Vegan Crab Cakes

Vegan Crab Cakes are not only super easy and delicious, but actually CHEAPER than their animal counterpart!

A few years back I made this recipe as an experiment to see if I could make something better than the Jackfruit Crab Cakes from Trader Joe’s. Naturally it was no contest! Homemade always wins!

In fact their Crab Cakes have since been discontinued. They were OKAY, but honestly, it’s so dang easy to make some zip zapping vegan crab cakes that there’s no reason not to make them from scratch.

Ingredients for vegan crab cakes

• Jackfruit – This is the base of the recipe! You can probably sub with hearts of palm no problem. Just make sure to get the Young Jackfruit in brine or water and not syrup. I use 2 cans for this recipe.

• Old Bay – In my opinion this is necessary! But if you can’t find it, you can use celery salt, black pepper and paprika instead.

• Capers & Brine – For some more fishy funk!
• Mayo, Dijon, Worcestershire – For fat and flavor! Make sure they are vegan of course!
• Plant Milk – Feel free to sub with aquafaba or even Just Egg.
• Crackers / Breadcrumbs – Speaking of binding, I like to use crushed up Saltines or Ritz style crackers, but you can use breadcrumbs too.

• Lemon and Herbs – Dill and Parsley are used but you can skip one or the other, but I highly recommend using the DILL!
• “Fishy” Ingredients – To get this to taste fishy, we’ll need some stuff from the sea. I like these Kelp Granules but you can use nori sheets too. I’ve also used Furikake seasoning and that also works (just make sure it’s vegan).

• Breading – You can bread these with some more crushed up crackers or breadcrumbs. I’ve made it with and without and they are both outstanding!

How to Make Vegan Crab Cakes

If using crackers instead of bread crumbs, crush them in a food processor until they are finely ground. You will need about 2/3 – 1 cup worth (70 – 120g).

Additionally if you are using Nori Sheets, crush them in the food processor until you have about 2 Tbsp worth. Personally I opt for sprinkling some Furikake (Rice Seasoning) as it’s easier and tastier!

Make the Crab Cake slurry by whisking all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Season to taste!

Drain your cans of jackfruit. Then roughly chop it (or shred by hand) and combine with crab cake slurry with clean hands.

Next add in the breadcrumbs / crushed crackers and combine with clean hands. Start with 2/3 cup and add more as needed until you can easily form a crab cake patty.

To form your crab cake patties, you can either do so by hand, or you can use a cookie cutter to form them if you like! Simply add a cookie cutter to a piece of parchment paper or burger patty paper, and press down with your fingers to form a patty. I recommend using about 3.5 oz (100g) per patty.

Once all patties are formed, add them to a parchment paper lined baking sheet, and refrigerate to firm up. If you want to coat them in breadcrumbs / crushed crackers, freeze them for about 30 minutes. Then coat them in the crackers before frying.

Heat up about 1/2 an inch of oil in a non-stick skillet to 350 F / 175 C

Fry your crab cakes until golden brown on both sides. Carefully flip them so you don’t splash hot oil, I like to use two spatulas to flip them slowly. Once they are golden brown, let them rest on a wire rack.

And you can make these ahead of time and store in the fridge and then fry some up whenever you get a hankering too!

How to Serve Crab Cakes

You can serve them traditional style on a plate with some Vegan Tartar Sauce, or a Remoulade works great too!

Serve them with a Caesar Salad!

Or throw them on a burger bun!

Maybe some slider buns!!

Storage

You can store the Crab Cake Mixture in the fridge for 3 – 4 days and whip up a Crab Cake whenever you get a hankering. Or you can fry them all and store them in the fridge as well.

Reheat on the stovetop or air fryer!

Vegan Crab Cakes

Thee Burger Dude

5 from 13 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Servings 7 Crab Cakes

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

1x2x3x

• 4 cups Shredded Young Jackfruit
• 2/3 cup Breadcrumbs or Crushed Crackers (Saltines, Ritz, add more as needed)

Crab Cake Filling

• 1/4 cup Vegan Mayo
• 2 tsp Dijon Mustard
• 2 tsp Vegan Worcestershire
• 1 tsp Old Bay (more to taste)
• 1 Tbsp Capers (minced)
• 2 tsp Caper Brine
• 1/4 cup Chopped Parsley
• 1/4 cup Chopped Dill
• 6 Tbsp Plant Milk (Unsweetened)
• 2 – 3 Tbsp Lemon Juice
• Cayenne to taste (to taste)
• Salt & Pepper (to taste)

Optional for Fishy Flavor

• 2 Tbsp Chopped Nori (or Furikake to taste)

For Frying

• Breadcrumbs or Crushed Crackers

For Serving

• Tartar Sauce
• Remoulade
• Caesar Salad

Instructions

 

• If using crackers instead of bread crumbs, crush them in a food processor until they are finely ground. You will need about 2/3 – 1 cup worth (70 – 120g).
• Additionally if you are using Nori Sheets, crush them in the food processor until you have about 2 Tbsp worth. Personally I opt for sprinkling some Furikake (Rice Seasoning) as it's easier and tastier!
• Make the Crab Cake slurry by whisking all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Taste and adjust for seasoning.
• Drain your cans of jackfruit. Then roughly chop it (or shred by hand) and combine with crab cake slurry with clean hands.

  Next add in the breadcrumbs / crushed crackers and combine with clean hands. Start with 2/3 cup and add more as needed until you can easily form a crab cake patty.

  Taste and adjust for seasoning once again!
• To form your crab cake patties, you can either do so by hand, or you can use a cookie cutter to form them if you like! Simply add a cookie cutter to a piece of parchment paper or burger patty paper, and press down with your fingers to form a patty. I recommend using about 3.5 oz (100g) per patty.

  Once all patties are formed, add them to a parchment paper lined baking sheet, and refrigerate to firm up.

  If you want to coat them in breadcrumbs / crushed crackers, freeze them for about 30 minutes. Then coat them in the crackers before frying.
• Heat up about 1/2 inch of oil in a non-stick skillet to 350 F / 175 C
• Fry your crab cakes until golden brown on both sides. Carefully flip them so you don't splash hot oil, I like to use two spatulas to flip them slowly. Once they are golden brown, let them rest on a wire rack.

For Crab Cake Sandwiches

• If making sliders or sandwiches, toast your buns, then dress with some lettuce, a crab cake, a liberal slathering of tartar sauce and dig in!

  Depending on the size of your buns, I recommend using a 3.5 oz crab cake for a smaller bun, and 5 oz for a larger bun.

AIR FRY OPTION

• I've never air fried these except to reheat them, but I don't see why this wouldn't work. I would line my air fryer with some parchment paper that I've poked a decent amount of holes in. Then spray the parchment paper and crab cakes with cooking spray. Cook 'em at 400 F for 5 minutes. Then flip and repeat until browned to your liking!

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