Vegan Crab Cakes

Missing crab cakes? These Vegan crab cakes remind me of original crab cakes but without the crab. To create the crab cakes texture I used shredded jack fruit and chickpeas mixed with just the right amount of Old Bay Seasoning to give that crab cake flavor. Crab cakes are often fried, but these are baked in the oven with mixed Panko breadcrumbs to give that crunchy texture we all love!

One of the things I like to do when it comes to vegan plant based cooking is “veganize” some of my old favorite dishes and see if I can use what I have meal prepped to make my life easier. These crab cakes are great because they are freezer friendly and they do remind me of the best crab cakes before I went vegan.

Making these crab cakes can take a little bit of time to prepare but are definitely worth it. Plus you can make a bunch and freeze them. With this recipe you can make 12 large crab cakes or make smaller patties as an appetizer to bring to a party. I’ve taken these to events and everyone loves them… even non-vegans.

One more bonus… they are pretty inexpensive to make. Chickpeas and jackfruit are the main ingredients. If you  compared that to buying 12 large crab cakes at your seafood store. It’s a WIN WIN.

Ingredients for the Food Processor:

• Jackfruit in a can
• Canned chickpeas
• Onion
• Red bell pepper
• Celery
• Parsley

Dry Ingredients in a Bowl:

• Panko bread crumbs (regular or gluten free)
• Nutritional Yeast
• Oat flour (flour of choice)
• Old Bay Seasoning
• Black Pepper
• Salt to taste (I usually don’t add salt to the vegan crab cakes because there its salt in the Old Bay Seasoning)

Additional Ingredients to add to the Bowl with Chickpeas and Jackfruit:

• Flax egg (ground flaxseed plus water)
• Fresh lemon juice
• Dijon Mustard

Let’s Make the Vegan Crab Cakes!

The recipe is broken down into 5 Steps. I’ve tested this recipe multiple times and with a little trial and error and I’m happy with the results. It’s a little bit of work (not really that hard) but I think they are worth it.

Step# 1 : Preheat the oven and make flax egg

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper
• Make a flax egg. Mix together 1 tbsp of ground flax seed and 3 tbsp of water in a small bowl. Set aside fro 10-15 minutes until it forms a gel. This will be the egg replacement and help bind the vegan crab cakes.

Step# 2 : 3 Part Food Processor

IMPORTANT: Pulse a couple of times, so it doesn’t get mushy.

To make the vegan crab cakes, I used the food processor to speed up the process. Process the jackfruit, chickpeas and vegetables separately and transferred ingredients into the same bowl. That way the finished crab cakes look like crab and will not get mushy (learned through trial and error). You want to be able to see the ingredients when the crab cakes are finished.

• Add the  Jackfruit to the food processor, pulse a few times and add processed jackfruit to the bowl
  
• Add the chickpeas to the food processor, pulse a few times and add processed chickpeas to the bowl.

• Add the veggies to a food processor, pulse a few times and add to bowl. For the veggies you can do a rough chop and add to the food processor.
• Mix all jackfruit, chickpeas and veggies together in the bowl. Set aside.

Step #3: Dry Ingredients

In a bowl mix together all the dry ingredients including panko bread crumbs, nutritional yeast, oat flour, Old Bay Seasoning, and black pepper.

Step #4: Mix it all together

• To the bowl with jackfruit mixture add in the dry ingredients.
• Next add in the Dijon mustard, flax egg and lemon juice and mix together. You can use your hands to blend all together into a ball or dough texture.

Step #5: Let’s Form the Crab Cakes and Bake.

Form the crab cakes. You can make different sizes from mini crab cakes to crab cake patties.

Large Crab Cakes (12 Crab Cakes with the recipe)
Form the crab cake into 12 patties about 1 inch high (it’s about a 1/2 cup per crab cake). You can use 4″ circular cookie cutter and fill in the cookie cutter with the dough. Lighly flatten the patties to about 1 inch high.

Bake in the oven for 20 minutes and flip the patties and bake for 10 more minutes until brown. The crab cakes should be lightly browned on each side.

Mini Crab Cakes or Vegan Crab Balls (24 Crab Cakes with the recipe)
Form the crab cake into mini patties (about 1/4 cup of the mixture) and press into a circle and abou 1 inch high. You can use 1″ circular cookie cutter and fill in the cookie cutter with the dough. Lighly flatten the patties.

Bake in the oven for 15 minutes and flip the patties and bake for 10 more minutes until brown. The crab cakes should be lightly browned on each side.

Crab Balls (24-30 Balls)
To make crab balls roll the dough in to a 1 inch circle to bake. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes and flip the balls and bake for 10 more minutes until brown. The crab cakes should be lightly browned on each side.

Ready to serve. You can store in the refrigeator for 5 days or freeze in the freezer for 3 months.

Looking for a simple Vegan Cocktail Sauce?

I have you covered! It only takes a couple minutes to make and it goes perfect with crab cakes!

Here is link to Vegan Cocktail Sauce!

These Vegan Crab Cakes are are great to enjoy all year round. They are perfect to bring to a holiday or family gathering. Plus they are are pretty inexpensive to make compared to buying crab cakes in to store.

Enjoy!!!