I had my first real crab cake while visiting family in Baltimore. I say "real" because nothing I had before compared to how good these ones were. After all, this city takes its crab cakes seriously and eating them in the summer is like a pastime (one that I would gladly like to adopt).
I had my first real crab cake while visiting family in Baltimore. I say “real” because nothing I had before compared to how good these ones were. After all, this city takes its crab cakes seriously and eating them in the summer is like a pastime (one that I would gladly like to adopt).
The cakes had so many flavours happening at once. Umami for the soul. The quality of the meat was number 1. People in Maryland are known for only using jumbo lump crab meat and then it’s spiced up with Old bay seasoning all the way.
Inspired by the ones I had in Baltimore, I decided to make these crab cake burgers to add to our summertime meals. You can have them on their own, over a salad with freshly baked cornbread on the side, but they are what dreams are made of when paired with herbed garlic buns, tzatziki, cucumbers and lettuce.
The recipe below doesn’t use a lot of fillers. You want to be able to enjoy the crab meat for its own. I used panko instead of breadcrumbs, and this gives the burgers a lighter texture.
Summer is made for meals like these to be enjoyed with the people you love the most.


Ingredients
- 4 D’Italiano herb and garlic Hamburger buns
- 4 romaine lettuce leaves
- 1 PC tzatziki container
- 1 English cucumber
- 3 227 grams crab meat containers each (I used Phillips)
- 2 tbsp mayo
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- 2 green onions – chopped
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tsp mustard
- 1 1/2 tsp Old Bay seasoning
- ¾ cup panko crumbs
- 3 tbsp flour
- 1 egg white
- 2 tbsp olive oil
For crab cakes
Directions
In a medium bowl mix all the ingredients for the crab cakes and set aside in the fridge for 20 minutes. Roughly chop the lettuce and slice ½ English cucumber. Take crab meat out of the fridge and form 4 patties, return to the fridge for 10 minutes.
Heat a frying pan with the olive oil over medium. Add 2 patties a time, and cook until each side turns golden brown (about 4 minutes per side)
Warm each D’ italiano herb and garlic hamburger buns, and top with tzatziki sauce, lettuce, cucumbers and crab cake.

This post was made in collaboration with 150 buns of summer, however all views, opinions and recipe development are my own.