The Real Reason Broiling Crab Cakes Is Better Than Frying Them

We admit it's pretty hard to compete with the summer-evoking pleasure that comes from eating a juicy, fried crab cake. When cooked just right, crab cakes are a crispy treat with a hint of oil, and a sweet-briny flavor that will make you glad you ordered more than one. But, frying isn't the only way to tackle a crab cake; broiling also has its advantages.

One of these advantages, of course, is the easy cleanup factor. As chef and food writer Erin Johnson of Probably in the Kitchen pointed out to Mashed, broiling crab cakes creates less of a mess than frying them. Obviously, we're on board with anything that means less of our time will be spent cleaning the kitchen! 

Another benefit of broiling? It allows the flavor of the crab to shine because it "does not have to compete" with the taste of the cooking oil, according to culinary expert John Shields in The 25th Anniversary Edition of Chesapeake Bay Cooking (via Baltimore Sun). If you're lucky enough to be eating a crab cake made from "what purists generally insist on and is the very best that money can buy" — jumbo lump crabmeat — Shields says they are best sautéed or broiled. But, if saving time and savoring crab flavor aren't enough reasons to consider swapping out the fried version for a broiled one, we've got one more reason that might clinch the deal.

According to Livestrong, crab meat is rich in protein and low in fat. If you're using your crab meat to make crab cakes, then opting to broil them rather than fry them can help reduce the dish's overall fat. According to Cameron's Seafood broiling works out better than baking, because baking doesn't get the crab cakes as crispy (and when it comes to crab cakes, crispy is king!). But now that we know a healthier way to cook them, what's the tastiest way to eat them?

What would crab cakes be without a little (or a lot of) remoulade? According to Food Republic, remoulade is a French dressing made from mixing eggs and oil into a mayonnaise that is combined with other flavorful ingredients like anchovies (Don't worry, these are optional!), lemon juice, mustard, herbs, spices, and pickles or capers. If you're looking to cut calories but don't want to skip out on this tasty, tangy dip, Sumptuous Spoonfuls has a clever tip: Just swap some of the mayonnaise for yogurt! Wow — we guess eating healthier really can be a piece of (crab) cake!