Many of our low-carb keto recipes carry fond memories and stories, and this Keto Crab Cakes recipe is no exception. It wasn’t just borne from a desire to make crab cakes keto. It was dreamed up after an inspiring beach trip spent feasting on seafood in a beautiful beach house. It doesn’t get more authentic than that!
Whether you’re craving a low-carb keto seafood dish or yearning for a coastal trip of your own, this gluten-free Keto Crab Cakes recipe will transport you to the sand and surf in no time.
It Started on Long Beach Island
In case you didn’t know, early September is the absolute best time to head down to the beach. My best friend just so happened to be visiting and as I was still in job search mode, I had plenty of time to get out of the city and head down to Long Beach Island.
The sand was clean and covered in beautiful shells, the water was the perfect temperature at all times of day and when Matthew came down on Friday the three of us were able to get a whopping score of 235 in beach paddle ball!
Obviously, when you’re at the beach, you get the opportunity to eat fresh-caught fish, crabs, shrimp and scallops. It was actually my first time trying crab and I immediately fell in love. I guess I could say that about anything I get to douse in butter – and crab is no exception.
Crab Cakes – with a ‘K’
There was a period of time that Matthew and I had the beach house to ourselves, so naturally, we jumped on the opportunity to create a new KetoConnect recipe. It was actually my best friend that came up with the idea of doing a Keto Crab Cakes recipe!
Granted, I’d never tasted crab (let alone crab cakes) before this trip – but I just knew this one was going to be a winner. And since crab cakes are so simple to begin with, we thought, what the heck, right?
With our new low-carb crab cakes dish in mind, Matthew and I went shopping. We found great, fresh lump crab meat and Matthew geniously (as per usual) blurted out “CRAB CAKES WITH A ‘K’!!”. So there you have it – we call these bad boys Keto Krab Kakes.
Simpler Than Simple
As I already mentioned, crab cakes are simple to make, but our Keto Crab Cake recipe is even simpler.
The beach house we were staying at was lacking in all spices and had very few condiments. We were almost in an improv cooking class which made the process even more fun.
The next time you cook, I suggest you minimize the number of ingredients available. It’s a fun challenge! And it totally worked with our crab cakes recipe.
The only thing we had to buy (besides the crab meat) was the Coconut Flour. Our crab cakes recipe needed a keto replacement for the breadcrumbs and it was between coconut flour and almond flour. We know how the two work pretty well by now and what kind of density and flavor they bring to the food. This cooking knowledge, along with cost (coconut flour is significantly cheaper), helped us make the decision.
Keto Connect Advice: sometimes money can be a major reason why we choose certain products and that’s totally okay! We all work within budgets and when an ingredient can be pricey, feel free to use another, cheaper version or brand for your recipe.
And of course, definitely reach out with any questions we can help with when it comes to substituting on a budget. We’re happy to help!
Making Crab Cakes Keto
When adding the coconut flour, we added it in slowly while gauging the consistency. We had to make sure the crab cakes wouldn’t fall apart when placed in the pan.
Matthew has the perfect, big, pillowy hands for making patties so I let him have at it! He formed six perfect patties and we crisped each crab cake up in some butter. Did I already mention dousing anything in butter is better?!
Personally, and I’m sure I can speak for Matthew when I say the most fun part for us was cooking and photographing in a new kitchen! The beach house had huge floor-to-ceiling windows that let in mass amounts of light, and we even found a cute little starfish to make the pictures of our crab cakes a tiny bit beachier.
Overall, this was one of our best beach trips – because nothing beats a beach getaway and some fresh lump Keto Krab Kakes.
Nutrition Information
The taste alone is enough for these Keto Crab Cakes to win anyone over, but the nutritional info for this recipe is seriously impressive, too!
Each serve contains:
- 442 calories
- 5 grams fiber
- 3 grams net carbs
- 31.3 grams fat
- 30.6 grams protein
With so few carbs and an impressive 30 grams of protein per serve, these low-carb Keto Crab Cakes are sure to become an all-time favorite for anyone on a keto diet. This great recipe also gluten-free!
What is Lump Crab Meat?
No, there’s no such thing as a “Lump Crab”. Much like cuts of steak, there are specific terms for the meat taken from different parts of a crab.
Lump meat comes from the muscles near the legs of a large crab, and is sold in big, broken-up chunks that are perfect for a recipe like crab cakes.
Where Can I Find Lump Crab Meat?
You can buy lump crab meat frozen, fresh or canned. While canned is cheaper, fresh or frozen will provide the most flavor for this recipe.
Most grocery stores will sell canned or even frozen lump crab meat. However, some stores may only sell mixed crab meat, rather than just the lump variety, so be sure to double-check those labels. The crab cakes work best with the large chunks from crab lump.
Of course, if you’re lucky enough to live near a fresh fishmonger or even the ocean, we recommend buying fresh crab meat to make Keto Crab Cakes. Nothing beats that flavor!
Create Your Own Keto Seafood Feast
If you ask us, these Keto Crab Cakes are amazing enough to eat on their own as a main dish – with mayo, of course! But if you’re feeling the ocean vibes and want to recreate that seafood restaurant feel at home, you might just want to go all out and have your very own keto seafood smorgasbord.
Looking for another great recipe for keto seafood? Try Prosciutto Wrapped Salmon Appetizers and Spicy Ahi Poke (another island holiday-inspired recipe!).
Don’t forget to add a fresh summer salad on the side – this Summer Time Cauliflower Salad is perfect, and so is this Keto Broccoli Salad. The side salads really make these Keto Crab Cakes all the more delicious.
Want to spice up this gluten-free recipe? Just drizzle each Keto Crab Cake with a squeeze of lemon juice. Lemon juice and seafood are a match made in heaven, and works amazingly over a dollop of mayo on top of these crab cakes!
Keto Krab Kakes
Ingredients:
- 1 lb Lump Crab Meat
- 1 large Egg
- 6 tbsp Coconut flour
- 3 tbsp mayonnaise
- 1 tsp spicy brown mustard
- 1/4 tsp green chili tabasco sauce
- 1 tsp Pink Himalayan Salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1 1/2 tbsp parsley (fresh, optional)
- 4 tbsp Butter
Instructions:
- Put crab meat in a colander to let out any excess water (we patted ours dry) and set aside.
- Combine mayo, mustard, Tabasco sauce, egg, salt and pepper. Fold in the crab meat until fully coated.
- Slowly add in flour while mixing by hand. Once fully incorporated fold in the fresh parsley.
- Form six uniform patties from the mixture.
- Heat a skillet to medium-low and add 2 tbsp of butter ( we used 2 tbsp for three patties - feel free to use less if desired). Place as many patties as can comfortably fit in the pan (remember you want to be able to flip them!)
- Flip after about 10-12 minutes (the side facing down should be browned).
- Repeat until all patties are fully cooked. We topped ours with more Tabasco sauce before enjoying!
Notes
Written by
Megha Barot
Megha has always been a passionate cook, but she took this to a new level after starting her keo journey in 2015. She loves creating new recipes and producing educational content for KetoConnect, which she co-founded in 2016 with Matt. Her passion for healthy eating and personal development continues to thrive. She's the proud mom of two awesome kids.
Just made these! Ohhhhh my lord! They are amazing!!! Definitely did not expect them to taste this good!
I made this last night and it was pretty good, but I found the cakes to be a little dry. Is there a way to fix that? I don’t want to decrease the coconut flour because that’s helping keep everything together. Is there a sauce I can dip them in as I eat, maybe?
Yes, any low carb sauce will be good. A garlic aioli would be delicious!
Hi there,
I am interested to try these. I was born and raised in Baltimore, MD. I consider myself a “crab cake snob” so when I found out I had celiac disease, my options for good crab cakes pretty much disappeared. I tried making them myself with my grandmother’s recipe using GF crackers instead of the ritz crackers she used and they didn’t turn out well at all.
MD folks always say the less filler and ingredients, the better the crab cake. I’m going to try your version with the following mods – less coconut flower or perhaps just some almond flour as the previous commenter used, and no chili sauce. Your recipe has minimal ingredients which i really am excited about!!
Lastly, we usually broil our crab cakes. What I do is melt the butter on the cookie sheet under a broiler until it bubbles. Then I place the crab cakes on the sheet with a small pat of butter on each. Then I broil them for 4-5 minutes until golden on top. The melted butter first step allows the cakes to brown on both sides without having to flip them mid way. This is important when using so few ingredients like we do here in Maryland.
I’ll definitely report back and let you know what happens. Thanks so much for all of your wonderful recipes!!
Broiling would be a great option too! Thanks for sharing 🙂 Let us know what you think!
I have made these and they are THE BOMB! Thanks for reminding me I need to make them again. Love your recipes and your cookbook is great! Keep up the good work guys.
I had some leftover fresh crab from the weekend and decided to give this a try. They cooked beautifully but were a bit on the salty side for me and I love salt. I did use Salted Kerrygold Butter (which is what I had) but I will probably not add salt next time. I’m trying to think how I can make a lime hwc sauce to accompany it. Thank you so much! You two are awesome!
Gotta love the seafood on LBI. My boyfriend and I often get alone weekends at our place in BL and love going to Viking Village to get fresh seafood right off the boats. This is on our list for our next trip! Yum!
This is so good, but the coconut flour makes it a little bit gritty, its really good, i just couldnt eat to much because the texture started to bother me. Thanks for sharing the recipe
Wow this recipes is amazing and easy, we included this recipe in our Keto seafood recipe round up … find many more Keto seafood recipes https://slickweightloss.com/keto-snacks-recipe-easy-seafood-snacks/
This recipe looks great and i’m excited to try it this week! I wanted to gently call attention to the fact that your recipe’s cutesy name references the KKK. I’m sure it’s not on purpose but out of respect for your viewership you should consider renaming these Keto Crab Cakes. Small steps like this honor your viewers. Thanks for all you do, I’m really enjoying expanding on my new keto lifestyle using your tips and recipes!
These are so good. Thank you for the recipe!
I have made the crab cakes with avocado as a substitute for the mayo and no egg. Delicious.
Avocado is a great swap out!
I thought the 6 tbsp of coconut flour was too much. My kid even said after her first bite that they tasted chalky. I did like the flavor, Ill just either leave it out all together or cut it way back next time.
I ended up using using almond flour but it turned out great. I’m truly thankful for the recipe.
I used this recipe with canned tuna, fresh jalapeño, Mexican seasonings and avocado on top and it was delicious. Great recipe!
Glad you liked it David!
Topping them with avocado is a FANTASTIC idea!
Delicious!
What can be used for the eggs in Keto recipes? I have an egg allergy. But really would like to try some of these .
Some people use flax meal and water as a substitution for eggs. It isn’t something we’ve tried very much, but we know it works in some recipes.
I have use a sm banana but that’s a no no but you can also use gelatin like knox unflovored it work. My grand son is allergic to eggas and I cook thing for him using bananas or Gelatin Olga
What kind of crab meat do you suggest? Did you use pickled crab meat like in the picture? I love your recipes and videos!
In the picture you are mistaking picked for pickled. 😉
If you look closely at the photo, it says “fresh picked”, not pickled.
I think that says fresh picked, not pickled!
I don’t know. I think pickled crab sounds pretty amazing! 😀
Hi!
Do you think the mix would freeze well? I really love crab cakes and have been searching for a keto version, but it’s just me so 6 kakes would be a lot and recipes with one egg are so hard to down size.
Thanks,
Mikaela
I think they would freeze pretty well. When we downsize a recipe with 1 egg we just beat the egg and use as much as needed!
Hi, these look amazing!! Quick question…does each cake contain 400 calories?and how many cakes equal one serving? Sorry i was a tad xonfused by the info placed.
2 kakes per serving 442kkal per serving.
Wow Ƅecause thіs is excellent ᴡork! Congrats and
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Hey! The serving listed there is for 2 cakes and 1 tbsp of butter used for cooking. If you use butter spray or something you could cut down the calories a good bit and you’d be looking at closer to 150-200 calories per crab cake. You just reminded me how good these were. Need to make them again soon!