Easy Crab Cakes with Butter Wine Sauce

Light and flaky crab cakes with a rich, garlicky butter wine sauce that's out of this world!

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Keyword crab cakes, fish cakes

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 25

Total Time 45

Servings servings

Calories 407kcal

1 pound crab meat drained and patted dry
2 cups Panko bread crumbs other crumbs will do, but will result in a more dense cake (can sub gluten free Panko crumbs if needed)
1 small onion finely chopped
1/2 green bell pepper finely chopped
3/4 cup avocado oil mayo * See Notes for homemade version
2 large eggs
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 cup Butter or ghee for pan frying

In a large bowl, gently mix all ingredients except ghee until well combined.
Carefully form into 8 patties and lay out on wax paper.
In a large saute pan over medium heat, melt enough ghee to cover the bottom. Place 4 of the prepared cakes evenly around pan.
I usually start the sauce while the first batch is browning - see below for instructions.
Cook for 3-5 minutes on each side, until adequately browned. Remove to a plate and cover with foil while cooking the second batch of prepared cakes. Keep cooked cakes covered or in a warming oven until ready to serve.

While the crab cakes are cooking, place butter and garlic in a small saucepan over medium heat long enough to sweat (but not brown) the garlic (2-3 minutes). Add the chives and white wine and simmer for about 5 minutes to allow sauce to reduce a bit.
Stir in cream and turn heat off.
Season with pepper.

Ladle a bit sauce onto a plate then top with a crab cake. Garnish with additional chives if desired.

You can store these crab cakes in the fridge covered for 1-2 days
These are delicious served with a side salad
Enjoy leftovers on a bun with sauce (tartar sauce would go really well)
You can prep these the day before and store the uncooked patties in the fridge covered until you're ready to fry them
If you want to make your own mayo, this is my favorite homemade mayo recipe
I've only used fresh lump crab meat for this recipe, but canned crab should work too - just drain it thoroughly first
For gluten free option, sub gluten free panko crumbs - you'll never notice the difference!

Adapted from The Houstonian Hotel