Description
Ina Garten’s crab meat salad delivers delicate ocean flavors with Mediterranean-inspired ingredients. Crisp vegetables and fresh herbs blend seamlessly with succulent crab, creating a light and refreshing dish perfect for summer gatherings or elegant lunch experiences you’ll savor.
Ingredients
Scale
Seafood:
- 450 grams (1 pound) jumbo lump crabmeat
Herbs and Aromatics:
- 4 teaspoons fresh chives, finely sliced
- 1 teaspoon fresh tarragon leaves, minced
- 1 stalk celery, peeled and cut into 1/8-inch (3 millimeters) dice
Binding and Seasoning:
- 80 milliliters (⅓ cup) prepared mayonnaise
- 45 milliliters (3 tablespoons) sour cream
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice, freshly squeezed
- ½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
- Kosher salt, to taste
- Black pepper, freshly ground, to taste
Instructions
- Delicately flake the crabmeat into a medium-sized mixing bowl, ensuring no large chunks remain.
- Finely dice the celery into precise, uniform pieces to provide a crisp texture and subtle crunch.
- Mince the chives and tarragon into delicate, thin ribbons to distribute herbaceous flavor evenly throughout the mixture.
- In a separate small bowl, whisk together mayonnaise (or 120 milliliters), sour cream (or 30 milliliters), freshly squeezed lemon juice (or 15 milliliters), and Dijon mustard (or 5 milliliters) until smooth and well-incorporated.
- Gently fold the prepared dressing into the crabmeat and vegetable mixture, using a soft turning motion to prevent breaking the delicate crabmeat.
- Season the salad with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, tasting and adjusting the seasoning to achieve a balanced flavor profile.
- Cover the crab salad and refrigerate for 15-20 minutes to allow the flavors to meld and develop.
- When ready to serve, spoon the chilled crab salad onto lightly toasted brioche rolls or create an elegant bed of crisp mixed salad greens.
Notes
- Seafood Selection Matters: Pick premium, sweet-tasting crabmeat from reliable fishmongers or trusted seafood markets to elevate your salad’s overall quality.
- Texture Preservation Technique: Handle the delicate crabmeat with soft, careful movements to maintain its natural chunky structure and prevent breaking down the tender meat.
- Temperature Transformation: Refrigerating the salad allows ingredients to meld together, creating a harmonious blend of flavors that tastes more developed and sophisticated.
- Seasoning Sweet Spot: Taste and adjust seasonings incrementally, understanding that subtle tweaks can dramatically enhance the salad’s final taste profile.
- Serving Presentation Trick: Crisp, warm toasted rolls provide a delightful temperature contrast against the cool, refreshing crabmeat salad, creating a memorable dining experience.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Category: Lunch, Appetizer, Snacks
- Method: Blending
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 4
- Calories: 285 kcal
- Sugar: 1 g
- Sodium: 450 mg
- Fat: 20 g
- Saturated Fat: 4 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 15 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 6 g
- Fiber: 0 g
- Protein: 24 g
- Cholesterol: 80 mg