Vegan Crab Cakes w/ Caper Mayo (+ Air Fry Option)
PinServings: 5
These crispy Vegan Crab Cakes mimic the taste of classic crab cakes, but are fish-free and much healthier! They're filled with the flavors of hearts of palm, chickpeas and Old Bay seasoning, Try them in the air fryer for extra crispiness!
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Ingredients
- 1 can hearts of palm - rinsed and drained
- 1 15-ounce can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rinsed and drained
- 2 medium shallots - or onion, chopped very fine (roughly 1/3 cup)
- 3 garlic cloves - minced
- 1/2 teaspoon ground sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast - optional
- 2 teaspoons Old Bay seasoning
- 1 flax egg - 1 tablespoon ground flax seed + 3 tablespoons water
- 1/2 cup breadcrumbs - regular or panko breadcrumbs, can use gluten-free
Caper Mayo:
- 1/3 cup Vegenaise or favorite vegan mayonnaise
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons capers
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 F. Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Next, make the flax egg. To do this, add 1 tablespoon whole flax seeds to a coffee grinder and grind into a powder. Add the ground flax to a small bowl with 3 tablespoons water. Stir and let sit to thicken, about 5 minutes.
- Next add the (rinsed and drained) hearts of palm to a cutting board. Chop into fine pieces, then add a few layers of paper towel and press down to remove moisture.
- Transfer the hearts of palm to a medium bowl. Add the chickpeas. Press down again using a few paper towels to remove additional moisture. Using a potato masher, mash until no whole pieces of chickpeas remain and the mixture is mashed down thoroughly.
- To the bowl, add the minced shallots, garlic, sea salt, black pepper, nutritional yeast, Old Bay seasoning and flax egg. Using a spoon, mix thoroughly until all is blended. Mash again using the masher.
- Form the mixture into small patties, about 3 inches wide and 1 inch thick.
- Coat each patty with the breadcrumbs until coated, and transfer to a baking sheet covered in parchment paper, or a silicone baking mat.
- Bake the patties at 425 F for 15 minutes, then remove from oven. Flip cakes and bake for another 30-35 minutes until golden brown. Or, instead of baking, you can also air fry (highly recommended)- see instructions in the notes section below.
- To make the caper mayo, mix the Vegenaise or vegan mayo, lemon juice and capers together in a small bowl. Serve the vegan crab cakes topped with the mayo. Makes 10 crab cakes total.
- To freeze, form into patties and bread, then add to a freezable container, putting a layer of parchment paper in between layers of crab cakes. Thaw before cooking.
Notes
- These crab cakes are extra-crispy if you use your air fryer to bake them. To do this, it's very simple! Add a few crab cakes to the air fryer, on the wire rack or a silicone basket. The amount will depend on how big your air fryer is. Set the air fryer to "Air Fry" and cook at 390 F for 12 minutes.
- In order for the crab cakes to stay together and not fall apart, it's important to chop everything SUPER fine, making sure there are no noticeable pieces/chunks of ingredients. You can also use a food processor to do this.
- It's also very important to make sure the mixture is as dry as possible. This is why you should use paper towels to press out the moisture of the hearts of palm and chickpeas a few times. The drier you get these ingredients, the better.
Nutrition
Serving: 2crab cakes | Calories: 251kcal | Carbohydrates: 24.2g | Protein: 7.9g | Fat: 14.3g | Cholesterol: 6.1mg | Sodium: 628mg | Sugar: 1.2g
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