I was making Keto Fish Sticks the other day (that reminds me.. I have ro check if those are already on the site; they are amazing!), and while I was looking for Pork Rinds in my pantry for breading I came across 2 cans of lump crab meat that I forgot I had. I figured it would be a great idea to make a full fish fry instead of only fish sticks and it would also be fun to introduce my kids to a different kind of seafood. Because I was about to start cooking and didn’t have time to go to the store for extra ingredients, I started going through my cookbooks for “easy crab cake” recipes. That’s how I came across this recipe. It’s created by one of the most well respected Keto cooks around at the moment and it was formulated to be used as a breakfast recipe, topped with poached eggs (so that’s what will happen this weekend haha!). I figured a crab cake is a crab cake so I went to work. With a few tweaks I was able to get the instructions just right for you and so here it is; a recipe for an easy weekday crab cake, enjoy! PS: Be sure to check the “What I’ve learned section” after you go through the recipe, it has some great info regarding breading different foods!
Ingredients
- 1 pound of lump crab meat. (the small cans are 6 oz. So take 3 of them and drain the cans very well in a colander. Afterwards weigh and see how close you are to 16 ounces and take out the excess. I say this because sometimes the cans have more liquid than meat, and vice versa).
- 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons coconut flour (you can use 5 tablespoons powdered parmesan cheese too if you have it in hand, but I noticed coconut flour does a better job in keeping things together).
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons seafood seasoning. (I used Old Bay which worked awesome, but any kind of your choice will do of course!)
- 2 tablespoons oil for frying (beef tallow, bacon fat, ghee, avocado oil etc).
Instructions
- In a large bowl mix together all ingredients.
- Divide the mixture into 8 equal portions and shape into patties.
- Heat the frying oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.
- Fry the crabcakes 4 at a time (don’t overcrowd the skillet) for about 3 minutes (check for a golden brown color after about 2 minutes), flip, and cook for another 2ish minutes.
- Transfer to a plate lined with paper towels to drain some of the fat.
- Repeat with the second batch.
- I served these with keto tartar sauce (click here for the recipe)
What I’ve learned…
- In keto recipes when breading or trying to get a little more adherence in a recipe, recipes often use powdered Parmesan cheese. Having experimented with both Parmesan cheese and Coconut flour, I am team coconut flour all the way. Especially in breading it makes for a more even breading and your breading mixture will stick way better to the protein you are trying to cover.
Stats (per serving, 2 crab cakes, without sauce):
Calories: 167.5
Fats: 7.8 g
Carbs: 1.6 g
Net Carbs: 0.7 g
Protein: 20 g
Source: “Keto Comfort Foods” by Maria Emmerich (get it here )
My Keto Test Lab 