Baked Crab Cakes (minimal filler)

Key Ingredients

Lump crab meat – if you can get your hands on Dungeness lump crab meat, it’s the best variety. But hand-picked lump blue crab works just fine!

Dijon mustard – a necessary ingredient that’s always found in crab cakes. No other mustard will work.

Worcestershire – a key flavor ingredient that just needs a small amount to make a big impact. As found in my Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad, Smothered Steak and Gravy, and my Caramelized Onion and Bacon Dip.

Mayonnaise – this is used as a binder. Only 1/4 cup, we just need the function of mayonnaise, but we don’t want these to taste mayonnaise-y.

Egg – In this recipe, the egg, along with a little mayonnaise, binds the ingredients and adds moisture.

Seasonings – Old Bay seasoning is quintessential for crab cakes. We also add a little Cajun seasoning, salt, pepper, and fresh parsley.

Saltine Crackers – crushed into crumbs. They are not as crunchy as breadcrumbs but much more flavorful. This is the only “filler” used. It’s necessary to hold the crab cakes together while they bake. Place them in a zip-top bag and whack them until they pulverize into crumbs or use a food processor.

Butter and Lemon – the lemon adds acidity and vibrance while the butter bakes into the crab cakes, so you don’t lose any flavor from baking compared to pan frying.

How to Make Baked Crab Cakes

Place the lump crab meat into a large bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the egg, mayonnaise, Worcestershire, Dijon, parsley, lemon juice, and seasonings. Whisk together until smooth.

Pour the egg mixture over the crab. Add the cracker crumbs and toss them all together carefully with a spatula so as to keep the lump crab chunks intact.

Cover the mixture and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to one day.

Heat the oven to 450 degrees and prepare a baking sheet generously greased with butter.

Using clean hands, divide the crab mixture into 6 equal-sized mounds, about 1/2 cup each. Don’t compress them down into a patty; keep them as a mound, minimally forming them just enough so they keep their shape.

Place them a few inches apart on the greased baking pan and spread melted butter generously over the tops, allowing it to drizzle down into the crevices. Place them immediately in the hot oven and bake for 13-15 minutes or until a golden crust forms on the outside.

Remove from the oven and spread the tops with more warm butter and a squeeze of lemon. Serve immediately.

How to Reheat Baked Crab Cakes

The microwave will ruin the texture and crispiness of the crab cakes, likely making them soggy, so I’d avoid that if possible. The quickest and easiest way to reheat crab cakes is in the air fryer.

Air fry at 375 degrees for 3-4 minutes or until warmed through.

You can also reheat crab cakes in the oven. Place them in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes, or until warmed through.

Best Crab Meat for Crab Cakes

It’s best to use either the meat from fresh whole crabs or packaged lump crab meat that is found in your supermarket’s refrigerated section (usually in clear plastic tubs). Avoid canned crab. Whichever packaged crab meat you choose, select “hand-picked” or “fresh-picked” to ensure the shells and cartilage have been removed. Skimming over the crab meat is a good idea to see if you find any traces.

There is a lot of hype around Maryland blue crab, but if you’ve ever been to the Pacific Northwest (my hometown), you know that Dungeness lump crab is far superior to blue crab. Ask any top chef, and they’ll tell you it’s hard to find anything comparable once you try the buttery, sweet, and succulent taste.

However, due to the cost and seasonality of Dungeness crab, you’ll be hard-pressed to find it outside of the Northwest, and if you order it online, it costs a pretty penny. But, I assure you that this recipe has been tested and works wonderfully with Maryland blue crab!

Baked Crab Cake Filler

These baked crab cakes have very little filler. Have you ever been served a crab cake that tasted breadier than it was crabby? Almost like a crab hushpuppy? The goal with this recipe is to have each bite full of luscious, buttery crab chunks that are full of flavor and not full of bready filler ingredients.

While we do use an egg and a little mayo as our binder to help shape these crab cakes, we need a little bit of filler to help absorb some of that excess moisture so it can hold the mixture together and provide some crunch.

Saltine crackers are a better alternative to breadcrumbs since they have a softer, less harsh crunch than breadcrumbs.

How to Serve Baked Crab Cakes

In our family, a brunch-style crab cake benedict is the meal of choice. We serve ours with eggs (poached or scrambled) along with a homemade hollandaise (recipe is below in the recipe card).

Alternately, you can serve these as a main course along with a vegetable and a starch, like corn on the cob, potatoes, pasta, etc. You can also serve them as an appetizer with tartar sauce for dipping, or you can even turn them into a sandwich with lettuce, tomato, and tartar sauce.