5 Great Crab Starters
By habee
We love seafood! Most of our friends do, too, so I often serve it at parties in the form of appetizers or starters. We sometimes catch our own crabs, and these dishes are a great way to utilize fresh crabmeat. If you're not so fortunate, use canned refrigerated crabmeat.
Below are five of my original crab recipes. I think you’ll like them!
Holle’s hot crab dip
1 pound refrigerated crab meat, flaked
8-ounce block cream cheese
1 stick butter, melted
1 jalapeno pepper, thinly sliced
1 cup grated cheddar
1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
Tabasco sauce to taste
Directions: Soften cream cheese in microwave. Add remaining ingredients and stir. Heat in microwave until the cheese has melted and mixture is smooth. Keep the dip hot in a chafing dish. Serve with crackers, bagel chips, or toasted baguettes.
Holle's mini crab cakes
1 pound refrigerated crabmeat
¼ cup mayonnaise
¼ cup finely chopped onion
¼ cup diced bell pepper
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon OldBay seasoning
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/3 cup crushed buttery crackers (like Ritz)
Flour
Peanut oil
Directions: Flake crab meat and mix with mayonnaise, onion, bell pepper, garlic salt, and Old Bay. Set aside.
Mix together egg, Worcestershire, and lemon juice. Add crackers and allow to soften for 10 minutes. Add mixture to crab and blend well.
Form mixture into one-inch balls and dredge in flour. Press balls gently with the bottom of a glass to make small cakes.
Fry the cakes in ¼-inch of oil over medium-high heat until both sides are brown.
Serve with remoulade sauce. Need that recipe? Click here.
Holle's fried crab claws
1 pound blue crab claws
1 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 egg, beaten
¼ cup cream
Flour
Peanut oil
Directions: Sprinkle claws with red pepper. Mix together egg and cream and pour over crab claws. Remove the claws from the egg wash and shake in flour. Fry at 350-360 degrees until golden brown. Drain and serve with remoulade sauce, tartar sauce, or cocktail sauce.
If you want a thicker coating of breading, dredge the claws in flour first, then into the egg wash, then back into the flour. You can actually repeat this process if you want really thick breading!
Holle's tropical crab salad
1 pound refrigerated lump crabmeat
¼ cup mayonnaise
½ cup diced red and/or green bell pepper
½ cup sliced green onion
1 tablespoon lime juice
paprika to taste
Salt and pepper to taste
1 large pineapple
Directions: Squeeze crabmeat in paper towels to remove as much moisture as possible. Toss with remaining ingredients except for pineapple. Split and core pineapple and cut edible fruit into small chunks. Add the pineapple to the crab mixture. Serve in the pineapple shell.
Holle's crab spread
1 pound refrigerated crab meat, well drained
2 blocks cream cheese, softened (8 ounces each)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 packet dry spicy or fiesta ranch dressing mix
2 tablespoons cocktail sauce
Directions: Mix everything together and refrigerate. Once the spread is firm, you can shape it into a ball or log. If we’re having a big party, I often double or triple the recipe and form it into a crab shape. Serve with crackers or sliced baguettes.
More crab starters?
If you'd like more recipes for crab appetizers and starters, check out the following videos!
Crab-artichoke dip
Crab-stuffed mushrooms
Crab-stuffed wontons
More crab recipes:
- Southern Cuisine: Holle's Crab Stew
There are few dishes more satisfying on a cold winter night than a big bowl of crab stew. Its creamy goodness is more than just your average soup - it's hearty enough for a stand-on-its own meal. Serve with... - Southern Culinary Arts: Crab Cakes with Remoulade Sauce
Welcome to my online cooking school! Today's online cooking classes are all about a delicious Southern favorite - crab cakes. I love crab meat! One of my favorite ways to eat it is in the form of crab... - Culinary Arts: Crab Newburg
Learn to make crab Newburg in my online cooking school! For the very best Newburg, catch your own crabs! Today in my online cooking school, were going to cook a seafood favorite, crab Newburg. This is part... - Culinary Arts: Grilled Crabs or Barbecued Crabs, with Video
Good morning, online cooking school students! Todays culinary art is grilled crabs. Some of you refer to this dish as barbecued crab, since its cooked on the barbie. In the South, however,... - How to Kill, Clean, and Cook Blue Crabs, with Videos
Blue crabs are a real delicacy. They can be easily caught with just a little patience and a little know-how. You can learn how to catch these delicacies by clicking on the link below this article. Before... - How to Pick and Eat Blue Crabs, with How-to Videos
Theres just nothing much better than sitting down to a tableful of steamed blue crabs with a few friends or family members. Table etiquette pretty much flies out the window during a crab pickin...
Comments
Great is right! And the photo is, too!
Love the pineapple touch. Great recipes.
Funny I had Crab Rangoon tonight. Nice hub.
I love, love, love CRAB! Great recipes here and I'm going to try them out this summer for sure! Thumbs up. :)
Thank you for all these very tasty starters. Mustn't say great hub.
Thanks for the terrific recipes. Crab is my favorite shell fish, especially since I gave up shrimp and lobster. Woe is me!
I just wanted to say- Hmmm!
Oh my gosh, I'm hungry now!
It is a good lesion for the right person. Thanks.
you really amaze me habee, I like to go and taste all your hub recipes, you sure rock, Beautiful of course, Maita
Great recipes - you sure know your way around the kitchen :)
Habee, I adore crab meat and am bookmarking this hub. Everything looks great.
The Old Bay seasoning is terrific in seafood. I buy big cans of it!
I haven't tried Old Bay but I've seen it and wondered about it - now I have to try it. I'm still trying to decide if I can eat crab or not but you are making it seem like I almost HAVE to! Wonderful recipes, Spanky!
What to choose....mmmm... the artichoke crab dip today thanks Habee.
I've done the crab and artichoke dip, but will have to try some of the others. Old Bay seasoning... yes!
Wow, habee, what a lot of interesting methods you have postulated to dispose of the crab population. I'm partial to crab cakes myself so will try them ... some day.
Hey, great Hub! So great infact that we featured it on Twitter. Be sure to follow (if you are a Tweeter) and RT when we feature your Hubs for more traffic.
Have a great day - Hub Pages Hottest.
I envy all of you who can get fresh seafood. We don't get much of that around here. This looked absolutely scrumptious.
oh Habee, I hadn't seen this yet. Oh my gosh, I am dying to try these. Thanks for sharing, and love your pictures too. That top one is precious!
One of my favourite foods.
So many great things to try. I'll start with the salad and then the dip!
Some great sounding recipes here! Having fresh crab would make them all the better. Thanks for sharing them with us. We would happily be dinner guests at your home anytime! :-)
Thanks for the recipes. They look and sound delicious.
Rkhy, sorry you live so far from the ocean!
Aww, thanks, sheila!
Suzie, the taste combination is surprisingly good!
Sandy, I read your mind!
Thanks, Steph! We love it, too!
HH, I don't mind if you say great hub! lol
Bpop, WHY did you give up shrimp and lobster??
Mickey, was that hmmm or mmm??
Angela, I made myself hungry!
HP, thanks for reading!
Maita, you're always so sweet!
V, that's why I'm fat! lol
Pam, thanks for reading!
Judy, Old Bay is a must!
Buckie, go buy some!
Billy, always good to see you!
Yay, Steph - another Old Bay fan!
Yes, drbj, it's not that I have anything personal against crabs - they just taste so darn good!
Thanks, Sam! I'm so thankful that I can get really fresh seafood here!
Thanks, Sunny. That's my grandson and niece!
Yay, Eth! Another crab lover!
Ah, Mulberry...so many great foods, so little time!
right, Peggy - fresh makes all the difference!
Nancy, thanks for stopping by!
rkhyclak 23 months ago
Living in Ohio, I don't get much fresh anything, but we love seafood! I'll have to give these a try with some of the refrigerated/canned stuff. Thanks Habee!