This Cheesy Hot Crab Dip is the ultimate party snack! Lump crab meat is baked into this luxurious dip with cream cheese, sour cream, sharp cheddar cheese and few dashes of hot sauce.
Looking for more warm party dips? Artichoke Dip and Slow Cooker Chicken Enchilada Dip are excellent choices!
Just as we are recovering from the food coma that is Christmas, it’s time to plan what we’ll be consuming as the ball drops on New Year’s Eve and when I think New Year’s Eve I think crab dip.
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Best Hot Crab Dip Recipe
This Hot Crab Dip is decadent, cheesy, but at the same time a bit elegant. It pairs perfectly with champagne, cocktails, or whatever you happen to be imbibing at your celebration. For me that may be iced tea so I won’t fall to sleep before the countdown. Sad but true.
It’s exceptionally easy to make and can be made up to a day in advance.
Ingredients for Hot Crab Dip
- Lump crab meat – My local store carries Chicken of the Sea Lump Crabmeat but there are many other brands available. If using canned crab meat, be sure to drain the cans well before adding them to the rest of the dip ingredients.
- Cream cheese – You can use regular or Neufchatel less fat cream cheese for a lighter result.
- Mayonnaise
- Sour cream – Regular or light sour cream both work well.
- Shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- White onion
- All-purpose seasoning salt – My favorite is Lawry’s Seasoned Salt
- Worcestershire sauce
- Fresh lemon juice – A natural choice with any seafood dish.
- Italian parsley
- Tabasco sauce – Just a few shakes of hot sauce to add a little zip. You can alter the amount added to suit your taste or leave it out altogether if you’d like.
- Freshly ground black pepper
What is Lump Crab Meat
Lump crab meat consists of chunks of jumbo lump and crab body meat and it is perfect for dips, crab cakes, and salads. Don’t confuse it with imitation crab products. Lump crab meat is the real deal, 100% real crab. And, you want the real deal for this dip.
Lump crab meat comes canned and you also may find it at the butcher counter in some grocery stores. The bonus to buying it canned is you can pick it while it’s on sale and stash it away until you need it.
How to Make Hot Crab Dip
This recipe could not be any easier. It’s just a matter of combining all of the ingredients and transferring the mixture to a small baking dish. You can cover the dish and refrigerate it overnight or bake it right away.
Use a cheese grater to grate onion when you want to add onion flavor to a recipe without adding too much texture. A great choice when making dips, spreads, and meatballs.
How to Serve Cheesy Hot Crab Dip
You can bake this dip in a small serving dish like I did here or in a small bread bowl with the added bonus that the serving dish will be edible! Once most of the dip has been consumed you can tear off chunks of dip soaked bread and eat the whole gosh darn thing. Most grocery store bakery departments carry small bread bowls over the holidays.
I like to serve this dip with Ritz crackers but it is also delicious with sliced baguette or tortilla chips for dipping.
Tips and Variations
The “Hot” in the recipe title refers to the fact that this dip is served warm from the oven. Although it calls for a few shakes of hot sauce, it’s not a spicy dip. However, if you want to spice it up, feel free to add as much hot sauce as you’d like. You could even throw in a diced jalapeno for good measure.
I like to keep things on the mild side when serving a crowd but if you know your group likes it hot, go for it!
I hope you add this one to your party menu this New Year’s Eve or tuck it away for Super Bowl Sunday. It’s just around the corner.
Enjoy and Happy New Year, friends!
More Party Appetizers You’ll Love
- Shrimp Dip
- Antipasto Skewers
- French Onion Dip from Scratch
- Buffalo Chicken Dip
- Check out my entire collection of tasty appetizer recipes!
Cheesy Hot Crab Dip
Ingredients
- 8 ounce package cream cheese or Neufchatel (light cream cheese), softened
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- ½ cup light or regular sour cream
- 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- 1 tablespoon grated white onion
- 12 ounces lump crab meat , from 2 6-ounce cans
- 1 teaspoon all-purpose seasoning salt, I use Lawry’s Seasoned Salt
- ½ teaspoon Worcestershire
- ½ lemon, juiced
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped Italian parsley
- a few shakes of Tabasco, to taste
- freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- crackers, baguette slices, or tortilla chips for serving
Instructions
Oven Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Place cream cheese, mayonnaise, and sour cream in a medium mixing bowl and stir until creamy. Add remaining ingredients and stir again until well combined. Transfer to a small baking dish and transfer to oven.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until browned and bubbly.
- Serve with crackers, baguette slices, or tortilla chips.
Slow Cooker Instructions
- Add the ingredients to a small (3- to 4-quart) slow cooker, stir to combine, and set it on LOW for 2 hours. It needs to cook until the cream cheese melts completely. Stir the dip and then let it cook for an additional 15 to 20 minutes.
- It should keep well for up to an hour on the KEEP WARM or LOW setting. Be sure to stir it occasionally to prevent it from burning or separating.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated using generic ingredients, and is an estimate not a guarantee. For more accurate results, please refer to the labels on your ingredients at home.
Fun Party Food
Wow!!! Yummy! I added a big clove of garlic because we love garlic. And I used a whole pound of canned crab because why not! Soooooo yummy!
Absolutely, why not!!! So glad you loved it and thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment. 🙂
I made this and added red pepper flakes and green onion too! I used seafood seasoning instead of Lawry’s an extra cheese on top absolutely fantastic!
So glad you loved it! Thanks so much for your comment Deb 🙂
Delicious! Thank you! I am fortunate, though. I live on the Eastern Shore in Maryland. So I used Chesapeake Bay blue crab, straight off of the boat.
So lucky! Thanks, John 🙂
My family loves this dip! Whenever there are extra bags of frozen Alaskan king crab my family asks me to make this! Making it again today. I dont use the lemon juice! I’m afraid it will make it too lemony. Am I wrong? Please let me know! Also I dont use the seasoning salt as I dont keep any on hand! This is a great recipe! Thank you!
Hi Char. So glad you’re loving the recipe! Lemon is wonderful with seafood, including crab. I don’t think it makes it too lemony at all, it’s just a nice accent.
This is the second time I have made it. It has become a staple for entertaining.
I loved this recipe!!! I have made it twice now and both times it has been excellent. I left out the onion but added in loads of sliced jalapeños. It’s delicious with Ritz crackers as you suggested! I’m thinking of other variations already, I’ll probably make it without the crab and add loads more jalapeños then use it as a cheesy nacho topping.
I’m making this for a New years afternoon party. I can’t wait to try it.
I hope you love it, Tandra. Happy New Year!
I love u and your recipes
Thanks, Jan. 🙂
Made this recipe for a party today with crawfish tails instead of crab. I used frozen peeled crawfish tail meat that I thawed and squeezed the water out. I added 1 diced jalapeno no seeds. 1/2 tsp lawrys – 1/2 tsp old bay. I grated a 6oz block of sharp cheddar and some fresh grated romano cheese that I had on hand. Used real lemons. It was not spicy, not fishy. I made it in the oven then transferred to a crock pot. Really good when piping hot.
Love what you did with it and so glad it was a hit!
My family thought this was a hit! Will make again on game night! Taste better than my favorite restaurant’s crab dip!
Yay! So glad to hear this, Angela. Thanks so much for your comment. 🙂