Crab melts are an easy but sophisticated appetizer with a creamy, cheesy crab mixture that's baked onto slices of French bread. Everyone will go crazy for these!
New Year's Eve is one of my favorite times to serve a big spread of appetizers. Snacking all night for the win!
I try to have some kid favorites, some adult favorites, and we all just graze and nosh and stuff ourselves.
Bonus: This works great if you're hosting a party of friends or family or just staying in and cozy (which is my favorite way to celebrate)/
And even though it's the very last day of the year, I had to share with you a family appetizer recipe I recently discovered that would be perfect for ringing in the new year.
Crab melts are a recipe in my Aunt Edith's packet of favorite recipes she shared with me years ago, but I hadn't made them until recently.
They sounded kinda fancy, but are very do-able and all kinds of flavorful.
Another crab appetizer from my aunt that I have shared before is this quickie crab dip, which is just 3 ingredients and great served cold with crackers.
Today, we're going hot and melty. It's wintertime after all, and that just seems appropriate.
These crab melts are cheesy and so delicious. The creamy crab mixture is spooned over slices of French bread and then baked until they are bubbly, toasty and totally devour-able.
They make an excellent appetizer for a party. Super sophisticated but also really quick and easy. That's my kind of entertaining combo.
Speaking of, you might also like these spicy roasted shrimp or shrimp martini appetizer and some baked brie with cranberry sauce.
Old fashioned stuffed mushrooms are a party classic, too.
But today we're all about crab, we're doing melts and your mouth will be watering after you get your first taste of these!
So let's get cooking.
Recipe Notes:
Crab: You'll want to buy a 6 oz. can of flaked crabmeat for this recipe. See below for details.
Make sure to pick over your crabmeat, as little bits of shell can get into it and you don't want that in your appetizer. (You'll feel it with your fingers if you run into a little piece - it's hard and you can pull it right out and discard it.)
Pimientos: A 2 oz. jar is the smallest I can find for canned pimientos at the store. I ended up using all of it (instead of just 1 oz. as my aunt's recipe calls for) and it worked great. Yay for no extra!
Cheese: I use a sharp white cheddar cheese for this recipe. A yellow cheddar would work well, too, or you could try swapping out cheddar for a different cheese or cheese blend if you prefer.
Spicy: You could add some hot sauce or a dash of cayenne pepper if you want to make these a bit spicy.
This makes a lot - enough for two whole loaves of bread. That's great for a crowd but you could also only put the spread on one loaf and save the remaining mixture for another day or two.
You could also substitute baguettes or another type of bread if you prefer.
OK, let's talk buying crab. There's a ton of options at the store, and I know it can get confusing - and intimidating!
What type of crabmeat should I buy?
You'll need a 6 oz. can of crabmeat for this recipe. Look for backfin or special crabmeat, which have lots of good flavor but are also a good consistency for mixing into this appetizer.
Lump and jumbo lump crabmeat, which are more expensive, aren't necessary because we don't want those huge chunks of crabmeat for our spread. So no need to pay for them!
Here's a good guide to choosing crabmeat if you want to read more.
Finally, if you have leftovers, don't fret. You don't need to toss them at the end of the night.
I wrapped and saved my leftover bread with the crab mixture in a single layer in a large plastic container. Then I reheated them the next day in the toaster oven, and they were just as warm and tasty.
Leftover seafood is questionable after a couple of days though, so I would recommend enjoying them within two days of making these.
I hope you give this a try for your next cocktail party - or at-home soiree like us.
Enjoy and happy New Year!
XO,
Kathryn
Crab Melts
Ingredients
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- ½ teaspoon garlic salt
- 1 (6 oz.) can flaked crabmeat, picked over for shells (see notes)
- 1 oz. pimientos (drained; see notes)
- 1 package (2 loaves) ready to bake French bread
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350.
- Melt the butter and cheese in a small sauce pan over low heat until combined.
- Add the lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce and garlic salt and mix well.
- Add the mixture to a large bowl. Add the crab and pimentos and carefully fold in.
- Slice the bread into ½ inch slices and spread with the crab mixture. Place on an ungreased baking sheet.
- Bake at 350 for 15 minutes, until hot and bubbly. Serve hot.
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Sharon Madson says
Your 1/2 recipe calls for the same amount of butter as the full recipe. I must have only looked at the amount (1 stick). Needs better editing.
Kathryn Doherty says
Hi there, the toggling to different amounts (1/2 recipe, 2x recipe, etc) is an automatic feature of the recipe plugin I use, so it's not something I can change myself. Looks like it changes the quantity amount correctly to 1/4 cup of butter but not the side note I had listed there about 1 stick, since that's not the main measurement on that line. I'm sorry that it was confusing!