Global appetites for crab meat are growing. According to market research firm Mordor Intelligence, the crab market was valued at nearly $12.5 billion in 2024, and by 2029, it could hit nearly $15.5 billion.
Crab is growing in popularity worldwide for a few reasons. Firstly, for its health benefits–crab meat is rich in nutrients, after all—but also for its taste, versatility, and availability. “The demand for frozen crabs is rising in households as they are available year-round, irrespective of the season,” notes Mordor Intelligence. It adds that they can be used in everything from salad to bisque to stuffed mushrooms, but they’re also, of course, the vital ingredient in the Maryland favorite, crab cakes.
Seasoned with Old Bay and held together with minimal binding ingredients, Maryland’s crab cakes are iconic across the US. They’re nearly always made with meat from blue crabs, which come from Chesapeake Bay, the largest estuary in the US.
But eating crab meat does come with some downsides. Shellfish are notorious for foodborne illness risks, for example, and they can also be high in toxic metals, like mercury. However, if you love the taste of crab cakes, you don’t actually have to eat crab meat at all. This iconic Maryland dish can be recreated with everything from jackfruit to hearts of palm. Find out more about how to make delicious vegan crab cakes below.
Kim Cover | Chesapeake Bay Foundation
What type of crab is used in crab cakes?
The ocean is home to around 4,500 species of crab, but only around seven are edible.
According to The Spruce Eats, edible crabs include the Dungeness crab, which is usually brown or purple in color and can be found along the West coast of North America, from Alaska to Baja, Mexico; the horseshoe crab, which can be found along the Atlantic coast and Asian coasts; and the Stone Crab, which is usually found in Florida. Deepwater snow crabs are also edible, and so are Maine’s peekytoe crabs and the North Pacific’s giant king crabs.
Any type of crab can be used to create crab cakes, but the most common is blue crab. These are one of the most populous species of crab in the US, and they are known for their fresh, salty-sweet taste.
However, not all crab cakes are actually made with crab at all. Some are cooked with imitation crab, which is usually made from white fish. Originally invented in Japan, imitation crab is still versatile and sweet, but often cheaper than real crab.
Is crab nutritious?
Crab meat is a source of important nutrients, including protein, omega-3 fatty acids, zinc, vitamin B12, selenium, and copper. However, it does also contain cholesterol, which some research suggests is a risk factor for heart disease.
The USDA no longer recommends that people limit their cholesterol, but instead their intake of saturated fat, trans fat, and added sugars. This, it claims, is because studies show that “dietary cholesterol itself isn’t harmful” and won’t increase the body’s cholesterol levels.
However, there is research that contradicts this advice. In 2019, for example, one study published in JAMA examined data from 30,000 adults. It found that “for every additional 300mg cholesterol a person consumed, regardless of the food it came from, they had a 17-percent increased risk of cardiovascular disease, and 18-percent increased risk of all-cause mortality,” Norrina Allen, one of the study’s authors, explained to the BBC.
And that’s not all. Because crab species absorb marine organisms through bioaccumulation, they can also contain high levels of toxic metals.
In 2018, for example, several Norweigan brown crab meat samples were found to have three times the permitted level of cadmium, a toxic metal that enters the ocean through pollution, according to the Institute of Marine Research. When consumed in large amounts, cadmium may lead to kidney, liver, and heart damage.
Like most shellfish, crab also presents a higher risk of food poisoning. One of the reasons for this is that they are exposed to toxins, like the neurotoxin saxitoxin, caused by harmful algal blooms, which can accumulate in their tissues. Saxitoxin is linked with Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning, one of the four recognized shellfish poisoning syndromes.
Vanilla and Bean
What are vegan crab cakes made of?
You don’t have to risk increasing your cholesterol or exposing yourself to toxins from eating crab, however. In fact, you can get a very similar taste and texture from nutrient-dense plant-based, whole-food ingredients.
Some popular vegan crab ingredients include jackfruit, hearts of palm, chickpeas, and artichokes, all of which help to give a very similar texture to crab cakes. All of these can be combined with Old Bay Seasoning, which is vegan, to get that iconic, nostalgic taste.
7 vegan crab cake recipes
For more on how to make delicious plant-based crab cakes, from classic Maryland style to Thai, check out some of our favorite recipes below.
Linda Soper-Kolton and Sara Boan
1 Vegan Jackfruit Crab Cakes With Creamy Remoulade Sauce
These vegan crab crabs from the Compassionate Cuisine cookbook are the perfect combination of crispy and flavorful, thanks to ingredients like jackfruit, capers, lemon juice, kelp flakes, and Old Bay seasoning. They’re delicious on their own, but the creamy remoulade sauce really elevates this dish to the next level.
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Vegan Huggs
2 Vegan Hearts of Palm Crab Cakes
The secret to this tasty crispy crab cake recipe from Vegan Huggs is a mix of hearts of palm and garbanzo beans, which are combined with a simple, traditional seasoning blend of Old Bay, parsley, garlic, salt, kelp granules, and pepper. “I’m from Long Island and I grew up eating many seafood dishes, but my favorite thing to order was crab cakes,” says recipe developer Melissa Huggins. “Being vegan now, I don’t see any reason to miss out on those wonderful flavors, textures, and seasonings since I can enjoy them in a cruelty-free way now.”
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Vanilla and Bean
3 Artichoke Chickpea Vegan Crab Cakes
Vanilla and Bean founder Traci York makes her crab-free cakes with artichokes and chickpeas, alongside ingredients like red and green bell peppers, fresh parsley, dijon mustard, Old Bay, and cayenne pepper. The result is pure nostalgic goodness, she says. “Who knew a vegan and vegetarian crab cake could be created to taste just as delicious and texture-rich as the crab cakes of my East Coast memories?” York writes.
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My Life in an Apron
4 Ultimate Maryland-Style Vegan Crab Cakes
The key ingredient in these “ultimate Maryland-style” crab-free cakes is not jackfruit hearts of palm or artichoke, but mushrooms, specifically lion’s mane mushrooms. “It’s a specialty mushroom that easily pulls apart and when cooked correctly tastes just like crab,” says Camille McCombs of My Life in an Apron. Flax egg and vegan mayonnaise act as binders, while Old Bay seasoning and parsley bring the signature flavor.
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Hot For Food
5 Vegan Crab Cakes With Horseradish Dill Tartar Sauce
This recipe from Lauren Toyota of Hot For Food again makes use of artichokes, which helps to form the basis of a deliciously tender and crispy vegan crab cake. They’re served with a rich horseradish dill tartar sauce for added delicious flavor. “They’re light, tasty, and so similar in look and texture to the real thing I think you’ll have a hard time convincing people that they’re made of artichokes,” says Toyota.
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Carrots and Flowers
6 Vegan Crab Cakes With Garlic Dill Tahini
Hearts of palm are, once again, the star of this recipe from Carrots and Flowers. They’re combined with a mix of jicama, green bell pepper, Old Bay seasoning, and minced garlic, with totally delectable results. The garlic dill tahini sauce is the perfect topping. “The texture is spot on and with the Old Bay seasoning, these babies come awfully close to the real thing,” says recipe developer Megan Sadd.
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The Hungry Herbivores
7 Vegan Thai Crab Cakes
Crab cakes come in many different formats, and alongside Maryland, another delicious way to make them is Thai-style. The Hungry Herbivores uses a blend of artichokes, seaweed, wakame, coriander, red chili, and galangal to get all of that delicious flavor. “I love the fragrant Thai flavors that really give oomph to a recipe,” writes recipe developer Rosie Newton.
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Charlotte is a VegNews editor and writer based in sunny Southsea on England's southern coast.
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