I love, love, love crab cakes and have tried so many different recipes over the years. Barefoot Contessa’s recipe is by FAR my favorite. I made some minor modifications to her recipe that majorly cut back the calorie and fat content of the crab cakes.
1st of all (as with almost any recipe), I at least cut the oil in half. The original recipe called for 2 tablespoons of good olive oil to cook the veggies and then ¼ cup olive oil + 4 tablespoons of butter to cook the crab cakes! This recipe can easily be made with 1 tablespoon of olive oil to cook the veggies and 2 tablespoons of olive oil to sauté the crab cakes. I eliminated the butter all together. I also substituted fat-free Greek yogurt for the mayonnaise (I always use the Fayette brand when using Greek yogurt in place of mayonnaise or sour cream). I was a little nervous that my husband would not like the substitution of Greek yogurt, so I made one batch with Greek yogurt and the other batch with mayonnaise. I had him try both and he could not tell a difference! The final change I made was just adding a few more veggies to make these some veggie packed crab cakes! Enjoy!!
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- ¾ cup small-diced red onion (1 small onion)
- ¼ cup small diced green onion
- 1 ½ cups small-diced celery (4 stalks)
- ½ cup small-diced red bell pepper (1 small pepper)
- ¼ cup minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
- ¼ teaspoon Tabasco sauce
- ½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 ½ teaspoons Old Bay seasoning
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ½ pound lump crab meat, drained and picked to remove shells
- ½ cup plain dry bread crumbs
- ¼ cup low-fat Greek yogurt
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 2 extra-large eggs, lightly beaten
Directions
- Place 1 tablespoon olive oil, onions, celery, red bell pepper, parsley, Tabasco sauce, Worcestershire sauce, Old Bay seasoning, salt, and pepper in a large sauté pan over medium-low heat and cook until the vegetables are soft, about 15 – 20 minutes. Cool to room temperature
- In a large bowl, break the lump crab meat into small pieces and toss with the bread crumbs, Greek yogurt, mustard, and eggs
- Add the cooked mixture and mix well
- Cover and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes
- Shape into small crab cakes
- Heat remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat in a large sauté pan. Add the crab cakes and cook for 4 – 5 minutes on each side, until browned
Makes: 10 crab cakes Serving Size: 2 crab cakes
Nutrition Information (per serving)
Calories 185, Fat 10 g, Saturated Fat 2 g, Cholesterol 125 mg, Sodium 460 mg, Carbohydrates 13 g, Fiber 2 g, Sugar 4 g, Protein 12 g
