This authentic, Maryland-style cream of crab soup is pure and simple perfection! My classic recipe is made with 10 ingredients and finishes in 35 minutes.
Recipe: sugarspunrun.com/cream-of-cra...
Ingredients
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter (56g)
1 medium onion, finely chopped (about 1 cup/140g)
3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour (25g)
1 Tablespoon Old Bay, plus additional for garnish, if desired
¼ teaspoon table salt, plus more to taste as needed
¼ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper, plus more to taste as needed
4 cups half and half (1 quart)(946ml)
2 cups heavy cream (1 pint)(473ml)
2 Tablespoons dry sherry
1 lb jumbo lump crab meat, picked over/shells removed (453g)
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Instructions
00:00 Introduction
00:31 Melt butter in a large pot over medium/low heat. Once melted, add onion and cook, stirring frequently, until softened.
01:43 Add flour and whisk until absorbed by the butter. Add Old Bay, salt, and pepper and continue to cook, whisking or stirring well, another 90 seconds longer.
02:51 Slowly whisk in half and half until all has been added. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally, until mixture is thickened (it should coat the back of a spoon).
04:43 Slowly stir in heavy cream, then add sherry and crab meat. Stir gently (don’t break up the crab meat too much by stirring vigorously) until combined and reduce heat to low. Cook 5-10 minutes longer, stirring occasionally, taste-test for more spices then serve.
Notes
Half & half
Instead of half & half you may use 2 cups of milk and 2 cups of heavy cream (this is in addition to the other 2 cups of heavy cream called for).
Crab meat
Use fresh crab meat, jumbo lump is my preference, but backfin could be used instead. Lump crab meat is finer and will shred more, but will work if it’s all you can find. Do not use imitation crab meat.
Sherry
Dry sherry is best for this recipe. If you don’t have any, a splash of wine would work, just make sure you try this recipe with sherry at least once to know how it should taste. If substituting wine, I recommend a dry white wine but my mother in law, who this recipe originated from, just uses whatever she happens to have on hand and it always turns out phenomenally! Add the wine to-taste (I usually need a splash more than I do of the sherry).
Storing
Allow soup to cool then store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Freezing
This recipe may be frozen for up to 4 months, note that I don’t personally love freezing this soup as it tends to degrade and may separate when thawed, but usually comes back together with some whisking. To reheat, thaw overnight in the refrigerator then reheat on the stovetop over low/medium low heat.
If the soup becomes too thick you can thin by adding a bit of water, but it usually becomes a nice consistency again once reheated.
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