Keto Crab Cakes

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xray

Master of the Pit
Original poster
OTBS Member
Mar 11, 2015
4,747
3,268
Northeast PA
I been on a bit of a crab cake kick lately and with my wife trying to go gluten-free I decided to take a tried and true crab cake recipe and make it gluten-free and also keto friendly. Below is a recipe for a Maryland style crab cake in it's simplest form, it's not mine just one I've held onto. I tried tons of different recipes but the one that I like the best is with the use of Ritz crackers. I've tried bread crumbs, panko, saltines, moistened bread but I favor the Ritz crackers. To make it GF and Keto, simply substitute crushed pork rinds for the cracker crumbs and omit the salt.

Maryland Crab Cakes (makes 6)

1lb.fresh lump crabmeat picked through for shells
1 Egg
2T Mayo
1/2c. Crushed Ritz crackers OR use crushed pork rinds
2t. Old Bay
1t. Dijon mustard
1/2t. Worcestershire sauce
1/4t. Tabasco sauce
1/4t. Lemon juice
1/4t. Salt (omit if using pork rinds)
A small amount of cracked black pepper
2T fresh chopped parsley

Mix egg and all your wet ingredients. Add pork rinds, Old Bay and parsley and mix well. GENTLY fold in crab meat. You wanna a loose mixture and be careful not to break up any lumps of meat. Gently shape into form and placed on a greased cookie sheet. After this, I throw my formed crab cakes into the refrigerator for at least an hour to help bind all the ingredients.

Broil on middle rack of oven until crab cakes are lightly golden on top. 12-15 minutes. I never fry mine and I don’t bother flipping them.

Using pork rinds here to grind into crumbs. The free bag was a snack for another day! :emoji_wink:
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Here's the crab cakes about to go into the oven. I sprinkle a little additional Old Bay over the top. You could see that they hold their shape but still retain a loose mixture.
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Broil on the middle rack until golden. This takes me about 12-15 minutes. Watch them closely. If they start to brown too quickly, move them to a lower rack in the oven.
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Here's what they look like when done.
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Served with a side of steamed broccoli for dinner.
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These are pretty good! I got the idea for these after my wife brought home pre-made crab cakes from a hipster health food store. They charged $10 a piece! So I told her we could make our own, and better tasting ones for a fraction of the price.
 
Looks great xray. I haven't had a good crabcake in about 18 years. When my daughters LL softball team played in the Eastern finals in Delaware. I like using Ritz crackers for stuffed shrimp. Something about the taste - ummm

Point for sure
Chris
 
Looks great!

How would one freeze/reheat extra ones (if you know)?
 
These are pretty good! I got the idea for these after my wife brought home pre-made crab cakes from a hipster health food store. They charged $10 a piece! So I told her we could make our own, and better tasting ones for a fraction of the price.
And indeed you did! :emoji_thumbsup:
That crab looked to be jumbo lump, excellent!
 
Looks great xray. I haven't had a good crabcake in about 18 years. When my daughters LL softball team played in the Eastern finals in Delaware. I like using Ritz crackers for stuffed shrimp. Something about the taste - ummm

Point for sure
Chris

Thanks Chris. I eat them regularly and then it seems like I don't make them again for 1-2 years. With the price of crab meat these days, the thought of making them with shrimp is pretty intriguing.
 
Looks great!

How would one freeze/reheat extra ones (if you know)?

Thanks KC!

Extra ones!? Never heard of that lol. If I were to freeze them, I would mix and shape and then freeze the raw crab cakes. Thaw and then cook. They should thaw out pretty fast, also you can most likely fry them and flip them without having them break apart.
 
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We made crab cakes about twice a month for a while. The whole family loves them. I was buying crab meat at $15 a pound and cringed then. We kept buying until it hit $22 and then I had enough. It was $27 last time I priced it. Way too pricey for me.
We’ve done the shrimp burgers/cakes before and they’re good. We normally catch our own shrimp in the fall. I haven’t gotten into big ones the last couple years but the small ones work great for shrimp cakes.
We buy crushed pork rinds in a big tub at Costco. They’re heartburn City but not bad as a substitute for bread crumbs in things like that and meat loaf.
 
Awesome, xray xray ! And thanks for the recipe!

Thank you! It's a good one too, one I've enjoyed for awhile.

Looks delicious joe. Showed these to Emily so it's on the shortlist

Thanks Jake. These were something Stacy was hungry for, I just made them gluten free for her. With the price of crab, mama can't get her way all the time so these will be done infrequently.
 
That's a fine step-by-step and a recipe I'm going to be trying out Joe, I find the pork rinds very interesting indeed! I'll have to substitute Dungeness cabb meat, but I think the recipe is killer, Like! RAY
 
We made crab cakes about twice a month for a while. The whole family loves them. I was buying crab meat at $15 a pound and cringed then. We kept buying until it hit $22 and then I had enough. It was $27 last time I priced it. Way too pricey for me.
We’ve done the shrimp burgers/cakes before and they’re good. We normally catch our own shrimp in the fall. I haven’t gotten into big ones the last couple years but the small ones work great for shrimp cakes.
We buy crushed pork rinds in a big tub at Costco. They’re heartburn City but not bad as a substitute for bread crumbs in things like that and meat loaf.

The crab meat I got was $25/lb which is cringeworthy for me. One of the things that helps ease the pain is knowing that if we went out for a crab cake dinner, there would be no way it would cost us less than $25 for two people. I try to use that logic, but I just can't justify the price all the time.

I need to give shrimp cakes a go. I make tuna patties a lot from canned tuna, those are really good and cheap but they're entirely different.
 
That's a fine step-by-step and a recipe I'm going to be trying out Joe, I find the pork rinds very interesting indeed! I'll have to substitute Dungeness cabb meat, but I think the recipe is killer, Like! RAY

Thanks Ray. The pork rinds were a nice substitute, definitely not needed unless you're trying to go gluten free or keto. Dungeness crab will work and the recipe is nice because it's minimal filler.

At first when you add the crab to the mixture, you're gonna wonder where everything else went, but after a few mixes the mixture will start lightly binding. You want it loose but still able to hold it's shape when forming.
 
Those look fantastic Joe!! I can speak from experience that the recipe he posted is outstanding!! It's what I used in the shrimp and catfish cakes I made last week and posted. This is real deal stuff!!

Robert
 
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