Crispy Crab Cakes with Homemade Tarragon Mayonnaise (Shallow Fried or Air Fryer)
These crispy, fried crab cakes are served with a homemade Tarragon Mayonnaise – and the recipe is air-fryer friendly so you can reduce the oil for a lighter version.
Equipment
Ingredients
Crab Cakes
- 2 120g cans lump crab meat (about 1 cup; see Note 1)
- 2 tbsp fresh dill, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley, finely chopped
- 4 tbsp chives or green onions thinly sliced
- ¼ cup homemade mayonnaise (see recipe below; store-bought works too)
- ½ tsp Old Bay seasoning
- ½ tsp smoked paprika
- ¼ tsp salt, or more to taste
- ¼ tsp freshly cracked black pepper, or more to taste
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1 large egg
- ⅓ cup Panko breadcrumbs, plus ¼ cup, divided
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- Juice of ½ a medium lemon (about 2 tbsp)
- 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce, optional (just skip it if you don't have it on hand)
- ¼ cup neutral oil or cooking spray, for frying (see Note 2)
Homemade Tarragon Mayonnaise
- 1 large egg yolk
- ½ cup neutral oil (avocado, canola or vegetable all work great)
- Juice of ½ a medium lemon (about 2 tbsp)
- ½ tsp Dijon mustard
- ¼ tsp salt, or more to taste
- ¼ tsp freshly cracked black pepper, or more to taste
- ½ tsp lemon zest
- 1 ½ tsp fresh tarragon, minced (or ½ tsp dried)
- 1 tsp capers, very finely minced, optional
For Serving
- Lemon juice, optional
- Fresh chives, thinly sliced, optional
Instructions
Homemade Tarragon Mayonnaise
- Start with the mayonnaise because you're going to need some of it for the crab cakes (see Note 3)
- Add the egg yolk to the cup of an immersion blender or another large, tall cup (be careful not to break it)
- Add the neutral oil, lemon juice, Dijon mustard and salt
- Gently cup the yolk with the immersion blender blade by placing it on top
- Blend for 20-30 seconds; it will thicken and become creamy and emulsified (see Note 4 for instructions using a food processor)
- Set aside half of the mayonnaise for the crab cakes
- To the remaining half, stir in the black pepper, lemon zest and tarragon until combined and set aside in the fridge until ready to use
Crab Cakes
- In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients except the crab meat and the extra ¼ cup of breadcrumbs and mix until combined
- Add the crab meat and mix very gently; you don't want to break up the pieces and want as many large pieces of crab meat remaining as possible
- Gently shape the mixture into little patties about 1 ½ inches thick (see Note 5)
- Transfer to a plate and freeze for 30 minutes (this makes breading much easier)
- Add the reserved ¼ cup of bread crumbs to a shallow bowl and press both sides of the crab cakes into the breadcrumbs
- Fry according to your preferred method by following the instructions below:
Shallow Fry
- Heat the oil in a large sauté pan until shimmering (about 350℉ or when a chopstick bubbles lightly when inserted; see Note 2)
- Fry for 2 minutes on each side or until golden and crispy
- Transfer fried crab cakes to a paper towel lined rack and repeat until all crab cakes are fried
Air Fry
- Lightly spray on both sides with cooking oil and air fry for 12 minutes at 375℉, flipping halfway
- Serve with Homemade Tarragon Mayonnaise, a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and chives
Notes
Note 1:Â The larger the pieces of crab meat for this recipe, the better. Try to find canned crab meat labeled as “lump.” Fresh or frozen crab meat would also work great.
Note 2: Because these crab cakes are shallow fried, you don’t need much oil, just enough to coat the bottom of the pan. Any neutral oil such as avocado, canola or vegetable oil works great. Depending on the size of pan you use, you may need a little more than ¼ cup. If you’re air frying the crab cakes, you will only need cooking spray. The only cooking spray I use is the Chosen Foods Avocado Oil Cooking Spray because it’s 100% avocado oil.
Note 3:Â Homemade mayonnaise is really simple to make, requires very few ingredients and tastes way better than store-bought versions. However, you can definitely use any store-bought mayonnaise in this recipe. If you’re using store-bought mayonnaise, you’ll just need to stir in the freshly cracked black pepper, lemon zest, tarragon and capers.
Note 4:Â If you’re using a food processor to make the mayonnaise, you just need to combine the egg yolk (it doesn’t matter if it breaks here), lemon juice, Dijon mustard and salt in the bowl of the food processor. Turn it on and VERY SLOWLY drizzle in the oil until the mixture is smooth, creamy and emulsified. If your food processor does not have a small pinhole in the top to slowly add the oil, a squeeze bottle works great.
Note 5:Â I like to shape the crab cakes into small patties, so I usually get between 10-12 crab cakes. You can shape them into patties as big as you want, or even make them bite size. You may need to adjust the cooking time slightly, so just keep an eye on them. They’re done when the exterior is crispy and the breadcrumb coating is a deep golden brown.
Nutrition Facts are calculated automatically and may be inaccurate. Nutrition Facts for this recipe include the full Homemade Tarragon Mayonnaise.
Nutrition
Serving: 1 crab cakeCalories: 221kcalCarbohydrates: 2gProtein: 1gFat: 23gSaturated Fat: 3gPolyunsaturated Fat: 7gMonounsaturated Fat: 13gTrans Fat: 0.1gCholesterol: 38mgSodium: 214mgPotassium: 44mgFiber: 0.4gSugar: 0.3gVitamin A: 249IUVitamin C: 3mgCalcium: 19mgIron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!