27 Easy Recipes With Canned Crab (2024)

My Crab Cakes

"Great crab cakes with lots of flavor and spice. Serve with homemade aioli and a crisp white wine!" —Rod Mowery

Cioppino

This seafood stew with canned crabmeat pairs perfectly with a crusty bread to soak up all the delicious broth.

Best Ever Tuna Salad

The secret ingredient in this tasty tuna salad? Canned crabmeat!

Crab Dip

Creamy and piping hot, this crab dip requires little prep work but packs big flavor. Serve it in a bread bowl or spread it on homemade crackers.

Crab Rangoon III

Make this takeout favorite at home with the help of canned crabmeat. Wonton wrappers are filled with a cream cheese and crab mixture and deep fried until golden-brown.

King Crab Appetizers

Who would've guessed you could make such elegant tartlets with ingredients like refrigerated biscuit dough and canned crabmeat? Or you can use small phyllo cups from the freezer section as reviewer LOWESBJ suggests: "The recipe made enough for 30 little cups."

Hot Crab Dip

Recipe creator PONYGIRL64 suggests serving this dip as an appetizer with onion or garlic crackers.

The Best Seafood Stuffed Mushrooms

These melt-in-your-mouth stuffed mushrooms can be served by themselves as appetizers or alongside a veggie side dish to make a meal. Mushrooms are stuffed with a creamy, cheesy mixture, that includes snow crab and shrimp, and topped with a crunchy bread crumb topping.

Crab Stuffed Haddock

Fresh haddock fillets are made better with a crab and cheese stuffing. Reviewer TinaColada suggests patting the fish as dry as possible to avoid excess liquid in the pan.

Crab Delights

English muffins are topped with a cheesy crab mixture and baked until melty. These are just begging to be served with some New England clam chowder.

Allison's Cold Crab Dip

When the weather warms up, switch to this cold crab dip made with peppery horseradish, cream cheese, green onions, and crabmeat. "Living in the Chesapeake region I had to add Old Bay seasoning to it and it was great," says reviewer MARCIA HICKEY.

Joelle's Famous Hot Crab and Artichoke Dip

Two favorite hot dips — crab dip and artichoke dip — combine to make one crowd-pleasing appetizer. Serve it up in hollowed-out sourdough loaves and reserve any leftover bread for dipping.

Crab Spread I

When unexpected company arrives, this no-fuss, four-ingredient appetizer will be your new go-to. Softened cream cheese is topped with crabmeat, a squeeze of lemon, and co*cktail sauce.

Shrimp and Crabmeat Loaf

This seafood spread is served more like a sandwich melt. Prepare the ingredients ahead of time and stick it all in the oven when you're ready to serve.

Arlene's Bacon & Crabmeat

Canned crabmeat is wrapped in bacon and served with warm duck sauce in this quick and easy appetizer.

Crab and Seafood Stuffed Shells

A creamy seafood mixture is stuffed into jumbo pasta shells for an easy appetizer or light meal. Try sprinkling it with some Old Bay for even more Chesapeake Bay-inspired flavor.

Crab Macaroni Salad

Canned crabmeat elevates this simple macaroni salad to new heights. Because there are so few add-ins, the crab is the star of the show here.

Southwestern Crabcakes

Southwest flavor meets a coastal delicacy in this fusion recipe. Yellow corn, poblano pepper, chili powder, and cayenne bring spicy flavor to sweet, mild crab cakes. Allrecipes Allstar Soup Loving Nicole shares her tip for keeping the crab cakes from crumbling: "If your cakes are too wet to stay together at first stick them in the fridge for an hour or either the freezer for 20 minutes and that will firm them so they won't crumble while cooking."

Crab Hash With Old Bay & Basil

Breakfast hash is made better with coastal additions like crabmeat and Old Bay Seasoning. "This would be good with fried eggs for breakfast," suggests reviewer ANNAJAM.

Korean Crab Cakes

Fresh ginger, fish sauce, and peanut oil bring vibrant flavor to these crab cakes. Allrecipes Allstar Soup Loving Nicole suggests using panko bread crumbs to switch things up.

Trinidadian Callaloo Soup

"This is made with callaloo leaves in the West Indies, but in Canada we often have to use spinach leaves, which is just as tasty," says recipe creator Trini. Callaloo soup is a popular Caribbean dish made with fresh vegetables and callaloo leaves — this is the Trinidadian version.

Crab Puff Pastry Pinwheels

Frozen puff pastry makes all things possible — in the world of appetizers that is. Use store-bought puff pastry to create these eye-catching pinwheels. Recipe creator SKMAT suggests refrigerating the puff pastry for five to 10 minutes in the case that it gets too warm or sticky to work with.

• What Is Puff Pastry and How Do You Use It?

Stuffed Pickle Egg Rolls

Recipe creator and Allrecipes Allstar Soup Loving Nicole describes these fusion egg rolls as a hybrid between crab salad and crab rangoons.

Instant Pot Spinach Crab Dip

Thanks to the magic of the Instant Pot, this spinach and crab dip comes together in 45 minutes with just 10 minutes of prep work. Bonus: It's paleo- and Whole30-friendly!

Broiled Grouper with Creamy Crab and Shrimp Sauce

Recipe creator JILL ELAINE says she got the inspiration from this recipe from favorite beach restaurants. This recipe uses grouper, but any white fish will work.

Crab Stuffed Lobster Rayna

Looking for the perfect date night or special occasion dinner? Look no further than these grilled lobster tails stuffed to the brim with a buttery crab mixture. "My guests are still talking about the first time I whipped these up over five years ago!" says recipe creator Rayna Jordan.

Jessica's Steak Oscar

Recreate this steakhouse favorite in your own home using canned crabmeat — no one will ever know. Serve over wild rice.

Special Day Crab Mold

We're rounding out the list with this very coastal-inspired crab mold that's perfect for special occasions. "Next time I might add 1 more can of crabmeat for more crab flavor," says Allrecipes Allstar bd.weld.

More Inspiration

• Chef John's Trick for Easy Crab Tortellini is the Hack Every Busy Cook Needs
• 11 Imitation Crab Recipes With Real Seafood Flavor
• Browse our entire collection of Crab Recipes.