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July 16, 2018 · 46 Comments

Keto Crab Cakes

30-Minutes or Less· Appetizer/Snacks· Gluten-Free· Keto· Main Dish· Recipe· Shellfish· Soy-Free

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Keto Crab Cakes Pinterest Image
Keto Crab Cakes
Keto Crab Cakes
Keto Crab Cakes
Keto Crab Cakes
Keto Crab Cakes
Keto Crab Cakes
Keto Crab Cakes
Keto Crab Cakes
Keto Crab Cakes
Keto Crab Cakes

These easy Keto Crab Cakes are gluten-free and served with a quick homemade tartar sauce. Eat them as an appetizer, main dish, or even as a burger!

Keto Crab Cakes in tray with sliced lemons and sauce

How much salt do crabs like on their food? Just a pinch! But seriously Keto Crab Cakes! This calls for a shell-abration.  These are so delicious I must be dreaming…somebody pinch me.  Shore-ly I’m over the claw-ful limit of crustacean related puns,  This can’t conch-tinue.  Okay, okay, okay that was the last one. I promise.  I was all-in on shell-abration, but by the time I got to conch-tinue, I knew if I kept going I’d end up at crab-ohydrates, and that’s a little too cheesy, even for me.

Crabmeat is a delicious protein option rich in B vitamins, phosphorus, selenium, copper, and omega-3’s.  One thing to be cautious of when shopping for crab meat is the imitation stuff.  Always opt for real crab as imitation is a highly processed food that can contain all kinds of starches, sugar, and even MSG. Plus, it’s actually made of white fish and usually wheat as well.  This is especially useful information for keto-dieters because of all the added starches a single serving of imitation crab meat can contain up to 20g of carbs.

Check out these other resources to read more about the awesome nutritional benefits of crab meat and more reasons to avoid imitation crab:

  • 7 Incredible Crab Benefits
  • Benefits in Crab Meat
  • Mystery Meat: Imitation Crab

Ingredients in Keto Crab Cakes

  • crabmeat
  • onion
  • bell pepper
  • almond flour
  • egg
  • mayonnaise
  • Old Bay seasoning

See how simple the ingredient list is?!

How to serve

  • on top of greens as an appetizer
  • tucked into our Keto Rolls with lettuce, tomato, and tartar sauce for a Keto Crab Cake Slider
  • on top of a salad
Keto Crab Cakes in tray with sliced lemons and sauce

Keto Crab Cakes

These easy Keto Crab Cakes are gluten-free and served with a quick homemade tartar sauce. Eat them as an appetizer, main dish, or even as a burger!
4.65 from 67 votes
Print Rate Pin Recipe
Course: Appetizer, Main Course
Cuisine: American
Keyword: 30-minute, keto, low carb, seafood
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes
Servings: 2
Calories: 520kcal

Ingredients

  • 8 ounces lump crab meat
  • 1/4 onion diced
  • 1/4 cup diced red pepper
  • 1/4 cup almond flour
  • 1 egg
  • 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
  • 1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter for frying
  • Greens for serving

Tartar Sauce:

  • 1/4 cup mayonnaise
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1/2 tablespoon chopped dill pickle
  • 1/2 tablespoon minced onion
  • 1 teaspoon Swerve
  • 1/2 teaspoon yellow mustard
  • 1/2 teaspoon paprika

Instructions

  • In a medium bowl mix together the crab cake ingredients, form into 6 patties.
  • Place all of the sauce ingredients in a small jar with a lid, shake to combine.
  • In a cast iron skillet heat the butter over medium heat. Fry each crab cake for 2-3 minutes per side until golden brown. Serve with tartar sauce, greens, and a wedge of lemon.

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts
Keto Crab Cakes
Amount Per Serving
Calories 520 Calories from Fat 468
% Daily Value*
Fat 52g80%
Saturated Fat 13g81%
Cholesterol 131mg44%
Sodium 382mg17%
Potassium 90mg3%
Carbohydrates 7g2%
Fiber 2g8%
Sugar 3g3%
Protein 8g16%
Vitamin A 1324IU26%
Vitamin C 28mg34%
Calcium 52mg5%
Iron 1mg6%
*

Nutritional values are estimates only and do not include carbs from sugar alcohols.

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Previous Post: « Keto Calamari
Next Post: Keto Southwestern Breakfast Hash »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Cris says

    July 16, 2018 at 2:14 pm

    Silly question. I’ve bought crab meat. If there is no fresh seafood department in your grocery store where do you find it? In a can?

    Reply
    • Alex Lester says

      July 19, 2018 at 6:33 am

      Hey Cris, yes typically it would be in a can where they have the canned tuna. We’ve made these with fresh lump crab and canned crab and both turn out great.

      Reply
    • Michele says

      June 1, 2020 at 7:27 pm

      Costco carries canned lump crabmeat. It’s awesome!

      Reply
  2. Cris says

    July 16, 2018 at 2:17 pm

    I meant to say- I’ve never bought crab meat.

    Reply
  3. Tom Murel says

    July 20, 2018 at 4:37 pm

    Are calories, etc shown per serving or ??

    Reply
    • Alex Lester says

      August 2, 2018 at 2:59 pm

      Yes, calories are shown per serving.

      Reply
  4. Dena says

    August 19, 2018 at 4:12 am

    How many cakes per serving? 1 or 2?

    Reply
    • Alex Lester says

      August 27, 2018 at 2:30 pm

      This recipe serves 2 and makes 6 patties so there would be 3 patties per serving.

      Reply
  5. Julianna Parham says

    February 12, 2019 at 11:20 pm

    Made this tonight and it was DELICIOUS! Thanks for a great recipe!

    Reply
  6. Emily says

    February 27, 2019 at 2:31 am

    Is the nutritional info including your suggested sauce?
    I made this recipe with salmon and it was amaze!

    Reply
    • Alex Lester says

      March 2, 2019 at 1:42 pm

      Yes!

      Reply
  7. Leanne says

    April 15, 2019 at 10:25 pm

    Love these crab cakes! I tried 3 times to paste your URL into Carb Manager with no success. Is this something that you can do? Thanks in advance!

    Reply
  8. rachel says

    May 22, 2019 at 3:42 pm

    I don’t like tartar sauce. Without the sauce, what do you think the net carbs woukd be for a serving?

    Reply
    • Alex Lester says

      May 22, 2019 at 5:25 pm

      Hi Rachel, without the sauce it would be 2.4 net carbs per serving. Hope this helps!

      Reply
  9. James l says

    September 24, 2019 at 10:32 pm

    Can you do the Nutritional information for the crab cake and the sauce separate please.

    Reply
  10. Brenda says

    October 13, 2019 at 5:23 pm

    You can purchase lump crab canned in the refrigerated seafood at Winco. Can you convert this to coconut flour? I do not like the grainy texture of almond flour

    Reply
  11. Kimberly says

    March 6, 2020 at 4:05 am

    5 stars
    Great taste!
    I softened the red pepper and onion in a skillet for 4 min with a pinch of butter before adding them to the recipe.

    FitnessPal shows a serving with 647 calories.
    Which is correct? (520 or 647)

    Reply
    • Cast Iron Keto says

      March 7, 2020 at 7:08 pm

      Hi Kimberly, we use the nutritional calculator through our recipe card which pulls standard data for each ingredient. As always, you’ll want to double-check your specific ingredients for the most accurate calculation.

      Reply
  12. Patty Kauffman says

    April 8, 2020 at 11:54 pm

    5 stars
    It was delicious!!!

    Reply
  13. Tina says

    April 14, 2020 at 8:22 pm

    5 stars
    These crab cakes are amazing and they are keto friendly which is a plus. Thank you for sharing this recipe. Awesome!!!

    Reply
  14. Liss says

    April 27, 2020 at 6:00 pm

    Hello,

    Wondering if I can use coconut flour in place of the almond flour? Would I use less or equal amount?

    Excited to try this recipe!

    Thanks!

    Reply
    • Cast Iron Keto says

      May 8, 2020 at 2:29 pm

      It would not be equal amounts and I don’t recommend using coconut flour in this recipe for taste reasons. Is there another nut flour you could use?

      Reply
      • Orlean Lay says

        October 22, 2020 at 3:35 pm

        Pecan flour has fewer carbs than both almond and coconut flour. I believe we could experiment with. Nothing beats a failure but a try right!!

        Reply
  15. Janet says

    April 28, 2020 at 2:51 am

    5 stars
    This keto crab cake recipe is amazing!!! I used lump crab which is pretty expensive so I was thrilled that the flavors were right on. I cannot eat red bell pepper so I replaced it with celery. I also sautéed the onion and celery in butter for five minutes first. Great job! 👌🏼

    Reply
  16. Carol says

    May 11, 2020 at 11:55 am

    4 stars
    I liked these but would recommend using half of the recommended amount of Old Bay. I thought it over[peered the crab. Otherwise great.

    Reply
  17. Kathy Cooke says

    May 24, 2020 at 6:00 am

    5 stars
    Great recipe for restaurant-worthy crab cakes! It made five, 1/3-cup cakes. I subbed diced celery for the red bell pepper, which complemented the old bay, and I sautéed the onion and celery in a little butter before making the cakes, which worked out well. The sauce was excellent, and added a lot. I served it with buttered, steamed broccoli and sliced tomatoes drizzled with olive oil. We all loved this.

    Reply
  18. Cami Nail says

    June 2, 2020 at 5:37 pm

    5 stars
    Great recipe!

    Reply
  19. Fifi says

    June 2, 2020 at 6:57 pm

    Can I use imitation crab?

    Reply
    • Cast Iron Keto says

      June 3, 2020 at 1:06 pm

      Oh please don’t. Imitation crab will not taste good at all in these crab cakes and typically is filled with junky ingredients. I’m not sure that it would even form into a patty either.

      Reply
  20. Devin says

    June 7, 2020 at 2:16 pm

    5 stars
    Loved these. I did sub crushed pork rhinds for the almond flour because I hate almond flour, and increased the amount to 1/3 cup. I also added a clove of minced garlic.

    My husband went bonkers. Thanks for the recipe!

    Reply
    • Cast Iron Keto says

      June 10, 2020 at 1:23 pm

      Pork rinds are a great sub for almond flour, we’ll have to try that ourselves! Thanks for sharing, glad you and your husband enjoyed them!

      Reply
  21. Leslie Bryers says

    August 14, 2020 at 10:43 pm

    5 stars
    We made these tonight and added some Jalapeno. They were delicious! Thank you for the recipe.

    Reply
  22. Claudia says

    September 3, 2020 at 1:54 am

    These were very tasty but a disaster while trying to cook. They totally fell apart in the frying pan. The almond flour and egg weren’t enough to keep them together. I had another recipe that called for crush up pork rinds. I think I will try adding some of those next time and just adjust the nutritional value. I served them with (not on) a mixed salad and made a siracha aioli with a bit of bite. Good combination of tastes! Thanks!!

    Reply
    • Haileigh says

      January 1, 2021 at 11:25 pm

      4 stars
      The first batch fell apart in the skillet. The second batch came out nicely. I think that you need to let the skillet get extremely hot before frying them. I put the first batch in when the butter began to sizzle, but that must not have been hot enough. They have a delicious, non-fishy flavor, and the tartar sauce was yummy too. I’ll probably make this again someday.

      Reply
  23. Rachel Cooper says

    November 10, 2020 at 6:53 pm

    5 stars
    Turned out amazing!
    I put the crabcakes over cauliflower rice with tomato sauce.

    Reply
  24. Courtney Richardson says

    November 13, 2020 at 4:24 am

    5 stars
    My non-keto family LOVED LOVED them. I made them about two weeks ago and I made a comment that I would make them again. Everyone cheered. Odd, huh? But I get it. The crab cakes are so good.

    Reply
  25. Jade says

    December 29, 2020 at 8:37 pm

    5 stars
    I had to substitute the lump crab cake for ground. I substituted the regular onion and peppers for shallots. I sprinkled a little garlic powder and paprika. The results are amazing.

    Reply
  26. Iris says

    January 8, 2021 at 3:07 pm

    5 stars
    So delicious!!! I make a double batch to have a second day of meals

    Reply
  27. Tom says

    January 15, 2021 at 1:25 am

    5 stars
    Made these for my wife who is on a keto diet. I try to make things that I will like as well and these crab cakes certainly made the grade. Delicious! Yes, they tend to fall apart, but just be careful flipping. Will make again.

    Reply
  28. Mariann Madden says

    April 18, 2021 at 11:00 pm

    5 stars
    Great recipe!!!! Thank you!!! I used Creole seasoning and celery seed instead of the old bay (I don’t like old bay). Quick, easy and delicious!!!

    Reply
  29. Nicole says

    June 19, 2021 at 10:06 pm

    My crab cakes kept falling apart in the pan and seemed to take forever to brown. Any tips?

    Reply
    • Perry says

      June 21, 2022 at 7:31 pm

      5 stars
      I just formed them into balls and kinda threw them into the pan, make sure the pan is HOT so they immediately start to cook, and it seemed to work fine. 🙂

      Reply
  30. Lynn says

    July 2, 2021 at 2:33 pm

    5 stars
    We love this recipe. They are even better with a bang bang sauce

    Reply
  31. Shelly says

    January 4, 2022 at 3:56 am

    5 stars
    Just made these today. So delicious!! It’s definitely the best Keto crab cake recipe out there! Thanks for sharing and love your site

    Reply
  32. Stacy says

    June 10, 2022 at 11:42 pm

    Can you post the macros for Fat, Carb and protein separately for the crab cakes and the tartar sauce?

    Reply
  33. Perry says

    June 21, 2022 at 7:29 pm

    5 stars
    Sooooo good and easy!

    Reply

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