Crab Salad Recipe
This easy Seafood Salad Recipe is made with tender lump crab meat that is delicately tossed with crisp vegetables, zesty herbs, and a flavorful, creamy dressing. It’s prepared in only 5 minutes, and is perfect to enjoy as a tasty snack or to make crab salad sandwiches!
Why We Love This Crab Salad Recipe
This Crab Salad Recipe is a perfectly chilled seafood salad featuring a creamy and light dressing that includes mayonnaise, chopped dill, and a squeeze of lemon juice. So it’s bright and tangy, and incredibly tasty! This will quickly become a summer staple in your house!
This easy, quick, and foolproof recipe is seriously made in just 5 minutes. And although (I personally think) it tastes best after chilling in the fridge for a bit, the salad absolutely can be enjoyed right after it is made. So whip up a batch right before guests arrive, and serve an impressive dish that takes barely any effort or time to prepare!
Best of all, this best crab salad recipe is made with REAL crab meat, not the imitation variety. Every bite is packed with fresh seafood flavor that’s great to enjoy with crackers, on salads, or in buttered hoagie rolls.If you love a good lobster roll, crab rolls with fresh-made Crab Salad will be right up your alley!
Crab Salad Ingredients
There are only a handful of simple ingredients in this Seafood Salad recipe because you really want the crab to shine as the star here.
To make the best recipe for Crab Salad you need:
- Fresh cooked crab meat – out of the shell, either purchased fresh from the seafood counter or in packaged refrigerated canisters
- Celery – finely chopped, for a wonderful crunch
- Mayonnaise – either regular or low fat
- Chopped Fresh Dill – to get that signature seafood salad flavor
- Fresh Lemon juice – the bit of acidity really brings all of the ingredients together
- Seasonings/Spices – garlic powder, salt, and pepper
I used one 8-ounce container of jumbo lump crab meat and one container of crab special blend to create a mixture of larger and smaller crab chunks. Take note that this is not an imitation crab salad, but made with real crab meat for fresh flavor!
How to Make Crab Salad
First, you need to prep the fresh crab. If you’re using cooked crab meat from canisters, drain and rinse the crab meat for the best flavor. However, if your crabmeat comes from a seafood counter, there’s no need to rinse it.
Place the crab meat in a large mixing bowl.
Add the chopped celery, mayo, dill, lemon juice, garlic powder, 1 teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper to the large bowl.
Gently mix. You want to coat the crab well with the dressing, but not break up any large pieces.
Taste, then add additional salt and pepper if needed. Enjoy right away, or cover and chill until ready to serve.
Get the Complete (Printable) Seafood Salad Recipe + VIDEO Below. Enjoy!
How to Make Crab Salad Sandwiches
My favorite way to use seafood salad is to make crab rolls! Seriously, this recipe makes the best filling for classic Crab Salad Sandwiches.
Lightly toast or load up room temperature buttery hoagie rolls with lots of seafood salad goodness. Sure, you can add lettuce if you want. But really there’s no need for any extra sandwich ingredients here.
Serve the seafood salad sandwiches with your favorite sides. Homemade crab rolls are delicious with homemade potato chips and bread and butter sweet pickles!
Crab Salad Recipe Tips & Tricks
- Add some extra veggies! For extra crunch, add some red onion or bell peppers!
- Substitute the mayo! If you don’t want to use all that mayo, you can use half the mayo combined with half Greek yogurt or sour cream. Don’t get rid of the mayo altogether or you won’t have that creamy smooth texture!
- Try adding shrimp! This seafood salad recipe would be delicious with the addition of shrimp.
- Try spicing it up with some hot sauce drizzled on top, or a sprinkle of cayenne pepper!
Serving Suggestions
Another fantastic way to enjoy this recipe for crab salad is as, well, a salad! Load crisp fresh greens, like iceberg lettuce, with a generous scoop of seafood salad and avocado slices for a light and yummy lunch. There’s no need to add any extra dressing since the seafood salad is already perfectly creamy and flavorful.
You can make this crab salad into a crab pasta salad by adding a few cups of your favorite cooked pasta!
It’s also great to serve as a snack or appetizer at your summer gatherings! Sprinkle some fresh green onions on top and pair with crunchy buttery crackers for scooping. For low carb crackers, try cauliflower crackers or almond flour crackers! For a full meal, you can make a poke bowl and replace the tuna with crab salad!
Frequently Asked Questions
This crab salad recipe is an excellent make-ahead dish because you can store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days! So prepare it a few hours or even a day before you plan to serve it.
Yes, you can use imitation crab meat if you prefer! I think the best flavor comes from real crab meat, but I understand that imitation crab is easier on the wallet and often easier to find.
Imitation crab is usually made of Surimi, a white fish, that is bound with a starch to make it look like it is crab meat. It closely resembles the look and flavor of crab.
More Quick and Easy Seafood Recipes
- Perfect Maryland Crab Cakes with old bay seasoning (Baked or Sauteed)
- Best Tuna Tartare (Easy Ahi Tuna Recipe
- Lobster Tostadas
- Best Main Lobster Rolls
- Hawaiian Ahi Poke Recipe
- Shrimp Salad Rolls
- Fish Ceviche (Ceviche de Pescado)
Check the printable recipe card below for the nutrition information including calories, carbohydrates, protein, cholesterol, sodium, potassium, fiber, calcium, and vitamin percentages.
Crab Salad Recipe (Seafood Salad) + VIDEO
Video
Ingredients
- 1 pound fresh cooked crab meat out of shells
- 1/3 cup finely chopped celery
- 1/3 cup mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon fresh chopped dill
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- If using cooked crab meat from a refrigerated canisters, drain and rinse the crab meat for the best flavor. If you’re your crabmeat comes from a seafood counter, there’s no need to rinse it.
- Place the crab meat in a large mixing bowl. Add the celery, mayo, dill, lemon juice, garlic powder, 1 teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper.
- Gently mix. You want to coat the crab well, but not break up any large pieces.
- Taste, then add additional salt and pepper if needed. Cover and chill until ready to serve.
very nice, a classic dip, love crab, thank you!
This is one of the best crab salad recipes that I have found, it is tasty and it is super easy to make!
My mom loves seafood salad and the place she used to buy it closed down recently. I’m So excited to share this recipe with her so she can make it at home!
THis was so yummy! We had it on bakery croissants and loved it!