These air fryer crab cakes have a delicious golden brown crust with a tender crab interior, and the old bay aioli sauce adds an extra kick to every bite. These Maryland style crab cakes take less than 25 minutes to make from scratch.
Air Fryer Crab Cakes With Old Bay Aioli
These air fryer crab cakes with Old Bay aioli are a tasty and easy way to enjoy crab. They work well as an appetizer, a main dish, or as a crab cake sandwich. These Maryland style crab cakes are all about the crab – without any other strong flavors to detract from the mild crab flavor. This recipe is simple and easy to make from scratch – taking less than 25 minutes to produce some delicious golden brown crab patties. The crab cake sauce is a creamy Old Bay sauce that adds a bright velvety kick to each bite.
Baltimore Crab Cakes in Air Fryer
In typical crab cake recipes, the crab patties are formed and then cooked to get a nice brown color on the cakes. This is usually accomplished either by baking in the oven, frying in a pan, or by broiling. In this recipe, the crab patties are cooked in the air fryer. This method produces a beautiful brown crust on the cakes. In addition, it is quick, low hassle, and does not require the addition of extra fat.
Old Bay Aioli Sauce
The crab cake sauce is an Old Bay aioli with the main flavors being Old Bay and lemon. A little garlic is added for additional flavor, and the texture is a creamy mayonnaise. The Old Bay sauce can be served on the plate with the crab cakes, or on the side as a crab cake dipping sauce. If eating as a crab cake sandwich, this old bay aioli can be applied to the bread.
Ingredients for Air fried Crab Cakes
The ingredients for this Maryland style crab cake are:
- Crab meat, regular or jumbo lump
- mayo
- dijon
- egg
- bread crumbs
- lemon
- parsley
These ingredients are meant to hold the crab cake together as a binder, and play a minor supportive flavor role to the crab.
Making the Air Fryer Crab Cakes
Put all of the crab cake ingredients into a large mixing bowl and mix gently until the ingredients come together. Form into patties.
Preheat air fryer to 400 for a couple minutes. Place formed crab cakes in air fryer and cook for about to six to eight minutes, or until crab cakes get a nice deep golden brown color. Flip and repeat on the other side.
Mixing the Ingredients 
Crab Cakes in Air Fryer
Serving the Air Fried Crab Cakes with Old Bay Sauce
Serve the air fried crab cakes immediately. Garnish with parsley and serve with additional slices of lemon. If serving as a main, serve the crab cake sauce on the plate with the crab cakes. If serving as an appetizer, serve the old bay sauce on the side as a crab cake dipping sauce. Finally, if serving as a crab cake sandwich, apply the old bay aioli to the sandwich bread.
Air Fryer Crab Cakes with Old Bay Aioli
Equipment
- Air Fryer
Ingredients
- 1 lb crab meat, regular or jumbo lump
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 3 tbsp dijon
- 0.5 cup panko bread crumbs
- 3 whole lemons
- 1 whole egg
- 0.75 cup parsley, chopped
- 1 clove garlic, grated or minced to a paste
- 2 tbsp old bay seasoning
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Crab Cake
- Put the crab, 0.25 cup mayonnaise, 2 tbsp dijon, breadcrumbs, egg, 0.25 cup parsley, juice of 1 lemon, 1 tbsp old bay, and salt and pepper in a large mixing bowl. Mix gently until everything just comes together.
- Preheat air fryer to 400. Gently form the crab mixture into patties.
- Cook for about 5 to 8 minutes per side in the air fryer, until you get a nice golden brown crust on each side.
Old Bay Aioli
- Mix 0.75 cup mayo, 1 tbsp dijon, 1 tbsp old bay, juice of 1 lemon, garlic, and 0.25 cup of parsley. The old bay contains a lot of salt, so no additional salt is necessary. Add more lemon juice or water if you wish to thin out the texture of the aioli.
Serving
- Serve air fryer crab cakes immediately with the old bay aioli. Garnish with the remaining chopped parsley and serve with additional sliced lemon.
