Crab croquettes are crunchy on the outside, creamy on the inside, and filled with fresh crab flavor. Served hot with a zest lemon herb mayonnaise dipping sauce, they make a great snack, canape, or starter.
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❓Why this is the best recipe
- It's easy - Mashed potato croquettes are much easier to make than a classic French croquette that's made with a roux base. I love it because you get a great texture and taste from the potato, and anyone can do it.
- It's fast - This easy crab croquette recipe is really quick to make but tastes really elegant and professional. No tasteless, greasy croquettes here. Only fresh flavors and a delicious, crunchy coating.
- It's versatile - You can adapt the filling to suit you by adding different herbs and flavors. But everyone loves a crispy, creamy crab croquette.
📖 Ingredients List
There is nothing complicated about the ingredients for crab croquettes; all pantry basics are easily available in stores.
- Cooked crab - You can use any type of cooked crab. This recipe will work well with Dungeness crab, or brown crab, for example.
- Potato - Use regular potatoes that you'd use for mashing - like Maris Piper or Yukon Gold.
- Fresh chili - I love a hint of fresh chili spice with crab. You can adapt the level to suit you or leave it out altogether.
- Lemon - This adds delicious acidity to lift all the flavors.
- Parsley - Shellfish and parsley are a perfect combination, and this herb adds a perfect amount of freshness.
- Spring onion - A touch of fresh onion flavor is delicious in this recipe. You can use a pinch of onion powder if you prefer.
- Flour - You can dredge the croquettes in all purpose flour or plain flour, but any flour will do.
- Egg - we need beaten eggs to help the breadcrumbs stick to the croquettes.
- Breadcrumbs - use Japanese panko breadcrumbs for the best crunch. They are made from dried milk bread and have the most amazing texture. I like to blend panko breadcrumbs to a slightly finer crumb before use, but this is optional.
- Salt and pepper
Mayonnaise dipping sauce
- Mayonnaise - Mayo is perfect for dipping sauces and has a rich and delicious taste.
- Lemon - The fresh and acidic lemon juice zest cuts through the mayonnaise and makes it perfectly zingy.
- Parsley - Fresh herbs add more of a fresh taste to the dipping sauce.
See the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post for full quantities and step-by-step directions on how to make crunchy crab croquettes with lemon mayonnaise dipping sauce.
👩🏼🍳 How to make crab croquettes
Cook potatoes in boiling salted water for 15 minutes or until tender. Drain off the water and allow them to completely dry and cool in the colander. Mash the potatoes.
Place the cooked fresh crab meat in a large bowl with chopped parsley, diced chilis, lemon zest, and juice, and stir with a fork to combine. Season with salt and pepper. Add the mashed potato to the crab mixture and mix with your hands to form the crab croquette mix.
Take small handfuls of the crab and potato mixture and form the crab croquettes. Use a pastry scraper and a plate to make oblong shapes, or roll them into a golf ball size for individual bites.
Breadcrumb croquettes and deep fry in small batches at 180C/355F for 1-3 minutes until golden brown. Mix the mayonnaise with lemon juice and parsley in a small bowl and serve alongside as a dipping sauce.
🌟 Top Tip 🌟
Use one of your hands for the flour and panko stages, and keep the other hand for the wet beaten egg stage. This helps you to avoid getting breadcrumb mixture all over your hands rather than the crab croquettes.
👩🏼🍳 Chef's Tips & Serving suggestions
If you are making a large batch of crab croquettes, place them on a baking sheet in a low oven at 150C/300F for 10-15 minutes to keep them warm before serving.
The best thing about making homemade croquettes with creamy filling is how versatile they are. It's really easy to change up this recipe and add other flavors. I sometimes add garlic powder to the panko breadcrumbs. I'll leave out the chili or add even more. Try dill instead of parsley, or lobster instead of crab.
It can be nerve-wracking deep frying for the first time, but it is very safe if you use a deep fat frying machine and follow instructions. Keep kids and pets out of the way. If using a saucepan instead, make sure you use a deep-fry thermometer to check the temperature.
🍷 Wine pairing for crab croquettes
Serve a Viognier with crab croquettes; it is crisp, light, and acidic enough not to overpower shellfish but robust enough to stand up to the strong flavors.
Learn more about food and wine pairing tips here!
❄️ Storage & Freezing
These homemade crab croquettes are best served fresh as soon as you have fried them. The breadcrumb coating has a tendency to go soggy if you refrigerate them.
However, you can freeze crab croquettes very easily after you panne them. Once they are all breadcrumbed, freeze them until needed. I like to make them ahead of time so that I have easy party food ready and waiting in the freezer whenever needed.
🥣 Equipment
Always weigh ingredients using a digital scale for precision. Cook potatoes in a Saucepan and combine ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Use your hands - you're going to get messy making this crunchy crab croquette recipe anyway!
I recommend using a deep fat fryer to cook these easy crab croquettes. You can use a saucepan and deep fry that way, but it is safer to use a fryer. I highly recommend using a deep fry thermometer if you are not using a fryer to check the oil temperature. Remove the croquettes to a plate lined with paper towels to help soak up any excess oil.
❓Recipe FAQ
Yes, but they won't crisp up as much, and they do have a tendency to split or even explode as the water content inside them turns to steam. It's important that all the ingredients are very dry and the potatoes aren't too watery.
Yes, you can freeze crab croquettes after breading them and then deep dry from frozen. However, I recommend frying them until they have a good color on the panko and then placing them in the oven at 150C/300F for 10-15 minutes to make sure they are thoroughly heated through.
Pulse breadsticks in a food processor to use as an alternative to panko breadcrumbs.
Use oil with a high smoke point. Vegetable oil, canola oil, corn oil, or sunflower oil are all good oils for deep fat frying. Olive oil can be used as well but it has a flavor of its own that can transfer to food, so I do tend to avoid it.
🍽 Other seafood canape recipes
Looking for other recipes like these easy crab croquettes? Try these:
📖 Recipe
Crunchy Crab Croquettes With Lemon Mayonnaise
Equipment
- 1 Saucepan
Ingredients
Crab croquettes
- 250 grams (1¾ cups) cooked crab meat
- 300 grams (1⅓ cups) potatoes
- 2 chilis
- 1 lemon (zest and juice)
- 2 Spring onion (finely diced)
- 2 tablespoon chopped parsley
Breadcrumb coating
- 1 egg
- 90 grams (1.5 cups) panko breadcrumbs
- 125 grams (1 cups) all purpose flour (plain flour)
- Neutral oil for deep frying e.g., canola or vegetable oil
Lemon mayonnaise
- 100 ml (½ cups) mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon parsley
- ½ lemon (juice and zest)
Instructions
How to make croquettes
- Boil potatoes in salted water for 15 minutes or until tender, then drain and allow them to completely steam dry in the colander. Mash the potatoes.
- Place the cooked crab meat in a mixing bowl with chopped parsley, diced chilis, lemon zest, and juice, and stir with a fork to combine. Season with salt and pepper.
- Add the mashed potato and mix with your hands to form the crab croquette mix.
- Take small handfuls of the crab and potato mixture and form into croquettes. Use a pastry scraper to form them into oblong shapes on a plate, or roll them into balls.
How to breadcrumb croquettes
- Create a breadcrumbing station with 3 bowls. Place flour into one, beaten egg into another, and panko breadcrumbs into the third.
- Dredge croquettes in the flour to completely coat every surface. Then dip them into the beaten egg, and then toss in breadcrumbs to coat entirely.
How to deep fry croquettes
- Heat the fryer to 180℃/355℉ or heat oil in a saucepan until it reaches this temperature.
- Deep fry crab croquettes in small batches, 2-3 at a time, then remove to a plate lined with kitchen paper. If you are cooking a large batch, place deep fried croquettes on an oven tray in a low oven at 150℃/300℉ to keep them warm.
- Make the dipping sauce by mixing mayonnaise with lemon juice, zest, and chopped parsley.
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