Plant Based Crab Cakes That Are Vegan

Looking for vegan seafood recipes? A couple of unique ingredients are all it takes to make a vegan dish that tastes and looks like crab cakes.

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 These vegan "crab" cake look-alikes have amazing texture and flavor, one bite and you will think they are the real thing. The plant-based version of seafood cakes is whole food, oil-free, sugar-free, and the recipe uses no processed ingredients or artificial ingredients, or colors. They are so easy to make, and you will agree that a vegan diet can be delicious. Following a plant-based diet is simple and delicious when you have the best recipes and some unique ingredients.

Plant-Based Crab Cakes

~ Are vegan

~ Looks and tastes like traditional crab Cakes

~ Delicious

~ Healthy

~ Can be made gluten-free

~ Dairy-free recipe

Check out the 5 unique ingredients

Unique ingredient ~ #1 Heart of Palm

The main ingredient in these wonderful "crab" cakes is hearts of palm. 

Heart of palm is a vegetable harvested from the inner core and growing bud of certain palm trees. This nutritious veggie is a great source of fiber, iron, and zinc. The heart of palm has a texture similar to crab and is usually sold in cans and glass jars. 

This recipe uses the canned version of hearts of palm. Hearts of palm in a can are packed in water or brine. This delicious vegetable gives the texture that is needed for the vegan "crab" substitute for this vegan recipe. Heart of palm can be found in most grocery stores and online.  

Unique ingredient #2 ~ Old Bay Seasoning

 The Old Bay Seasoning is another key ingredient, as it has the perfect blend of spices that gives the "crab" cakes the seafood flavor. Old Bay Seasoning is a seasoning blend that is often used in seafood recipes. This flavor spice of 18 spices can also be used to season chicken and veggies. So don't worry about buying a whole container of Old Bay Seasoning, as you will find many uses for the spice blend, and it is reasonably priced.

Unique ingredient #3 ~ Aquafaba

 I am sure most of you have never heard of Aquafaba. This vegan egg substitute is a wonderful liquid that is made from cooking dried chickpeas or dried garbanzo beans. This gel-like liquid is what most people pour down the drain after opening a can of garbanzo beans to make an easy hummus recipe.

 This unique liquid from cooking chickpeas can be whipped like egg whites to make vegan chocolate mousse or used like eggs to make vegan scrambled eggs. So for this recipe, you are going to need 1/4 cup of chickpea liquid or Aquafaba, so save that awesome vegan egg liquid from your can of chickpeas (store it in the fridge for up to 2 weeks) or make homemade Aquafaba from dried chickpeas in your Instant Pot. Making Aquafaba is so easy in an Instant Pot. Get the homemade Aquafaba recipe here.

Unique ingredient #4 ~ Chickpeas

 If you decide to make your own Aquafaba, then you will be using the cooked chickpeas from that recipe. If you are using a can of chickpeas, then make sure to save the liquid from the can. The cooked chickpeas in this vegetarian recipe give the crab-like texture so it tastes like the real thing. I think when you make your favorite foods vegan, the texture is just as important as the taste.


Unique ingredient #5 ~ Panko

 To get the crispy crust on these delicious plant-based "crab" cakes, you will need some Panko crumbs. Panko crumbs are a coating used in many recipes, like fish. Panko is simply bread crumbs, so they are not gluten-free. If you need this recipe to be wheat-free, then use gluten-free bread crumbs.

A simple vegan recipe

 I was searching for how to make vegan mayo with Aquafaba when I came across this vegan "crab" cake recipe. Discovering vegan recipes like vegan tuna salad has made it so easy to swap out my favorite foods to eat more meatless meals and follow a plant-based diet.

So, make your Aquafaba and gather up the rest of the ingredients that you need for this delicious vegan recipe. You will also need a food processor to make the right texture for the cakes. If you don't have a food processor, you can use a fork to smash the chickpeas, but a food processor is an awesome small appliance to have in the kitchen for vegan cooking. 

Now is the perfect time to splurge on a food processor!

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