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My Cajun crab cakes with Louisiana remoulade sauce are a sweet and succulent Gulf Coast seafood spectacular dish, y'all!! Delighting the senses with an enticing aroma and captivating presentation, these cakes enliven your palate with a feisty, flavor-popping profile you won't soon forget. Yep and yay...
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Pretty Please with Super Scrumptious Remoulade Sauce on Top...
Cajun crab cakes are fish cakes seasoned with South Louisiana spices and tossed with the browned chopped Cajun trinity veggies of yellow onion, green bell pepper, and celery. Restaurants usually serve them pan-fried. They do this because the brief cooking time is enough to brown the outside nicely while cooking the cakes evenly throughout the middle.
My version is flavor-heavy. I use seasoned jumbo lump crab meat, a touch of citrus, and a dash of hot sauce that subtly amplifies the flavors and textures of the other ingredients. I pan-fry my Cajun crab cakes, too, making them a quick and easy way to enjoy restaurant-quality cakes at home anytime the mood strikes.
Cajun Crab Cakes Ingredient Essentials & Substitutions
- I used jumbo lump blue crab meat with great success, y'all. Each bite overflowed with just the right ratio of Cajun spiced crab meat, cracker crumbs, and browned veggies. It's truly a match made in food heaven. However, you can also use lump crab meat or claw crab meat with full confidence. I've used all three types of crab and while jumbo lump is my favorite, the other two options still make a mighty good crab cake.
- The Cajun trinity veggies of chopped yellow onion, bell pepper, and celery form the distinctive deep and rich South Louisiana base flavor profile in these Cajun crab cakes. They are essential to the recipe, and I highly recommend using them all, along with the garlic, which is fine straight out of the jar. But, please use fresh trinity veggies to experience this recipe in all its glorious splendor. Substitute yellow, orange, or red peppers for the green if needed.
- Chopped fresh parsley and green onions placed on top of the piping hot cakes elevate their presentation to a restaurant-quality level. The greenery also adds a cool, earthy crunch that contrasts perfectly with the sweetness of the crab, yielding a next-level dining experience that makes these Cajun crab cakes truly something special.
- Lemon juice and zest brighten the rest of the flavors in the crab mix. So, use the freshest, best-quality lemon you can locate for the task.
- Cracker crumbs hold the cakes together without overpowering the flavor of the rest of the ingredients or being just plain "too starchy." I only call for a cup in my Cajun crab cake recipe. So, with each bite your taste buds are hit with well-seasoned, succulent crab and caramelized veggie flavors with just a hint of cohesive background crumbs that bind the bliss.
- Louisiana remoulade sauce is the ideal pairing for the crab cakes. They are still very good without it. But, it's worth going out of your way a bit to experience them with the sauce.
- You probably have the butter and oil on hand. The dried spices called for in the recipe are very common, so you likely have those, too, or can pick them up from Walmart easily.
How to Make Cajun Crab Cakes with Louisiana Remoulade Sauce
To start the recipe, make the remoulade in an airtight container with a fitted lid. Set aside if you're making the cakes immediately, or cover and refrigerate until use.
Sprinkle the dried seasonings over the jumbo lump crab meat. Stir to combine.
Pour the chopped Cajun trinity veggies into a large skillet with about half of the butter and oil.
Cook until the veggies are browned, then add the garlic and cook for another minute.
Transfer the vegetables to a large bowl, then wipe out the skillet and get it ready for pan-frying the cakes. Let the mixture in the bowl cool down for a few minutes.
Beat the eggs lightly. Then, add them and the remaining Cajun crab cake ingredients to the bowl.
Stir to combine.
Then, use a retractable ice cream scoop to make same-sized cakes. I used a standard-sized scoop to make seven large crab cakes. You can use a smaller scoop to make cakes that are the smaller, perfect appetizer size if desired.
Place the Cajun crab cakes on a foil-lined baking sheet, then pop them into the freezer. This will harden them, ensuring they stay intact throughout the pan-frying process.
Heat the remaining oil and butter in the skillet.
When the oil is hot, add the crab cakes to the skillet in batches. Fry on both sides for several minutes, or until browned on both sides and cooked through.
And that's it, y'all!!
These Cajun crab cakes are just as perfect for jazzing up your weeknight menu rotation as they are for making a stellar dinner party impression.
And the taste and textures, y'all!!! Immensely flavorful seasoned crab meat with surprise charred veggie bits that deepen and intensify each bite. Oh, and the remoulade sauce!! Sooo incredibly luscious and flavor-popping on its own, and simply DIVINE on top of the crab cakes. Indeed.
Share with those who are fun and feisty on the surface yet solid and strong underneath it all. Much Cajun food love, and see y'all on the yum side...
More Amazing South Louisiana Seafood Recipes
If you love this recipe, you'll likely want to bookmark these other Louisiana seafood recipes to try later.
Cajun Crab Cakes with Louisiana Remoulade Sauce
Ingredients
For the Remoulade Sauce
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 2 teaspoons ketchup
- 2 teaspoons chili sauce I only use this one
- 1 tablespoon Creole mustard
- 1 teaspoon yellow mustard
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 tablespoon yellow onion, minced
- 1 tablespoon green bell pepper, minced
- 1 tablespoon celery ribs, minced
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley leaves
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon lemon zest
- salt, black pepper, and cayenne to taste I use ½ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon black pepper, and ⅛ teaspoon cayenne
For the Seasoned Jumbo Lump Crab Meat
- 1 pound crab claw meat, picked over for shells
- ¼ teaspoon dried paprika
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice freshly squeezed
- ½ teaspoon lemon zest
- salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper to taste
For the Cajun Crab Cakes
- 2 tablespoons butter, divided
- 2 tablespoons oil, divided I use this one
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 green bell pepper, chopped
- 2 celery ribs, trimmed and chopped
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup cracker crumbs I pulsed Schar Entertainment Crackers in the blender for roughly 20 seconds to make them.
- 2 teaspoons Louisiana hot sauce optional
- chopped fresh parsley leaves garnish, optional
- sliced green onions garnish, optional
Instructions
- Prepare the remoulade sauce, then cover and refrigerate it until ready to use.
- Season the crab meat with the dried spices. Set aside in a large bowl.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of oil in a large skillet set over medium-high heat.
- Add the chopped onion, bell pepper, and celery to the skillet, and cook until browned.
- Stir the garlic into the browned chopped veggie mixture and continue to cook, stirring constantly, for one more minute.
- Remove the skillet from the heat, then use oven gloves and a large spoon to transfer the mixture to a large bowl. Wipe out the skillet and let the mixture in the bowl cool for about 5 minutes.
- Beat the eggs lightly in a small bowl.
- Pour the beaten eggs into the large bowl with the browned Cajun trinity veggie and garlic bits. Add the seasoned crab meat, the cracker crumbs, and the hot sauce if using to the mixture.
- Stir until combined but do not overwork.
- Line a baking sheet with foil.
- Use a retractable ice cream scoop to form large crab cakes of even size. I ended up with 7 large, same-size cakes using a standard-sized ice cream scoop.
- Place the crab cakes on the baking sheet, and slide the sheet into the freezer for 15 minutes. This will harden the cakes and help them stay intact throughout the rest of the cooking process.
- Heat the same skillet over medium heat. Add the remaining tablespoon of oil and tablespoon of butter to the skillet.
- Pan-fry the crab cakes in batches of three or four, letting them brown on one side for 3 to 4 minutes before flipping them over and cooking them on the other side for about the same amount of time. Reduce the heat to medium-low if the cakes start to brown too quickly.
- Transfer the cooked Cajun crab cakes to a plate. Let sit for a few minutes then top with the chopped parsley and green onion garnish. Serve with the prepared remoulade sauce.
Video
Notes
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