Chorizo Crab Cake Sliders
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A few weeks back, the challenge was “Five Ingredients or Less” – which meant the main portion of the recipe had to use less than five components to make a dish. Ingredients like salt, pepper, and parsley don’t count towards the final ingredient count. With the challenge in mind, I set out to make chorizo crab cakes with just five ingredients.
I love any good ‘land and sea’ themed food but usually those combinations include beef or steak instead of sausage. Because chorizo needs to be cooked through, opposed to beef being medium rare for example, it’s important to maintain a good crab to sausage ratio.
My crab cakes were held together with mayonnaise, eggs and whole grain mustard. The chorizo does a pretty good job of holding the crab cakes together – in a traditional crab cake recipe, I’d be using panko or breadcrumbs to achieve a solid crab cake.
It’s also important that the chorizo is dispersed evenly though the crab so that it cooks all the way through. As you can see from my image above, the chorizo is nearly indistinguishable from the crab meat.
The crab cakes need about 2-3 minutes per side to be completely cooked through – when the cakes are firm in the center, you’ll know they are ready. While I cooked my crab cakes, I prepared some toppings for my sliders.
First I slapped some pineapple slices on a grill pan until they were sufficiently marked with grill lines. I also threw together a simple “tar tar slaw” (as I call it) for a simple cole slaw inspired topping.
While I used my crab cakes between slider buns for this recipe, I used the leftover patties for eggs bennies, side dishes to salmon and just, well plain. They are good no matter which way you eat them!
I love any good plays on sweet and spicy, and this twist on land and sea really hits the spot. And with essentially five ingredients – they are super easy too!
Chorizo Crab Cake Sliders
Ingredients
FOR CHORIZO CRAB CAKES:
- 16 oz lump crab meat
- 8 oz spicy chorizo
- 1 egg
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon whole grain mustard
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley chopped
- ½ cup vegetable oil for frying
- salt & pepper to taste
FOR TARTAR SLAW:
- ½ cup red cabbage shredded
- 3 tablespoon carrots shredded
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 tablespoon sweet pickle relish
OPTIONAL EXTRAS:
- slider buns for serving
- grilled pineapple slices for serving
- shredded lettuce for topping
Instructions
- In a large bowl, stir together the crab meat, chorizo, egg, mayonnaise parsley, and whole grain mustard until the chorizo is completely incorporated into the crab meat. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Stir together the remaining mayonnaise, relish, and lemon juice. Pour over the shredded cabbage and carrots and stir until the totally covered. Chill until ready to serve. OPTIONAL: Grill pineapple on a cast iron grill pan until grill marks appear.
- Heat a tablespoon of oil over medium high heat in a large skillet. Grab 1/4 cup sized portions of the meat mixture. Round into a ball and flatted to be about 1/2 inch thick. Cook the crab cakes in batches of 3-4, for 3-5 minutes per side until the cakes are browned and cooked through.
- Served the cooked crab cakes on toasted slider buns and topped with grilled pineapple and tar-tar slaw. Enjoy!
