Vegan Crab Cakes

If you’re looking for a great and healthy seafood inspired vegan appetizer, then I cannot recommend these Chesapeake Bay inspired vegan crab cakes enough. They are wholesome, full of flavors and only take a few minutes to prepare. I chose to bake them in the oven, and I was still able to get the crunchiness that you’d get if you were deep frying. After my vegan calamari, these crab cakes are definitely my second best seafood appetizer (yes, those calamari just stole my heart) 🙂

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It all Comes from the Hearts

To mimic that crab meat texture, I chose to combine artichoke hearts and heart of palms. I used quartered artichoke hearts in can marinated in oil, vinegar and other seasoning. Artichoke hearts have that softer tuna-like texture that are perfect for vegan seafood recipes. Hearts of palm on the other hand have a more tender texture. On their own, they can be pretty bland and chewy. However, when you combine the hearts of palms with the artichokes, they are a match made in seafood heaven. Together, they give the perfect crab meat texture.

Other Key Ingredients

To get the crab cakes crunchy, I used bread crunch. I wanted to keep the recipe gluten free, so I use gluten-free bread crumbs, but you can use any breadcrumbs you have on hand. One of the most important ingredients to get that Baltimore style crab cakes is Old Bay seasoning. Please do not omit it. Another ingredient that could have worked super great in this recipe is seaweed. Seaweed gives a really nice seafood flavor, so I’d suggest crushing a few sheets into the crab meat as a seasoning. This came to my mind after I made the recipe, but the crab cakes still turned out great without them.

The Crab Cakes

To begin, roughly chop the artichoke hearts and the hearts of palm, enough to still have some texture. For the Hearts of palm, I found that slicing them vertically first in thick string, then cutting them in half gives the best texture.

Add the artichoke hearts and hearts of palm to a mixing bowl, followed by all the other ingredients: the bread crumbs, onions, garlic, celery, parsley, old bay seasoning, coconut milk, vegan worcestershire sauce, agave syrup, salt and pepper. Mix everything well to incorporate all the seasonings.

Now using a tablespoon as measure to have cakes of approximately the same size, scoop out the crab meat to form the cakes. submerge each cake in the bread crumb so they are fully coated. These will give us the perfect crunchiness.

Then, line up a baking tray with parchment paper, and place the crab cakes.

Finally, Set the oven to broil and pop in the crab cakes. Let it broil for 15 minutes on one side, then flip each cake and let broil the other side for another 10 minutes and voila!

Serve it hot with my all time favorite tartar sauce. Enjoy!