One of my favorite seafood recipes is crab cakes. At Red Lobster they run $6 to 8 for 2!! Instead, I make this tasty version at home. (See the original recipe here). I have included the cost to show how much cheaper it is to make a mock Red Lobster meal at home.
I always double this recipe and put the extra in the freezer. When I double it, there are enough crab cakes for 3 meals (7 crab cakes each meal–2 each for me, my husband and son, and one for my 2.5 year old daughter). If you have bigger eaters, this might make two meals.
Crab Cakes
1/3 c. mayo .33
1 large egg .10
1 1/4 cups soft breadcrumbs (I just toasted up 5 pieces of bread and then chopped it in my food processor to make crumbs. I bought the loaf of bread for 1.50, and I used 1/3 of the loaf) .50
1 tsp. mustard .05
1/4 tsp. salt .01
1/8 tsp. pepper .01
2 tablespoons green onions, chopped .15
18 ounces imitation crabmeat, flaked (I bought a 40 oz. package for $5.99) $2.99
1/4 cup dry breadcrumbs
2 tbsp. vegetable oil .10
In a medium bowl, mix mayo and egg with wire whisk. Stir in remaining ingredients except oil and dry bread crumbs. Shape mixture into 10 patties (mixture will be moist). Coat each patty with dry bread crumbs.
In nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Cook patties in oil about 10 minutes, gently turning once, until golden brown and hot in center.
Reduce heat if crab cakes begin to brown too quickly.
(If you would like to freeze these, do not cook. Layer on freezer paper and place in a freezer bag. Freeze. When ready to use, unthaw in the refrigerator and cook as directed when ready to serve.
Makes 10–5 servings of 2 each, .85 per serving
I also added broccoli on the side, which I bought on sale for .99 a bunch (.25 per serving)
If I already had homemade fries, they would have been very inexpensive, but I didn’t have any made up, so I served 1/2 of a bag of store bought fries that I got on sale for $2.50. ($1.25 for the meal, .31 per serving)
Total with 2 crab cakes, 1/4 serving of store bought fries and steamed broccoli = $1.45 per serving or $5.64 for the meal. If you have homemade fries, this total would go down to about $1.25 depending on how expensive the potatoes were.
Enjoy!
Crab cakes are my favorite. My mother’s from Maryland so she makes the best; it’s what we all ask for for our birthday present. I don’t make them because I thought they were expensive. Are you buying fresh or can crab meat? And where are you finding the best price? Thanks!
Good point. I am actually using imitation crab meat, which cuts the price considerably.
When I saw these on your meal plan, I thought, “Eww crab cakes for dinner”,but now that I see the picture, it actually looks quite tasty.
They are very tasty 🙂
I love crab cakes! Your picture is giving me a hankering for a midnight snack! I would buy a nice dungeness crab to put in the crab cake though. We rarely have crab cakes and I think it would be OK to splurge a bit. 🙂
That sounds great. We make these crab cakes all the time, but if we didn’t, I would definitely splurge for real crab!
I love to eat well, but can’t afford to, so I make a lot of mock restaurant meals. Crab cakes are one of my favorites! I have never tried them with imitation crab meat but think I will now. Thanks!
Yum! I often get the little packages of imitation crab meat at Meijer on sale for $1 and stock up the freezer. I never thought of making crab cakes! I’m going to try your recipes soon!
That is a great stock up price. You would drastically lower the price of this meal if you bought them at that price.