Crab Salad Recipe (How to Make Seafood Salad) | A Spicy Perspective (2024)

This easySeafoodSalad Recipeis made with tender lumpcrabmeat that is delicately tossed with crisp vegetables, zesty herbs, and a flavorful, creamy dressing. It’s prepared in only 5 minutes, and is perfect to enjoy as a tasty snack or to make crab salad sandwiches!

Why We Love This Crab Salad Recipe

This Crab Salad Recipe is a perfectly chilled seafood salad featuring a creamy and light dressing that includes mayonnaise, chopped dill, and a squeeze of lemon juice. So it’sbright and tangy, and incredibly tasty! This will quickly become a summer staple in your house!

This easy, quick, and foolproof recipe is seriously made in just5 minutes. And although (I personally think) it tastes best after chilling in the fridge for a bit, the salad absolutely can be enjoyed right after it is made. So whip up a batch right before guests arrive, and serve an impressive dish that takesbarely any effortor time to prepare!

Best of all, this best crab salad recipe is made with REAL crab meat, not the imitation variety. Every bite is packed with fresh seafood flavor that’s great to enjoy with crackers, on salads, or in buttered hoagie rolls.If you love a good lobster roll, crab rolls with fresh-madeCrab Saladwill be right up your alley!

Crab Salad Ingredients

There are only a handful of simple ingredients in this Seafood Salad recipe because you really want the crab to shine as the star here.

To make the best recipe for Crab Salad you need:

• Fresh cooked crab meat–out of the shell, either purchased fresh from the seafood counter or in packaged refrigerated canisters
• Celery–finely chopped, for a wonderful crunch
• Mayonnaise–eitherregularorlow fat
• Chopped Fresh Dill–to get that signature seafood salad flavor
• Fresh Lemon juice–the bit of acidity really brings all of the ingredients together
• Seasonings/Spices– garlic powder, salt, and pepper

I used one 8-ounce container of jumbo lump crab meat and one container of crab special blend to create a mixture oflarger and smaller crab chunks. Take note that this is not an imitation crab salad, but made with real crab meat for fresh flavor!

How to Make Crab Salad

First, you need toprep the fresh crab. If you’re using cooked crab meat from canisters, drain and rinse the crab meat for the best flavor. However, if your crabmeat comes from a seafood counter, there’s no need to rinse it.

Place the crab meat in a large mixing bowl.

Add the chopped celery, mayo, dill, lemon juice, garlic powder, 1 teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper to the large bowl.

Gently mix.You want to coat the crab well with the dressing, butnotbreak up any large pieces.

Taste, then add additional salt and pepper if needed. Enjoy right away, orcover and chilluntil ready to serve.

Get the Complete (Printable) Seafood Salad Recipe + VIDEO Below. Enjoy!

How to Make Crab Salad Sandwiches

My favorite way to use seafood salad is to make crab rolls! Seriously, this recipe makes thebestfilling for classicCrab Salad Sandwiches.

Lightly toast or load up room temperature buttery hoagie rolls with lots of seafood salad goodness. Sure, you can add lettuce if you want. But really there’sno needfor any extra sandwich ingredients here.

Serve the seafood salad sandwiches with your favorite sides. Homemade crab rolls are delicious withhomemade potato chipsandbread and butter sweet pickles!

Crab Salad Recipe Tips & Tricks

• Add some extra veggies! For extra crunch, add some red onion or bell peppers!
• Substitute the mayo! If you don’t want to use all that mayo, you can use half the mayo combined with half Greek yogurt or sour cream. Don’t get rid of the mayo altogether or you won’t have that creamy smooth texture!
• Try adding shrimp! This seafood salad recipe would be delicious with the addition of shrimp.
• Try spicing it up with some hot sauce drizzled on top, or a sprinkle of cayenne pepper!

Serving Suggestions

Another fantastic way to enjoy this recipe forcrab saladis as, well, a salad! Load crisp fresh greens, like iceberg lettuce, with a generous scoop of seafood salad and avocado slices for a light and yummy lunch. There’s no need to add any extra dressing since the seafood salad is already perfectly creamy and flavorful.

You can make this crab salad into a crab pasta salad by adding a few cups of your favorite cooked pasta!

It’s also great to serve as asnack or appetizer atyour summer gatherings! Sprinkle some fresh green onions on top and pair with crunchy buttery crackers for scooping. For low carb crackers, try cauliflower crackers or almond flour crackers! For a full meal, you can make a poke bowl and replace the tuna with crab salad!

Frequently Asked Questions

More Quick and Easy Seafood Recipes

• Perfect Maryland Crab Cakes with old bay seasoning (Baked or Sauteed)
• Best Tuna Tartare (Easy Ahi Tuna Recipe
• Lobster Tostadas
• Best Main Lobster Rolls
• Hawaiian Ahi Poke Recipe
• Shrimp Salad Rolls
• Fish Ceviche (Ceviche de Pescado)

Check the printable recipe card below for the nutrition information including calories, carbohydrates, protein, cholesterol, sodium, potassium, fiber, calcium, and vitamin percentages.