Crab Roll Recipe
This crab roll recipe uses canned crab meat, mayonnaise, purple onion, Old Bay seasoning, and a little lemon juice. It only takes about 10 minutes to make from start to finish making it perfect for an easy lunch or light dinner.
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John started making these easy crab rolls for us year ago. Despite living in Florida near the coast, fresh seafood isn’t always easy to get and it can get expensive. He wanted a more economical way to enjoy one of our favorite foods, so he created this sandwich.
It starts with what’s essentially crab salad. He’s used both fresh and canned crab meat, but canned is what we most often use. The crab meat gets mixed with some mayo, fresh squeezed lemon juice, diced purple onion, finely chopped celery, and a little bit of Old Bay seasoning.
All that gets packed into a bun. You can use hoagie rolls, split-top buns, or even hot dog buns. Everything takes around 10 minutes to pull together, and it makes enough for 4. If you happen to have leftovers, it saves well in the fridge for an easy lunch the next day. If you happen to have extra crab meat leftover, don’t miss my hot crab dip recipe to use it all up.
My Best Crab Roll Making Tips
- Be gentle with the crab meat. Carefully mix it with the dressing. If you’re too rough, you’ll break up all that beautiful crab meat. You can even use your hands if needed.
- Use fresh or canned crab meat. This recipe works great with both fresh and canned crab. Use whichever one you prefer. We usually buy store brand crab meat from the seafood counter. If you decide to use canned, give Chicken of Sea or Bumble Bee brand a try.
- Fresh lemon juice. I know it’s a pain to buy 1 lemon and juice it for this recipe. Trust me though, it’s worth it. The refrigerated concentrates are too strong for the delicate meat and will overpower a lot of the flavor. What do I recommend? Try buying a bag of lemons and making homemade honey lemonade with the extras.
How to Make Homemade Crab Rolls
We used canned crab for the rolls in these photos. If you’ve never cooked crab or made crab rolls, that’s what we’d recommend. Mainly because it takes a while to steam the crab, crack it, remove the meat, and let the meat chill before actually making the filling.
- Start by preparing the ingredients and draining the crab meat really well. It’s very important to drain all the excess liquid from canned crab meat so it doesn’t water down the dressing. We even take the extra step of patting it dry before mixing all the ingredients together.
- Add the drained crab meat, mayonnaise, diced purple onions, finely chopped celery, fresh lemon juice, and Old Bay seasoning to a mixing bowl. Gently combine the ingredients until the crab meat is well coated and evenly mixed. You don’t want bite full of Old Bay, mayo, and nothing else.
- The final step involves putting the crab roll filling into the buns. For our recipe, we simply divide the filling equally between 4 buns. I like my bun grilled or toasted ahead of time, but John just eats his straight from the bag. Either way works. You can even add some lettuce if you want a little bit of green. Serve these immediately with a side of air fryer onion rings or baked french fries.
Note: We use the full amount of dressing, so the crab is fairly creamy. If you aren’t sure how much dressing you want to use, mix it separately then add it to the crab a little at a time.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does the crab filling last?
Store any leftover filling in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 2 days. As long as the crab meat was well drained, the filling should maintain its creamy consistency.
Can I use claw meat instead of lump or jumbo lump meat?
Absolutely! Lump and jumbo lump meat is more delicate in flavor but it can also be more expensive. Claw meat is darker in color and has a different taste and texture. It’s the less expensive option.
What can I use in place of Old Bay?
If you don’t have Old Bay handy, use another brand of seafood seasoning. You may need to adjust it a little depending on how much salt it has. If there’s one that you like better than Old Bay, definitely use it.
How to Video
Ingredients
- 8 ounces crab meat, claw, lump, or jumbo lump
- ⅓ cup mayonnaise
- ¼ cup purple onion, diced
- ¼ cup celery, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon seafood seasoning, We used Old Bay.
- 1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 4 sandwich rolls, split-top buns, or hot dog buns
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Instructions
- Add the crab meat, onion, celery, seafood seasoning, mayo, and lemon juice to a large mixing bowl.8 ounces crab meat¼ cup purple onion¼ cup celery1 teaspoon seafood seasoning⅓ cup mayonnaise1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
- Use a rubber spatula or spoon, to gently combine all the ingredients.
- Last, equally divide the crab roll filling between the 4 buns and serve.4 sandwich rolls
Notes
- The calories listed are an approximation based on the ingredients and a serving size of 1 crab roll. Proper serving sizes are determined by equally dividing the crab roll filling between 4 buns. Actual calories will vary.
- The filling can be stored in your fridge in a sealed container for up to 2 days.
- If you don’t have Old Bay, use your favorite brand of seafood seasoning.
- You can use fresh or canned crab meat. If using canned, make sure to drain and dry it really well so it doesn’t water down your dressing.
can these be lightly baked or broiled???
Sure, you can lightly bake or broil them. Thank you for asking, have a great day!
Just made crab rolls and they are amazing!!
Thank you Vivienne! Kim and I are glad you enjoyed the crab rolls. Thank you again for coming back to comment on and rate the recipe card. Have a lovely day 🙂