Cilantro-lime crab salad served on paprika toasts is a easy and elegant appetizer recipe, featuring fresh crabmeat tossed in a light and creamy dressing.
Crabmeat can make some stunning party appetizers, but boy it is not cheap. When I'm in Maryland, I'm lucky enough to have access to beautiful local blue crab meat almost year-round. Every now and then I splurge and buy some to make this elegant Cilantro-Lime Crab Salad with Paprika Toasts. I never regret it, as these little toasts are both pretty and delicious, and 8 oz. of crabmeat really stretches a long way.
🥗 Ingredients
- Crabmeat: if you want to really splurge, you can go with jumbo lump crabmeat. Just make sure you stir gently when adding the crabmeat to the sauce, as you don't want to break up those big clumps of crab. (If you do, you might as well have saved yourself some money and bought lump crabmeat instead.) I would, however, recommend lump over the more inexpensive claw meat or backfin crab meat—this crab salad recipe really showcases the crab meat with just a few ingredients, so the quality of the crab does come through.
- Paprika: I love the color and slight flavor that the paprika adds to these buttered toasts. You can use smoked paprika as well, which gives the toasts a little extra smoky kick. Or replace with a little cayenne pepper to add heat.
- Mayonnaise: You can use any kind of mayonnaise you prefer, but my favorite brand is Hellman’s (also known as Best Foods). To lighten up this dish some more, feel free to replace a tablespoon or two of the mayonnaise with Greek yogurt.
For more crowd-pleasing appetizer recipes, go to my Appetizer Recipes section or check out the following:
- Charred Tomatillo and Red Onion Guacamole
- Healthier Baked Spinach Artichoke Dip
- Buffalo Cauliflower Dip with Fresh Herbs
- Red Radish Crostini with Lemon Ricotta
- Old Bay Shrimp with Dipping Sauce
- Old Bay Salmon Rillettes.
Love crab? Next, you'll want to try my Maryland Crab Cakes recipe. It's an absolute favorite that can be either a main course or appetizer. And, don't miss our hot Baked Crab Dip or our Baked Stuffed Shrimp. So decadent and delicious! If you've never had crab soup before, you're going to need to try this Cream of Crab Soup. Finally, if you want a simple no-bake crab dip, try this Cold Crab Dip recipe next!
📖 Recipe
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Cilantro-Lime Crab Salad
Ingredients
For the Paprika Toasts
- 8 slices white bread
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
For the Crab Salad
- ¼ cup minced red onion plus more for garnish
- Zest of 1 lime
- 1 ½ tablespoons lime juice
- 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro plus more for garnish
- 3-4 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 8 ounces lump crabmeat
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Line a sheet pan with foil or parchment paper.
- Stack several slices of bread on top of each other, cut the crusts off, and then cut into 4 squares. Repeat until all bread is sliced into squares.
- Lay the squares onto the prepared sheet pan.
- Melt the butter in a small microwave-safe bowl in the microwave, then stir in the paprika and salt.
- Use a pastry brush to paint a layer of the paprika-butter mixture onto each toast.
- Bake toasts in preheated oven for 10 minutes. Remove and let cool.
- Add red onion, lime zest, lime juice, cilantro, and 3 tablespoons of mayonnaise to a medium bowl, and stir to combine.
- Rinse the crab meat gently in a colander under cold water.
Pick up small handfuls of crab at a time and squeeze gently to ring out water and feel for any shells. Pick out any shells you might find, then add crabmeat to bowl. - Add additional tablespoon of mayonnaise if mixture is not creamy enough.
- Add salt and pepper, taste, and adjust seasoning as necessary.
- Top each paprika toast with a spoonful of crab salad, then garnish with additional red onion and cilantro, if desired.
Mimi Rippee says
Nice. I love the flavors. I just wish I could get real crab, not just Krab.
Chef Molly says
Yes! One of the benefits of living in Maryland for sure.
mimi rippee says
Fabulous. My only problem is getting real crab. I've tried canned and it's awful. But I really like this recipe, so I'm keeping it, just in case I can get real crab!
Chef Molly says
I hear you! Canned crab is just not the same. We were spoiled, living in Maryland. Now that I am in France, I can't find fresh crabmeat either! 🙁