Mini Crab Cake Sandwiches with Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato. Delicious, slightly briny and delicate crab cakes with bits of crispy bacon are layered with the classic BLT ingredients of tender lettuce, tangy fresh tomatoes and mayonnaise on soft rolls. The mini crab cake sandwiches are PERFECT for holiday entertaining.
The holiday season is in full swing, and I love it! Our family tradition is to celebrate Christmas Day with an appetizer extravaganza. Platters of chilled shrimp, Antipasto Skewers, Spicy General Tso's Meatballs and Deviled Eggs are everyone's favorites. And this year, I have a super fun and delicious recipe to add to the party. Everyone will swoon over these Mini Crab Cake Sandwiches with Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato.
Seafood, and especially crab, is my favorite to cook with year round. So when my friends at North Coast Seafoods asked me to come up with a holiday recipe featuring their delicious salmon, shrimp, and crab, I jumped at the chance! We love anything seafood in our family so creating a new recipe with their delicious high quality seafood is a fun and tasty task.
Crab is such an elegant ingredient and it is readily available. I've been cooking with North Coast Seafoods Culinary Reserve crab at home and for my personal chef clients for years. Culinary Reserve is premium quality crab meat that is hand-picked from wild blue swimming crabs. It is readily available at my grocery store. But if your store does not carry it, North Coast Seafoods ships a wide variety of delicious seafood overnight right to your home.
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what type of crab is best for crab cakes
With a variety of crab meats, it can be confusing on what type to use in which recipe. Here's a quick rundown of the different types of crab meat.
- Jumbo lump or colossal ~ this crab meat comes from the crab's swimmer fin muscle. Each crab only has 2 of these muscles. It takes a lot of crabs to make 1 pound of super lump crab meat. Serve this ultra special and delicately flavored crab meat all by itself.
- Super lump ~ this crab meat is the smaller and broken pieces of jumbo lump crab meat. It is perfect for crab cakes.
- Backfin ~ this crab meat is more flakey than the lump varieties. It is meat from the back of the crab and small bits of lump crab meat. It is delicious is soups and dips.
- Claw ~ this crab meat is darker in color and has a hearty flavor. It is tasty in crabmeat stuffings and chowders.
the ingredients
I am so excited to make my Mini Crab Cake Sandwiches for our Christmas party. The slider sandwiches are extra special with the addition of the classic BLT ingredients of bacon, lettuce and tomato and a slathering of mayonnaise.
- super lump crab meat
- salted butter
- onion
- celery
- Worcestershire sauce
- Old Bay seasoning
- Dijon mustard
- mayonnaise
- large egg
- bacon
- seasoned bread crumbs
- fresh parsley
- slider rolls
- lettuce
- tomatoes
cooking videos
recipe details
Crab cakes come together in a snap. Combine sautéed onion and celery with super lump crab meat. Worcestershire sauce, Dijon mustard, and seafood seasoning (I like Old Bay seasoning) add just the right amount of savory, tangy and salty flavor to the sandwiches.
An egg, mayonnaise and a touch of seasoned bread crumbs hold the crab cakes together. The mini crab cake sandwiches are sautéed in butter to add a golden brown crust and rich flavor.
suggestions and cooking tips
- For crab cakes, I love to use super lump crab meat. It has a delicately sweet flavor that is slightly briny. It is less watery than the other types of crab meat so less binding ingredients are needed to hold the crab cakes together.
- Be sure to gently fold the ingredients to combine them. You want to keep the lumps of crab to stay together as much as possible.
- Use a ¼ cup measure to easily portion the crab cake mixture into patties.
- Refrigerate the formed crab cakes for about 20 minutes. Don't skip this step! This will help the ingredients meld, and the crab cakes will hold there shape better when sautéed.
- For the most delicious and decadent crab cakes, sauté them in butter. Not only does the butter add a rich flavor to the crab cakes, it also makes for a beautiful golden brown crust.
The sandwiches are just loaded with delicious crab meat. These ones are heavy on crab meat because that is where all the goodness it. Classic BLT ingredients of bacon, lettuce and tomato complete these adorable and delicious slider sized crab cake sandwiches.
more sandwich recipes
- This Fish Reuben sandwich is a fun twist on the classic recipe.
- Give this cold Lobster Roll recipe a try. You won't be disappointed.
- A grilled Chicken Caprese Sandwich with fresh tomatoes and mozzarella is a summery favorite.
- An all-American burger, but in a fun mini version! Big Mac Sliders don't skimp on flavor.
just one more thing
If you make these Mini Crab Cake Sandwiches, I'd love hearing from you. Be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating ~ I do my best to reply to all your comments. And snap a photo to post to Instagram. I'll add the photos to my Insta stories as I love seeing all your creations.
Also check out my Facebook and Pinterest pages for lots of fabulous foodie stories and videos, cooking tips, and recipes.
Recipe
Mini Crab Cake Sandwiches with Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons salted butter divided
- ⅓ cup finely diced onion
- ⅓ cup finely chopped celery
- 1 pound of super lump crab meat
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- ¼ cup mayonnaise plus additional for making sandwiches
- 1 large egg beaten
- ½ cup seasoned bread crumbs
- ½ cup finely chopped cooked bacon ~ about 5 thick slices
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
- 12 slider rolls
- 12 tomato slices
- mixed leaf lettuces
Instructions
- Heat a sauté pan over medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon of butter. When the butter has melted, add the onion and celery. Sauté for 3 to 4 minutes or until the onion is translucent.
- Place the sautéed vegetables in a large bowl. Add the crab meat, Worcestershire sauce, Old Bay seasoning, Dijon mustard, mayonnaise, egg, seasoned bread crumbs, bacon and parsley.
- Gently stir the ingredients just to combine. Try not to break up the chunks of crab meat.
- Using a ¼ cup measuring cup, form 12 crab cakes. Place on a baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerator for 20 minutes.
- In the same sauté pan, heat 1 tablespoon of butter. When the butter has melted, sauté the crab cakes in batches. Cook for about 3 to 4 minutes per side. The crab cakes should be crispy and golden brown. Add additional butter as needed.
- Remove crab cakes from the pan to a platter.
- Assemble the mini crab cake sandwiches. For each sandwich, place the bottom half of a bun on a work surface. Spread with a little mayonnaise, top with 1 crab cake, a slice of tomato, and some lettuce leaves. Place the top bun on the lettuce. Continue assembling the remaining mini crab cake sandwiches.
- Place the sandwiches on and platter and serve.
Video
Notes
- There are several different kinds of crab meat. Lump, claw, and backfin are the most common types of crab meat available. For crab cakes, I love to use super lump crab meat. It has a delicately sweet flavor that is slightly briny. It is less watery than the other types of crab meat so less binding ingredients (like egg and bread crumbs) are needed to hold the crab cakes together.
- Be sure to gently fold the ingredients to combine them. You want to keep the lumps of crab to stay together as much as possible.
- Use a ¼ cup measure to easily portion the crab cake mixture into patties.
- Refrigerate the formed crab cakes for about 20 minutes. Don't skip this step! This will help the ingredients meld, and the crab cakes will hold there shape better.
- For the best and most decadent crab cakes, sauté them in butter. Not only does the butter add a delicious rich flavor to the crab cakes, it also makes for a beautiful golden brown crust.
amy says
A favorite!!