The sound of the ocean crashing against the shore, sand in between your toes, crab cake sandwich in hand. Ahhh…I miss the summer! But I *was* able to create some sort of summer vibes, even in the dead of 19 degree winter. Enter the crab cake sandwich. I can’t be the only one that seems to only eat crab cakes during the summer? Well I’m here to propose we eat crab cake sandwiches all year long!
Going on diets just aren’t practical for me, I love food too much and I would get bored of eating grilled chicken salads and bland turkey burgers every day. So I’ve been trying to recreate my favorite recipes using healthier swaps. With this recipe in particular, I swapped out egg whites for the full egg, and whole grain Saltines (yes, they make them!) for regular.
Have you ever ordered a crab cake, and when it came to the table, you could already tell it has a lot of things in there, and the crab is like, non existent?! I hate that. There is a time and place for celery, peppers, and lots of bread. But crab cakes isn’t one of them. I like to keep them simple, so the sweet crab can speak for itself. Good quality crab, the Saltines, egg whites, spices, Dijon, olive oil and some parsley for freshness. Because there is very little filler, it’s CRUCIAL not to miss the chilling the crab mixture step. If your time allows it, an hour, if you’re a little pressed, 30 minutes will work. But the mixture needs to be chilled in order to keep the crab cake together.
Let’s talk crab
I like the brand Culinary Reserve. It’s wild caught, premium hand-picked crab meat. You want to make sure if you’re not getting it directly from a fish market, that you choose one that says ‘hand picked’. This means it was picked through to ensure there were no shells (although you should still keep your eyes out). This brand is super fresh. I love the big chunks of crab!
Love a good sauce
The perfect addition to the crab cake? A perfect sauce. This dill caper sauce is similar to a tartar (with the brininess) but it’s taken on a little healthier vibe, using Greek yogurt instead of mayo, its freshness from dill, and the brininess from capers. With this sandwich, the simpler the better. I like to add the sauce and some peppery arugula and there you have it. Just like letting the crab speak for itself, letting the entire crab cake shine in this sandwich is the way to go! If you’re not watching what you eat, feel free to go full on with all of the ingredients with this one (full egg, regular Saltine’s, mayo)
This recipe makes 6x 3″ crab cakes. You can use this recipe to make 4x bigger ones (if you’re using a roll instead of English muffins) or you can make bite size ones for a cocktail party!
Healthy-ish Crab Cake Sandwiches
Ingredients
- 16 oz lump crab meat I used Culinary Reserve Wild Caught
- ¼ cup egg whites or whites of 2 eggs *You can also use 1 full egg if you’d prefer*
- 20 whole grain Saltine crackers crushed finely (regular saltine works too)
- ½ lemon juiced
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon Dijon
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon Old Bay
- ½ teaspoon mustard powder
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne
- Cracked pepper
- Handful of parsley
- 6 rolls I used Whole Grain English Muffins
- Dill caper sauce recipe below
- Baby arugula
Dill Caper Sauce
- ½ cup Greek yogurt I used non-fat
- 1 and a ½ Tablespoons of chopped dill
- ½ tablespoon of mayo
- Half of a lemon juiced
- 2 teaspoons of capers
- 1 teaspoon dijon
- Salt
- Pepper
- Paprika
Instructions
- Preparation:
- In a large bowl, combine crab, lemon juice, crackers, egg whites, Dijon and spices until just mixed (but do not over mix). Place in the refrigerator for at least half an hour, an hour if you can.
- When you’re ready to make the crab cakes, pre heat the oven to 400 degrees F. Cut the rolls or English muffins in half and lightly toast. Spread a heaping spoonful of the dill caper sauce on each side, and add some arugula to the bottom half. Take the crab mixture out of the fridge. Using a 1/3 measuring cup, take a heaping scoop and form a thicker crab cake, about 3”. Repeat 5 times. Since I used English muffins, I made my crab cakes a little smaller. If you’re using a larger roll, feel free to make 4 larger crab cakes instead.
- Place a cast iron skillet on medium heat, and either spray with olive oil spray, or drizzle some olive oil. When the skillet is nice and hot, place each crab cake and cook for about 5 minutes, until browned. Carefully flip (I like to use a fish spatula), and cook another few minutes. Place the crab cakes in the oven to finish browning and to heat through (if you used the olive oil spray, you may want to give the crab cakes another spray before putting in the oven). Bake in the oven for about 8-10 minutes. The crab itself is already cooked, but you want to brown on all sides and heat the crab cake through, as well as make sure it’s all bound together.
- Remove the crab cakes from the oven and place each crab cake on your prepared muffin/roll. You can add some tomato if you’d like, but I think with this sandwich, simple is best!
Dill Caper Sauce
- Preparation:
- Combine all ingredients in a bowl (sprinkle of each salt, pepper, and paprika). Place in the fridge to chill until ready to use. This can stay in the fridge in an airtight container for 3 days.
