These easy Vegan Crab Cakes are crispy on the outside and have flaky vegan “crab meat” on the inside. Served with lemon aioli for dipping, they make for an unforgettable party appetizer vegans and non-vegans will love!
Make it the best party ever with a spread full of easy vegan appetizers, like these crispy Zucchini Fritters, my popular Vegan Spinach Artichoke Dip, and this retro Vegan Cheese Ball.
If I had it my way, every dinner party or get-together would start with these golden Vegan Crab Cakes. Easy to make with hearts of palm and chickpeas, they’re a fancy-ish vegan appetizer featuring a crunchy breadcrumb coating and a flaky, Old Bay-seasoned “crab meat” center. It’s honestly shocking how much they look and taste like the real deal!
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“Absolutely delicious and makes a great amount – no skimpy cakes here! Will definitely make this recipe again.” – Hilary
Why you’ll love these vegan crab cakes
- Super simple ingredients – It’s amazing how canned hearts of palm, chickpeas, and Old Bay seasoning make these crab cakes scary similar to real seafood.
- Make-ahead-approved – Just shape the patties and freeze them for later! You can reheat them in no time in a skillet, air fryer, or toaster oven.
- Best party appetizer – I love serving these crispy crab cakes with my homemade Vegan Tartar Sauce at parties and get-togethers. It always feels like a vegan seafood extravaganza!
How to make vegan crab cakes
Find the complete recipe with measurements in the recipe card below.
Pulse the chickpeas and hearts of palm in a food processor until they’re broken down but not smooth. Transfer the mixture to a bowl.
Sauté the red bell pepper and onion until soft.
Add the cooked veggies to the bowl with the chickpeas/hearts of palm, along with the mayo, dijon mustard, Old Bay seasoning, salt, black pepper, panko breadcrumbs, and dill/parsley. Mix to combine.
Form the vegan crab mixture into patties.
Pan-fry the patties until they’re golden brown on both sides, then transfer them to a paper towel-lined plate to drain.
While you wait, whisk the vegan lemon aioli ingredients together in a bowl.
Serve the warm vegan crab cakes with the lemon aioli on top or on the side for dipping. Enjoy!
Worried about them falling apart?
A few of my readers have tried chilling the patties in the refrigerator for 30 minutes before cooking to prevent them from falling apart. It works really well! Feel free to try it if you’re worried about them crumbling in the pan.
Frequently asked questions
I’ve tried this recipe with a can of artichoke hearts when I was out of hearts of palm, and the crab cakes were really tasty! I did notice an artichoke flavor, though.
A few of my readers have swapped the chickpeas with canned white beans (cannellini beans) and had good results.
Sure! For gluten-free vegan crab cakes, swap the panko breadcrumbs for gluten-free breadcrumbs.
Yes. Freeze the shaped patties on a parchment-lined baking sheet until solid, then transfer them to a freezer-safe container and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw them in the fridge overnight before cooking.
The fried crab cakes are best served fresh, while they’re still hot and crispy. If you have leftovers, store them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
To keep them crispy while reheating, warm up the leftover patties in a skillet with a little oil or in an oven/toaster oven/air fryer until warmed through.
Vegan Crab Cakes
Ingredients
Vegan crab cakes
- 15 ounce can chickpeas drained and rinsed
- 15 ounce can hearts of palm drained and rinsed
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 large red bell pepper seeded and finely diced
- 1/2 medium sweet onion finely diced
- 3 tablespoons vegan mayo
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon Old Bay Seasoning
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 3/4 cup panko breadcrumbs
- 1/4 cup fresh chopped dill or parsley
- vegetable oil, for frying
Lemon aioli
- 1/2 cup vegan mayo
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon sweet pickle relish
- salt + pepper, to taste
Instructions
- In a food processor, add the chickpeas and hearts of palm to a food processor. Pulse a few times until broken down a bit but not smooth. You want to leave a lot of texture.
- Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and set aside.
- In a small pan, sauté the red bell pepper and onion over medium heat in a tablespoon of olive oil until translucent and softened, about 3-4 minutes.
- Add the red bell pepper and onion to the bowl with the chickpeas/hearts of palm, along with the vegan mayo, dijon mustard, old bay seasoning, salt, black pepper, panko breadcrumbs and dill/parsley. Mix until well combined.
- Form into about 8 patties, about 1/2 inch thick.
- Heat a large pan (non stick or cast iron preferred) with a thin layer of oil. Fry the patties for about 4-5 minutes on each side, until golden brown.
- Transfer cooked patties to a plate lined with paper towels or a clean dish towel to soak up the extra oil.
- Lemon aioli: In a small bowl, whisk together the vegan mayo, lemon juice, sweet pickle relish and salt + pepper to taste.
- Serve the vegan crab cakes with lemon aioli and enjoy! Leftovers will keep in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Reheat in a pan on the stove, the air fryer or oven to make them crispy again.
Notes
- Nutrition information is an estimate only and does not include the lemon aioli, since how much you use will vary greatly and depend on what kind of vegan mayo you use. The estimate is for 1 of 8 crab cakes.
- Air fry – You can air fry the cakes instead of frying. Spray the basket with oil and air fry at 400 degrees F for 20-25 minutes, flipping over once halfway through.
- Bake – Place the formed patties on a parchment lined pan and bake at 400 degrees F for about 20 minutes, flipping once halfway through.
- Gluten free – To make them gluten free, substitute gluten free breadcrumbs.
- If you can’t find hearts of palm, canned artichoke hearts work quite well.
My pescatarian husband loved these! I added some nori, a tiny bit of egg substitute as a binder, made in air fryer. Will definitely make again!
Hi Pam. I’m thrilled that you guys loved the crab cakes recipe, and that you will be making them in the future! Thank you for sharing your terrific review and recipe experience! Wishing you lots of happy cooking.
We absolutely loved these! I just ran out of chickpeas so used white beans instead, which added a more creamy texture than chickpeas would’ve given. I did both dill and parsley and added half a nori sheet, which wasn’t enough to detect a fishy taste, so will either use a full sheet next time or use wakame. This made such a satisfying meal! Thank you!
Hi Linda. Good to know these turned out good with white beans! Thanks for sharing your recipe experience and ideas! I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe! Wishing you happy cooking!
Delicious and easy. And they have actual protein in them! I will add some nori next time to give a little more “fishy” flavor, but they are delicious as written. YUM!
I’m so glad you loved the recipe, Moxie! Thanks for sharing your terrific review! Wishing you happy cooking!
We had vegan crab cakes at restaurant and decided to try your recipe.
They were so delicious we will never order vegan crab cakes from a restaurant again when these were so easy to prepare at home at little cost.Thanks for making this so simple.
Yay, I love it! You are so welcome, Jan! I’m so glad you tried my recipe and loved it! Thanks for sharing your stellar review and feedback! Wishing yo happy cooking!
Absolutely delicious and makes a great amount – no skimpy cakes here! Will definitely make this recipe again.
Hi Hilary. Thanks for sharing your wonderful review and feedback! I’m so glad you are loving them! Wishing you happy cooking!
I love your food, Nora, so as I used to make crab cakes from actual crab back in the day, I thought it might be fun to try these. Now, after making them, I think they are quite delicious but they don’t taste anything like crab cakes to me. Maybe I’m missing the point? They look like crab cakes, they are shaped like crab cakes, but they’re nothing like crab cakes otherwise. I’m trying to lower the fat in my diet so I skipped the aioli and drenched my “crab cake” in lemon, which I truly enjoyed.
The recipe was fairly fast and easy, so that was nice. I’ll probably not make these again but I’m always reading NoraCooks and I’m sure to find something I like more another time.
If it’s the taste of the sea that’s missing for you, try crumbling a nori sheet and mixing it into the “crab”. That worked for me with Nora’s vegan scallops recipe.
I am excited to try this recipe. Is there anything you would recommend to sub for chickpeas?
Perhaps white beans? I haven’t tried it with anything else myself, so I’m not really sure.
Can you freeze them ? Before frying or after?
Yes, either is okay but I usually freeze after frying them.
I just made these! They are so delicious. I didn’t change anything about the recipe, at the end I added flakey salt on top. 10/10! I would maybe add a little more hearts of palm to the mix next time just for more of that crabmeat texture. But otherwise, came out perfect, can’t wait to share with family.
Thanks for your fabulous review and feedback! I’m thrilled you loved the crab cakes!
I actually love these”crab” cakes and have made them several times. The only reason I gave them 4 stars is because they fall apart. Nora yours look so firm even before you fried them.
Any suggestions to keep them from falling apart while cooking and when done?
I’m thrilled you are loving the crab cakes! Sorry to hear they fall apart! The crab cakes are delicate, so be very gentle. Otherwise, pack them very tightly in your hands when forming the patties and feel free to add more breadcrumbs if they’re too moist. I hope this helps!
Mine didn’t fall apart which was what I was worried about. I used Pope brand “simply better” bread crumbs instead of actual panko and mine stayed together well!
Also, I put mine in the fridge for a few minutes before frying!
After making the patties, I put them in the fridge for about 30 minutes. Also, I do the baking method. No issue at all with them falling apart with that method and they still get a bit of a crisp crust in the oven, especially if you throw on the broiler for a couple minutes at the end.
This looks delicious! Just to clarify, the recipe says 1/4 cup of dill. Is this correct?
Yes, fresh dill though not dried. Or use as little or much as you like. Thanks!
Every noracooks recipe we’ve tried has been a winner – my goto for vegan recipes. This one is delicious. Entire family loved it.
How fabulous you are loving my recipes! Thank you for using them, and for sharing your terrific feedback and review!
Out of this world! Thought I was eating a crab cake without the “fishy” taste. The only problem I had was the patties weren’t staying together very well. Should I have pulsed them more in the food processor?
Thank you- these are absolutely excellent; I’ve made them several times now and they always work and everyone always loves them. We generally eat them with sweet chilli dipping sauce,
I’ve never eaten real crabs, thank goodness, and my kids are life vegans (I wish I was!) so I don’t really have anything with which to compare these, so I really can’t say how similar these are to ‘meaty’ crab cakes, but it’s how they taste that is the most important thing and they are absolutely lovely.
Hearts of palm aren’t cheap so last time I subbed one can of H o P with banana blossom as they are half the price and it worked just as well but I wouldn’t sub both the cans as the palm hearts really add something special in taste and texture.
Thanks for a great recipe which is now a family favourite.
Hi Sarah. I love that this recipe is a family favorite! I appreciate you taking time to share your ideas and terrific feedback! Thank you! Wishing you lots of happy cooking!
Just to clarify…I’m talking for in the crab cake…not the aioli
Hi Nora! What is the best sub for the vegan mayo? I don’t like mayo and was thinking maybe cashew cream but wasn’t sure and figured I would ask you for best subs! Thanks!
Cashew cream would work, maybe even tahini. Hope that helps!