This is an easy, quick meal for a super delicious crab salad. With so many ways to use imitation crab, it’s extra nice when it doesn’t involve any cook time. Made veggie-heavy from fresh diced celery, frozen veggies often on hand, and sliced olives for a “everything” kind of salad. I love making its creamy-cool crab meal spin.
Don’t have crab? Try my other cold salad recipes, Ensalada de Pollo or Chickpea Salad. Perfect for spring and summer.
Ingredients
Ingredient Quick List: Imitation crab, celery, mayonnaise, peas, corn, olives, mustard [ or lemon juice], and cracked pepper.
Ingredient Notes
Imitation Crab Meat is often sold pre-packed in the frozen section or refrigerated section. The larger pack is often 2.5 pounds and I will typically use half the package and save the other half for a different meal type. It thaws quickly in the package when submerged in a bowl with water.
Celery fresh is best, softened celery that’s wilted isn’t recommended. The fresher and crisp, the better your Crab Salad will be! However, if the texture of celery is too hard, feel free to omit.
Frozen Veggies on hand are usually sold in pouches. You can use canned but then you’ll likely need to chill the salad in the refrigerator before eating so more time. Frozen is convenient and preferred when making this recipe because many other dishes are made from these vegetables so no waste.
Pepper, cracked pepper is great but ground pepper will also work.
Serve with optional lemon wedges on the side. I love what a slice of lemon can do for a scoop of this salad on a soft roll, yum!
Ways To Pepper It Up
Enjoy a cold salad favorite with non-spicy or spicy peppers.
Options include any of the following:
- banana peppers
- pepperoncini
- yellow chili peppers
- jalapeno
- fresh serrano slices or,
- bottled chili favorite
Foods To Eat With Crab Salad
Enjoy a scoop over a mixed greens, with crackers, bagel crisp, or as a loaded tostada!
Make easy seafood salad rolls with leafy butter lettuce or baby romaine and ripe avocado. Add a side of Ensalada Rusa (from potato), kettle chips, or an ice cold Hibiscus Drink to your meal.
Are you hungry yet? Me too. 🙂
Step-By-Step Instructions
To make Crab Salad
- Prep all ingredients.
- Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix. Enjoy your Delicious Crab Salad!
A printer-friendly recipe card with instructions is available at the bottom of this post.
Cover and refrigerate to get extra chilled before serving, optional.
Pro Tips / Receta Notes
Recipe yield: about 4 cups
Storage: Do not place this crab salad made with mayo in the freezer. The texture will change and your salad will turn runny (and we don’t want that for you).
Substitutions: Carrots are a bit sweeter so I avoid them in this particular salad since imitation crab meat already has a hint of sweetness itself. Feel free to work with what you like!
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Crab Salad Recipe (Imitation Crab)
DESCRIPTION
Equipment
- Large bowl
- Strainer
- spoon or spatula
- Knife for dicing celery
Ingredients
- 1.25 lbs imitation crab meat about 1/2 a 2.5lbs package. See ingredient notes!
- 1/3 cup peas defrosted and drained
- 1/3 cup yellow sweet corn defrosted and drained
- 1 cup celery diced small
- 1/2 cup sliced drained olives
- 1/3 cup mayonnaise
- 1 tsp yellow mustard
- 1 tsp cracked black peppercorns
Instructions
Ingredient Prep
- Place frozen veggies in a bowl with some water to thaw, drain olives, and wash then dice celery to small cut.
- Shred Imitation crab meat.
- Drain all vegetables from water.
Mixing the Crab Meat Salad
- Combine all ingredients in a large bowl.
- With a large flat spoon or spatula, gently fold to mix [about 30 seconds].
- Cover and let it chill for 30-60 minutes in the fridge (optional but recommended).
Notes
- Recipe Yield: 4 cups crab salad, 8 – 1/2 cup servings
- Storage: Crab salad made with mayo taste best when eaten within a few days but last up to 7 days. Should be properly stored with lid and refrigerated when not eating.
- Pro Tip: Do not place this crab salad made with mayo in the freezer. The texture will change.
- Additional Ingredients: Fresh dill or dried dill is a great add-in to this salad. It’s like an “everything” cookie when you add dill. I add fresh dill when I have it on hand but most times I don’t and it still taste great.
For the more pro tips & ways to spice it up, visit the full post at the website. Thank you for supporting LatinasQueComen.com!
Nutrition
Equipment
- Knife for dicing
- Strainer
- Bowl
- Mixing Spoon
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