Crab

37 Crab Recipes: Crab Cakes, Crab Toast, Chili Crab, and More

Plus crab pasta, roast crab, potted crab, and crab with so many dipping sauces.
gluten free crab cakes one of our best crab recipes shown with snap pea salad on a turquoise plate
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Olivia Mack Anderson

If you're looking for crab recipes, you probably already know that you can serve Old Bay or J.O.-encrusted whole crabs on a newspaper-covered table. Or Dungeness with a bowl of melted butter for dipping. You probably have a favorite crab cake recipe. But there are so many delicious ways to eat crab, including piled on crab toasts, stuffed into crab rolls, stirred into cioppino, folded into salads, or roasted with fennel. Below you'll find a few of our very best crab recipes.

  • Crab rolls on plates with old bay one of our best crab recipes for summer.
    Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Rhoda Boone.
    1/37

    Brown-Butter Crab Roll

    Lobster rolls may get all the glory, but crab rolls are way easier to pull off at home—and, dare we say it, maybe even more delicious. Nutty brown butter makes this take on the classic crab recipe even more special.

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  • Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Olivia Mack Anderson
    2/37

    Gluten-Free Crab Cakes With Snap Pea Salad

    A mixture of almond meal and cornmeal replaces traditional breadcrumbs in these scallion- and mint-packed crab cakes. The raw snap pea salad is crunchy and refreshing—and it’s the perfect way to complete the meal.

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  • Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Anna Stockwell
    3/37

    Crab Salad Tostadas

    Crispy tostadas are piled with a refreshing crab salad, seasoned with Old Bay, fresh mint, jalapeño, and lime.

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  • 4/37

    Crab Toast with Lemon Aioli

    Sweet crabmeat gets a luscious dollop of lemony aioli, plus delicate fennel fronds and a little finely chopped serrano pepper.

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  • Photo by Danny Kim, food and prop styling by Ali Nardi
    5/37

    Spaghetti with Crab and Tomatoes

    This simple dinner brings together a pound of crabmeat, sweet cherry tomatoes, lemon, and spaghetti.

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  • Photo by Joseph De Leo, Prop Styling by Megan Hedgpeth, Food Styling by Liza Jernow
    6/37

    Crab Louie Salad Lettuce Cups

    Serve these lettuce cups as a finger-food starter to a special meal, or make this retro classic your whole dinner.

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  • Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Beatrice Chastka, Food Styling by Laura Rege
    7/37

    Eggplant Omelet (Tortang Talong)

    Sometimes ground pork or beef is added to the egg in this battered eggplant cutlet, but a little crabmeat makes it even better.

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  • Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Rhoda Boone
    8/37

    Soft-Shelled Crabs Meunière

    If you can get soft shells, this crispy preparation is the way to go. The dredged and sautéed crabs get a drizzle of brown butter, lemon, and parsley.

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  • Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Rhoda Boone
    9/37

    Campechana Extra (Mexican Seafood Cocktail)

    Shrimp meets sweet lump crabmeat, smoky New Mexican chiles, fresh tomato, briny olives, Clamato juice, and creamy avocado in this cooling crab recipe.

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  • 10/37

    Cioppino

    Cioppino is made with a variety of the freshest fish possible. In San Francisco the mixture usually includes Dungeness crab.

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  • Jeffrey Schad
    15/37

    Potted Crab

    The delicate sweetness of Alaskan king crab is front and center in this easy-to-make appetizer. Serve with toasts or sliced baguette.

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  • Gail Albert Halaban
    16/37

    Cioppino-Style Roasted Crab

    You don't need a whole seafood assortment to make this cioppino-inspired supper. You'll make a tomato-y base with clam juice and crushed red pepper, then nestle in the crab to roast. Don't forget the sourdough for dipping.

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  • Marcus Nilsson
    17/37

    Linguine with Crab, Lemon, Chile, and Mint

    To make this pasta really sing, use the freshest, best-quality crab available. You can feel free to adjust the heat from the chiles and the amount of lemon juice to your liking.

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  • Photo by John Von Pamer
    18/37

    Hot Miso Crab

    A creamy, savory mix of silken tofu, white miso, sherry vinegar, and sour cream adds even more richness to the crab topping for these toasts.

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  • Lisa Hubbard
    21/37

    Cioppino

    This version of cioppino has a good dose of fennel and garlic, plus a mix of seafood including cod, mussels, squid, and crab (or shrimp). 

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  • Jim Bastardo
    22/37

    Blue Claw Crab Boil With 3 Sauces

    You can use any kind of crab, or even dip lump crabmeat in the sauces.

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  • Photo by Pornchai Mittongtare
    31/37

    Oven-Roasted Dungeness Crab

    The buttery sauce that coats the crabmeat and the shells is part of the pleasure of this dish; to really enjoy it, dispense with the utensils and just eat the crab with your hands. Serve with a green salad and plenty of crusty bread.

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  • Photo by Romulo Yanes
    32/37

    Crab, Chile & Mint Crostini

    Briny-sweet crab and piquant chiles shine on subtly flavored white bread.

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  • Photo by Romulo Yanes
    37/37

    Creole Crab Burgers

    We wouldn't have a complete list of best crab recipes without at least one sandwich. Here, tender lumps of crab are seasoned (in the manner of traditional Louisiana deviled crabs) and lightly bound with egg and bread crumbs, then panfried until the cakes have a golden crust. A thin layer of tangy tartar sauce and crisp lettuce is all the accompaniment they need.

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