These easy homemade crab cakes come together in under thirty minutes and are sure to be a knock out at your next gathering or date night!

Crab cakes. Delicious, delicate, and honestly? Overpriced for what they are. For a date night or small gathering of friends, you only need an 8oz container of crab meat. This can be found at most grocery stores for under $18- which will make you four large crab cakes or eight appetizer sized crab cakes. The rest of the ingredients are so common that you likely already have them in your kitchen. Let’s skip the pricey restaurant, stay in, & make our own easy homemade crab cakes. Bonus- cheaper cocktails & no Uber!

What type of crab should you buy?

First things first, make sure you’re in the fresh meat & seafood section of your grocery store. They will have various cans of crab meat ranging from 16oz, to 32oz, to 8oz. This recipe uses 8oz, but will scale if you’re serving a larger crowd. Phillip’s Lump Crab Meat is a solid choice here, but I’ve also used their claw & special varieties. I also like Signature Catch. Generally speaking, they’re mostly going to be the same quality. Be sure to rinse & pick through for shells.

What you need to make easy homemade crab cakes:

• 8oz crab meat- rinsed, drained, and picked through for shells
• 1 egg
• 1.5 Tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1.5 tsp dried parsley
• 1 tsp ground mustard
• salt to taste
• 1/4 cup panko bread crumbs – plus more for breading
• 1/2 Tbsp high heat cooking oil – avocado, grapeseed
• Old Bay Seasoning to taste – optional

Prep & assemble

Combine all ingredients except for the oil in a medium sized bowl. I always taste test my mixture- if you’re uncomfortable with raw egg, add this last. You really want to taste your mixture to make sure you like it. While you’re doing this, place you’re medium sized pan on a burner at medium high heat.

Patty the crab cakes & coat in panko

Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, portion the crab mixture into four equal patties (this is the easiest way for me to make them even). Coat them in the additional panko crumbs. If you’re making appetizer crab cakes, half the size of the crab cakes.

Add the oil to the pan. Once oil is shimmering and hot, add the crab cakes. Cook for about five minutes per side, or until they are browned and crispy.

Serve with cocktail or remoulade sauce, and enjoy! I love these with a Cosmopolitan or Spicy Marg, but like most fish dishes- they pair well with a white wine as well.

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