Seriously delicious! I love this appetizer so much and though the crab can be a bit costly, it will absolutely be a crowd pleaser. You’ll be asked for the recipe for sure. And the fact that you can make it a day ahead makes it so much more attractive!
Watch me make it in the video in this post and I have a treat for you at the end, how to make Crab Empanadas with the leftovers! Yes, I love to repurpose leftovers and this is a perfect one for that!
Ingredients:
8 oz Jumbo lump Crab Meat, drained
1/4 cup red pepper, diced
1/4 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
2 tsp fresh chives, finely chopped
1/2 cup mayonnaise
4 oz cream cheese
1 tbs lemon juice
1/2 tsp hot sauce
1/4 cup Panko
Directions:
Heat oven to 425º degrees.
Place crabmeat into baking dish and flake lightly. I like it lumpy but you can break it up as much as you’d like. Add in red pepper, parsley and chives. Stir gently. Add mayonnaise, cream cheese, lemon juice, hot sauce and stir gently once again. Make sure the mixture is evenly spread in a 9 by 12 baking dish.
Sprinkle panko evenly over the crab mixture.
Bake until the panko is lightly toasted and you can see bubbling at the edges of the baking dish. This will be about 20 minutes. keep your eye on it to make sure its not overcooking. All ovens cook differently.
How to Make ahead crab dip:
Go though all the steps except sprinkling the Panko mixture over top of the crab. Refrigerate, covered, up to 24 hours. When ready to make, retrieve crab mixture from fridge about 10 minutes prior to placing in oven. Sprinkle panko and add another 10 minutes to baking time.
Serve with Crostini, Baked Pita Chips or Melba Toast and use leftovers for mini empanadas!
Want to make some Crab Empanadas with the leftovers?
Get some empanada discs at your local international market. Some supermarkets and Walmarts carry them in Latin populated areas. They come in packages of 10 and are found in the frozen section along with many frozen Latin foods. I found that cutting the discs in two and making them mini empanadas is a great way to go if you are serving them as appetizers.
Here is how to cook the mini empanadas with this filling. Crab Mini Empanadas
Ingredients
- 8 oz Jumbo lump Crab Meat drained
- 1/4 cup red pepper diced
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley finely chopped
- 2 tbsp fresh chives finely chopped
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 4 oz whipped cream cheese
- 1 tbs lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp hot sauce
- 1/4 cup Panko
Instructions
- Place crabmeat in a baking dish bowl flake lightly.
- Stir in red pepper, parsley and chives. Stir gently.
- Add mayonnaise, cream cheese, lemon juice and hot sauce and stir gently again.
- When ready to bake, heat oven to 425 degrees. Sprinkle crab mixture evenly with panko.
- Bake until the panko is looking lightly toasted and you can see bubbling at the edges of the baking dish. This can be about 20 minutes.
- Serve with Crostini, Baked Pita Chips or Melba Toast. Use leftovers for mini empanadas. Look on my blog for recipe!
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