This article explores two delectable keto-friendly recipes: Keto Crab Cakes and a Keto Meat Pie. Both recipes offer satisfying and flavorful options for those following a ketogenic lifestyle, focusing on minimizing carbs while maximizing taste and nutritional value.
Keto Crab Cakes: A Seafood Lover's Dream
These easy keto crab cakes make a wonderful low-carb appetizer or main course. Featuring sweet chunks of blue crab combined with fresh herbs, spices, and just enough filler to hold it all together, this recipe is sure to become a favorite. The key to a great crab cake, keto or otherwise, is to consist of mostly good quality crab meat, and have very little breading holding it together. The goal is a sweet and delicate flavor, not a fishy tasting bread puck with barely any discernible crab pieces. These keto crab cakes are so easy to make, that there is really no excuse not to make them yourself when the craving for crab cakes strikes.
Ingredients and Preparation
The recipe utilizes almond flour as a low-carb breadcrumb substitute, delivering a crispy exterior and tender interior without compromising on flavor. Almond flour serves as a binder, holding the ingredients together and maintaining their shape during cooking.
To prepare these crab cakes, start by combining mayonnaise, parsley, green onions, lemon juice, Old Bay Seasoning, mustard, lemon zest, and Worcestershire sauce in a medium bowl. Use a good quality mayonnaise like Best Foods or Dukes for optimal flavor. Gently add the lump crab meat to the mayonnaise mixture, keeping the crab meat in chunks. Pick through the crab meat to ensure there is no cartilage or shells before adding it to the mixture. If the crab meat is a bit juicy, you may need to add a bit more mayonnaise to ensure it forms into a cake. Add in the almond flour and mix gently to just combine, making sure not to shred the crab meat too much.
Form the mixture into 6 cakes, about 2 oz (about 2 tbsp) for each cake, and place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Heat the olive oil in a nonstick pan over medium to medium-high heat. Working in batches of 2-3 cakes at a time, cook for about 2-3 minutes per side until golden brown. Adjust the burner temperature as needed to allow the cake to cook through each side but not burn. Once each is cooked, set on a lined baking sheet and keep warm. Allow the skillet to warm up a bit where the oil is slick and glistening, so when you start adding each crab cake, it will sear the side and crisp the cake golden brown.
Read also: Easy Low-Carb Cheese Crackers
Crab Meat Selection
Typically, blue crab is used for crab cakes and can be found in the seafood section, usually in 8-ounce plastic cups that are refrigerated. You can also get frozen blue crab if you don’t live in an area where fresh crab is readily available. When choosing blue crab at the supermarket, there will be several varieties and price points. Lump crab is the best and most desirable for these keto crab cakes, but also the most expensive option. Claw meat is cheaper and not as sweet but will work just fine for this recipe. As an alternative to blue crab, you can use Dungeness, King, or even snow crab in these keto crab cakes and it will be delicious. Never use canned crab from the tuna fish aisle in crab cakes - it will have terrible texture and flavor.
You can use fresh or canned crab meat when making these crab cakes. If using canned crab, it will need to be drained and checked for shells and cartilage. You will need double the amount if using canned. Since canned crab meat can have more moisture compared to fresh, you may need to add additional almond flour to help form the patties.
Serving and Storing
Keto crab cakes can be served with lemon wedges and roasted red pepper sauce. Seafood doesn’t keep long leftover, so it is recommended not storing these crab cakes for more than three days in the refrigerator in an airtight container. Freezing these keto crab cakes is not recommended, as the texture would not be ideal after thawing and reheating.
For a cocktail party or event, you can make the cakes even smaller as a bite-sized portion of about 1-inch in diameter and pass them on a platter with just a dot of sauce on the top.
Recipe Variations and Substitutions
- Mustard: If doing the Whole30 or if strictly avoiding alcohol for any other reason, replace the Dijon mustard with another yellow mustard. If doing Squeaky Clean Keto, the Dijon mustard is acceptable because the amounts of wine are so slight.
- Worcestershire Sauce: If doing the Whole30 or Squeaky Clean Keto you can replace it with Coconut Aminos to stay compliant, as Worcestershire sauce contains small amounts of molasses and sugar.
- Coconut Flour: If coconut flour is a problem for you, it can be replaced with almond flour as a binder. Crushed pork rinds can also be used, but may impact the flavor negatively so it should be a last resort.
Troubleshooting
If your cakes seem to be falling apart, the almond flour will help get the crab cakes back together enough to cook them. Even though they might be falling apart, remember that a crab cake that might lose its shape means there is lots of delicious crab meat in it!
Read also: Keto Calorie Counting: A Detailed Guide
Keto Meat Pie: A Crustless Comfort Food
This keto meat pie with a cheesy topping and no crust is big on beef flavor and contains no starchy fillers! It is a wonderfully flavorful dish made with well-seasoned ground beef and shredded cheese. The extra step of cooking the ground beef before baking the pie makes it especially good.
Ingredients and Preparation
To season the ground beef, use kosher salt, garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, and cayenne. Dijon mustard is recommended. Lean ground beef (85/15) is preferred, but you can make this recipe with ground chicken or turkey, although naturally, it won't be as good or as flavorful as beef. If you opt for these options, use dark meat. The white meat is too lean and dry. For different spices, cumin and/or smoked paprika are excellent in this recipe and you can add a teaspoon of each.
To prepare, preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9-inch pie plate and place it on a foil-lined baking sheet (to catch any drips while baking). In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs, kosher salt, garlic powder, onion powder, dried oregano, and cayenne. Whisk in the Dijon mustard and tomato paste. Set the mixture aside.
Heat a large 12-inch skillet over medium heat. Add the ground beef and cook, stirring often and breaking it up as it cooks, until no longer raw but still slightly pink, about 5 minutes. Drain and allow to slightly cool. Mix the cooked and drained ground beef into the egg mixture. Mix in 1 cup of shredded cheddar. Transfer the mixture to the prepared pie plate, packing it in and smoothing the top and sides out. Sprinkle the remaining ½ cup of cheddar on top. Bake until set, about 30 minutes. Let the pie cool in the pan for 15-20 minutes before slicing and serving.
Tips for Success
Despite having no crust, this pie holds together just fine. It is very important, though, to let it rest in the pan for 15-20 minutes after it's done. This rest period allows the cooking juices to be reabsorbed back into the pie, allowing for easier, cleaner slicing. If you let the pie cool and set, cutting it into slices is easy.
Read also: Magnesium Supplements for Keto
Substitutions and Variations
- Ground Meat: While lean ground beef (85/15) is recommended, ground chicken or turkey can be used, opting for dark meat for better flavor and moisture.
- Spices: Cumin and/or smoked paprika can be added for different flavor profiles.
Serving and Storing
You can keep the leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days. Gently reheat them in the microwave at 50% power. Serve the leftovers with fresh-cut veggies, grainy mustard, and quick pickles or pickled red onions.
You can also freeze the leftovers. Once completely cool, wrap the pie in plastic wrap and an additional layer of foil, then freeze it for up to three months. Individual slices can also be frozen in freezer bags.
Common Questions
- Can I use extra-lean ground beef? Not recommended. It will be drier, not as flavorful, and will be more likely to fall apart upon slicing.
- Should I cook the beef before adding it to the pie? Yes, definitely. You should start by cooking the ground beef, then mix it with the remaining ingredients, transfer it to the pie dish, and bake it.
- Can I use yellow mustard? Yes, but Dijon mustard has better flavor and texture.