• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
hot for food
  • Recipes
  • Cookbooks
  • About
  • Events
  • book me
  • Travel
  • News
  • FAQs
menu icon
go to homepage
subscribe
search icon
Homepage link
  • Recipes
  • Cookbooks
  • About
  • Events
  • book me
  • Travel
  • News
  • FAQs
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • TikTok
    • YouTube
  • ×
    Home » Recipes » recipes

    vegan crab cakes with horseradish dill tartar sauce

    March 24, 2015 by Lauren Toyota 60 Comments

    Jump to Recipe
    vegan crab cakes with horseradish dill tartar sauce_hot for food

    When it comes to meatless meals, everyone has a problem with calling food something it’s not. I get it, but I'm confident that you’ll find these vegan crab cakes ARE something to talk about around the dinner table.

    They’re light, tasty, and so similar in look and texture to the real thing I think you’ll have a hard time convincing people that they’re made of artichokes! 

    I've also made other meatless seafood dishes in the hot for food kitchen, like my tempeh fish tacos! Feed those or some vegan crab cakes to your friends who say vegans eat bland food, and watch the shock on their faces!

    Of course, you'll also now see this recipe perfected in my debut cookbook, Vegan Comfort Classics! The cookbook also contains plenty of brand new, never before published recipes for vegan comfort food that you won't find on this blog.

    vegan crab cakes recipe best
    vegan crab cakes with horseradish dill tartar sauce_hot for food

    vegan crab cakes with horseradish dill tartar sauce

    These incredibly delicious vegan crabless cakes taste a whole lot like the real thing!
    4.38 from 37 votes
    Print Pin Rate
    Course: Appetizer
    Cuisine: American
    Keyword: artichoke, dill, horseradish, sauces, tartar sauce, vegan crab cakes
    Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes
    Cook Time: 15 minutes minutes
    Total Time: 40 minutes minutes
    Servings: 10 cakes
    Author: Lauren Toyota

    Ingredients

    horseradish dill tartar sauce

    • ⅔ C vegan mayonnaise
    • 1 tablespoon horseradish
    • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
    • 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh dill
    • ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

    crabless cakes

    • 2 C drained marinated artichoke hearts, finely chopped
    • 2 tablespoon liquid from marinated artichokes
    • ¼ C finely chopped shallot
    • ½ C finely chopped celery
    • 1 teaspoon lemon juice
    • ½ C chickpea flour
    • 2 teaspoon coconut sugar or brown sugar
    • 1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
    • ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
    • ¼ teaspoon sea salt

    breading

    • ¼ C chickpea flour
    • 1 ¼ C multigrain bread crumbs
    • ½ C unsweetened nondairy milk
    • 1 ½ C vegetable oil, for frying

    Instructions

    • In a small mixing bowl, stir together all the ingredients for the tartar sauce until well combined. Refrigerate until ready to serve the crab cakes.
    • Drain the marinated artichokes, reserving 2 tablespoons of the liquid to use in the mix. Finely chop the artichoke hearts and add to a large mixing bowl with the remaining ingredients for the crab cakes. Combine well with a fork.
    • Heat 1 ½ cups of vegetable oil in a large cast iron skillet to 350°F - 360°F.
    • Set up a dredging station. Add chickpea flour to a wide shallow dish, use another shallow dish for the breadcrumbs, and a bowl for the nondairy milk.
    • Take ¼ cup of the crabless cake mixture and form a round thick patty with your hands. Place the cake in the chickpea flour and coat all sides evenly. Quickly submerge in nondairy milk and remove it from the liquid, then place in breadcrumbs. Using your hands, cover the crabless cake in breadcrumbs getting all sides well coated then lightly shake off any excess. Batter 2 to 3 at a time right before frying.
    • Delicately place 2 to 3 cakes in hot oil at once, depending on the size of your pan. Fry for about 4 minutes until golden brown, flipping half way through.
    • Remove the cakes from the frying pan and place onto a plate covered with paper towel to absorb any excess oil.
    • Serve immediately with horseradish dill tartar sauce. Leftovers can be heated over medium heat in a pan that’s lightly coated with vegetable oil.

    More recipes

    • veggie vegan cream cheese hot for food recipe
      easy veggie vegan cream cheese
    • chef Lauren Toyota at her Toronto event holding a lemon meringue tart
      comfort classics vegan supper club
    • a serving of vegan chocolate mousse
      decadent vegan chocolate mousse
    • diners view showing the inside of vegan ham and cheese croissant
      easy vegan ham and cheese croissants

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Jenny Lazaros

      May 07, 2015 at 3:20 pm

      artichokes marinade in vinegar or oil?

      Reply
      • Lauren Toyota

        May 09, 2015 at 6:12 pm

        it doesn't really matter. It just needs a bit of liquid to get it pulled together as a batter. The juice they're marinated in has lots of flavour. I believe the ones I used were a mix of oil and vinegar.

    2. Lisa

      August 07, 2015 at 4:10 am

      Would this work with regular flour, or is the chick pea flour crucial? Thanks.

      Reply
      • Lauren Toyota

        August 15, 2015 at 11:38 pm

        you can try! We just have never tried. The chickpea flour is a good flavour, thicker binder, and gives it that colour. BUT if you do try let us know. I suspect it would work.

    3. Jasmine

      October 09, 2015 at 9:50 pm

      Is it ok to pre make these pre frying? Having a party and it would be soo convenient to make the patties, then fry the day of 🙂

      Reply
      • Lauren Toyota

        October 09, 2015 at 9:55 pm

        I'm not too sure. I worry that the bread crumbs would get soggy. Then they would fall apart in the fryer. You could make the mixture and refrigerate it but the dredging, battering, and frying should all be done at the same time I think

      • Jasmine

        October 09, 2015 at 10:37 pm

        TY! I honestly meant to keep the unfried patties in the fridge, pre fried, as in, no batter on the patties, I appreciate the feedback!

    4. Adam

      December 25, 2015 at 11:40 pm

      I made these as a christmas appetizer and they were so delicious. Awesome recipe.

      Reply
    5. Natalie

      December 26, 2015 at 7:30 pm

      I also made these for Christmas dinner! My brother's wife hates the taste of seafood, but she said these were her favourite part of the dinner. She said she would gladly be a vegan if I cooked all her meals. Thank you!

      Reply
    6. Pat

      January 08, 2016 at 12:51 am

      This was the first thing I tried out since viewing your site and oh boy! Theses were delicious. I didn't want to share. LOL. I'm glad you shared the recipe. Thank you.

      Reply
    7. Claire

      January 16, 2016 at 11:59 pm

      I just made these and they were amazing! Since going vegan the only thing I've been missing is seafood. The texture of these was exactly the same as fish, and the taste was very close! I served them with a chili sauce as I am not a fan of horseradish.

      Reply
    8. Karen McCain

      February 02, 2016 at 9:36 pm

      I made these and everyone loved them! My friend's husband cannot stand eggs so these were perfect. Delicious!

      Reply
      • Lauren Toyota

        February 08, 2016 at 6:38 pm

        that's awesome!

    9. berri MdB

      February 21, 2016 at 12:29 am

      i made these last night with a few modifications. being single, making a full batch doesn't work for me but the can of artichokes was 13oz so it was close enough. it ended up making four larger (but thinner) cakes and since i'm not all that into frying foods, less than a 1/4C of veg oil in a non-stick pan on med heat worked out fine.

      adding 1T of cornstarch and arrowroot to the mix to help with binding and browning and instead of just a dry flour dredge, i made more of a beer batter (beer... it's not only for Breakfast anymore. lol) before coating the cakes in Panko crumbs. this crisped up the cakes without having to use such high heat.

      not being a fan of horseradish, i cut back to 2t instead when i served one of my cakes to my mom to taste this morning, even she didn't pick up on the horseradish. yeah, i'm over 50 and still use my mom to taste-test the stuff i cook. after watching her cut off a small piece with the fork, drop on some tarter and try the first piece... i was anticipating some kind of comment from her but instead, she cut off another piece, then another and another. she's a big meat eater and the fact she kept going in for more says a BUNCH about how good these cakes are. i've been vegetarian for 28 years and i was stuffed after eating just two.

      personally, i don't think you should promote these as crab cake substitutes. the flavors/texture have enough merit to stand on their own. instead of crab cakes, i would call them Happy Cakes or at the least, Crabless Cakes .

      great job, guys xD

      Reply
    10. Lily Pants

      February 21, 2016 at 2:09 am

      I made these tonight and I cannot believe how they taste like the real thing. Mind. Blown.

      Reply
    11. Desireé

      March 26, 2016 at 4:40 pm

      I just made these for the first time, I have the mixture resting in the fridge. They will be on my Easter brunch table tomorrow! The only thing I did different is add a little red bell pepper. I can't wait to mow down! Also appearing are chickpea tuna and edamame mash! Thanks guys!! And happy Easter!🌾🌸💗💐

      Reply
      • Lauren Toyota

        March 29, 2016 at 3:30 pm

        sounds like a great feast! Thanks for using our recipes 😀

    12. Morgan

      March 29, 2016 at 12:16 am

      These were incredible. Just another recipe to add to the arsenal. Thank you for everything you do. Life Changing.

      Reply
      • Lauren Toyota

        March 29, 2016 at 3:29 pm

        aww thank you so much!

    13. Emily

      April 08, 2016 at 11:39 pm

      Can I use something different to old bay spice? I'm from Australia and can't buy old bay spice I have discovered.

      Reply
      • Emily

        April 08, 2016 at 11:41 pm

        Sorry I meant seasoning

    14. Chelsea

      April 12, 2016 at 12:00 am

      My family plans to have some vegan/vegetarian friends over for dinner and i was thinking of making these as a main course. What would you recommend for sides to accompany this dish?

      Reply
      • Lauren Toyota

        April 15, 2016 at 5:04 pm

        one of our many salads! You can even serve these on top of salad.

    15. Sophie

      May 08, 2016 at 7:25 pm

      First of all, I loove your YouTube channel as well as your blog! To your crab cakes, are they supposed to taste sour? Considering artichokes and celery are and the lemon in it? Also, mine kept falling apart when I wanted to coat them in the chickpea flour, almond milk and breadcrumps as well, any suggestions? Anyway, thanks for all these recipes, your vegan food is bomb :D.

      Reply
    16. Hannah

      May 09, 2016 at 2:41 am

      Made these for Mothers Day- incredible! Served them over kale chips with a side of yellow beet and dill salad, grilled corn and homemade bread. Tasted so much like the real thing! The whole family loved them! Thank you so much- I love your recipes.

      Reply
    17. Laura

      May 16, 2016 at 4:52 pm

      Hi Lauren, first, my friend and I made these last night and I just want to say THANK YOU! These were amazing! So much so that I'm making them again tonight 🙂 My question to you is, do you think that I can bake these? I bake my cauliflower wings and they come out great and crispy so I'm wondering if I can do the same with the crab cakes. Again, thank you SO much for the recipe!

      Reply
    18. geoff

      May 17, 2016 at 12:15 am

      These are the reason that marinated artichokes are on every shopping list that I make. Made them for my picky non-vegan relatives and branded them artichoke cakes and they were a massive hit.

      Reply
    19. Joelle

      May 23, 2016 at 10:13 pm

      These look amazing! I would be so grateful if you created a vegan crab Rangoon recipe.

      Reply
    20. Taylor

      May 25, 2016 at 7:27 pm

      Made these last night...SO YUM! I had to change the recipe around a bit because my grocery store didn't sell chickpea flour. Instead I subbed in 1/4 cup cornmeal + 1/4 cup flour (for the 1/2 cup chickpea flour). This gave it a good colour and consistency so I would recommend it to anyone who wants to stick with common pantry items.

      Oh I also added a little bit of cornstarch to help it bind a bit better and I froze my formed patties beforehand so breading them was a sinch - they didn't fall apart at all!

      Needless to say, they were delicious! And that sauce...yummm

      Reply
    21. Ana

      June 10, 2016 at 1:27 pm

      I'm making these for my friend whose vegan and wanted to know if I could make a couple of hours ahead and just reheat in the oven. Thank you

      Reply
    22. Elaine

      June 28, 2016 at 1:31 am

      My friend and I made these the other night and we were pleasantly surprised! We only made the 'crab' cakes and not the sauce but they were tasty! However, I must say they did not taste much like crab. Probably because I had to sub out chickpea flour for all-purpose. They were very acidic and the marinated artichoke taste came through a lot. I would definitely make this again, but next time I would replace the marinated artichoke liquid with vegetable stock or some other liquid and use more Old Bay to make it taste less like artichoke and more like crab.

      Reply
    23. Salma

      July 09, 2016 at 9:18 am

      Just made these! They are incredible. We tripled the Old Bay though 🙂

      Reply
    24. Kate

      July 18, 2016 at 6:07 pm

      These are AWESOME! I am in Europe so I couldn't find Old Bay and made my own mixture following a recipe I found. It probably wasn't the same and the artichoke came through a little bit too tangy in the end. But I think using more spices and getting the combo right will make these perfect. I couldn't believe these didn't contain any dairy or egg!

      Reply
    25. Grantley

      July 23, 2016 at 11:37 am

      Made this this evening and it went without a hitch, served with romain, steamed brocci and quinoa. yum yum.

      Reply
    26. Lydia

      August 10, 2016 at 12:43 pm

      I made these tonight after binge watching on your yt chanel.
      My mum even had seconds! She loves artichoke and crab, she said they do not taste like crab but loves artichoke and she loved these! I love them too! So much i am going to make them again for lunch tomorrow 😀

      Reply
    27. R

      August 13, 2016 at 1:00 am

      I made these tonight and didn't feel like dealing with frying, so I stuck them in the oven (400 degrees, 30 min, flipped halfway through). Came out really great! Thanks for this awesome recipe!

      Reply
      • Lauren Toyota

        August 22, 2016 at 11:26 pm

        AWESOME! THANK YOU for sharing and trying it that way!

    28. Stacy Brunelle

      August 17, 2016 at 1:07 am

      Tried this recipe tonight and I loved it! My mom who LOVES crab even loved it too! So happy! I've been disappointed with some vegan recipes that just lack flavor but I am never disappointed with you guys!

      Reply
    29. Lisa

      September 15, 2016 at 11:56 pm

      I am not vegan but I have become obsessed with your videos & the food always looks amazing! Due to my sister having Crohn's, I have already been using lots of vegan products to help with her many food allergies. This recipe was so delicious! I need your cookbook like yesterday! Is there a timeline as to when to expect your cookbook? Looking forward to buying it, as well as copies for my other non-vegan friends. It's that good! Thanks!

      Reply
    30. B

      September 18, 2016 at 10:28 pm

      I had a lot of trouble getting the cakes to stick together? The only difference was I didn't use "marinated" artichokes, just canned. Not sure if this is the cause? Anyway, seems like there are lots of modifications in the comments that I can try to make them stickier. I'll be coming back to this recipe, the taste and texture was great!

      Reply
    31. Dee

      September 18, 2016 at 11:25 pm

      I no longer eat red meat or poultry. So, I'm always looking for vegan recipes. Today, I tried your vegan crab cakes with horseradish dill tartar sauce. The vegan crab cakes were okay but they really did not taste like crab cakes to me. I enjoyed the horseradish tartar sauce.

      I will check out more of your recipes.

      Thank you for sharing your recipes

      Dee

      Reply
    32. Jasmine

      September 20, 2016 at 10:24 pm

      I made this tonight for dinner and it was amazing! The taste and texture really remind me of crab....this will definitely be in our dinner rotation!

      Reply
    33. Una

      September 29, 2016 at 7:59 pm

      Call them Fab Cakes (combine fake and crab cakes!)

      Reply
    34. marvie

      October 05, 2016 at 10:49 am

      Hey Lauren! This is undisputedly one of my favourite dishes and have done it a lot of times, but do you think I can make the crab cake base, leave it in the fridge overnight and fry it the next day? I probably can but just want to see what you think. I don't know if the chickpea flour will change taste if I do that. Cheers!

      Reply
      • Lauren Toyota

        October 10, 2016 at 12:11 am

        yup that should be fine. Don't bread them though. Just make the mixture and then do the dredging and coating right before you fry.

    35. Erin

      November 18, 2016 at 5:12 pm

      I have made these so much, I love them! I wanted to make for my meat eating family and was wondering about making them the night before and then reheating in the oven the next day??? Or would they just dry out and not be as awesome? I am taking them to someone else's home and wanted to try and avoid frying in their kitchen. Thanks Lauren!

      Reply
    36. Amanda

      December 03, 2016 at 1:26 am

      I ALWAYS end up changing a recipe in one way or another. Partly because I'm living in South Korea and some of the ingredients can be hard to find, or just too expensive, or (more truthfully) I'm just too lazy to go out and hunt for certain things that I can't get at my local shop. For this recipe I ended up swapping out the celery and shallots for leeks. They came out AWESOME. Most of the time I don't mess with the spices but fresh dill and horseradish weren't easy to find (again lazy but not ashamed) so I just used a bit of wasabi paste and left out the dill altogether. The Old Bay would have been a serious challenge and require a trip to Seoul; but fortunately, and weirdly, this New Englander brought some from home and it really gave them that comfort food quality I was looking for. Much appreciation for all you guys are doing! I look forward to trying out more of your awesome recipes and hopefully I can adapt them as successfully as this one. 🙂

      Reply
    37. Soph NI

      January 04, 2017 at 10:28 am

      Tried yesterday evening for a dinner with a non-vegan friend, and we loved it !
      In france i don't know if we have "old bay" spices, so to add a sea-flavour I've added a bit of seaweed, and ras el hanout.
      I don't know really the conversion between your american "cups" and the french measurment so I calculate it at random.

      Didn't ate a crab cakes before so i don't know if it tastes like crab cakes !

      thanks you for all your good/punchy/vivid recipes

      Reply
      • Lauren Toyota

        January 04, 2017 at 4:24 pm

        nice that you improvised. I will have to look up that "ras el hanout" I wonder if its similar to old bay!? Sounds delish though! THANK YOU!

    38. Stephanie

      January 11, 2017 at 2:38 pm

      I love these so much I requested the caterers for my wedding make them. Meat eating family and friends loved them, many asked for the recipe.

      Reply
    39. Cheri

      March 27, 2017 at 1:47 pm

      I followed the recipe as written and tasted the mixture prior to breading... I thought it was lacking something but I tend to enjoy more full flavors. I added more Old Bay which helped. Also, my mixture seemed almost too wet which made it a challenge to keep the cakes together. The lemon horseradish sauce was incredible and I used the leftovers on roasted red skin potatoes. Very good!

      Reply
    40. Chihiro

      August 08, 2017 at 8:47 am

      Hi Lauren, it looks amazing! I just though it I can use Jackfruits instead of artichork?
      Thanks!

      Reply
      • Lauren Toyota

        August 08, 2017 at 6:33 pm

        ya probs!

    41. sheana gray

      September 02, 2017 at 2:35 pm

      I was not expecting this to be so good! Especially since I didn't have any old bay seasoning but OMG, they were amazing! Mine fell apart when I put them in the oil, so I put more almond flour in them and they held together more. I think next time I will bake them...less oil. I substituted almond flour for chickpea flour, unprocessed cane sugar crystals instead of coconut sugar, and I didn't use old bay seasoning and these still turned out fabulous! I love Hot for Food. I have been following for a while and decided to finally try some of their recipes since i'm transitioning in eating less meat and dairy and starting my son off on a good foot as far as eating.

      Reply
      • Lauren Toyota

        September 05, 2017 at 10:21 pm

        its probably because you used almond flour that they fell apart thereby more would have added more stickyness to bind. Nice troubleshooting!

    42. Anna

      March 05, 2019 at 6:19 pm

      Minor adjustments but this was a huge hit. Added a little more lemon, tripled the old bay. Added dill to the crab cake filling, added more salt. Topped with parsley and vegan parm straight out of the frying pan. Super delicious.

      Reply
    43. Jamie Mott

      July 16, 2019 at 9:33 am

      Thank you Lauren. These were just delicious! The vodka moment in your video had me crying with laughter.

      Reply
    44. Emily

      July 12, 2020 at 12:34 pm

      Could you air fry these?

      Reply
      • Lauren Toyota

        July 12, 2020 at 4:50 pm

        yes I have heard from other people that they have done it!

    45. Amanda

      April 18, 2022 at 9:07 am

      We needed to use gluten-free breadcrumbs instead of multi-grain due to an allergy, and everyone loved them just the same.
      Delicious!

      Reply
    4.38 from 37 votes (35 ratings without comment)

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Primary Sidebar

    Lauren Toyota is hot for food… as long as it’s vegan! She’s cooking up vegan love and bringing the increasingly popular lifestyle to food fans across the globe.

    More about me →

    popular

    • hot for holidays 2 ebook
      hot for holidays: MORE next level vegan recipes for a festive feast
    • overhead and close up of the tops of miso caramel sticky buns
      miso caramel cinnamon rolls
    • overhead of a serving of pineapple ginger snap ice cream
      vegan pineapple ginger snap ice cream
    • bowl of dill pick dip with a chip sitting in it
      dill pickle dip

    explore recipes

    • appetizers
    • bbq
    • breakfast
    • burgers
    • desserts
    • drinks
    • mains
    • salads
    • sandwiches
    • sauces
    • snacks
    • soups
    Nothing But Noods_cover

    featured on

    Footer

    ↑ back to top
    • privacy policy
    • about

    site by go-to-seo.com

    Copyright © 2024 hot for food LLC

    Rate This Recipe

    Your vote:




    A rating is required
    A name is required
    An email is required

    Recipe Ratings without Comment

    Something went wrong. Please try again.