Crab Cake Sliders With Basil-Avocado Aioli

Tender, sweet crab is packed into crisp cakes and served on buttery brioche slider buns with a homemade aioli to make your new favorite appetizer. Fancy yet homey, these crab cake sliders with basil-avocado aioli are the perfect appetizer for any occasion.

Versatile recipes are a life-saver for anyone who loves entertaining. For some occasions, you take the time to meticulously plan the menu, choose drink pairings, pick the perfect linens and so on.

And then there are the other times —- when life is too busy to worry about menu planning, so you need a few stand-by recipes that are always a crowd favorite and fit any gathering. Enter crab cake sliders with this homemade basil-avocado aioli.

If you feel like classing up the joint, crab cakes give an elegant feel, and the basil-avocado aioli adds an extra gourmet touch. At the same time, we’re talking about sliders, which easily fit with more casual get-togethers. You could serve these crab cake sliders at a sophisticated New Year’s Eve extravaganza or a casual game-watching party, and these tasty, little bites will feel right at home.

Related: For more slider ideas, try these brisket sliders or ham and cheese sliders.

Ingredients

Let's take a quick moment to chat ingredients for our crab cake sliders. Here's everything we need.

• Crab meat
• Egg
• Old Bay seasoning (obviously)
• Mayonnaise
• Worcestershire sauce
• Dijon mustard
• Lemon zest
• Oil if frying (more on that later)

For the crab meat, make sure you get the real stuff. That imitation crab stuff is no good here. You can use lump meat, jumbo lump meat or a combination of the two. As long as you get real crab, you're good to go.

And then there's our homemade basil-avocado aioli. For that, here's what we need.

• Fresh basil
• Avocado
• Garlic
• Lemon juice
• Egg yolk
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper

Step-by-Step Instructions

If you’ve never made crab cakes, they might seem intimidating, but they’re actually simple to prepare. Can you mix ingredients together in a bowl? I assume the answer is yes so congrats! You can make crab cakes.

To make our crab cakes, we first mix together a pound of crab with 15 crushed saltine crackers. In another bowl, we whisk together an egg, Old Bay seasoning, Worcestershire sauce, Dijon mustard, fresh lemon zest and mayonnaise. We then pour that over our crab and cracker, stir to combine and refrigerate for an hour.

After refrigerating, we're ready to form our crab cake patties. While we can certainly do this by hand, I prefer to use a 2-inch cookie cutter for sliders. The size is perfect, and it makes sure our crab cakes are all uniform in size. And just like that, we're ready to cook our crab cakes.

Frying Vs. Broiling Crab Cakes

We can cook our crab cakes by either frying or broiling. I’ve fried and broiled crab cakes and actually prepared the crab cakes both ways for these photos for a side-by-side comparison.

The verdict? I prefer broiling.

Obviously, fried food is delicious. You can’t convince me otherwise.

But when it comes to crab cakes, I find it unnecessary. The taste difference between the two methods is hardly noticeable, and broiling requires less fuss and mess. Plus, the crab cakes cook more evenly with broiling.

I provide directions in the recipe card for both methods. Ultimately, both will give you a delicious crab cake, and it comes down to personal preference.

How to Make Basil-Avocado Aioli

And then there's our basil-avocado aioli, which is also as simple as can be. I like to take care of this step while the crab cakes refrigerate.

For this homemade aioli, we toss an egg yolk, half an avocado, lemon juice, some garlic cloves and a handful of fresh basil into a food processor and pulse it a few times to begin combining the ingredients like so.

Then, with the food processor running, we slowly stream in some olive oil. Give it a taste and add enough salt and pepper to your liking.

For easy entertaining, you can take care of this step ahead of time and store in the refrigerator. Just know that the oil will solidify so make sure you bring it out before serving to get the oil to come up in temperature and turn back to more of a liquid state.

Can You Freeze Crab Cakes?

Absolutely. Once we form our patties, we wrap them in plastic wrap and store in a freezer-safe bag. This is great for entertaining because you can mostly take care of the work ahead of time.

Perfect Pairing

Craving a beer to go with these crab cake sliders? You can't go wrong with a witbier, which is one of my favorite pairings with seafood. Witbier comes with a touch of malt sweetness that's perfect with the crab as well as some bright citrus undertones. The spicy yeast is a delicious match to the herby aioli, and the body of the beer is light enough that it won't overpower the crab.

For those times you're in the mood for wine, a sauvignon blanc is a good call. I love the way the acidity, crisp finish and tropical fruit bring alive the crab, and we get subtle herbal notes that are perfect with our aioli.

Whether you feel a little fancy or more on the casual side, I hope you try these crab cake sliders with basil-avocado aioli. You'll love these versatile bites, no matter the occasion.

Cheers!

Need More Delicious Seafood Recipes?

• Ahi nachos with wasabi crema
• Salmon-avocado burgers with lime-sriracha aioli
• Beer mussels in chorizo-tomato sauce
• Herbed smoked trout spread
• Shrimp and crab gumbo

If you love this recipe, please leave a comment with a five-star rating — or simply hit the five-star button in the recipe card. Don't forget to sign up for my newsletter, and you can follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and TikTok.

📖 Recipe

Crab Cake Sliders With Basil-Avocado Aioli

Tender, sweet crab is packed into crisp cakes and served on buttery brioche slider buns with a homemade aioli to make your new favorite appetizer. Fancy yet homey, these crab cake sliders with basil-avocado aioli are the perfect appetizer for any occasion.

5 from 35 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Appetizers

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes minutes

Servings: 8 sliders

Calories: 415kcal

Author: Amanda McGrory-Dixon

Ingredients

Crab Cake Sliders

• ▢ 1 pound crab meat
• ▢ 15 saltine crackers crushed
• ▢ 1 large egg
• ▢ ¼ cup mayonnaise
• ▢ 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• ▢ 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• ▢ 1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
• ▢ 1 teaspoon fresh lemon zest
• ▢ Canola oil if frying
• ▢ 8 brioche slider buns
• ▢ Arugula

Basil-Avocado Aioli

• ▢ 2-4 garlic cloves 1 lemon
• ▢ 1 large egg yolk
• ▢ 1 lemon juiced
• ▢ ½ whole avocado
• ▢ ½ cup fresh basil leaves
• ▢ ½ cup olive oil
• ▢ Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Crab Cake Sliders

• In a mixing bowl, stir together crab meat and crushed saltine crackers just until combined. Don't overmix.
• In another bowl, whisk together egg, mayonnaise, Worcestershire sauce, Dijon mustard, Old Bay seasoning and lemon zest. Pour over crab mixture and stir until combined. Again, don't overmix. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour.
• Form into patties on parchment paper that are 2 inches in diameter. Don't pack too tightly. You can do this with your hands free-form or use a cookie cutter.
• If broiling, place crab cakes on a greased broiler-safe baking sheet and set on a rack near the top. Broil until the crab cakes brown to your liking. Start checking on the crab cakes after five minutes. They may not be done until closer to 10 minutes, but the broiler works quickly, so you'll want to keep an eye on them.
• If frying, pour enough canola in a 12-inch cast-iron skillet to cover the bottom. Heat the oil over medium-high heat until shimmering. Place three to four crab cakes in skillet and cook until browned, about four minutes. Flip and cook the other side until browned. Keep warm in a 200-degree oven as you cook the remaining crab cakes.
• Serve on brioche slider buns with arugula and basil-avocado aioli. Enjoy!

Basil-Avocado Aioli

• Add the egg yolk, avocado, lemon juice, garlic and basil to a food processor. Pulse to start to combine the ingredients into a paste.
• With the food processor running, slowly stream in the olive oil. Taste and add salt and pepper as needed.

Notes

• Make sure you use real crab meat, not imitation. Lump, jumbo lump or a combination is fine.
• Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.

Nutrition

Serving: 1slider | Calories: 415kcal | Carbohydrates: 42g | Protein: 21g | Fat: 16g | Cholesterol: 92mg | Sodium: 1.102mg | Sugar: 4g

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