Sweet crab meat is paired with cheese and sour cream to make this classic party dish.
I don't know about you, but crab dip is one of those appetizers that I just can't ignore on a menu.
This simple recipe makes the most of basic ingredients, elevating them with the addition of crab meat. Now you can make one of your restaurant favorites at home!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup crab meat (canned or fresh)
- 4 ounces cream cheese
- 3 T. mayonnaise
- 3 T. sour cream
- 1/2 cup shredded cheese (I used Colby Jack.)
- 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
- 1/8 tsp. black pepper
Method
Preheat the oven to 400. Reserve a generous spoonful of the crab meat to garnish the dip. In an oven-safe dish, mix together all the ingredients and bake in the oven for 8 minutes.
Spoon it into a serving dish and garnish with the reserved crab meat and a bit of chopped chives or parsley. Serve with tortilla chips, crackers, or flatbread.
Variations
You can dress this up with some chopped artichoke hearts; just be sure to drain them well before adding them to the dish before baking.
One of the best things about this recipe is that you don't have to use expensive crab meat like you should for crab cakes. This is perfectly good with canned crab meat or cheaper fresh claw meat. That said, it would be very impressive with some fresh lump crab meat on top.
Cut some of the calories by using light sour cream and Neufchatel or light cream cheese.
This is one of those dips that looks great in a hollowed-out bread bowl. If you can find one, buy a freshly-baked French or sourdough boule and slice off the top third. Dig out the middle of the bread and spoon in your crab dip.
**The photos in this article are by Sarina Petrocelly.
Do you have a favorite crab dip recipe? Tell us how you make it in the comments!
