Maryland Crab Cakes
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Made with minimal filler and maximum crab, this Maryland crab cake recipe is all about keeping things simple—and seriously delicious. Perfect for dinner parties, casual summer meals, or anytime you’re craving a little coastal flavor.
Photo by Alexandra Grablewski (Chronicle Books, 2018)
When you live in Maryland, eating Chesapeake blue crabs and crab cakes is practically a religion—and, in my family, we are all loyal devotees. Every summer, we hit all of our favorite crab shacks, from local joints all the way to the Eastern shore, where you can look out over the bay and put your feet in the sand. I’d never attempt making steamed blue crabs at home. Live crabs, giant steamers—yikes! But I do often make this crab cake recipe, which is just as delicious and much easier to prepare (not to mention eat).
I love crab cakes with homemade tartar sauce, but you can also serve them simply with lemon wedges or even cocktail sauce. Don’t forget the peel-and-eat shrimp, hush puppies, and cornbread on the side.
“This is the best crab cake recipe I’ve ever tried! Absolutely delicious and loaded with all crab, hardly any fillers.”
What You’ll Need To Make Maryland Crab Cakes
- Eggs: Help bind the crab cakes so they hold together when cooked.
- Mayonnaise: Adds moisture and richness to the crab cakes and serves as the creamy base of the tartar sauce. Use a good-quality brand like Hellmann’s or Duke’s for the best flavor.
- Flavorings: A mix of Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, Old Bay seasoning, and fresh parsley gives the crab cakes classic Maryland flavor with a touch of tang, savoriness, and freshness. (The mustard also adds a little zip to the tartar sauce.)
- Celery (optional): Adds a bit of crunch to the crab mixture—nontraditional but a nice touch. Skip it if you’re a purist.
- Lump Crab Meat: The star of the recipe. Fresh, high-quality lump crab meat is best—look for it in the seafood section in clear plastic containers resting on ice. If that’s not available, go for refrigerated crab meat like Phillips. Avoid canned shelf-stable varieties.
- Panko: Light, flaky Japanese breadcrumbs that help the crab cakes hold together without weighing them down.
- Vegetable Oil: Used for pan-frying the crab cakes until golden and crisp.
- Tartar Sauce Add-ins: Sweet pickle relish, red onion, lemon juice, and black pepper give the sauce classic flavor with the right balance of sweetness, acidity, and bite. Adjust to taste.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Mix the base. To start, whisk together the eggs, mayonnaise, mustard, Worcestershire, Old Bay, salt, celery, and parsley in a large bowl until well combined.
Step 2: Mix in the crab and panko. Add the crab meat (double-checking for any bits of shell or cartilage) and the panko. Gently fold the mixture together until just combined. Be careful not to break up the delicate crab meat too much—the lumps are the best part!
Step 3: Shape and chill. Form the mixture into 6 cakes, using about ½ cup for each. Place them on a foil-lined baking sheet, cover, and refrigerate for at least an hour to help them firm up. Don’t skip this step—it makes a big difference in helping the crab cakes hold their shape when cooking.
Step 4: Cook the crab cakes. Preheat a large nonstick pan over medium heat and add a thin layer of oil. Once hot, add the crab cakes and cook for 3 to 5 minutes on the first side, until golden brown.
Carefully flip the crab cakes and cook for another 3 to 5 minutes until both sides are golden and the centers are hot. Watch out for oil splatter!
Step 5: Make the tartar sauce. In a small bowl, mix together the mayonnaise, mustard, sweet relish, onion, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Whisk until smooth, then cover and chill until ready to serve.
Step 6: Serve. Serve the crab cakes on a platter with the tartar sauce on the side. Enjoy!
Crab cake Recipe Video Tutorital
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Maryland Crab Cakes
Ingredients
For the Crab Cakes
- 2 large eggs
- 2½ tablespoons mayonnaise, best quality such as Hellmann's or Duke's
- 1½ teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup finely diced celery, from one stalk
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 1 lb lump crab meat (see note below)
- ½ cup panko
- Vegetable or canola oil, for cooking
For the Quick Tartar Sauce
- 1 cup mayonnaise, best quality such as Hellmann's or Duke's
- 1½ tablespoons sweet pickle relish
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon minced red onion
- 1 to 2 tablespoons lemon juice, to taste, from 1 lemon
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
For the Crab Cakes
- Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil for easy clean-up.
- Combine the eggs, mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire, Old Bay, salt, celery, and parsley in a large bowl and mix well. Add the crab meat (be sure to check the meat for any hard and sharp cartilage) and panko; using a rubber spatula, gently fold the mixture together until just combined, being careful not to shred the crab meat. Shape into 6 cakes (each about ½ cup) and place on the prepared baking sheet. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. This helps them set.
- Preheat a large nonstick pan over medium heat and coat with oil. When the oil is hot, place the crab cakes in the pan and cook until golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes per side. Be careful as oil may splatter. Serve the crab cakes warm with the tartar sauce.
For the Quick Tartar Sauce
- In a small bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, relish, mustard, onion, and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Cover and chill until ready to serve.
Notes
- If you can only find jumbo lump crab meat, you may need to break the pieces up a bit. If the clumps are too large, the crab cakes won't hold together well.
- The nutritional information does not include the tartar sauce.
- Make-Ahead Instructions: The crab cakes can be formed, covered, and refrigerated a day ahead of time before cooking. The tartar sauce can be made and refrigerated up to 2 days in advance.
Pair with
Nutrition Information
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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Used red snapper scraps from the bones, throat and cheeks instead of crab meat…, wow! Being a recreational fisherman, this recipe will be abused in my kitchen with the post-filet work scraps. Easy and delicious, 5 stars
Made these as a lite dinner for my wife and me last night. Easy and delicious… are there two better words for cooking food? I haven’t tried many other crab cake recipes simply because the few I have tried have been neither easy nor delicious.
Jenn, I had a very good feeling this recipe would be great when your narrative said “go light on the filler.” These were perfect!!
What can I substitute for old bay seasoning.
Hi Barbara, here’s a recipe for homemade Old Bay seasoning. (And it’s a delicious seasoning for all kinds of other foods including popcorn, fries and egg salad.
Made these last night and they were absolutely amazing! great recipe the family (from Maryland / PA) absolutely loved them.
This recipe is AWESOME! I have been using this recipe for 2 years now and follow it to a T. I have never found a better crabcake recipe – I highly recommend this one!
I apologize if this question has been asked/addressed but can you freeze these crab cakes? If so, is it recommended to cook them first, freeze and then reheat? As always, thank you for such amazing and delicious recipes, I cannot wait for your cookbook to come out!
Glad you enjoy the recipes, Celeste! I generally don’t love the way crab freezes, but a number of readers have mentioned that they have frozen them successfully, so you could definitely give it a try.
Excellent. I broiled them but think they would have been better lightly fried in butter. The crabmeat in md. Was 40 dollars for backfin. This recipe was good. Just enough to hold crabmeat together without overpowering the flavors.
Hi Jenn. Beautifully balanced recipe- celery ratio just right and turned out perfectly. I didn’t have the panko so used sourdough crumbs I made myself. Also we can’t get Old Bay seasoning in Australia so just used salt & pepper which meant you could really taste the crab. I have a suspicion that you Americans are just used to the taste of Old Bay and expect it in crab cakes. Anyhow, thanks for the website and all your work and the I’ll definitely be looking to make other recipes.
There are several copy cat recipes for Old Bay seasoning that you could put together from common spices, just do a search for it. Result should be close enough.
Chris, I am curious what type of crab you used for your crab cakes in Australia? What crab down under is comprable to the blue crab of the Chesapeake Bay?
Delicious! My son and I loved them! I made them in the morning before work and just cooked them when I got home. Definitely my new favorite crab cake recipe! Don’t forget the tarter sauce; yum!
Skip the celery. Used roasted red pepper mayo instead of Dijon mustard and pretzel crumbs instead of panko. Pantry shortage but pretty darn good. Also, don’t like canned crab. Use crab leg meat to ensure you get the best cakes.