You want to have your crab cakes and eat ‘em too? Now you can! Minus the breadcrumbs, crab cakes are easy, delicious and healthy! Crab offers a lot of protein, several B vitamins a lot of minerals such as phosphorus, zinc and sodium.
Fresh crab is best, but depending on region, you may have to purchase pre-packaged crab. Check the label to make sure it’s wild caught. Even though it’s pasteurized and refrigerated, this is still a much better option than imitation crab, which should be avoided completely. Dungeness Crab is the most sustainable choice and Blue Crab is a good second option.
These cakes do sometimes fall apart while frying, so if I’m trying to impress someone, I’ll cover the cakes and refrigerate them for about one hour before frying them. This helps to ensure they stay together. But if its just for me or my husband, I skip right ahead to the next step. It doesn’t change the delicious taste one bit!
Makes 12 cakes | Prep time: 15 mins | Cook time: 10 mins
Ingredients
- 1 pound crab meat
- 2 egg yolks
- 2 Tbsp green onion, finely chopped
- 1 Tbsp celery, finely chopped
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1/3 almond flour
- 4 Tbsp coconut oil or oil of your choice
Mango Salsa
- 1 mango – peeled, seeded, and chopped
- 1/2 avocado chopped
- 1 green onion, chopped
- 2 Tbsp chopped cilantro
- 1 fresh jalapeno chile pepper, finely chopped
- 2 Tbsp lime juice
- 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
Instructions
Step 1
Prepare the mango salsa. In a medium bowl, mix mango, avocado, green onion, cilantro, jalapeño, lime juice, and lemon juice. Cover, and allow to sit at least 30 minutes before serving.
Step 2
If the crab is too moist, place it between several paper towels and pat dry or use a cheese cloth to squeeze out the excess moisture.
Step 3
In a large mixing bowl, whisk the egg yolks. Add the rest of the ingredients, except the fat. Mix gently until combined. If the mixture is too wet, add a little more almond flour.
Step 4
Shape the mixture into round cakes with your hands, or press the crab mixture firmly into a cookie cutter. Each cake should be approx. 2 tablespoons. Using this method, you should be able to make at least a dozen crab cakes.
Step 5
In a large skillet, heat the lard/bacon fat or tallow until it is very hot. Cook the crab cakes for about 3-5 minutes, turning them over once (very gently). Place on a plate and cover with a towel while cooking the rest of the crab cakes. Serve immediately and top with the mango salsa.
