Air Fryer Crab Cakes

These air fryer crab cakes are full of delicious flavors. When combined with the homemade remoulade sauce and roasted corn succotash, you’ll be left wondering where this recipe has been all your life! In just a few simple steps and only 10 ingredients, you’ll have a truly impressive appetizer or dinner on the table in no time!

Course Appetizer, Main Course

Cuisine American

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 10

Total Time 20

Servings servings

Calories 777kcal

Author Alana Lieberman

Cost $60

Equipment

air fryer

Ingredients

For the Crab Cakes

2 lbs real jumbo lump crab meat (see notes) shells and cartilage removed
⅓ cup mayonnaise
3 eggs
2 tablespoon dijon mustard
2 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1 scallion sliced thin
1 ½ cups unseasoned coarse breadcrumbs
2 celery ribs sliced thin

For the Roasted Corn Succotash

8 cobs of corn corn cut off the cob
1 red bell pepper diced
1 zucchini diced
½ to 1 cup shelled edamame
1 shallot sliced thin
2 limes juiced
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon dill chopped
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil for drizzling

For the Homemade Remoulade Sauce

1 cup mayonnaise
3 tablespoon ketchup
2 tablespoon pickle juice
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoon capers rinsed and slightly crushed
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
a few dashes of hot sauce to taste

Instructions

For the Crab Cakes

Gently dump the jumbo lump crab meat into a mixing bowl. Carefully use your hands to graze through it for any leftover shells or cartilage, but try not to break up the crab too much. Remove any pieces that you find and set the bowl aside.
In a separate large bowl, add the mayonnaise, eggs, dijon mustard, worcestershire sauce, Old Bay seasoning, lemon juice, and scallions. Stir to combine.
Add the crab, breadcrumbs, and celery to the mayonnaise mixture. Then, fold them in with a spatula to evenly coat it all. Again, making sure not to break up the crab pieces too much.
The batter might look a bit dry, but it should form into rounds without falling apart. With your hands, carefully separate the batter into 12 rounds. Flatten them gently to create “patties.”
Spray the air fryer basket with nonstick spray and place the formed crab cakes inside, leaving space in between. You may need to cook the crab cakes in batches, depending on the size of your air fryer.
Air fry the crab cakes at 370 degrees F for 10 minutes, or until they’re perfectly golden brown with an internal temperature around 160 degrees F.
Serve air fryer crab cakes on a bed of roasted corn succotash with a dollop of homemade remoulade sauce on top.

For the Roasted Corn Succotash

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees F. Prepare a sheet pan with nonstick spray.
Add the corn, bell pepper, zucchini, edamame, and shallot to the sheet pan. Lightly toss with a drizzle of olive oil, salt, and pepper.
Roast the vegetables in the oven for about 20 minutes, until they're cooked through.
In a small bowl, mix together the lime juice, honey, dill, salt, and pepper.
Add the roasted vegetables to a large mixing bowl and pour the dressing over top. Mix to combine. Drizzle with additional olive oil if needed.

For the Homemade Remoulade Sauce

Combine all of the sauce ingredients in a small mixing bowl. Stir to combine.

Notes

Jumbo lump crab meat: this is one of the most important components of the air fryer crab cakes (obviously!) so it’s important to purchase good quality crab. My recommendation is to use fresh instead of canned crab meat. Fresh crab may be more expensive than canned, but it’s SO worth it. You can find fresh jumbo lump crab meat in the refrigerator near the fish and seafood counter of your grocery store. It’s often in a plastic container. For this recipe, I used 2 containers of Chicken of the Sea Lump Crab Meat from Costco.
If you’re not a fan of celery, you can leave it out.
If you don’t have Old Bay seasoning on hand, you can try a combination of ground mustard, paprika, and celery salt, but the resulting flavor might be a bit different. I’d highly recommend buying Old Bay! It will last you a long time.
If you don’t have an air fryer, you can bake or pan fry these crab cakes instead: For the oven method, preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or spray it generously with nonstick spray. Place the crab cakes on the baking sheet, leaving space between them. Bake them for 12 to 15 minutes, or until they’re golden brown. If one side seems to get darker than the other, you can flip them halfway through.
For the pan fry method, heat a small layer of mild oil (canola, vegetable, or olive oil) in a large skillet over medium heat. Drop a small piece of crab in the oil. If it sizzles, add the crab cakes in a single layer, leaving space between them. If the crab doesn’t sizzle, heat the oil a bit longer and try again. Leave the crab cakes to cook for a minute or two, gently check them, and flip them over when they’re golden brown. Allow the other side to cook in the oil and remove them from the skillet once both sides are golden brown. The internal temperature should be about 160 degrees F.
For mini air fryer crab cakes, form the batter into 24 small rounds instead of 12. Place them in the air fryer basket and air fry at 370 degrees F for about 5 minutes. If they are not perfectly golden brown, continue to cook for another minute or so. The internal temperature of the crab cakes should register around 160 degrees F.

Nutrition