Keto crab cakes with remoulade
August 1, 2026 · 3 min read
Good crab cakes are mostly crab. The trouble with the diner version is the bread — a fistful of crumbs that pads the patty and buries the sweetness of the meat. Swap that filler for a spoon of almond flour and an egg to bind, season with Old Bay, and the crab stays the star at about 4g net carbs a serving. The remoulade does the rest, tangy with capers and Dijon and a little heat.
Lump crab is worth the splurge here. It holds its texture when you fold it gently, which is the whole trick: mix just enough to hold, never to a paste, and chill the cakes before they hit the pan so they don't break.
Ingredients
- 1 lb lump crab meat, picked over for shell
- 1/3 cup almond flour (or crushed pork rinds)
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
- 2 tablespoons butter, for frying
- For the remoulade: 1/2 cup mayonnaise, 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard, 1 tablespoon capers (chopped), 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, 1/2 teaspoon hot sauce, 1 tablespoon dill pickle relish, 1/4 teaspoon paprika
Steps
- Gently fold the crab, almond flour, egg, mayonnaise, Dijon, Old Bay, lemon juice, and parsley together in a bowl. Keep the lumps intact — mix only until it holds. Shape into 8 patties about 1/2 inch thick and chill 10 minutes so they firm up.
- Stir the remoulade ingredients together in a small bowl while the cakes chill: mayonnaise, Dijon, capers, lemon juice, hot sauce, relish, and paprika. Refrigerate until serving.
- Melt the butter in a wide skillet over medium heat. Cook the cakes 3–4 minutes per side until deep golden and heated through, working in two batches so the pan isn't crowded. Don't move them until a crust sets.
- Plate the crab cakes and spoon the remoulade over or alongside. Serve with lemon wedges.
How it comes together
Makes 4 servings — read left to right; each column combines what's behind it.
PrepPick the crab over for shell fragments and drain any liquid — wet crab makes the cakes hard to shape.
| 1 lb · 455 g lump crab meatpicked over for shell | Mix the crab cakes | Shape and fry | Plate and serve |
| ⅓ cup · 32 g almond flouror crushed pork rinds | |||
| 1 egglightly beaten | |||
| 3 tbsp · 42 g mayonnaise | |||
| 1 tbsp · 15 g Dijon mustard | |||
| 1 tsp Old Bay seasoning | |||
| 1 tbsp · 15 g fresh lemon juice | |||
| 2 tbsp fresh parsleychopped | |||
| 2 tbsp · 28 g butterfor frying | |||
| ½ cup · 110 g mayonnaise | Make the remoulade | ||
| 1 tsp · 5 g Dijon mustard | |||
| 1 tbsp caperschopped | |||
| 1 tbsp · 15 g fresh lemon juice | |||
| ½ tsp hot sauce | |||
| 1 tbsp dill pickle relish | |||
| ¼ tsp paprika |
Scaling adjusts quantities only — cooking times and pan sizes may need judgment. Grams are rounded for the kitchen.
Notes and swaps
Crushed pork rinds stand in for almond flour one-to-one and make the crust a touch crispier, a good move if you're avoiding nuts. Canned lump crab works when fresh is out of reach — drain it well and pick through for shell. For the remoulade, a pinch of cayenne or a squeeze more lemon sharpens it; leave out the relish if you want it cleaner, and it's still bright from the capers.
These shape better cold, so the 10-minute chill isn't optional if your mix feels loose. Cook them in butter for flavor, or a neutral high-heat oil if you want a deeper sear. Serve over a crisp salad or with roasted asparagus to round out the plate without adding carbs. For the how-to behind the merge-flow grid under the recipe card, see how to read a recipe at a glance.
The macros here are an estimate. Tell Copper Keto Companion "two crab cakes with remoulade" and it works out the net carbs on the portion you actually plate — no weighing, no database.
FAQ
Are crab cakes keto? Restaurant crab cakes usually aren't — they lean on breadcrumbs and sometimes crackers or flour. Binding with almond flour and an egg instead keeps the crust while dropping a serving to about 4g net carbs.
Can I bake them instead of frying? Yes. Brush the tops with melted butter and bake at 400°F for about 12–15 minutes, flipping once, until golden. The crust is softer than the pan-fried version but the cakes hold together well.
What is remoulade, and is it keto? Remoulade is a mayonnaise-based sauce sharpened with mustard, capers, and lemon. This one is naturally low-carb — the only carbs come from the small spoon of pickle relish and the capers.
Can I make the cakes ahead? Shape them and refrigerate on a plate for up to a day before cooking. Cold cakes hold together better in the pan, so make-ahead actually helps the texture.
How do I keep crab cakes from falling apart? Fold gently so the egg and almond flour coat the crab without breaking it down, chill before frying, and don't flip until a crust has set at about 3 minutes. Crowding the pan drops the heat and makes them stick, so cook in batches.