These easy baked crab cakes are bursting with tender, southern-spiced crab meat and plenty of flavor! Drizzle them with my famous Louisiana remoulade for the perfect bite. Trust and believe me when I say this will become your go-to crab cake recipe.
And if you enjoy this recipe, you'll love my fried green tomatoes, too!
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❤️ Why You'll Love this Recipe
Perfectly Balanced - I'm picky about crabcakes, and find that a lot of the "minimal filler" recipes out there skimp on flavor. These baked lump crab cakes have plenty of juicy crab married with flavorful filler, so every bite is delightful. Add the remoulade sauce, and it's a done deal!
Simple to Make - You won't need any fancy kitchen appliances or advanced skills for this easy recipe for crab cakes baked in the oven. And the ingredients are easy to find at grocery stores. Check out the substitutions section and my pro tips for alternatives and advice to help you get them right the first time.
👉🏾 Southern-style seafood is my favorite kind of seafood because we just do it so well. Check out my cornbread dressing with shrimp, crab, and lobster, crispy oven-fried catfish, lemon pepper shrimp, and Gulf Coast shrimp and grits next!
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What You'll Need for this Recipe
Crab Meat, of course! Jumbo lump crab meat gets a lot of hype on the fancy restaurant circuit, and I do use it in this recipe, but like to mix it half-and-half with claw or "special" crab meat. These are generally cheaper, and I've found that claw meat has more flavor than lump.
Creole Spice has all the seasoning we need, including salt. Use my homemade Creole Cajun spice mix or your favorite store-bought brand. This ain't a Maryland-style recipe, so no Old Bay needed!
Egg works as a binder to help hold everything together. It also adds richness to the finished dish, so I don't recommend omitting it, though you can technically use more mayo in its place, should you have no egg.
Panko breadcrumbs soak up the flavors nicely and provide a great texture in the cakes. If you can get Panko, regular breadcrumbs, or even crumbled saltines will work just fine. If you can get unsalted crackers, though, grab those to reduce the chances of oversalting!
For the Remoulade
Mayonnaise is the creamy, rich base of the remoulade, but you won't taste it in the finished product, so don't worry if you aren't a big mayo lover--I'm not either! Use your favorite brand here.
Mustards, both whole grain and a blended version like Dijon, brown, or spicy Creole mustard, depending on what you've got available.
Sweet Pickle Relish adds a touch of sweetness and a burst of tang. I like to use this ingredient so that I don't need to add sugar to the sauce.
Check out the recipe card below for full ingredients list, measurements, nutrition facts, and step-by-step instructions!
Substitutions & Variations
Crab Meat - You can make your crab cakes with claw meat, lump meat, special meat, or some combination of two or three of these. And if you want to make your easy crab cakes with canned crab, just be sure to drain it well.
Lemon - In the crab cakes, fresh lemon is non-negotiable because we need the zest. You can use freeze-dried lemon powder instead, but it won't taste quite the same. In the remoulade, either fresh-squeezed or bottled lemon juice will work, but again, fresh is best!
Relish - Don't have relish on hand? Dice up some pickles instead. Taste test and add a pinch of sweetener if needed.
Size - This recipe makes nine standard-sized crab cakes. But you can make 18 smaller appetizers with mini crab cakes for light bites, or six jumbo crab cakes!
How to Make Baked Crab Cakes in the Oven
- Step One: Dice the onions, crush the garlic, and grate the lemon zest into a bowl, then mix in the remaining crab cake ingredients except the crab and butter.
Pro Tip #1
Make sure to stop zesting once you see the white pith of the lemon. Adding this part will make the flavor more bitter.
- Step Two: Fold in the crab meat, then cover and refrigerate for at least one hour, up to 24 hours.
Pro Tip #2
Chilling the crab cake mix allows the flavors to meld and firms everything up so that assembly is easier.
- Step Three: Form the mixture into nine crab cakes and place them onto a baking sheet.
- Step Four: Brush each cake with melted butter, then bake until golden brown.
- Step Five: While the cakes bake, mix up your remoulade ingredients to form the sauce.
Pro Tip #3
You can make the remoulade up to one week ahead of time!
Frequently Asked Questions
For the best results, store your cooked crab cakes in the fridge in an airtight container. They will keep for up to four days this way. How to reheat: I recommend reheating them in an air fryer, skillet on the stove top, or the oven for better texture than microwaving.
To freeze, cool the cakes to room temperature, then place in the freezer on a sheet pan to flash freeze until solid (about one hour). Wrap each one in parchment paper or wax paper, then place them all in an airtight, freezer-safe container or a freezer bag to store for up to three months.
How to Serve
Temperature: Serve your crab cakes piping hot (carefully) for the best texture and taste.
Garnishes: Garnish with fresh herbs like parsley or chives and lemon wedges.
What to Serve with: Of course, zippy remoulade is the best sauce for crab cakes, but you can also do tartar sauce, ketchup, or just hot sauce, if you prefer. Complete the meal with brown butter roasted green beans, quick garlicky spinach, crunchy chopped cucumber salad, or southern cheese grits.
Occasions: Halve the recipe to make easy crab cakes for two for a romantic Valentine's Day dinner or special date night at home. Make them for a fancy dinner party, or whenever you want to treat yourself!
More Favorite Seafood Recipes
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
I hope you'll enjoy this simple baked crab cakes recipe soon and very soon. And sharing is caring, so be sure to pin this recipe for later and follow me over on Pinterest. Thanks for reading!
📖 Recipe
Baked Crab Cakes with Louisiana Remoulade
Equipment
- 1 knife
- aluminum foil
Ingredients
For the Crab Cakes
- 1 pound crab meat lump, claw, special, or a combination
- ¾ cup Panko bread crumbs
- ¼ cup mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon Creole seasoning
- 2 teaspoons mustard Dijon, brown, or Creole
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 egg
- 8 cloves garlic crushed or minced
- ¼ yellow onion finely chopped
- 1 lemon
- 2 teaspoons unsalted butter melted
For the Remoulade
- 1 tablespoon parsley finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons sweet relish with brine
- 1 tablespoon whole grain mustard
- ½ tablespoon mustard Dijon, brown or Creole
- ½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ⅛ teaspoon white pepper
- ⅛ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ lemon juiced
- hot sauce to taste
Instructions
- Prep the Crab: Pick through the crab meat carefully to find and discard any small bits of shell that may have made it through processing. Set the meat aside.1 pound crab meat
- Make the Crab Cake Mixture: Add bread crumbs, mayo, seasoning, mustard, Worcestershire, egg, garlic, and onion to a mixing bowl, then grate in zest of one lemon, and squeeze in one teaspoon of lemon juice.¾ cup Panko bread crumbs, ¼ cup mayonnaise, 1 tablespoon Creole seasoning, 2 teaspoons mustard, 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce, 1 egg, 8 cloves garlic, ¼ yellow onion, 1 lemon
- Stir ingredients together until combined, then fold in the prepared crab meat. Cover the bowl and place into the refrigerator to chill for at least one hour, up to 24 hours.
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a sheet pan with aluminum foil or parchment paper, and set aside.
- Shape and Bake the Cakes: Divide the chilled crab mixture into nine equal pieces, shape each one into a patty, and place onto the prepared sheet pan.Each patty should be the shape of a domed hockey puck, about three inches in diameter and two inches thick.
- Brush each patty with melted butter then transfer the pan to the oven to bake for 17 to 20 minutes or until the crab cakes are golden brown and reach an internal temperature of 155 degrees Fahrenheit.2 teaspoons unsalted butter
- Make the Remoulade: While the patties bake, stir the remoulade ingredients together in a mixing bowl until uniform. Serve alongside hot crab cakes.1 tablespoon parsley, 2 cloves garlic, ½ cup mayonnaise, 2 tablespoons sweet relish, 1 tablespoon whole grain mustard, ½ tablespoon mustard, ½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce, ½ teaspoon smoked paprika, ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper, ⅛ teaspoon white pepper, ⅛ teaspoon sea salt, ¼ lemon, hot sauce
Heather says
Excellent crab cakes! I made the remoulade too, and my husband was so impressed. This is my go-to recipe now!
Jazzmine Woodard says
Thanks for your feedback, Heather. So glad y'all enjoyed the crab cakes and remoulade!