CRAB SALAD

This simple recipe for crab salad is perfect as a main course or seafood side salad. It is one of those rare diverse recipes that has many forms for serving and doesn’t require heating up. Also, it’s flexible in some of its ingredients. This is part of our Seafood, Salads, & Side Dishes categories.

Crab Salad Ingredients

Here are the ingredients for this crab salad recipe. Note that you can mix or match imitation crab meat or real crab meat. If you use the real crab meat from the can, get the lump type. That’s because the other is too mushy in texture. Also, be sure to identify any real crab meat is cooked. If it’s not, you can cook it quickly in a microwave and then cool it a bit under running cold water. Or, I’ll make it get cold and mix in separately with some ice cubes, followed by separating the ice and water from the crab. Also, keep reading to learn more about other ingredient substitutions.

14 oz Imitation Crab Meat or real crab meat lump in 6 oz cans (ensure real meat is cooked)
1 tsp Lemon Juice
1½ stalks celery chopped fine
1 tsp Dijon mustard or yellow mustard
1 tsp tarragon
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp Ground Black Pepper
4 Tbsp mayonnaise
4 Tbsp sour cream or Greek Yogurt, plain
3 stalks green onions chopped well

Salad Sour Cream Substitution: Greek Yogurt

So, if you want it a bit healthier, skip the sour cream. The ingredients listing shows options of imitation crab salad with Greek yogurt. Also, to be more daring, try it with replacing the mayonnaise as well with Greek yogurt. I’ve made it with about 1 Tbsp of mayo and 1 Tbsp of sour cream, and then replaced the rest of those 2 amounts with Greek yogurt. However, to be fair, I use the full yogurt, instead of the low or non-fat kind.

Using Real Crab Meat

Just as in our crab dip recipe, you can have a mixture between imitation and real or you can use all real. While the real deal comes in many forms, the popular one is real crab meat in the can. It might be labeled “crab meat lump” in 6 oz cans. There are other types in cans and fresh but the canned lump is the most affordable usually. However, keep in mind that you might see “white crab meat” in cans cheaper than lump; those might be kind of mushy for your usage.

Food articles indicate canned crab meat is often already pasteurized and cooked. However, I recommend you review the can or ask your seafood department clerk for confirmation. Another option, if you’re at home, search the Internet for your canned brand of crab meat.

Crab Salad as a Sandwich

It’s easy to use crab for making sandwiches. Overall, there are several ways you can make them. So, check out our crab salad sandwich post. It’s recipe is good for different bread suggestions for having it as a sandwich.

Lump Crab Salad Appetizer

The variations continue as you can use this also as a lump crab salad appetizer. Here are some of those ideas you can use to get started with. All of these are quick and easy to produce.

• Crab Salad Triangles: Make some toast, butter the slices well, make the sandwiches, and cut them into 4 triangles.
• Serve the crab salad atop bagel chips or crackers. Or, have a serving bowl out with the bagel chips and crackers on the side. Let everyone serve themselves for this delightful duo treat.
• Roll the crab salad into large lettuce leaves and close them with toothpicks.
• Crab Salad Cheddar Squares: Use regular sandwich bread and make sandwiches. Cut them into 4 squares. Add a modestly thick sharp cheddar slice in each square.

Storing Crab Salad

Crab salad stores well in the fridge. The imitation crab salad will last about 3-5 days. If any real crab meat was used, you are looking at 2-3 days. If you’ve taken it out of the fridge frequently or have left it out a few times, the shelf life will shorten of course.

Can you freeze crab salad?

That’s a good, popular question. It’s usually not recommended for this kind of seafood salad but keep reading for those results. First off, if you do freeze it, ensure it’s in a food storage bag or container designed for freezing. Otherwise, just double-bag it. For thawing it out, it’s best to do it in the fridge overnight. Because of its contents, leaving it out to thaw for a few hours can be a food safety issue for everyone. Also, trying to use the defrost cycle of a microwave isn’t good for this seafood salad.

Once it’s thawed out from the fridge, you’ll discover the texture is not near as good as it was when made. However, if you used a salad dressing instead of mayonnaise, you’ll find it will taste better than if you had frozen actual mayonnaise. A final note on freezing and then thawing it out is this. Plan on the thawed day to be the final one for consumption.

Conclusion of Crab Salad

Now you know how to make a very easy Crab Salad recipe in about 12 minutes. Also, you’ve learned it can use any combination of real crab meat or imitation crab meat. We’ve covered it as a salad, sandwich, and appetizer. Also, you’ve learned about storage in a fridge or freezer.

Related Seafood Recipes

Also, Lisa Bryan has another great Crab Salad recipe. And her article goes in-depth into a lot of good information about types of crab you can buy. Also, you might like our Cook Salmon in a Pan, Fried Fish Cornmeal, Salmon Patties, or other Recipe Ideas for Salmon.