15 Amazing Leftover Crab Recipes to Savor (2024)

I think you’d agree with me when I say that crab is among the tastiest seafood meals to cook.

It takes from 10 to 15 minutes to boil, grill, steam, or roast crabs – and with some spices, you’ll be set.

But what if you end up with some leftovers?

You don’t have to serve your leftover crab just like the way you did the first round.

As a matter of fact, there are lots of delicious leftover crab recipes that your family and friends will absolutely love.

In today’s article, I’m going to share some of the easiest yet tastiest leftover crab ideas.

These mouthwatering recipes might even convince a non-crab lover to give them a try. So, let’s dive in.

1. Crab Cakes with a Twist

Here’s what to do with leftover crab:

Mix some mayonnaise with thinly sliced scallions, fresh lemon juice, Dijon mustard, and your favorite seasoning.

Or check out our list of tasty crab cakes sauces to adorn your plate!

Add the mixture to shredded crab meat and shape it into patties.

Refrigerate for at least 10 minutes.

Coat in panko or breadcrumbs and fry for about 4 minutes until golden on each side.

2. Summer Crab Salad

Now:

Although this salad is originally prepared using imitation crab (or even imitation lobster), using real crab leftovers will make it taste a lot better.

Old Bay seasoning is a crucial ingredient in this 5-minute salad.

All you have to do is cut tomatoes, crab meat, and red onions to bite-size, and the seasoning will alleviate the taste.

Mix all the ingredients with mayonnaise until they’re evenly coated.

The salad tastes great when served fresh, and you can spoon it in lettuce, avocado halves, or crackers.

3. Lemony Leftover Crab Toasts

Lemon and crab meat is a mixture made in heaven, and the lemon base for your toast will alleviate the taste of your leftover crab meat.

For the sauce, you need to whisk lemon juice, egg yolk, mustard, lemon zest, salt, pepper, and maybe add some mustard if you want to.

Once the sauce has reached a mayonnaise-like consistency, you’ll be ready to spread it.

Prepare the leftover crab meat by heating it in a saucepan with some oil, chili flakes, and fennel fronds.

Spread the lemon sauce and top the crab meat with some more, and serve.

4. Easy Leftover Crab Dip with Cheese

You want to prepare a delicious yet quick and easy dip for a party.

Want to know the best part?

This recipe tastes and looks rich, although it takes a few minutes to put together.

Cream cheese and sour cream add a heavenly consistency, while the bread bowl will be the perfect presentation bowl.

Now all you have to do is mix the ingredients with crab meat, bake in the bread bowl, and scoop up the delicious dip.

5. Creamy Crab Soup

Wonder what to make with leftover crab?

This is crazy:

But in less than 30 minutes, you can prepare a creamy and hearty crab soup with rich and tasty ingredients.

In addition to the onions, garlic, butter, and baby potatoes, the Old Bay seasoning will bring out the deliciousness of the crab meat – try this amazing recipe here.

Just make sure that you keep some crab meat to sprinkle on top and add some chives when the soup is served.

6. 5-Minute Crab Fries

For this delicious appetizer, you can pulse leftover crab with fries to prepare a mouthwatering appetizer.

And the best part is that it takes a few minutes to prepare since the crab meat is already cooked, so it’s your go-to choice if you’re in a hurry.

7. Keto-Friendly Crab Meat Salad

This recipe is delicious and fresh, but that’s not all.

It gets better:

It’s also low on carbs, so it will work for you if you’re following a keto diet plan.

Using Dijon mustard, lemon juice, and mayonnaise, you’ll prepare the best dressing for this fresh salad.

Serve it with lettuce on a summer evening and everyone will be in awe.

8. Cheesy Crab Dip with Artichokes

This cheesy and creamy dip will turn heads whenever you serve it.

The combination of cheese and artichoke with the rich crab meat will create the perfect mixture in every bite.

Serve it with sliced baguette or crackers on a game night, and everyone will be asking for second rounds.

9. Crab Soup with Roasted Peppers and Coconut

If you’re not a fan of creamy soup, this hearty soup will introduce you to some delicious flavors that impressively complement each other.

In addition to the crab meat, you’ll be using roasted red peppers to give the soup its distinctive taste and color, while the coconut milk adds the unmatched sweetness.

However, you need to make sure that you don’t overprocess the soup to have this hearty texture.

10. Stuffed Mushrooms with Crab and Cheese

To prepare the ultimate low-carb crab-based appetizer, you need to do the following:

Get medium-sized button mushrooms to be able to hold the stuffing.

Combine crab meat with parmesan cheese, cream cheese, chives, parsley, salt, and pepper.

Fill the mushrooms with this mixture and bake them until golden.

The result is a delicious brunch, lunch, or dinner that doesn’t take much effort.

11. Fresh Crab Ceviche

This cold brunch is great for those hot summer days as it’s full of fresh yet tasty flavors.

Although the crab meat will be already cooked, marinating it in lemon juice will cook it even further.

What I love about this dish is the assortment of fresh and bright colors from the red onions, tomatoes, cilantro, avocado, cucumbers, and jalapenos.

Skip the jalapenos if you don’t want your plate to be too spicy or want to enjoy it with your kids.

Another thing that makes this ceviche unique is that you can keep it in the fridge for a day or two.

However, I don’t think that anyone will be able to resist it for that long.

12. Crab Pasta with Lemon and Mint

I love this recipe because it’s fast and straightforward.

Moreover, there aren’t a lot of ingredients, so you can actually taste the freshness of the crab meat.

You need to butter the shallots with garlic until fragrant, and then add some lemon juice and some of the pasta water.

Add the pasta with more pasta water until it’s coated with the sauce.

Then add some coarsely chopped crab meat, chili flakes, salt, pepper, and some freshly chopped mint.

Make sure that you don’t stir too roughly because the delicate crab meat will break. You can sprinkle some lemon zest on top.

13. Cheesy Crab Quiche

You can save a lot of time with this recipe if you use store-bought pie dough.

Gruyere cheese adds the needed richness, but you can also replace it with Swiss or Emmental cheese.

Make sure that you don’t overbake the quiche, as it needs to wobble a little in the middle.

14. Creamy Crab Rangoons

These rangoons will convince everyone that you’re a seasoned cook, although you can make them using two main ingredients; crab meat and cream cheese.

The trick is to fold one rangoon wrapper at a time because they tend to dry out.

You also need to make sure that you’re not adding too much filling as it might cause splattering.

Mix the crab and cream cheese with Worcestershire sauce and garlic powder.

Then, you can fry, deep fry, air fry, or even bake the rangoons.

15. Green Leftover Crab Salad

This salad is packed with fresh veggies, and their aroma combines well with the creaminess of the crab meat.

You can either serve this salad with colored pasta or as it is, and it will always taste fresh and refreshing.

It’s one of the fastest leftover crab recipes to prepare.

FAQs

1. How long can you store crab leftovers?

You can store cooked crab meat for up to 5 days in the fridge if you keep it in an airtight container. In the freezer, it can last for up to 3 months for whenever you’re ready to reheat them.

2. Can I use crab leftovers if they’re stored at room temperature?

Bacteria grow fast if crab meat isn’t chilled. After being left for 2 hours at room temperature, you need to discard the cooked crab meat.

3. Can I store crab cakes?

Crab cakes will actually taste terrific if you store them right.

You can store uncooked crab cakes right after they’re made, or you can wait until the cooked ones cool off to store them in the freezer.

Keep them in a zip lock bag or glass container.

4. How can I reheat crab leftovers if they’re still in the shell?

Boiling is the best way to reheat crab leftovers. If they’re steamed or cooked, put the crab legs in boiling water and boil for 10 minutes.

The result is juicy meat that you can use to prepare multiple recipes.

If you have frozen crab legs, you can also steam them.