it gross, but it works here (I did reduce the amount a bit though). I would make it again, with a little extra old bay. Thank for this recipe!
Amazing!!! First time making fresh crab cakes, though I’ve been known to travel to Maryland on a whim for them. I was only able to find claw meat and thankfully it was a quality brand I used before. But these were somehow everything I was hoping for and simultaneously unexpected. Will be in heavy rotation.
What a treat! We just had these as part of our New Year’s Eve dinner and I must say, these are the best crab cakes I’ve ever had. You never find ones with so much crab meat and really no fillers. I am thoroughly impressed. I have been making quite a few recipes from this website since I had a Thanksgiving gathering everything has been a bit! Thank you Sally for all of these wonderful recipes!
These were amazing! I had always sautéed crab cakes in the past and was skeptical about baking them, but now I will never go back to the frying pan. And I will never order crab cakes in a restaurant again. Best I’ve ever had (and I’ve tried a few :-)).
Made these for our New Year’s Eve dinner. The wife really loved them. Absolutely the very best recipe I have tried. Thank you so very much Sally.
Can I make and shape these crab cakes a couple hours before I bake them?
Hi Sandy, That should be fine. Just keep the patties covered in the refrigerator until you are ready to bake. Enjoy!
I’ve made a lot of different crab cake recipes in my time, but these are the best by far. Easy and delicious. The crab flavor is the star of the show and no mess from breading and frying crab cakes. I will never make crab cakes any other way!
As a lifelong Marylander, I will say that this recipe is perfect and takes exactly like a crab cake you would get in a local restaurant. Perfect amount of filler and spice to complement the crab. I used saltine crackers like the recipe called for but I have also heard of people using more buttery crackers like Ritz which I may try next time.
These are absolutely the most amazing crab cakes. I didn’t have saltines but had Ritz crackers and they were like a buttery cake of love!!! I have since made numerous times keeping the Ritz crackers. I have tried so many different recipes and am so glad I finally found the best one. Last night I threw in a pinch of parm cheese. OMG!!!
Sally, What is your preferred sauce for these?
My husband and I made these crab cakes as a non traditional Christmas meal this year. They were delicious! Served with a side of spicy aioli and lemon wedges. They were perfect! The leftover crab cakes were perfect for Crab Cakes Benedict in the morning. Thank you!
This recipe is so good and so easy. Thank you! It was such a treat this year. I’m from the DC area and grew up catching crabs on our dock at my family home in Southern MD so I have a high standard for crab cakes. My aunt also always hosted Christmas Eve at her house in Annapolis and made crab cakes every year. She passed away 2 years ago and I really wanted to honor her and my memories of happy times at her house this year. We’re stuck at our home in Illinois and unable to travel back East. These were such a bright spot to my holiday this year. It’s impossible to find good crab cakes out here in Illinois but now that I have this recipe I can enjoy them at home. We’re making them again for New Year’s Eve. Thank you from the bottom of heart and tummy!
I’ve made crab cakes in the past. BY FAR, your recipe is the very best EVER! We enjoyed it Christmas Eve 2020! Thank you for this!
Best crab cakes I’ve ever had — even with claw meat (on crazy sale) instead of lump. We used Ritz crackers instead of saltines. Thank you!
This is a keeper! Best yet! Do bake them.
I tried this on a whim as an appetizer to go with some fresh Gulf shrimp. That was in June. It’s now December and I fix these at least once a month. These crab cakes are easy to prepare and AMAZING not to mention that everyone to whom we’ve served them couldn’t agree more. If you’re a seasoned cook or a novice, you MUST try this recipe!
A Real Cook in Brenham, Texas
This a perfect genuine Maryland crab cake recipe. As a Maryland resident I’m very picky about REAL Maryland crab cakes. There are a few restaurants in the Baltimore area that are famous for their crab cakes and ship them all over the world. I would defy anyone to tell the difference between theirs and this recipe. The only variation that I use is that I use a butter cracker instead of Saltines, but that is my personal long time preference. follow the recipe and you cant go wrong.
I am going to try these for Christmas eve, can I use fresh king crab?
Yes, sure can!
Tried to order out last evening and the wait was over 2 hours. My husband and I were having a date night at home and I really didn’t want to cook but since I was forced to, I looked up crab cake recipes because I had just bought fresh crabmeat for a Christmas dip. Oh my goodness, so happy I tried this recipe. Thank you for sharing!! Ps, went great with the wine we were enjoying
Any suggestions if I were to cook in my new Ninja air fryer toaster oven. Basically a convection oven?
Hi Llyn, We haven’t tested these crab cakes using an air fryer, but do know some readers have had success with it.