In a nutshell: Some highlighted side dishes that pair well with crab cakes include Greek Potato Salad, Fresh and Easy Vietnamese Noodle Salad, Chopped Eggplant, Almond & Herb Salad, etc. These recipes offer a variety of flavors and textures to complement the flavors of crab cakes.
Crab cakes always sound so fancy and can be found on some menus of the fanciest restaurants. But in fact, crab cakes don’t need to be so fancy, and you could even make them at home.
Using fresh crab would obviously be the best but also expensive, but you can also use the canned crab meat. Be sure to get the jumbo lump meat; it’s the best option.
My tips for delicious crab cakes are; they must be coated in Japanese crumbs and fried until crisp and golden. They must be served with a good homemade mayo and a cheek of lemon, and they must also be served with a great side.
Not sure what to eat with crab cakes? Here are my suggested sides for crab cakes. These sides with crab cakes will make for a great lunch or light dinner.
Here’s What To Serve With Crab Cakes:
#1. Greek Potato Salad
What goes well with crab cakes? This potato salad is the healthier version of the classic mayo salad. This salad contains no mayonnaise but instead is dressed with good quality olive oil and lemon juice.
The added feta brings in the creaminess; the capers bring the saltiness, and it’s all mixed up with some freshly chopped herbs and finely sliced onion.
This noodle salad is great, and the noodles themselves take minutes to cook. So you can rustle up this salad in no time. The noodles are tossed together with shredded carrots and cucumber, mung sprouts, and chopped green onions.
These ingredients are tossed in a delicious fish sauce and rice vinegar dressing that is seasoned with minced garlic, lime, crushed chili flakes, and chopped cilantro. This salad tastes not only amazing but also looks incredible!
Not sure what to eat with crab cakes? This salad is full of flavor and texture and great to serve with crab cakes. The eggplant is cut into small cubes and sauteed until golden brown and tender but not too soft.
Combine the olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice, spiced up with cumin, and minced garlic, to make up the dressing, and pour this over the hot aubergine. Add the chopped almonds, red onion, and fresh mint. Mix all these ingredients into the aubergine until well combined, and serve.
#4. Zucchini Pasta with Lemon, Parmesan, and Tomatoes
Pasta dishes make great crab cake sides, but this one is a great alternative to regular pasta.
The zucchini is spiralized into spaghetti-like strands. In a pan, the garlic is toasted until golden, add the tomatoes and sauté, and some corn flour is added to the tomatoes to thicken the sauce.
Finally, add the zucchini “pasta,” toss them in the tomato sauce, and cook until just cooked.
Season the dish with salt and pepper and finish it off with grated parmesan and chopped basil.
This sauce requires no cooking! It’s so easy- by the time the pasta is cooked, the sauce
is ready to toss through. Cook the pasta to “al dente,” and combine the sauce ingredients. This dish uses lemon juice and zest, which is a great flavor to pair with crab cakes; it just works.
Combine the ricotta, garlic, parmesan, lemon juice, and zest for the sauce. When the pasta is ready, simply toss it through the sauce and season with salt and pepper. Dish it up with some crisp crab cakes and some extra lemon wedges, and dinner is ready!
#6. Roasted Garlic-Parmesan Zucchini, Squash, and Tomatoes
Roasted vegetables are always great sides with crab cakes. These sheet pan vegetables are delicious and easy to prepare, and they are a great light vegetable side to serve with the crab cakes. The squash and zucchini are sliced into thick rounds; the cherry tomatoes are halved.
Place them in a bowl and toss with the olive oil, chopped garlic, and Italian seasoning. Spread the vegetables in one layer on a roasting tray, sprinkle with grated parmesan and bake in the oven. Bake until the vegetables are tender and the parmesan is golden and crispy.
#7. Pan-Fried Asparagus with Sun-Dried Tomato and Crispy Feta
Asparagus is great with seafood, and crab cakes would not be an exception. This asparagus dish is so tasty with tart sun-dried tomatoes and creamy, salty feta.
The asparagus is grilled in a skillet, and the feta is added to the pan and cooked until crispy. The asparagus is plated with chopped sun-dried tomatoes and toasted pine nuts and garnished with chopped parsley.
#8. Caramelized Garlic Carrots with Spicy Cilantro Yogurt Sauce
These caramelized carrots with cilantro dressing look as pretty as a picture and taste good too. Roasted with garlic until sweet and caramelized, the carrots are then dressed in the spicy, creamy cilantro dressing- which has just enough kick from the jalapenos and zing from the lime.
The carrots are finished with some chopped nuts for added texture and a sprinkle of chopped mint to add some freshness. Serve this side with some crab cakes, superb!
This is the perfect lighter-style side dish for a great summer lunch. It really is a spring salad! The salad ingredients are shaved carrot and radish, with thinly sliced asparagus, riced cauliflower, chopped avo, and freshly chopped mint.
The vegetables are all dressed in the simple vinaigrette of lemon juice, minced garlic, olive oil, and maple syrup. Serve this salad alongside some crab cakes; so simple, so fresh, and so delicious.
This salad is made up of all ingredients you would find in a Vietnamese spring roll, just chopped up into a salad. The rice paper wrap is replaced with thin rice noodles, and these are mixed through crisp vegetables and dressed in an almond lime vinaigrette and freshened up with loads of chopped herbs. A great side to pair with some crab cakes.
Sometimes the most straightforward sides are the best. This salad has so few ingredients; it’s probably one of my favorite side dishes for crab cakes, and a Caesar salad dressing is what makes it.
The dressing is made up of equal parts sour cream and mayonnaise and then flavored up with anchovies, garlic, parmesan Worcestershire sauce, and a dash of tabasco. The crisp lettuce leaves are tossed in a generous amount of dressing, finished off with crispy croutons and more parmesan shavings.
This recipe is not ground-breaking, but it is delicious with its unique combination of Asian sauces. The stir-fry is tossed in a mixture of soy sauce, mirin, and sambal Oelek. I had never heard of this sambal Oelek, so I researched it; it’s an Indonesian chili paste, typically made of red chili peppers, salt, and vinegar.
Fried until just al dente, the vegetables are tossed in these Asian flavors, a perfect side dish with crab cakes.
This galette calls for homemade pastry, and there is nothing better. The shortcrust pastry is made and rolled out into a round disk, and a filling of feta, parmesan, and ricotta is placed on top. Slices of fresh tomato are then laid over the cheese filling, and the pastry border is then folded in to form the “galette.”
The tomatoes are drizzled with olive oil, seasoned with olive oil, and then the galette is baked until golden brown. Sliced up and served as a side with crab cakes, delicious.
These rosary garlic potatoes are very moreish; just as well they are cooked in a pan, you can easily rustle up some more. Cut into small cubes; the potato is sauteed in a pan over medium heat, occasionally stirring until evenly golden brown all over. Once tender and golden, the rosemary, garlic powder, salt, and pepper are added.
A puree is a great side to serve with crab cakes, and this cauliflower and parsnip puree is to die for. This puree is dairy-free and can be made using frozen cauliflower florets.
Onions and garlic are used to make the base; the cauliflower and parsnips are then added with chicken broth, and it’s left to simmer until the vegetables are tender. The stock is then drained off, and the vegetables are blended to puree, using the broth to thin it down to the right consistency and seasoned with salt and pepper.
This side looks as pretty as a picture, with the roast golden beetroots creating a border and the wilted green vegetables placed in the center. The colors are striking, and the flavors work. The dish is finished off with crumbled feta.
Salsas are a great side to serve, and they add so much flavor and color to a plate of food. This salsa is made up of sweet mango, creamy avo, spicy hot habanero chile, fresh cilantro, and tangy lime. It’s a flavor explosion in the mouth and great to serve as a side with the crab cakes.
Labneh is a soft cheese made from strained yogurt, and this recipe calls for homemade labneh made from Greek yogurt. The labneh for this dish is left to strain for 3 hours; if you want a firmer cheese, you will leave it to strain for longer. To serve, the labneh is spread on the plate, topped with roasted cherry tomatoes, and garnished with fresh basil.
Mashed potato is always a safe go-to side dish; why not try this honey thyme sweet potato mash instead. The sweet potato is peeled and roughly chopped and boiled until tender and then mashed. The butter is melted with honey and cream and blended into the potato.
Crab cakes are often enjoyed with accompaniments such as a light lemon-dill sauce, tartar sauce, coleslaw, mixed greens, or even as a sandwich in a soft roll or bun with lettuce and tomato.
What dessert goes with crab cakes?
A light dessert like a citrus fruit salad, a fruit sorbet, or a lemon tart can complement crab cakes well, providing a refreshing and balanced finish to the meal.
Having completed three years at cooking school, Gabi then went into the realm of private cheffing where she got to travel the world, cooking for the rich and famous in their luxury homes and holiday homes. Through her travels, she has experienced different cuisines, which she has added to her cooking repertoire.
