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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We cooked these a few days ago. They came out perfectly. My son ended up eating 4 of them. This is now in our family rotation. I was true to the recipe and I don’t believe it needs to be changed at all. I was concerned that they would fall apart when cooking however, pitting them in the refrigerator to firm up was perfect. I did use parchment to line my pan when I was forming them.
I made this recipe exactly as written. It made wonderful crab cakes and it was super easy. I love your recipes and next I will try the salmon cakes.
These were delicious and came together so easy. I followed recipe exactly as instructed. Will definitely make again. I didn’t make the sauce.
great recipe. it came out perfect. the tartar sauce was delish and so easy to make
I have been making crab cakes for years with a recipe from Williams Sonoma . It was good, but I tried this recipe last night & it is fantastic! So easy and so delicious! I assembled everything in about 10 minutes & it was nice not frying the cakes in an inch of oil. I cooked half last night & the other half tonight. They were excellent tonight too. The tartar sauce was also easy & very tasty. I followed the recipe exactly as it is & can highly recommend it! Thank you for sharing this yummy recipe!
I made this for dinner and the crab cakes were delish! They would be great as an appetizer as well. I will make the tartar sauce next time. Thanks for an authentic Maryland crab cake recipe.
Authentic Maryland crabcakes do not have celery.
Hi Deborah, I love the little crunch it adds but feel free to leave it out if you’d like. 😊
Grew up on the Chesapeake Bay and never saw celery in a crab cake (that I can remember). Maybe I just missed it. But, please don’t fry in oil, use butter instead, it’s the best by far.
BA
What a great recipe!!! We used jumbo lump crabmeat which we broke up a little. This was so easy and clean-up was a breeze. We left out the celery & parsley, just personal preference. We lined a small baking pan with aluminum foil (sprayed with PAM). We placed the crabcakes on the pan and baked them in the toaster oven. Baked at 375 degrees for 13 minutes, placed a pat of butter on each crabcake and baked them for 2 more minutes (total of 15 min.). They were absolutely perfect!!! The “Quick Tartar Sauce” was also amazing!!! We made this for our “Feast of Seven Fishes” on Christmas Eve and we loved it so much that we’ll be making it many more times throughout the year!!!
Not sure if it was me or the recipe but this was a waste of crab meat. No flavor at all in the crab cakes and the tartar sauce was awful.
Same on the flavor of the crab cakes. I followed the recipe and these crab cakes were SUPER mild. I didn’t make the tartar sauce- sounds like that was a good thing.
The recipe did not have the temperature to bake them. What is the temperature for the oven? Do I heat the oil on the pan while preheating the oven, or do I preheat the oven first and then put the pan in to get the oil hot! I’m cooking them this weekend so I need to know, Today’s date is Wednesday 5-15-24
My daughter made these and said that they are delicious.
Hi Sherry, These crab cakes are actually just pan-fried – not baked. I like the crab cakes best pan-fried but you can cook them in the oven. I’d suggest you use a combination of baking and broiling; bake them in a 350-degree oven on a lightly greased baking sheet for about twenty minutes, or until hot (and it’s not necessary to flip them). Then I’d slide them under the broiler for about a minute to get them golden brown on top. Enjoy!
First time making crab cakes with left over king crab. This was super easy to follow and it really made exactly 6 half cup crab cakes! The tartar sauce was also amazing! Will always use this recipe for my left overs!