Best Crab Cakes Recipe Using Canned Crab Meat

Last Updated on May 8, 2025

Making traditional New England-style crab cakes couldn’t be easier. In this blog post, we’ll show you the best crab cake Recipe using canned crab meat. Who doesn’t like a golden brown savory crab cake with homemade tartar sauce on the side? These are just like what you would find in a Restaurant.

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Maryland style crab cakes, Chesapeake Bay, and Baltimore crab cakes come to mind when thinking of crab cakes. They are such a restaurant staple and a delicacy usually served with remoulade sauce, Tartar Sauce, or cocktail sauce.

I like to have them with my Seafood Comeback Sauce. It is a spicy mayo and horseradish dipping sauce with lots of tasty ingredients.

While it would be best to be by the ocean to pick up fresh crab meat, Canned Crab Meat is flavorful and available throughout the United States.

 

Ingredients For The Best Crab Cakes Recipe

This recipe is pretty much just crab meat and binders with very little filler. None of the celery or bell pepper in this one. The result is delicious crab cakes, full of crab flavor.

You will need:

• Crab meat
• Saltine crackers
• Mayonnaise
• Eggs
• Worcestershire sauce
• Dijon mustard
• Hot sauce

The Detailed Ingredients List is in the recipe card.

 

Type Of Crab Meat To Use

Let’s face it, crab meat is expensive. But there are different qualities available which make the crab cakes more affordable. The most readily available crab will be cooked, pasteurized, and canned. It is sold refrigerated.

Blue crabs are the kind of crab meat usually used. The pricing depends on where the meat comes from off of the crab.

Jumbo Lump Crab meat- This is the premium large white muscle connected to the swimming fins of the crab. It takes a lot of them to make a pound, so it is the most expensive.

Lump crab meat – This is a combination of smaller jumbo lump pieces and other white meat. This is the Best Crab Meat for this Cakes Recipe.

Special crab meat – This is smaller white meat without any really large pieces. It is more economical and usually a good buy. Perfect for crab cakes or crab salads.

Claw meat – Comes from the swimming fins of the crab and has a brown color and stronger flavor. It is good for dips and soups. I have used it for crab cakes and it is totally fine to use.

The prices of the types of crabmeat range from $70.00 a pound to $10.00 a pound. The Sam’s Club lump crab meat in the ingredient picture was $25.00. Use whatever you can find. Your grocery store would probably have only one grade. 

Seafood specialty markets may have 2 or 3 different qualities.

 

How to Make Crab Cakes With Canned Crab

The steps for making these homemade Crab Cakes are pretty easy.

Mix the mayonnaise, eggs, Worcestershire sauce, Dijon mustard, and hot sauce in a small bowl. Set that aside.

Crush the saltine crackers into fine pieces. Putting them into a gallon-sized plastic zip bag and using a rolling pin to crush them works well. Otherwise, pulse them in a food processor into fine pieces. 

A good substitute for saltines would be panko bread crumbs. If you use panko Bread Crumbs, add 1/2 teaspoon of salt to the crab cake mixture.

The crab meat and cracker crumbs are then folded together in a large bowl. Be careful not to break up the larger lumps of the crab. 

Then, add the wet ingredients to the crab mixture in the large bowl and fold to completely coat all the crab.  

 

 Then, the best way to divide the mix into equal portions is to use a #12 scoop or a 1/3 cup measure. You should get 8 good-sized balls of crab mix.

Place them on a baking sheet and lightly cover them with plastic wrap and place them in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. This will allow the crumbs to absorb moisture and hold together better when they are fried.

Frying The Crab Cakes

To fry them, use a large skillet on medium heat with about 1/4 inch of vegetable oil. Carefully place 4 of the crab ball portions into the hot skillet and press down with a fork to form a patty.

Fry for 2 1/2 to 3 minutes until nicely browned. Then turn the patties over using a spatula and a fork and fry the second side for 2 1/2 to 3 minutes. 

Remove the golden Fried Crab cakes from the skillet onto a platter and cover to keep warm or place them into a warm oven. Repeat for the remaining 4 cakes.

Preparing The Crab Cakes Using A Form

This is a new preparation method I tried recently, and it worked really well. I made some crab cakes using a cookie-cutter form.

I noticed MaryJo making cookies one day, using just a round metal cookie cutter. It looked like the perfect size for crab cakes.

 

The form used is about 3 inches in diameter and a #12 scoop of crab meat fits perfectly in the round shape.

Cut a length of waxed paper or parchment paper and use it as a base. Place a scoop of crab batter in the cookie cutter form and press to even it out.

 

Then, slip the form off of the cake and you will have a neat, round crab cake ready to fry. The waxed paper makes it easy to lift the cake into the skillet.

This worked well, and I think it will be my go-to method for forming crab cakes. Here is a link to Cookie Cutters, (#ad).

Freezing Crab Cakes

It is easy to freeze uncooked crab cakes. Form them into individual patties on a baking sheet and place them into your freezer. Once they are firm, wrap them individually with plastic wrap and place them into a freezer bag or an airtight container. They should keep well for 3 to 4 months. 

Thaw them and fry them when desired.

What To Serve With Crab Cakes

Serve the cakes with lemon wedges on the side. And make your favorite seafood remoulade. My Seafood Comeback Sauce, or this recipe for traditional Tartar Sauce to go along with them.

They are also good with coleslaw or a simple green Salad. 

Other side dishes to try with them are Roasted Potatoes with Onions or Pan Braised Baby Potatoes.

 

So that’s the easy-to-make Crab Cakes Recipe with canned crab meat. Simple ingredients that bring out the best flavors of the canned crab. These crab cakes are just like a Menu item at a Fine Dining establishment for sure.

The crab Cake Recipe is on the printable recipe card below.

Be Sure To Try These Tasty Seafood Recipes:

• Seared Tuna Steak Recipe
• Shrimp Cocktail Recipe with Homemade Sauce
• Smoked Salmon Appetizer with Dill and Capers
• Seared Sockeye Salmon Piccata Recipe
• Mini Crab Cake Appetizer