The best crab cakes probably come from some crab shack in Maryland. But we don’t all have access to a crab shack. That’s where the best frozen crab cakes come in. And, lucky for you, we sorted through the clunkers to find them.
Here’s what makes for a really good frozen crab cake: real chunks of tender crab, a coating that crisps up in the oven or a pan, actual crab flavor (not fishy), and a texture that holds its crab cake shape.
I was really excited about the prospect of trying a bunch of frozen crab cakes. I thought I was in for a real treat. A fancy seafood feast under the guise of “doing my job.” But I was woefully disappointed by the selection of frozen crab cakes out there. Some were extremely mushy, no matter how much we blasted them with heat in our countertop oven. Some were super fishy. Some tasted like nothing. And one tasted like Christmas, as in, holiday spices like cinnamon and nutmeg. Super weird.
Luckily, there were two brands that qualified as the best store bought crab cakes. Whether you’re looking for an elegant appetizer or simply craving some crustacean, here are the best crab cakes you’ll find in the freezer aisle.
(Quickly, I do want to give a quick shout out to Gardein Mini Crabless Crab Cakes. They’re very strange. The texture is closer to chicken than crab. But there is something crabby about them. They get real crispy and would be a great vehicle for tartar sauce. But enough folks thought they were too weird for us to include them on this list.)
Okay, now let’s talk about the actual best frozen crab cakes we tasted.
- Phillips Maryland Style Crab Cakes
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There’s lots of shredded crab in these frozen crab cakes, and lots of visible herbs that look good but don’t overpower with too much herbaceous flavor. They taste clean—not fishy at all. And they get decently crispy. They could definitely use some tartar sauce to make them taste a bit more interesting, but if you don’t have a Sprouts market nearby (the only place you can buy our number pick), then these are the best frozen crab cakes available.
Credit: Merc / Target
- Sprouts Maryland Style
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There were far and away the best crab cakes we tasted. First of all, you can actually see the big chunks of real crab in the patties. Secondly, you can also taste the crab. It’s not just texture—it actually tastes like crab. Amazing concept. While the crab cakes didn’t get quite as crispy as I wanted, those big chunks of crab are hard to argue with. If you want the best frozen crab cakes, Sprouts is the place to go.
Read our ranking of the best Sprouts products from our taste tests
Credit: Merc / Sprouts
Runner-Up
Best of the Best
Other frozen crab cakes we tried: Waterfront Crab Cakes, Member’s Mark Hand Made Crab Cakes, Whole Foods WIld Caught Classic Crab Cakes, Gorton’s, Gardein Mini Crabless Crab Cakes
