THE BEST CRAB CAKES | Protein-Packed + Easy Dinner Idea!

You guys are going to love these crab cakes and particularly how easy they are to whip up. They're made with lump crab meat, the perfect seasoning, and very little fillers so that the pure and delicious crab flavor really shines through. And all you have to do is give them a quick sear on the stove and then make my really simple homemade tartar sauce to serve alongside them. So for all of you who love quick and easy high-protein meals and seafood classics, you cannot go wrong with these crab cakes. Now before we get started on making the crab cakes, I want to make the tartar sauce so that it has time to chill and all the flavors can meld together. So to make the tartar sauce, you'll need one cup of mayonnaise and half a cup of pickle relish. Growing up, my mom always made tartar sauce with jarred relish, so that's what I'm used to and how I make it most often today. My mom also used sweet pickle relish, though I do prefer regular dill pickle relish as it's less sugary and a bit more pickly, but you could use either. You could also grab a jar of baby dill pickles and finely dice them until you have about a half a cup's worth of finely diced dill pickles. It's really up to you on which pickle approach you prefer, but once you've decided, add half a cup of it to the mayo. Next, you'll need two tablespoons of finely diced shallot, though you could use regular onion as well. I just personally love the slightly garlicky flavor of shallot and since I'm also adding about a quarter cup of shallot to the crab cakes, I'll just dice up a whole bunch of it all at once, but add the two tablespoons amount to the tartar sauce for now. Then add one tablespoon of fresh lemon juice and kosher salt or sea salt and ground black pepper to taste. Give that a stir until it's all combined and then place it in the fridge until you're done making the crab cakes and ready to serve everything all up together. So to make the crab cakes, add two large eggs to a mixing bowl along with two tablespoons of mayonnaise, two teaspoons of Dijon mustard, one teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce, one teaspoon of fresh lemon juice, one teaspoon of Old Bay seasoning and if you don't have Old Bay seasoning, I have some tips for swaps on my blog post and a quarter teaspoon of kosher salt. Whisk that together for a minute or two until it emulsifies and it's fully blended. In terms of the crab, you'll need one pound of lump crab meat and I usually buy this one at Whole Foods though sometimes they'll carry a crab cake blend as well which usually just has more finely shredded pieces and less bigger chunks. Either one works though I do try to avoid canned crab meat with preservatives as it just won't have that same fresh flavor. And if you're lucky enough to live along the coast and can get really fresh crab, well lucky you because it's obviously the best option. Now as I mentioned in the intro, Maryland style crab cakes have very little filler so add just half a cup of almond flour. Panko breadcrumbs are traditionally used but the almond flour has a great texture and it's my preference as I'm gluten free. Then add a quarter cup of finely diced shallot and a quarter cup of freshly chopped parsley for a pop of green and fresh herby flavor. If you don't have parsley, you could also use chives if you happen to have them on hand. But once that's all in the bowl, use a spoon to mix it together until that sauce that was on the bottom is well mixed throughout the crab. That's our binder and we wanna make sure everything is well coated. Heat a couple tablespoons of olive oil in a pan over medium heat and take about a quarter cup's worth of the mixture and form it into a patty with your hands then place it in the pan. Now do note that because there's not a lot of filler in these crab cakes and because I use chunky lump crab, they are a bit more fragile in terms of staying together. But I find that once you cook the first side, they do stay together pretty well. Just be a little gentle when you're flipping them. They'll need to cook for about two to three minutes on each side and when they're nice and golden, you can flip them over, cook the other side and then remove them to a plate. And you'll repeat this process with another batch until all of the crab cake mixture is cooked. Now because my mom always fried her crab cakes, that's how I've historically made mine as well because monkeys see monkey do. But if you'd like to bake your crab cakes in the oven, you can do that also. Just place them on a parchment lined baking tray in a 400 degree Fahrenheit oven for about 10 to 15 minutes or until they're nicely browned, then flip them over and cook for another 10 to 15 minutes. Either method works, so it's really up to you. When you're done, you should have these beautifully golden crab cakes and I served them up with a very generous amount of the tartar sauce because that homemade tartar sauce is incredibly delicious and I like to dollop lots of it on the crab cakes. You can also get fancy and garnish your platter with fresh parsley and lemon slices or serve up some lemon slices on another plate on the side. This is such a simple recipe and if you do use the almond flour, it keeps it as a high protein, low carb recipe if that's your approach. I honestly do not count calories or macros, I just do my best to use good quality ingredients in my cooking and call it a day. These crab cakes are such a favorite of mine and I was overly anxious to take my first bite, so much so that I forgot to squeeze fresh lemon on that first bite, but it really is great with a punch of freshly squeezed lemon juice, so I did not make that same mistake on my second bite. This is a recipe that I really have to stop myself after a couple of them because they are highly addictive and I can just keep eating them. Now, as I mentioned earlier, these are similar to my salmon patties and because they are similar, you can meal prep them the same way, so if you do have any leftovers, you can put them into an airtight storage container, store them in the fridge for four to five days or in the freezer for up to three months. This is a family favorite recipe and it's especially popular during the holidays, so my mom is always requesting this right before Christmas. I hope you guys love these crab cakes as much as my family and I do and if you enjoyed the video, make sure to give it a thumbs up and with that, I will see you in the next video.