Maryland crab cakes are, in our humble opinion, one of the most iconic and sophisticated party foods.

They are a versatile food – you can serve them as an appetizer or as part of a meal. Our team was trying to think of ways to elevate the simple crab cake and we came up with this delicious Southwest crab cake sliders recipe. These southwest crab cake sliders add a kick to your crab cakes while still maintaining the crab’s luscious and delicate flavor.

These crab cakes are quick and relatively easy to make – so let’s SHOP NOW!

Maryland Crab Cakes Recipe

Skill Level: Intermediate            

Prep Time: 30 minutes (1 hour if you let the crab cakes hang out in the fridge for 30 minutes before cooking)

Cooking Time: 20 minutes

Here are the components that will combined to create your southwest crab cake sliders recipe. We’ll explain in detail how to prepare the coleslaw, chipotle mayo and crab cakes below.

• crab cakes
• slider buns (we made our own for this recipe but you can easily buy them too!)
• chipotle mayo
• sliced avocado
• coleslaw

Let’s start with making the Maryland crab cakes. If you have time to let the crab cakes chill in the fridge for half an hour after assembling them, we highly recommend it.

Ingredients Required to make Maryland Crab Cakes

• 1 and 1/2 cups of Cameron’s Jumbo Lump Maryland Crab Meat
• 3 tbsp mayo
• 1 egg
• 3/4 cup of crushed crackers
• 1 clove minced garlic
• 1/4 lime, juiced
• 1/2 tsp each thyme and oregano
• 1/4 tsp each paprika, chili powder, and cumin
• dash of salt and pepper         

Maryland Crab Cakes Cooking Directions

Mix the egg with the mayo and then put all the ingredients into a small mixing bowl. Mix them all together and then form patties in the size of your choice. The buns we made were 2 inches in diameter so we made our crab cakes that size.

Don’t be alarmed, the crab cakes are going to be quite soft at this point but are going to firm up in the fridge as all the ingredients get to know each other better.

While your crab cakes are resting in the fridge, you can make the coleslaw and the chipotle mayo (instructions below).

As for cooking the Maryland crab cakes, take a medium or large sized frying pan (we used cast iron) and heat it up over medium heat with 1/3 cup of cooking oil (make sure to use an oil with a high smoking point like grapeseed or peanut oil). To test if your oil is ready, you can take a little piece of one crab cake and place it in the pan, if it starts to sizzle, you are good to go.

Cook the Maryland crab cakes for about 4-5 minutes on each side. Keep an eye on them as every stove is different and yours might brown faster or slower than others. We made our crab cakes in two batches. You don’t want to crowd the pan as that will bring down the temperature of your pan and then your crab cakes won’t brown as nicely and might fall apart.

Ingredients Required to make Coleslaw

• 1/4 small cabbage, shredded
• 2 small carrots cut into thin match sticks or grated
• 2 green onions sliced thinly (you can definitely use red, yellow, or white onions if you prefer them)
• 1 tbsp honey or maple syrup
• 1/4 cup white vinegar
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

Coleslaw Cooking Directions

Mix together the honey, white vinegar, mayo and chopped cilantro. Pour these over the vegetables in a medium bowl and toss them all together. Pop this in the fridge to keep chilled until you are ready to assemble your sliders.

Ingredients Required to make Chipotle Mayo

• equal parts chipotles in adobo sauce (you should be able to buy them in the Mexican aisle at your grocery store)
• mayonnaise

Chipotle Mayo Cooking Directions

Pick out a chunk or two of chipotles and, along with some of the adobo sauce, put them in a blender with an equal amount of mayonnaise. Blend until smooth and that’s it – it is ready to use.

Assembling your Maryland Crab Cakes Sliders

Cut your slider buns in half and spread a thin layer of chipotle mayo on each side. Place one crab cake on the bottom half and top it with some sliced avocado and a little bit of coleslaw. And that’s it, you are ready to put your sliders together and serve them!

This would be a great appetizer to put out at one of your holiday parties this year. Or if you would rather have something smaller, you can make the crab cakes one inch in diameter and top them with a dollop of the chipotle mayonnaise or an aioli of your choice. Experiment with your food and find out what works best for you.

You could also make the crab cakes a little bigger and have them on a hamburger bun. Serve them with a potato salad or a corn chowder and you have yourself a meal.

Buy Maryland Crab Cakes Online

If you are running short on time and need to buy your chipotle mayo and coleslaw, we aren’t going to tell anyone!

Furthermore, if you don’t have time to prepare and cook the crab cakes yourself – you can order fresh and delicious Maryland crab cakes on our online store.

Find us on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram and show us pictures of your crab cakes at your next holiday party. Enjoy and feel free to share our Maryland crab cakes recipe with your friends!

By: Melanie Craighead