This Crab Salad is light, yet creamy, and SO easy to make! It’s packed with tender imitation crab, crunchy veggies, and is great served on crackers or slider buns.
What is crab salad made of?
Crab salad is a classic “deli-counter salad” made with imitation crab, onion, and celery. It’s tossed in a mayo, sour cream, and lemon dressing and seasoned with old bay seasoning, salt, and pepper.
Ingredients
This chilled, creamy salad is simple, but packed with flavor and texture!
- Mayonnaise – the base of our dressing. Mayonnaise provides a creamy texture and slightly tart flavor. The flavor is very prominent in this recipe, so be sure to use a variety that you enjoy the taste of. We always have olive oil mayo on hand, but feel free to use low-fat, full-fat, avocado oil mayo, etc.
- Sour Cream – cuts the richness of the mayo with a subtle tangy flavor. Most crab salads are made with just mayo, but it’s too heavy and too strong of a flavor, so I love the lightness sour cream adds.
- Lemon Juice – adds a fresh, brightness to the dressing and also enhances the flavor of the crab. Fresh lemon juice or bottled may be used.
- Old Bay Seasoning – a store-bought seasoning blend that’s sweet, spicy and savory. It contains 18 spices and herbs and is the perfect spice to flavor any seafood dish.
- Vegetables: Red Onion and Celery – both add a much needed crunch to balance out the soft, buttery texture of the crab. Red onion provides a sharp, subtly spice flavor and celery adds a sweet, earthiness. Be sure to dice them both finely so they don’t overpower the texture of the crab.
- Crab – flaked imitation crab is mild, sweet, and buttery soft. It’s affordable and doesn’t have a strong fishy taste, so many people actually prefer imitation crab to the real thing!
How to make
With just a little chopping, this salad comes together very quickly! Serve immediately or store in the fridge for later.
- Whisk together sour cream, mayo, lemon juice, Old Bay, salt, and pepper in a large bowl, then stir in celery, red onion, and crab until combined.
- Taste and re-season, if necessary, then serve immediately or cover and chill in the fridge until ready to serve.
What kind of crab should i use to make crab salad?
Flaked imitation crab is the best crab to use for crab salad, because of it’s mild flavor and tender texture. If flaked imitation crab can’t be found, there’s also “leg style” imitation crab. Flaked imitation crab can be flaked into smaller pieces, but a sharp knife will likely be needed to cut the “leg style” crab.
“Real” crab may also be used, but it will be more expensive and have a stronger fish taste. I recommend using lump or jumbo lump crab.
There are pros and cons to both imitation crab and real crab. Imitation crab is significantly cheaper and can be used straight from the package, but is a processed ingredient. Real crab can be very expensive, but is higher in protein, vitamins, and minerals.
What is imitation crab made of?
Imitation crab is made from surimi, which is essentially fish that’s been ground into a paste. Although it doesn’t contain any actual crab, the taste, texture, and appearance are very similar.
How to serve
Crab salad is great served with a spoon, scooped up with crackers, or sandwiched between toasted slider buns.
How to store
Leftovers can be stored in a sealed airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Freezing leftovers that contain mayo is not recommended.
– Jennifer
Crab Salad
Equipment for this recipe
Ingredients
- ¾ cup sour cream
- ¾ cup mayonnaise
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon Old Bay seasoning
- ½ teaspoon salt plus more to taste (I used 1 teaspoon)
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 1 cup finely diced celery
- ½ red onion finely diced
- 32 oz flaked imitation crab meat flaked into smaller pieces with your hands
- Crackers optional for serving
- Slider buns optional for serving
Instructions
- Place sour cream, mayo, lemon juice, Old Bay, salt, and pepper into a large bowl, then whisk until smooth.
- Stir in celery, red onion, and crab until combined.
- Taste and re-season, if necessary, then serve immediately or cover and chill in the fridge until ready to serve.
- Eat with a spoon, on crackers, or sandwiched between two slider buns!
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Nutrition Information
*Note: Nutrition information is estimated and varies based on products used.
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