Hot crab dip
40 min · 19 g protein · 189 cals / serving
A bubbling, golden dish of sweet lump crab bound in a warm, creamy base seasoned the Maryland way with seafood seasoning, Worcestershire, lemon and a dash of hot sauce, under a lid of melted cheddar. Most of what you scoop is crab. Served with crunchy celery, pepper and cucumber for dipping, plus crackers if you like.
Ingredients
Dip
- 4 oz fat free cream cheese, softened
- 4 oz light cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup nonfat Greek yogurt
- 2 tbsp light mayonnaise
- 2 tsp seafood seasoning, Chesapeake-style seafood seasoning
- 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp hot sauce
- 2 cloves garlic, finely grated
- 1 lb lump crabmeat lump crab, picked over for shell
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced
Topping
- 2/3 cup grated reduced fat cheddar cheese
- a pinch paprika
To dip
- 4 stalks celery, cut into sticks
- 1 large red bell pepper, in strips
- 1/2 large cucumber, in thick rounds
- 6 crispbreads or a sleeve of crackers rye crispbread, broken up (optional)
Steps
- Heat the oven to 350°F. In a bowl, beat both cream cheeses with the yogurt and mayonnaise until smooth, then beat in the seafood seasoning, Worcestershire, mustard, lemon juice, hot sauce and garlic.
- Fold in the crab and green onion gently with a spatula, keeping the lumps as whole as you can. Spread into a 1-litre (1-quart) baking dish or a small cast-iron skillet.
- Scatter the cheddar over the top and dust with paprika. Bake 20–25 minutes, until the edges bubble and the cheese is melted and starting to brown. Rest 5 minutes; it firms up as it cools slightly.
- Serve warm with the celery, pepper and cucumber, and crackers if using.
Good to know
Can I use canned crab?
Yes. Drain it very well and press out the liquid, or the dip turns watery. Lump crab gives the best texture; claw meat is cheaper and more strongly flavoured, and both work.
Can I make it ahead?
Mix it, spread it in the dish, cover and refrigerate for up to a day. Add the cheese just before baking and give it 5–10 minutes longer from cold.
Richer, like a restaurant crab dip?
Use full-fat cream cheese in place of the fat-free half. It is silkier and heavier, at about 54 instead of 65.
Alternatives
Per
- Calories
- 101
- Protein
- (41%)
- 10 g
- Fat
- (32%)
- 4 g
- Carbohydrates
- (27%)
- 7 g
- of which sugar
- 2 g
- Fiber
- 1 g
- Sodium
- 335 mg
More snacks
Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. General guidance, not medical advice. Talk to your prescriber. How
As written, 1515 kcal goes into the pot and 1617 g of ingredients comes out as about 1500 g of food: 101 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.