18 Incredible Imitation Crab Recipes For Daily Meals In 2023

Imitation crab recipes are often more affordable, but they are also healthy, delicious, and appealing. You are a sucker for crab, but you find it hard to get fresh crab in your surrounding areas, so why don’t you try imitation crab recipes.

Imitation crab recipes are an ideal idea for you to satisfy your desire to eat fresh crabs. However, imitation crabs have no real crab meat for those you don’t know, and they are made from surimi and a tiny amount of crab extract to create the same aroma.

Imitation crab basically has a similar appearance, texture, and flavor to cooked fresh crab, so sometimes you cannot distinguish them. Or if you prefer real crab meat, you can try several best-quality crab in canned packages. They are also an affordable choice for your crab dishes.

However, compared to real crab meat, mimic crab meat is much more convenient because you don’t need to prepare it in advance. Now, I will help you with the most incredible imitation crab recipes. Let’s discover what they are!

What Can You Make With Imitation Crab Meat?

Like real crab meat, you can use imitation crab meat for cooking various dishes as you want, for example vegetable-based recipes in Japanese style. It can join with other ingredients like pasta, noodles, etc., to make delicious, crab-like smells and appealing dishes.

People that are following a ketogenic diet often want to know if imitation crab is keto or not. The sad news is, this food isn’t keto-friendly due to its sugar and carb contents. 

Another common concern about this food is whether gluten-sensitive people can consume imitation crab. Unfortunately, it’s not an ideal for a gluten-free diet.

“Do I need to cook imitation crab?” – you might ask. The short answer to that question is no, which opens up more delicious recipes for you to try! 

Salads, Pasta, And Rolls With Imitation Crab Meat

1. Imitation Crab Salad
2. Seafood Macaroni Salad
3. Imitation Lobster Rolls
4. Imitation Crab Sushi Rolls
5. Imitation Crab Salad With Spinach
6. Russian-Style Imitation Crab Salad
7. Imitation Crab Pasta
8. Spicy Teriyaki Wonton Noodles

Imitation Crab Dip, Soup, And Snacks

9. Hot Imitation Crab Dip
10. Creamy Seafood Nachos
11. Crab And Corn Soup
12. Old Bay Crab Cakes
13. Crab Delight Bites

Baked Dishes With Imitation Crab

14. Seafood Enchiladas
15. Crab Rangoon
16. Copycat Crab Casserole
17. Gary’s Stuffed Mushrooms
18. Stuffed Sole With Imitation Crab

Top 18 Must-Try Imitation Crab Recipes

Continue reading to get better information about what you would like to make with your available imitation crab meat. I will let you know what they are made from, how they taste like, what to pair well with them. From that, you can decide on what you love.

Salads, Pasta, And Rolls With Imitation Crab Meat

The first things I want to share with you about imitation crab recipes are salads, pasta, and rolls because they seem to be the easiest recipes that you can try even if you are not good at cooking skills

1. Imitation Crab Salad

As the name suggests, the imitation crab salad contains a mixture of imitation crab meat, vegetables, a delightful dressing, and some fresh herbs as garnish.

Because the imitation crab meat has the same flavor as real meat, this salad can bring you a sense of freshness, sweetness, and tastiness together with many added ingredients like chopped onions, celery, lemon juice, and fresh dill.

Besides, it is the dressing that makes the imitation crab salad stand out from hundreds of other salads.

2. Seafood Macaroni Salad

Another salad you can consider making with your imitation crab is seafood macaroni salad. Various types of seafood together with imitation crab meat seafood will contribute to the deliciousness of the whole meal.

You can make seafood macaroni salad with prepared ingredients like macaroni, shrimp, crabmeat, onion, eggs, and delightful mayonnaise dressing.

As with other salads, you can serve seafood macaroni salad with sandwiches, bread, lettuce, and crackers.

3. Imitation Lobster Rolls

Let’s turn your imitation lobster into stunning rolls for your copycat menu of red lobster. What you need for making these rolls is imitation crab meat, mayo, lemon juice, chopped celery, parsley, butter, split rolls, cayenne salt, and pepper.

The softness of split rolls, the tanginess of imitation crab, and the delight of sauce will satisfy your taste. Moreover, the final touch of butter makes these rolls irresistible.

4. Imitation Crab Sushi Rolls

Another style to use up imitation crab meat is adding the meat to sushi rolls to make the rolls more appealing, delightful, and tangy.

I often make crab sushi rolls for my breakfast and lunch meals because they are so easy to make with affordable and simple ingredients like imitation crab, cucumber, rice vinegar, nori seaweed sheets, cream cheese, fresh ginger root, carrots, cooked rice, and salt.

Imitation crab plays an important role in lighting up my rolls and creating an attractive crab-like aroma. And please prepare some dishes to accompany your sushi rolls. They will boost your satisfaction with your sushi experience.

The video will give you some basic steps to finish imitation crab sushi rolls:

5. Imitation Crab Salad With Spinach

If you love eating spinach, this recipe is a must-try salad for you. What you need to make the salad is fresh spinach leaves, imitation crab meat, onions, and a tasty dressing made with olive oil, fresh lemon juice, lemon zest, salt, and pepper.

Besides, you can top the salad with sliced avocados, dried blueberries, or apples to light your salad up and make it juicier, tangier, more appealing, and flavorful.

6. Russian-Style Imitation Crab Salad

One more style to make a salad with imitation crab is from Russia. What makes this scrumptious Russian dish unique is the presence of rice in a bowl of salad.

Specifically, the delicious Russian-style appetizer is made with a magic combination of bite-sized pieces of imitation crab meat, cooked rice, boiled eggs, chopped cucumber, corn, bunch dill, mayo, yogurt, black pepper, and salt.

You can let them chill in the fridge for a couple of minutes before serving to maximize the flavor.

The video will show you how to make a Russian crab stick salad:

7. Imitation Crab Pasta

If you are finding something with imitation crab meat to fill up your stomach, shrimp and crab pasta can be your choice. The pasta contains crab meat, garlic, and tomatoes and is topped with buttery sauce and fresh parmesan cheese.

The shrimp and crab pasta is an ideal idea for a nice lunch and dinner, and you can make it to treat your family members and guests on special occasions.

Keshia shows a simple way to make imitation crab pasta:

8. SpicyTeriyaki Wonton Noodles

Now, one more suggestion with imitation crab to satisfy your hunger is spicy teriyaki wonton noodles. You can make it with easy ingredients like fresh wonton noodles, mirin, black vinegar, toasted sesame seeds, imitation crab, teriyaki sauce, and protein.

To successfully replicate this dish, your teriyaki sauce needs to be of the right consistency. Consider a few tricks to make teriyaki sauce thicker or thinner to achieve the optimal consistency for your sauce.

You can top the noodles with your favorite vegetables like broccolini, rapini, and bok choy. These vegetables make your noodles a light green color that is good to relieve your stress.

Let’s cook spicy teriyaki winton noodles with imitation crab with no time:

Imitation Crab Dip, Soup, And Snacks

If you don’t like to cook pasta, noodles, or salad with your imitation crab meat, I will suggest some other food options in which you get more fun with a crab-like smell but also with a tight budget.

9. Hot Imitation Crab Dip

There is nothing better than a hot imitation crab dip on summer days to go with your bread, crackers, and steamed vegetables. The dip is made with imitation crab, whole mayo, onion powder, garlic, lemon juice, water, cheese, and hot pepper sauce.

The dish is easy and quick to make, just around 10 minutes with all prepared ingredients.

10. Chrystal’s Seafood Nachos

You can serve Chrystal’s seafood nachos as a dessert for your family. I think they will be interested in eating them because of the crunchiness of baked tortilla chips and the freshness of fillings from sour cream, mayonnaise, onion, paprika, and imitation crab meat.

If you have free time, you can make snacks to enjoy with your friends. That’s a good idea.

11. Crab And Corn Soup

The dish of crab and corn soup reminds me of my childhood when my mother always made the dish for me as healthy food to help me recover my health after important examinations.

I can remember that the dish contains chicken broth, seafood base, imitation crab, corn kernels, cornstarch, egg, and chopped green onions.

The soup can be the best choice and the most affordable one. And if you can’t get enough of crab meat, you can serve this food for joining with crab cakes as well. Trust me! You will be overwhelmed.

You will get to know how to finish imitation crab and corn soup:

12. Old Bay Crab Cakes

Let’s enjoy your day with old bay imitation crab cakes. The cakes can be served with green salad, a slice of lemon, tomatoes, and potato chips. The combo will be a good choice for your breakfast with nutrients and deliciousness.

The cakes are basically made with mayo, eggs, breadcrumbs, ground cayenne pepper, garlic powder, old bay seasoning, and some lemon juice.

13. Crab Delight Bites

One more idea for a delightful imitation crab appetizer is from crab delight bites that are a wonderful snack. The snack is little phyllo shells filled with cream cheese, jalapeno, and imitation crab.

It will be best if you use western salad dressing to top over the bites to maximize the dish’s flavor.

Baked Dishes With Imitation Crab

Do you love baked dishes? If yes, this is your area because I will let you know how amazing imitation crab in baking dishes is.

14. Seafood Enchiladas

You will be amazed at the deliciousness of seafood enchiladas the first time eating. Each batch is made with a tortilla wrapping all fillings of imitation crab, onion, pepper, cheese, sour cream, and cilantro.

Besides, the enchiladas will be dressed with a sauce made with sour cream and green onions, making them an irresistible dish.

15. Crab Rangoon

Another idea of imitation crab cakes is crab rangoon – a well-known appetizer in Chinese cuisine. And it seems to be incredible cakes with juicy fillings inside and crispy wonton wrapper on the outside.

The fillings contain a blend of imitation crab, cream cheese, and Worcestershire sauce. After being fried, these crab rangoon can be served with a sweet or sour dipping sauce.

The cakes should be considered to be dessert or dinner for your table meals.

16. Copycat Crab Casserole

I think you can love the dish at first sight because it has a light and beautiful color. Copycat crab casserole includes imitation crab meat, thinly sliced cabbage, celery, red bell pepper, cheese, sour cream, soy sauce, mayo, and some other essential spices to taste the dish.

The magic harmony of these ingredients with imitation crab meat will satisfy your taste. You can serve it with bread.

17. Gary’s Stuffed Mushrooms

Your imitation crab meat will be the light point of Gary’s stuffed mushrooms. The natural sweetness from mushrooms combines with creamy and full-flavored toppings from a mixture of cream cheese, chopped imitation crab meat, and chicken-flavored dry stuffing mix.

You can easily see Gary’s stuffed mushrooms in meals with grilled meat or fish and BBQ because they can stimulate your taste to enjoy food better.

You can see this video to know more:

18. Stuffed Sole With Imitation Crab

If you are really into an easy and inexpensive recipe with imitation crab, let’s consider a stuffed sole with imitation crab meat.

The dish is made with flaked imitation crab meat, red bell pepper, celery, shredded mozzarella cheese, creamy salad dressing, cayenne pepper, and ground black pepper to taste.

I think that if you have some special occasions or guests, consider making the dish as its elegant appearance will light up your meal.

Diversify Your Meals With Imitation Crab Recipes

With available imitation crab meat, you can make many different delightful dishes, and my article has recommended the easiest but the most flavorful recipes that you can make even if you are not skillful at cooking.

You can use imitation crab to practice various recipes from salad, soup, dip, pasta to baked cakes and snacks, making you confident about eating your favorite crab-like ingredients in many other different ways.

However, while cooking, you need to consider the appropriate amount of spices to flavor the dish. You can follow the suggested steps and ingredients, but be free to flavor your dish as long as you taste good.

If you think my article is helpful to you, don’t hesitate to save it and share it with your relatives. Besides, if you get something to share with me related to your experiences on these imitation crab recipes, leave your comment in the comment section.