Cajun Crab Balls {Grain or Gluten Free}
Ultra-flavorful carmelized Cajun trinity bits and fresh crab claw meat make these grain or gluten free Cajun crab balls the perfect appetizer or fancy dinner treat.
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Servings: 4 people
Ingredients
- 1 batch remoulade sauce
- 1 pound crab claw meat, picked over for shells
- 3 to 4 tablespoons butter or oil
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 green bell pepper, chopped
- 2 celery ribs, chopped
- 2 tablespoons roasted red peppers, chopped
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 cup gluten free bread crumbs or almond flour see notes below
- 1 ½ teaspoons Louisiana hot sauce
- 1 teaspoon dried paprika
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
- salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper to taste
Instructions
- Prepare the remoulade sauce, cover and refrigerate.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Heat oil or butter in a 10-inch enameled cast iron skillet.
- Brown the Cajun trinity of onion, bell pepper and celery in the skillet.
- When the trinity is browned, add the chopped roasted red peppers. Cook for 2 additional minutes.
- Add the garlic to the skillet, and cook down for 1 additional minute.
- Remove from heat, and let cool for at least 5 minutes.
- Pour the crab claw meat, browned veggies, lightly beaten eggs, gluten free bread crumbs or almond flour, hot sauce, paprika, onion powder, dried parsley flakes, and SP&C to taste into a large bowl.
- Use a large spoon, or your hands, to stir all of the ingredients together until well-incorporated.
- Use your hands, a retractable cookie scoop or a ¼-cup measuring cup to form the mixture into balls. (I used my hands and got 20 balls out of the mixture).
- Cover a large baking sheet with aluminum foil. Top with a well-greased oven-safe baking rack.
- Line the Cajun crab balls along the top of the rack, about an inch apart.
- Bake for 20 minutes.
- Remove from heat, and let cool slightly before serving with the remoulade sauce.
Notes
If you're using almond flour to make these Cajun crab balls grain free, place the rolled balls in the freezer for 10 minutes or the fridge for 20 minutes before baking. This will help them better retain their shape while baking, and make them less likely to fall apart after baking.
I crushed 1 cup of gluten free crackers in my food processor to use as GF bread crumbs. If you do the same, you might want to go easy on the salt if you are sensitive to salt or on a low-salt diet
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