Whole Wheat, Buttery Crab Cakes.
I love this recipe.
It usually ends up slightly different each time since I rarely measure anything, but I include the same ingredients.
I threw this together when I was sick of eating crab cakes with too much ‘filler.’ These bad boys MELT in your mouth. And they are also fairly healthy!
Begin with 16oz of lump crabmeat.
No imitation crab here.
Beautiful chunks ‘o crab.
And lots of protein!
My main seasonings.
I am having a love affair with smoked paprika. It is so, so good. I add it to pretty much everything these days.
It is one of those ingredients that leads people to say
“what exactly is in this? I can’t pinpoint it, but it’s excellent!’
Well – that’s what I would probably say.
I use about 1-2 tablespoons of Olive Oil mayo to hold things together. You may be shocked, but I do not really like mayonaise. Weird, you say?
I figure it is not something I need to ‘try’ to like – since I like many other rich foods.
The title of this entry is slightly misleading.
When I make these crabcakes, I almost always use whole wheat crackers. My favorites are simply store-brand entertainer crackers.
I am really trying not to be wasteful, and had a few sleeves of Ritz crackers laying around. I used them this time.
Please don’t hate.
Here is the crab mix before adding my favorite, unique ingredient.
You can barely see any filler, right? I only use about 10 crackers, and I crush them with my hands.
This is my favorite part, and what I like to think is a fairly unique spin on crab cakes. Every time I have brought these along to a party, people are always commenting on how delicious they are.
Sure, we know it’s the smoked paprika.
But it’s also my sauteed chopped veggies and garlic!
I use my mini-food processor, which I LOVE. First, it chops things evenly into the perfect size, AND it is much less time consuming.
And it’s also just so stinkin’ cute.
Here are my chopped veggies – red and green pepper, onion, and garlic.
I chop and saute them for one very important reason.
You know that satisfying, fresh ‘crunch’ that most people love about veggies?
I hate it. Like, totally grosses me out.
I saute them until they get soft and they add wonderful flavor to the crab.
I add the entire mix – olive oil, veggies and all – right to the crab. It adds an extra bit of moisture and ‘glue’ without added filler.
I have never tried it, but I’m sure this would also make a nice, cold, crab salad.
This part is optional – sometimes I do it, sometimes I don’t.
I don’t know what the deciding factor is either. I supposed it would be if I want to fit into my jeans the next day.
And apparently when I made these, I didn’t.
I use a tablespoon or so of butter (or Smart Balance, etc) and chop it into tiny slices.
Just lightly place it on top of the crab cake.
It melts of-so-perfectly in the oven!
After about 25 minutes, out come crispy, golden-brown crab cakes.
Sometimes I make mini-cakes for appetizers and occasionally larger ones for a meal.
Really, the addition of the chopped, sauteed veggies adds a moisture and flavor to the crab cakes I have never tasted before. Please try it out!
Whole Wheat, Buttery Crab Cakes
16 oz lump crab meat
1 tablespoon olive oil mayo
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon ground mustard
1/2 teaspoon season salt
10 whole wheat crackers, hand smooshed
1/4 red pepper
1/4 green pepper
1/4 sweet onion
3 garlic cloves
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
Season crab with smoked paprika, mustard and season salt. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil mayo and mix. Add 10 whole wheat crackers and thoroughly mix again.
Either hand-chop or add peppers, onions, and garlic to a food processor. Chop into tiny chunks. Heat a skillet on medium-high heat, and add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 1/2 tablespoon of butter. Add in chopped veggies and saute for about 1-2 minutes, until soft.
Add entire veggie mix to crab and stir. Form into small or large cakes. Chop remaining butter into tiny slices and lay on top of each cake.
Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes or until crispy and golden brown.
Please, please, please notify my of any typos in this post (or any). Multiple times while typing ‘crab,’ I typed both ‘crap’ and ‘carb.’
And I don’t think any of us want to eat crap cakes!
36 Comments on “Whole Wheat, Buttery Crab Cakes.”
Those look really good! I don’t like mayo either.
I have a love/hate relationship with crab cakes. I love the way they taste, but I hate the way they make my house smell, so I rarely make them. Having said that, your recipe looks so good that I might just have to suck it up and enjoy them!
Great pictures! I am not a crab meat kind of girl, but these look so good I might have to give crab a chance!
I’m really fussy about crab cakes; aside from Maryland, I have found one really good place to have them in Ft. Lauderdale. They are better than any I could make. Your recipe is interesting in that you use whole wheat crackers, but I forgive you for substituting Ritz. :) Also love it that you bake, not fry.
Thanks for visiting my blog; I was originally from Algonac Michigan; lived in Birmingham after I married. We had a place on Walloon Lake for years. Still go up to Petoskey area every fall. Have been in Florida since 1970.
wow that looks great! I am not a huge crab eater, dont know why! I guess I never cared for the cakes because exactly what you said about the fillers, but yours look amazing!! very creative recipe lady :)
Does your husband know about your extra-marital affairs with the Smoked Paprika? I would just suggest getting it out in the open before it leads to trouble.
Who knows, maybe he would be interested in an open marriage with Ginger.
Now, I want seafood for dinner!
I love crab cakes and hate when they are all filler. These look perfect and offer a dose of healthy veggies too.
Yummers!
Thanks for sharing another delish recipe…
Look forward to seeing what you come up with next!
Thank you for finding and reading my blog! I love your style – can’t wait to read more. :-)
Wow, those sound great. I’ve never made crab cakes before, but you make it sound fairly simple!
-Allison (www.balanceinbites.com)
yum! these look great – I love crab cakes! and I hate mayo.
I need to cook those… like right now. I think after work today I’m going to get all of those ingredients… yum!!!
Looks very yummy! Email me with your address to claim your prize!
thanks for your comment on my site :D
these look great and made my mouth water at 815am. bookmarking and def trying these SOON!!
i love crab cakes! this looks like great recipe! i wanna try!
I’m saving this recipe for sure.
These look awesome! I definitely want to try them when i’m planning a special dinner/appetizer. too expensive otherwise i guess. Do they keep well?
Those look really yummy- I love mini crab cakes as appetizers. I’ve been looking for a good crab cake recipe- I think I’ll try these next Thanks!
I buy canned crab at TJ’s – love it and its only $8.99 a can! Love your addition of veggies, I’d just leave the onions out of mine!
Delish!
LOVE crab cakes–these look delicious! :)
Looks wonderful! Just a few months ago I also recently came to the realization that Smoked Spanish Paprika is the one ingredient that could be missing from any dish. Missing something? Add smoked paprika! Other people think stuff needs bacon. Hah! They just haven’t tried smoked paprika yet. Oh, and your lobster mac recipe you linked? Will be trying that asap!
Your crab cakes look yummy! I love crab cakes!!!! :)
Oh.
My.
Gosh.
These look ahhhh-mazing! I will be investing in some smoked paprika this weekend fo sho! :)
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notify *me of any typos
This sounds delicious! I have to admit, my favorite part was when you wrote, “Please, please, please notify my of any typos”. “my” should probably be “me”. ;) I wouldn’t change it though. The irony makes it awesome.