Air Fryer Crab Cakes

Maryland homemade air fryer crab cakes are easy to make using canned seafood. Lightly breaded, crispy and crunchy on the outside. If you loved our air fryer frozen crab cakes this is better from scratch as an appetizer.

Whether you choose to serve these air fryer crab cakes as a meal, side dish or fun appetizer they are always a hit. Yes you can buy them frozen but homemade is always best, and easier to make than you might think. Just one of many easy air fryer recipes on The Typical Mom blog. (affiliate links present)

Copycat Red Lobster Crab Cakes Recipe

If this is one of your favorite restaurants, these taste very similar. You can make our cheddar bay biscuits like they have there too, they are killer air fryer dinner recipes served together.

If this sounds way too complicated let me ease your mind. I do not to hard. You do NOT need to boil an actual crab, crack the claws and scrape all the meat out. UM, that would be a no. Just use a can that is already cooked and shredded found near the tuna fish at the grocery store. 😉

How long to cook crab cakes in air fryer

You will need 12 minutes or so depending on their size. Smaller won’t take as long and if you want them crispier you can add another minute or so. A spray of olive oil will make them crunchier in the last minute or so.

Ingredient Notes

1. Crab meat, chopped imitation, fresh or defrosted frozen crab legs will work too, diced into small pieces. Buy extra so you can and make air fryer crab rangoon too.
2. Breadcrumbs, seasoned works well and better than Panko in this case
3. Diced bell pepper we like but optional
4. Some green onions are great for a little color
5. Egg and mayonnaise will keep them moist
6. Garlic powder and a sprinkle of Old Bay seasoning is great too
7. Large bowl is helpful to blend it all together, and olive oil to spray the tops will make them crispier

As far as precooked goes, I have used leftover Instant Pot crab legs to make this too. These are nice to serve with a lemon wedge and we like seafood boil sauce dripped on too.

You could make your own dipping sauce but typically I just buy one to make it easier to serve quickly. You could go with just some tartar sauce too or some like dijon mustard.

I prefer to air fry, not submerge my food in oil. It isn’t as healthy and the breading will fall apart in a deep fryer so you’d need to do this in a skillet. If you don’t have one of these handy dandy countertop appliances, first off you should. BUT you can still make these with a pan on your stovetop too. Just follow the same directions but preheat a pan with 1 tbsp of olive oil on medium heat instead.

Tips

Let’s talk about what was thrown into this mixture. By thrown in I mean just that, the easier the better if you ask me. Once everything is together you should taste and adjust seasonings as need be. If you want them spicier you can add dry Sriracha, chili powder, cayenne pepper or cajun seasonings.

And then start to taste as far as some salt and pepper you want. You can add all the seasonings you want into the bread crumbs as well to add flavor. If you wanted a smoother mixture you could use a food processor to blend all ingredients together like our old fashioned salmon patties.

Once you get it all combined you’ll want to break or cut it up into equal portions. The bigger they are the longer they’ll take to cook all the way through. I prefer smaller than larger to get a really nice and crispy on the outside. You could add other diced things like celery or onions if you wanted too.

It should be wet so it sticks together. If it seems a bit dry then just squeeze in a little bit more mayonnaise. Greek yogurt is another alternative I use for tuna patties. You definitely don’t want them falling apart or the breading to not stick well. That in itself lends a lot of flavor to this deliciousness.

I always suggest to spray the inside of your air fryer basket with a bit of olive oil or non stick cooking spray but especially with these. If they stick there’s no way to “put them together again” if you know what I mean. Crab deviled eggs is what we make for leftovers if you have any!