Best Crab Salad is so easy to make in only 10 minutes!  My crab salad recipe is loaded with flavor and makes the most amazing sandwich!

crab salad in buns

Crab Salad:

This is 100% the perfect summer sandwich, ever.  If you really (but WHY) want to skip the bread, this salad is also great served over a bed of lettuce, stuffed into celery, or eaten on top of cucumber rounds.  Crab salad generally always starts with imitation crab meat, it’s easy to find, it’s budget friendly, and it has a pretty mild flavor.  If you prefer, you can absolutely use lump crab meat just like I do in my Crab Dip recipe!  Along with the crab we throw in a chopped bell pepper for a little crunch, some green onions, because the flavor is mild and great with the crab, sweet pickle relish, mayo, a little lemon, and plenty of seasonings.  It has been unbearably hot and humid here, and I’m loving this salad for lunch and dinner.  And, I don’t even mind heating up the oven for a few minutes to stuff it into a hot buttery roll.

picture of crab salad in a bowl

How To Make Crab Salad:

  • It doesn’t get much easier than this!  Add your crab, diced pepper, sliced green onions, and dill relish to a large bowl.  Use one with a tight fitting lid if you want to chill this first or save it for later.
  • Grab a small bowl and whisk together your mayo, juice of half a lemon, Cajun seasoning, garlic powder, and salt and pepper to taste.
  • If desired, you can butter 4-5 hoagie rolls and toast them under the broiler of your oven for serving!

How Long Does Crab Salad Last:

Once prepared, it’s best to store this in a container with a lid in the refrigerator for up to three days.  If this sits out for longer than 2 hours for any reason at all, I would discard the rest.

crab salad sandwiches on a plate

Enjoy!

~Nichole

5 from 15 votes

Best Crab Salad

Best Crab Salad is so easy to make in only 10 minutes!  My crab salad recipe is loaded with flavor and makes the most amazing sandwich!
Prep 10 minutes
Cook 0 minutes
Servings 4 People

Ingredients 

  • 1 Pound Imitation Crab Meat** Flaked
  • 1 Bell Pepper Chopped
  • 1/3 Cup Chopped Green Onion
  • 2 Tablespoons Sweet Pickle Relish
  • 3/4 Cup Mayonnaise
  • Juice of 1/2 Lemon
  • 1/2 Teaspoon Cajun Seasoning
  • 1/2 Teaspoon Garlic Powder
  • Salt & Pepper To Taste
  • Optional Serving Ideas: Hoagie Rolls or buns, cucumber rounds, stuff in bell peppers or tomatoes, crackers, celery.

Instructions 

  • Add the crab meat, bell pepper, green onion, and relish to a large bowl that has a tight fitting lid.
  • In a small bowl whisk together the mayo, lemon juice, and seasonings.
  • Pour the dressing over the crab mixture and stir to combine.
  • Serve immediately in rolls if desired, or cover and chill in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Notes

NOTE:  You can substitute 1 pound of lump crab meat for the imitation crab meat if desired.

Additional Info

Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Like this? Rate & review this recipe below!

Hey! Nice to meet you! I'm Nichole!

Welcome to The Salty Marshmallow! I'm a mom, animal lover, photographer, & kitchen mess-maker. Here you will find the result of my decades-long passion for chasing the best flavors in the kitchen, all meant to be cooked by regular people with busy lives just like you and me.

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20 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    Just tried your recipe and I almost had everything needed except for the dill relish so I just used dried dill instead and it was great and easy to make. We ate it with some multi grain tortilla chips and it was a perfect snack. Thank you

  2. 5 stars
    Made this with canned crab today! I did not have Cajun seasoning available so used cayenne, garlic powder and onion powder, and paprika. Was really delicious!

  3. 5 stars
    Loved your website! Nice photography, also. Your Best Crab Salad recipe caught my eye. I had everything on hand except the imitation crab. Hotfotted it to our local grocery, just two blocks away, and they fixed me right up. I wouldn’t have thought to serve the salad on a bun, but it was delicious. Thanks for sharing your recipe!

  4. I love the salty marshmallow. I use a lot of your recipes, but it always surprises me that people give recipes 5 stars and say “I can’t wait to try it, or it looks amazing.”Everything on here looks amazing and we all want to try it. I look to the comments to see if other home cooks have tried it and to figure out of there is any tweeking necessary. Just my thoughts! Keep on putting great recipes out there.

    1. Hey! Thanks for your feedback, always appreciated! We’ll keep putting out those recipes you love 🙂

  5. It’s Like a lobster roll, only with crab! I love fresh seafood and with summer basically here, I can’t wait to start diving into all kinds of yummy sea inspired meals! I don’t know why I’ve never tried to make something like this with crab, it’ a no brainer really! thanks for sharing!

  6. Def inspired to get my crab salad game on after reading your post!!! Thanks so much for sharing :)!

  7. 5 stars
    This looks so delicious. It just made me seriously hungry and craving for one of these. I just saved the recipe. Can’t wait to try.