Image Credit: Paul Poplis / Getty Images via The Spruce Eats

Spring is the best season to serve deviled eggs, so why not serve deviled crab at your next event? It makes for a succulent and tasty seasonal appetizer that will please everyone. The sauces and spices used in this concoction spice up the traditional “deviled” recipe. It serves as a comfort food when you need it and as a popular, spicy starter when you need to host an event. 

Serve this delicious dish in the Dungeness crab’s own shell; and if that’s not your thing for whatever reason, substitute the shell for a small oven-proof bowl or ramekin.

Let’s get cookin’!  

Preparation

Prep: 10 mins

Cook: 30 mins

Total: 40 mins

Servings: 4 to 6 servings

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons minced onion
• 2 tablespoons minced green pepper
• 2 teaspoons minced parsley
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dry mustard
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• Dash Tabasco
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper (to taste)
• 1 pound fresh or pasteurized crabmeat (either select or lump grades, picked over to remove all bits of shell)
• 3 to 4 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup fine fresh breadcrumbs
• Parsley sprigs
• Lemon wedges

Directions

1. Grab a large bowl and whisk in the mayonnaise, onions, green peppers, parsley, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco, cayenne, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Go light with the salt and pepper, yet stick with your own taste preferences. Set the bowl aside for about 15 minutes for the flavors to marry.
   
   
2. Gently fold the crab into the mixture. Make sure you refrigerate until you are ready for it. 

Check out the Taste of Home article that explains (in photos) how to “fold in” ingredients. 

1. Take a small skillet and add 3 tablespoons of butter until melted; add in breadcrumbs and cook over low heat. You want breadcrumbs just golden before you scrape them into a bowl to cool, and you can add in more butter if needed. 
   
   
2. Preheat the oven to 425 F.
   
   
3. Arrange whatever you are going to use as your shell onto a baking sheet; while dividing evenly, spoon crab mixture into each shell/container. 
   
   
4. Sprinkle the bread crumbs over the crab mixture.
   
   
5. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes on the top rack of the oven until bubbly and lightly browned.

Serve hot with parsley sprigs, lemon wedges or whatever your heart desires. 

When all is said and done, you should end up with a lovely and flavorful mixture within a shell, bowl, or ramekin that will surely delight your taste buds. 

Head over to Fathom Seafood’s online store and shop for live, fresh Dungeness crab, and browse their recipe section to get other unique and yummy crab recipes.