Maryland crab cakes, when made right, consist of primarily fresh lump crab meat with very little filler. The delicate nature of the sweet, fresh crab meat demands a sauce that complements it rather than overpowering it. That’s where this crab cake sauce comes in!
What is Crab Cake Sauce?
Crab cake sauce is a delicious dipping sauce that’s perfect for delicate seafood like crabs. It’s also delicious on flaky fish, scallops, and sauteed squid.
The creamy base of mayonnaise marries with the brightness from the lemon juice to make for an amazing remoulade. Other ingredients like a bit of ketchup and a dollop of honey add a layer of sweetness that pairs perfectly with the natural sweetness of fresh seafood.
Whether this is your first remoulade, or you’ve made many other versions, you’re sure to love this recipe as an accompaniment to most homemade seafood dishes.
It can also work well as a base for a pasta salad, sandwich spread or dipping sauce, like for a blooming onion. Really any of these sauces for seafood can be used this way!
What You’ll Need
You only need a handful of simple ingredients to make this creamy crab cake sauce. A full list of ingredients with measurements for this recipe is available in the printable recipe card below.
- Mayonnaise – Use your favorite brand or make your own, but try to avoid any that have extra sweeteners that may not work well when paired with delicate seafood.
- White vinegar
- Ketchup
- Lemon juice
- Capers
- Honey
- Garlic powder
- Onion powder
- Paprika
- Coarse kosher salt
Perfect Pairings
What can’t you serve it on is really the question. This sauce is technically considered a remoulade because it is mayo-based, but nowadays, many folks might also call it aioli. And for that reason, it can be used any way a creamy dipping sauce or aioli would be used too.
This zingy sauce can be drizzled over a dish for a dramatic artsy feel. Use a squeeze bottle or spoon some into a small plastic bag and snip the corner allowing you to drizzle it over the food.
You can also serve it on the side in a bowl or with a trio of sauces like tartar sauce, garlic aioli and cocktail sauce.
- Salt – I use coarse kosher salt to help bring out the other flavors of this creamy sauce. Before using a different salt, keep in mind all salts measure differently.
- Seasonings – While I don’t prefer it in my sauce (since I put plenty in my crab cakes), you can certainly shake some into this sauce. If you like cajun flavors, try adding a bit to this creamy remoulade. You can add any herbs that you think will complement your crab cakes from parsley to dill.
- Sauces – Choose your favorite hot sauce and add a few dashes to taste. Add Worcestershire sauce for some added umami and a bit of salty flavor.
- Swaps – Trying adding or substituting sour cream to impart some tanginess. Instead of onion powder, you can use finely chopped onion.
- Senses – Creamy and tangy, this crab cake dipping sauce wakes up your taste buds with a kick of lemon, a hint of spice, and a smooth, velvety finish that melts into every crispy bite.
Crab Cake Sauce Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 1 tablespoon ketchup
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 7-8 capers
- 2 teaspoons honey
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
Instructions
- Combine the 1/2 cup mayonnaise, 1 tablespoon white vinegar, 1 tablespoon ketchup, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 7-8 capers, 2 teaspoons honey, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, 1/2 teaspoon onion powder, 1/2 teaspoon paprika and 1/2 teaspoon coarse kosher salt in a small food processor. Blend well until combined and capers are well chopped.
- Chill for 1 hour to let flavors marry.
- If you’ve tried this recipe, come back and let us know how it was in the comments or star ratings!
Video
Nutrition
Storage & Freezing
Store this creamy sauce for up to a week in the refrigerator in an airtight container or a bowl covered in plastic wrap.
Freezing sauces with a mayonnaise base is not recommended.
Other Dipping Sauces for Seafood
There’s nothing that a good sauce can’t elevate, so here are a few of our other favorite sauces.
This sauce sounds perfect! I’ll be making it with some extra hot sauce- yum!
This is a delicious sauce for crab cakes, fish, shrimp etc.. Can’t wait to try it out.
This recipe tasted great and we were pleasantly surprised on how easy it was, will make it again for sure!
What an interesting sauce recipe. Pinned to try this soon. Thanks for sharing.
I was looking for a recipe like this, thank you for sharing! I can’t wait to try it soon!
This was the perfect sauce for our crab cakes. My husband and I both loved the flavor as it was not over powering. I do not the flavor of Old Bay and I had all the ingredients on hand. Thank You
This is a great crab cake sauce!! Thank you for the recipe!! I had all ingredients and have made this now 3 times.
I looked for a sauce recipe on the fly and so glad I came across this. I didn’t have capers so I made it without and it was still delicious!!
Great recipe but I will reduce the 1/2 tsp kosher course salt to 1/4 tsp, as it was a bit too salty in my opinion.
I made this tonight for a group of 7 and everyone loved it! I didn’t have capers on hand so used about 1 1/2 tsp of pickle relish. It was my first recipe I found that sounded good and will be my last. No need to look further!
AMAZING!!! I made this with King Crabcakes but can see that it will go with so many other dishes. Thank you for sharing!
It was delicious! Had all the ingredients on hand and turned out great! We will be making it again.
This was an excellent recipe! Sadly, I was out of 2 of the ingredients so I substituted Manzanilla olives with pimiento removed and Thai Sweet Chili sauce for the honey and it was awesome!
Excellent easy recipe that was perfect for crab cakes!
The crab sauce is delicious. The only I did not add capers. Will make this again
It’s looks delicious
This is now my favorite sauce for crab cakes. My granddaughter thinks it tastes like yum yum sauce. I will also make this as a side sauce for chicken wings or to use as an option along side of the cocktail sauce when serving shrimp cocktail. I actually forgot to put the chopped spring onion in the sauce, so I used it to sprinkle the sauce that was on top of my crab cakes. I must say that the chopped spring onion truly takes the flavor of this wonderful sauce to yet another level! Thank you, Jessica.
I’m just an average cook but one entre my family likes is my crab cakes! After years of eating them plain (that’s how good they are) I searched for a sauce to use with them. I found many different recipes but landed on yours to try out. I never used capers (wasn’t even sure what they were!) but I read the comments where many of your followers said the same thing but were now hooked on capers. So, I gathered all the ingredients and followed the recipe exactly and IT TURNED OUT DELICIOUS! Now my great crab cakes are complimented by a super delectable sauce! Thank you for elevating my signature dish!
Woohoo! I love to hear that and thank you for coming back to let us know.