Aishling Moore: Looking for the perfect snack to serve with drinks? Try these crab cakes

You’ll find cooked, picked and shell-free crab meat now in most supermarkets, fishmongers and delis

Sat, 07 Mar, 2026 - 01:00

Seafood made simple

This weekend’s recipe crab cakes with wild garlic ranch is a winner as everything can be made ahead of time. It's the perfect snack to serve with drinks or shape into larger patties and pop into a toasted brioche bun for something more substantial.

The accompanying sauce makes the most of my favourite perennial herb being back in season. This wild garlic ranch is the perfect sauce for dipping and dunking.

You’ll find cooked, picked and shell-free crab meat now in most supermarkets, fishmongers and delis.

I always prefer cooking the whole crab and extracting the beautiful sweet meat from the shells.

When buying crab you want to make sure it’s still alive and feels heavy for its size.

For safety make sure its claws are restricted by elastic bands.

Here is a step by step guide to cooking and preparing a whole brown crab.

Set up a steamer or bring a large pot of salted water to the boil.
Dispatch by turning the crab over and pulling back the flap where you’ll find a small hole. Place a strong knife at this point and force it through until you hit the other side of the shell.
Steam for 10-12 minutes. Plunge into ice water for 30 seconds to stop the cooking but remove right after to finish cooling.
Once cooled break off the claws and legs. Break off the tail flap and press firmly upwards on the body section to remove.
Cut the body section in half and use a crab pick to remove the white meat in the crevasses.
Discard the gills (known as dead man’s fingers)Scoop out the brown meat and set aside.
Using the back of a large knife crack the claws to pick the meat, being careful to remove any shell fragments.

Fish tales

· Both the crab cakes and ranch can be made ahead of time.

· You’ll find wild garlic in woodland areas. Do make sure you’re picking away from walkways and roadsides. Always cut away from the roots of the plant, leaving them intact with the soil for next year and only take what you need.

· You can swap the wild garlic in the ranch for parsley, chive or chervil.

· The crab cakes store well in the freezer.

· Draining the excess moisture from the crab is an important step to make sure the crab cakes will hold together when cooking.

· These crab cakes can also be deep-fried or air-fried.

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