Baked crab cakes (Maryland)


There are many ways to cook a crab in Maryland. Soups, salads, breakfast dishes and tasty main courses are made with crab, and probably the best known dish of all Maryland is crab cakes. The problem is choosing a recipe. There are nearly as many baked craba cakes recipes in Maryland as people. OK, may be not that many, but there are a lot. Here, we have baked crab cakes. Baking is easier than frying for a family dinner.


1⁄2 t salt (or to taste)
1⁄2 t pepper (or to taste)
2 t olive oil
2⁄3 c bread crumbs
1 pn paprika
4 scallion (sliced)
2 T bell pepper (red, roasted and chopped)
1 t dill (fresh leaves, finely chopped)
1 lb crab (cooked crab meat, flaked)


  1. Preheat the oven to 450°F (230°C). Rub butter in a 9-inch square baking pan. Set aside.
  2. Heat olive oil in a skillet over a medium heat. Sauté scallions and chopped green peppers for 2-3 minutes. Add roasted peppers and cook until green peppers are soft and scallions translucent.
  3. Place paprika, parsley and bread crumbs in a small bowl. Season with salt and pepper and mix well. Place 1 Tbs of seasoned bread crumbs into a large bowl and set the rest aside.
  4. Add sautéed scallions and peppers together with the crab meat to the 1 Tbs seasoned bread crumbs. Pour in the mayonnaise and stir to mix.
  5. Form into 4 cakes. Coat the cakes on all sides with the reserved seasoned bread crumbs.
  6. Place cakes on the coated baking pan and bake on the center rack for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.
  7. Remove from oven and serve.


Get a live crab and cook it in plenty of boiling salted water or order a crab already cooked from the fish counter at the grocery store. Pick the meat, including the claws, and discard the shell.

If you use canned crab meat, don't forget to check for shell pieces as they get sometimes mixed with the lumps of meat.

Serve crab cakes with rice and a salad, or use them to make a crab sandwich, Baltimore style.

4 servings
Preparation time
Cooking time
Total time
45 minutes