Crazy-Good Outer Banks Crab Cakes

Posted August 12, 2019

In Appetizers, Food & Dining, Main Dishes, OBX Locals, Seafood

Everything You Need to Know About Outer Banks Crab Cakes

Atlantic Blue Crabs

What is a Crab Cake?

A crab cake is a combination of lump crab meat, panko bread crumbs, eggs, mayonnaise, and delicious seasonings that make for a hearty and flavorful patty.

Can the Crabs be found locally?

Crab cakes are popular along the coast of the Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, where crabbing industries thrive. While meat from any species of crab can be used to make local crab cakes, it is said that the best tasting and traditional choice is the blue crab, whose native habitat is the Chesapeake Bay. The Blue crab population thrives in brackish estuaries and salt marshes. Blue crabs can also be found locally here on the Outer Banks in the Currituck, Pamlico, and Albemarle Sounds.

Owens’ Restaurant

Crab cakes consisting almost entirely of lump crab meat are virtually prepared with no filler. Equally important, you may have the choice of the crab cakes being either fried or broiled. They can be served as a main dish or part of a surf and turf. In either case, likely garnishes are lemon wedges and a choice of a remoulade, tartar sauce, or cocktail sauce.

Owens’ Restaurant’s Traditional Crab Cakes

The crab cakes at Owens are so popular that “Our State Eats Magazine” published a feature story of Miss O and her signature crab cakes and hush puppies. In fact, the magazine calls Owens’ Restaurant “a time capsule of beloved seafood classics.” In case you didn’t know, Owens’ Restaurant is the oldest family-owned restaurant on the coast that has kept generations of Outer Banks families and tourists hungry for more.

Oceanfront Grille

Crab cakes can also be served as an open-faced sandwich. The usual sides that come with a crabcake sandwich is French fries, coleslaw, or potato salad.

Crab Cake Sandwich at Oceanfront Grille at Corolla Light

The famous jumbo lump crab cakes at Oceanfront Grille at Corolla Light. Some would say are arguably the best on the Outer Banks. The Crabcakes entree is a house specialty – jumbo lump crab meat with little filler. It is not hard to understand why many locals and tourists alike are often heard to say that the Oceanfront Grille “has the best crab cakes that I have ever had.”

Jolly Roger Restaurant

Crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, and always flavorful! Each Outer Banks Restaurant has their own personal take on their crab cake recipe.

Jolly Roger Restaurant keeps doing it right.

These guys have been featured In The Kitchen on The Hampton Roads Show for their Signature Award Winning Crab Cakes. The same recipe that the chef has been using for over 24 years!

You can find some absolutely delicious and fresh crab cakes here on the OBX. Specifically, there are numerous Outer Banks restaurants from Duck to Nags Head that are well known for their irresistible crab cake recipes.

Leave it up to the Outer Banks Restaurant Guide to seek-out where to go to satisfy your crab cakes craving. As well as, learning about other Outer Banks food categories. You will not be disappointed!