These easy keto crab cakes make a wonderful low carb appetizer or main course. Sweet chunks of blue crab combined with fresh herbs, spices and just enough filler to hold it all together – it’s one of my favorite meals!
This keto crab cakes recipe is an update of a post I wrote in the early days of this website back in 2012. I’ve made a couple of small tweaks to the recipe itself, and I’ve also added some tips to help make sure they come out perfect every time.
Table of Contents
- What kind of crab meat is best for crab cakes?
- Ingredients you will need
- Equipment you will need
- Instructions
- Storage Information
- Serving Suggestions
- Variations and Substitutions
- More Keto Crab Recipes
My love of crab cakes knows no bounds. If I’m in a restaurant and there are crab cakes on the menu, then I’m ordering them. No questions asked.
Unfortunately, at least 50% of the time it seems to end in disappointment.
A great crab cake (keto or otherwise) should consist of mostly good quality crab meat, and have very little breading holding it together.
When done right, it’s sweet and delicate and absolutely wonderful. When done wrong, it’s a fishy tasting bread puck with barely any discernible crab pieces to be found – a travesty and a crime against seafood.
Enter these delicious keto crab cakes – which are just as good or better then most crab cakes you’ll find in a restaurant…
Because the best (and most economical) way to ensure that you are getting high quality and delicious crab cakes is to make them yourself at home.
These keto crab cakes are so easy to make, that there is really no excuse not to make them yourself when the craving for crab cakes strikes. Which, if you’re like me, is often.
I like to enjoy these keto crab cakes with my creamy keto roasted red pepper sauce. It’s a perfect match in my opinion, but not required if you’re not a fan of the flavor of roasted red peppers.
What kind of crab meat is best for crab cakes?
Typically, blue crab is used for crab cakes. You can find it in the seafood section, usually in 8 ounce plastic cups that are refrigerated. That will taste the best without actually catching the crabs yourself.
You can also get frozen blue crab if you don’t live in an area where fresh crab is readily available – the quality is slightly inferior to fresh, but still good.
When choosing blue crab at the supermarket, there will be several varieties and price points.
Lump crab is the best and most desirable for these keto crab cakes, but also the most expensive option.
Claw meat is cheaper and not as sweet, but will work just fine for this recipe. If you’re doubling it to serve to a crowd, I recommend a 50/50 split between lump and claw meat to keep costs down while still maximizing quality, which is what I usually do.
As an alternative to blue crab, you can use Dungeness, King, or even snow crab in these keto crab cakes and it will be delicious.
Never use canned crab from the tuna fish aisle in crab cakes – it will have terrible texture and flavor.
Ingredients you will need
- Good quality crab meat (see notes above)
- Mayonnaise (I find this holds them together better then eggs)
- Fresh lemon juice (I beg you not the bottled stuff)
- Dijon mustard
- Parsley
- Coconut flour
- Old Bay Seasoning
- Avocado oil for frying
Equipment you will need
A bowl and a nonstick frying pan are really all you need to make this keto crab cakes recipe!
Instructions
- Combine all of the crab cake ingredients in a bowl.
- Mix gently so as not to break up the pieces of crab.
- Form into cakes.
- Fry.
- Serve warm.
Storage Information
Seafood doesn’t keep long leftover, so I recommend not storing these crab cakes for more than three days in the refrigerator. Keep them in an airtight container so your entire fridge doesn’t smell like crab.
Reheat them gently in the microwave for 1 – 2 minutes, or in the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 8 – 10 minutes just to get them heated all the way through.
I don’t recommend freezing these keto crab cakes, as the texture would not be ideal after thawing and reheating.
Serving Suggestions
- As mentioned above, my favorite way to serve these is with my keto red pepper sauce.
- The recipe makes 4 servings as an appetizer, or 2 servings as a main course.
- For a lunch or brunch portion, these work really well with a simple salad of arugula or spring greens dressed with my keto lemon vinaigrette – and save a splash of the vinaigrette to drizzle over the crab cakes as well.
- If you’re serving these keto crab cakes for a cocktail party or event, you can make the cakes even smaller as a bite-sized portion of about 1-inch in diameter and pass them on a platter with just a dot of sauce on the top. This recipe should make about 24 cakes in miniature.
Variations and Substitutions
- For different crab meat options see the notes above on what type of crab meat to use.
- Dijon mustard contains trace amounts of white wine, if doing the Whole30 or if strictly avoiding alcohol for any other reason, replace the dijon mustard with another yellow mustard. If doing Squeaky Clean Keto, the dijon mustard is acceptable because the amounts of wine are so slight.
- Worcestershire sauce contains small amounts of molasses and sugar, so if doing the Whole30 or Squeaky Clean Keto you can replace it with Coconut Aminos to stay compliant.
- If coconut flour is a problem for you, it can be replaced with almond flour as a binder. Crushed pork rinds can also be used, but may impact the flavor negatively so it should be a last resort.
- The mayonnaise can be replaced with 2 tablespoons of beaten egg, but I prefer the mayonnaise because it holds the crab cakes together better in my opinion.
More Keto Crab Recipes
Keto Crab Cakes – Low carb, gluten free
- Total Time: 16 minutes
- Yield: 8 crab cakes 1x
- Diet: Diabetic
Description
An easy keto crab cake recipe that is simple to make, but tastes impressive enough for company! Works as is for an appetizer for four people, or make into 4 larger cakes as a main course for two people.
Ingredients
- 8 ounces blue crab meat, drained (lump preferred, see notes on crab)
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce (or 2 teaspoons coconut aminos)
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
- 2 tablespoons coconut flour
- 2 teaspoons Old Bay seasoning
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil, for frying
Instructions
- Gently pick through the crab to make sure there are no shells or cartilage in the meat, and add to a small bowl.
- In another small bowl, combine the mayonnaise, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, and dijon mustard, mixing until smooth.
- In a third bowl, combine the old bay, parsley, and coconut flour, mixing thoroughly.
- Gently add the mayonnaise mixture to the crab, folding until combined.
- Then add the dry ingredients to the crab mixture and gently mix. Try not to break up/shred the pieces of crab too much.
- Heat the oil over medium heat in a nonstick saute pan. Form 8 small cakes, about 2 inches in diameter, and place carefully in the hot oil.
- Cook for about 2-3 minutes per side or until golden brown.
- Remove from the pan to a plate lined with paper towels.
- Serve warm with lemon wedges and Roasted Red Pepper Sauce.
Notes
Approximate net carbs per serving = 2g.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 6 minutes
- Category: Keto Seafood Recipes
- Method: stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2 crab cakes
- Calories: 130
- Fat: 8g
- Carbohydrates: 3g
- Fiber: 1g
- Protein: 12g
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Deb says
can I substitute almond flour?
Low-Carb Andy says
This is the first time I hear about this recipe, but I have to say I absolutely love it. :) Looks amazing, and it probably tastes really good too. Going to make this as soon as I have some free time.
Sheila says
Hi! I made these yesterday, and I wonder if there is a mistake in the ingredient list for the crab cakes. Is 2 tsp of Old Bay correct for only one cup of crab meat? This is the first time I ever made crab cakes, so I didn’t question it, but they came out incredibly salty and over seasoned., to our taste. I have since looked up other recipes online, and none of them used anywhere near that much Old Bay. I wonder if it was a misprint, and should have been 1/2 tsp of Old Bay. The Roasted Red Pepper sauce was wonderful; the only change I made was to substitute well-drained artichoke hearts for the avocado because we don’t like avocado. Mixed the leftover sauce in with some mayo today and used it on turkey sandwiches today. It was very tasty.
Please let me know about the crab cake recipe. Would love to keep them low-carb!
Thank you,
Sheila
rachel says
Is the 1 cup of meat per cake?
Sandy says
:( so bummed. These fell apart before they even made it to the pan.
Sherri says
after mixing everything, refrigerate for an hr so the cakes will not fall apart
Monica says
Great flavor but they didn’t hold together even using lump crab……gotta figure out how to make them bind better
Cheryl says
This looks yummy
Mellissa Sevigny says
Thanks so much Cheryl, they are really tasty! Hope you try them out and like them!
Megan says
I made this and it turned out horrible! I was so disappointed! The coconut flower did not help keep the crab cakes together and of anything made more of a mess. The coconut oil was plenty hot enough, but I think I should have added more eggs. Not very much flavor either. :/ Oh well.
Mellissa Sevigny says
Sorry you didn’t like this one Megan, it’s a personal favorite of mine, so I’m not sure what went wrong. What kind of crab meat did you use? Usually most of the flavor comes from the crab meat, so if it was flavorless then maybe it just wasn’t great crab. I know even when I buy the same brand sometimes it’s sweet and awesome, and others just kind of “meh.” Also if it was primarily claw meat, which is really small pieces, it can fall apart easily. Just a thought!
Carolyn says
Okay, so weird. I made LC crab cakes tonight too. Swear I am not copying you (which you will be able to tell from the ingredients, mine were quite different!).
Mellissa Sevigny says
These are from last year anyway Carolyn – and I’m pretty sure you don’t need my help to make crab cakes (or anything else) to taste awesome! :) Looking forward to checking out your recipe!!!!