Gluten free crab cakes baked and broiled to crispy perfection! Maryland or Dungeness lump crab cakes are a favorite dish that can be easily made at home in as little as 30 minutes! Serve it up with this spicy southern Greek yogurt dipping sauce and guests will be talking about it for years to come!
If you happen to live by the beach you lucky to enjoy delicious fresh seafood anytime right at your fingertips. Lucky you! And if you do not live by the beach you are still lucky because this recipe is made with lump crab meat from a container. That provides one less step of disassembling shelled fish! Everyone doing a happy dance now? You just got 1 hour of extra time! Whoot, whoot!
I do not think I have ever actually had a Maryland Crab Cake. Not from Maryland anyway. I grew up in New Jersey and Virginia but Maryland was merely a neighborhood in-between! Wherever we lived, living on the east coast my mom and my sister would always order a delicious crab cake recipe at a seafood restaurants.
Although my mom is not a fan of red peppers (which this recipe calls for), she would always order without. Most traditional Manhattan crab cake recipes call for celery and that was always my mothers preference so I made this recipe optional. If you are not a red or green pepper fan, use celery. If you are a pepper fan use red finely diced red pepper or a combo with celery. Anytime we went out for seafood dinner my brother was more the pasta with shrimp and scallops kind-a-guy. I am a broiled fish or grilled ahi kinda gal with a side of vegetables. Crab cakes are a new thing which I am stocked can me made lighter with less calories!
Making crab cakes at home is a total different story than ordering out! Just make them baked not fried for healthier indulgence!
When you make crab cakes at home you can control the oil (or no oil) and the amount of calories in each crab patty. Baked crab cakes are so much better for you than fried and these only take about 30 minutes to bake in the oven!
My sister recently visited from out of town and her food request was seafood only! Since she is land-locked, away from their home raised fresh red meat, we had to make it happen.We made these outstanding gluten free crab cakes and had so much fun shooting the video and adding ingredients from fond memories of our favorite dishes (thank you Darlene)!
Once we baked them they needed to bit of searing or broiling to make that fried crispy texture on the outside.
Broiling these gluten free crab cakes (after they are cooked) crisps the outside but keeps the inside perfectly tender and delicious without extra oil!
Anything evolving the ocean, fishermen, boats and seafood we love! Two of our favorite family activities that the boys and I enjoy are playing at the beach or visiting the Ty Warner Sea Center. The ocean and sea makes our family feel so calm. The boys just love spotting the variety of snow crabs, hermit crabs, crayfish, star fish, lobster, shark, squid and more! They are even starting to think they are experts at marine biology telling me exactly what shark eggs look like in the ocean and every and all facts about star fish limbs growing back. Thank you boys for the marine biology lessons.
Let’s just eat the delicious seafood with this lemony spicy dip. Ever wonder how to make the best fish sauce or dip recipe? It is quite simple with a few tweaks. Starting with questions…
What to serve with crab cakes?
- Savory southwest sauce
- This Greek yogurt aioli
- Delicate rosemary roasted potatoes
- Salad!
How to make crab cake sauce:
This crab cake sauce is [OMG] wildly delicious and takes as little as 5 minutes to prepare! It is the kind of sauce that gets your tastes buds bouncing all around and finishing off with the solo flavor of crunchy crab cakes.
The base of aioli sauce is normally made with mayonnaise, lemon juice, spices, garlic salt and minced garlic. But for added protein and probiotic compounds, non fat Greek yogurt is used instead of the mayonnaise.
3 Main sources needed for crab cake sauce:
- Creamy base such as mayonnaise or Greek yogurt.
- Acid such as lemon or vinegar.
- Sweets and Spice such as honey and cayenne pepper.
First whisk together Greek yogurt, lemon juice, spices & seasonings, salt, pepper, honey and vinegar. Add the melted butter and mix together until blended. The butter adds a delicious creaminess to compliment the tart Greek yogurt flavor. Once it is fully blended, let the sauce chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or more for best results.
Then go on… “When you dip I dip you dip!”
These gluten free crab cakes will knock your socks off! They perfectly compliment this Greek yogurt aioli sauce. Bonus it is all:
- low fat
- gluten free
- healthy
- packed with protein
- rich in omega’s
- CRAB CAKES:
- 8 ounces of crab meat
- ¼ cup onion, diced
- ¼ cup red pepper OR celery, diced (use celery if you do not prefer red pepper taste)
- ½ cup gluten free bread crumbs (such as Panko brand)
- ½ teaspoon dried parsley
- ½ teaspoon mustard powder
- 1 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 Tablespoon fresh chives or 1 teaspoon of dry chives
- 1 Tablespoon mayonnaise
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- ⅛ teaspoon of cayenne pepper (optional)
- sprinkle of black pepper and Himalayan salt
- SPICY GREEK YOGURT SAUCE:
- Southwest Dipping Sauce:
- ½ cup non-fat Greek Yogurt
- 1 Tablespoon butter, melted (can use vegan butter)
- 1 teaspoon of lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons honey
- 1 teaspoon white vinegar
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ¼ teaspoon cumin
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon Himalayan salt
- ¼ teaspoon dry oregano
- MAKE THE SPICY GREEK YOGURT AIOLI:
- In a small bowl whisk together Greek yogurt, lemon juice, honey, white vinegar, ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper, paprika, cumin, garlic powder, salt and oregano. Blend in the melted butter. Set in the refrigerator until ready to use.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking pan with parchment paper.
- MAKE THE CRAB CAKES:
- In a small bowl whisk together the egg, mayonnaise and lemon juice. Set aside.
- In a medium size bowl combine the lump crab meat, onion, red pepper, bread crumbs, parsley, mustard powder, black pepper, salt, Old Bay Seasoning, baking powder, chives and cayenne pepper. Break up the chunks of lump crab meat first or as you mix. Blend until all the ingredients are combined then add the egg and mayonnaise mixture. Combine well.
- With a spatula section the crab cake mixture into four sections. With your hands, form each section into a patty and place on the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake for 15 minutes then flip the crab cakes. Then bake the other side for 10-15 more minutes. Turn on the broiler and broil for 3-5 minutes or until the tops are slightly browned. Garnish with extra chives and serve with Spicy Greek Yogurt Aioli Sauce.
| Nutrition Facts | |
|---|---|
| Servings 4.0 | |
| Amount Per Serving | |
| calories 187 | |
| % Daily Value * | |
| Total Fat 7 g | 11 % |
| Saturated Fat 3 g | 13 % |
| Monounsaturated Fat 1 g | |
| Polyunsaturated Fat 2 g | |
| Trans Fat 0 g | |
| Cholesterol 62 mg | 21 % |
| Sodium 2413 mg | 101 % |
| Potassium 147 mg | 4 % |
| Total Carbohydrate 23 g | 8 % |
| Dietary Fiber 1 g | 3 % |
| Sugars 8 g | |
| Protein 8 g | 17 % |
| Vitamin A | 9 % |
| Vitamin C | 42 % |
| Calcium | 5 % |
| Iron | 4 % |
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I spend most of my summer in Maryland, so I know a good crab cake when I see one! These look amazing! Full of limbs of crabmeat with only a little bit of GF filling 🙂
These look great! Mine didn’t stick together at all after mixing with the egg mixture. I think I needed double the egg and bread crumbs.
Any extra water from the canned crab? Make sure to drain out all the liquid and when you are forming the patties give them a good squeeze too.
Recipe lists 1/2 tsp of baking powder but not in Instructions.
Thank you, that is a misprint and is added in the instructions.