Chesapeake Lump Crab Salad (Deliciously Crabby!)

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Chesapeake Lump Crab Salad is a refreshing salad with a heaping lump of succulent choice crab meat, drizzled with a creamy Chesapeake Buttermilk Salad Dressing seasoned with Old Bay Seasoning mix. This decadent salad is both simple enough for a quick weekday lunch and impressive enough for an elegant main course. As if lump crab meat is not tempting enough, we compliment this light salad with zingy capers and zesty red onions to kick up the flavor a notch. Add a spritz of lemon and this salad transforms into a wonderfully balanced seafood and veggie blend!

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Favorite Side Dish Recipes

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What kind of crab meat is best for this salad?

The first rule for an impeccable crab salad is to use high quality real crab meat. My first choice is white crab meat, which usually consists of a mixture of the legs, the jumbo crab meat (the 2 muscles that connect the back of the crab to it’s swimming legs), and the claw meat. When I can’t find this blend, I use the claw meat.

For a more cost effective route, you can use imitation crab meat, however; it will not have the same sweet succulent flavor that accompanies real crab. In a recipe where the meat is blended into a variety of other ingredients, you may not notice the difference, but in this recipe the meat stands out alone.

Another option is fresh steamed crab, hand-picked, but this is a lot of work and could actually cost more than the canned if you’re serving several guests. Canned meat is easier to use and has a longer shelf life. Be cautious of crab meat where the cost seems too good to be true as the meat could contain and lot shell pieces that will make your salad more crunchy than tender and juicy.

How to make Chesapeake Lump Crab Salad

Chesapeake Lump Crab Salad is easy, wonderfully tasty, light, and refreshing. To make it healthier, you can forgo the Chesapeake Buttermilk Salad Dressing and simply drizzle on some olive oil and dashes of lemon juice.

Equipment Used

• Cutting Board – used to finely chop the red onion and to chop the lettuce

• Mixing Bowl or Salad Bowl – used to blend salad ingredients

Ingredient List for Salad

• Crab Meat – canned premium white meat
• Lettuce – Butter and Romaine (or any blend of hearty leafy greens)
• Vegetables – shredded carrots, red onion, grape or cherry tomatoes
• Fruit – capers, lemon (for spritzing)

Ingredients for Chesapeake Buttermilk Salad Dressing

• Creamy Base – buttermilk, sour cream, mayonnaise, lemon juice
• Seasonings – Old Bay Seasoning
• Vegetables – fresh chives, garlic cloves

Recipe Preparation

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• Prepare the Chesapeake Buttermilk Salad Dressing First. In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients and mix until smooth and creamy. Taste for seasonings. If dressing is too salty, add more sour cream. If dressing is too thick, add more buttermilk. Recipe will make approximately 1 1/3 cup salad dressing. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours prior to serving. Detailed instructions can be found at Chesapeake Buttermilk Salad Dressing.

• Wash and dry the lettuce. Chop lettuce into bite-sized pieces and blend the two varieties together in a large mixing bowl.

• Peel and chop the red onion into little minced pieces. The onion is used to add to the flavor to the salad, not to overwhelm it.

• If using whole carrots, wash the carrots and remove the ends. Peel carrots and place them in a food processor with the shredder blade. Process until carrots are shredded. I used bagged pre-shredded carrots for this recipe to keep things simple.

• Add the minced red onion and shredded carrots to the lettuce in the mixing bowl. Rinse and dry tomatoes and toss them in the salad. Mix salad ingredients until well combined.

• Place salad onto serving plates, making sure that each serving has ample amounts of lettuce and veggies. Sprinkle a heaping tablespoon of capers over each salad serving.

• Open canned crab meat and drain liquid. Depending on the type of meat you bought, you may need to chop the crab (some claw meat is sold with meat intact). Pack a cup of crab meat into a 1-cup measuring cup. Carefully, turn measuring cup over in the middle of the salad to create a lump crab meat dome. Spritz with a slice of lemon. Serve Chesapeake Lump Crab Salad immediately with a drizzle of Chesapeake Buttermilk Salad Dressing over the greens.