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Get It NowWhenever I’m entertaining, I have to have at least one creamy, cheesy dip. They check two very important boxes: fast to prep and always a hit. And this hot crab dip recipe definitely fits the bill! I’ll admit, my oldest 5-minute cold crab dip is still my go-to when I’m in a major rush. But when I want a warm — and still easy — version, making that adjustment is super simple. You can have this on the table in less than half an hour!
Why You’ll Love My Hot Crab Dip Recipe
- The perfect texture – The smoothness, the creaminess, the cheesiness. Not to mention plenty of lump crab meat. I wouldn’t have it any other way!
- Easy prep – It takes just 5 minutes, all in one bowl. With my hectic schedule, this is one of those appetizers I can pull together last-minute.
- Make ahead – Hosting can be stressful (even for a food blogger like me!), so anything you can prep ahead really takes the edge off. If the ultra fast prep time isn’t enough, you’ll love that you can assemble this crab dip in advance. Just pop it in the oven right before serving.
- Crowd pleaser – Everyone loves a creamy dip! And this one tends to win over even my friends that aren’t big on seafood.
Ingredients & Substitutions
This section explains how to choose the best ingredients for this crab dip recipe, what each one does in the recipe, and substitution options. For measurements, see the recipe card below.
Lump Crab Meat:
I highly recommend using jumbo lump crab meat, like this. It will make the best hot crab dip recipe with big crab chunks! If you don’t have any, here are some alternatives:
- Backfin crab meat, which is a combination of small pieces of lump crab meat and flakes of white body meat, is a cheaper alternative that is okay to use, but the texture of the dip won’t be as good as using only lump crab.
- Claw meat is the cheapest kind and you won’t get any chunks, but it does have a hearty crab flavor. Personally, I’m not a fan.
- If you have leftover fresh crab meat (such as from making crab legs), this is an excellent choice and tastes even better than the kind from a can. It’s always such a treat when I have some fresh for this recipe!
- Imitation crab meat works from a recipe standpoint, but the flavor and texture is completely different. Not my favorite at all!
Other Ingredients:
- Cream Cheese – The base of this hot crab dip recipe. I always use full fat cream cheese for best flavor, but light or neufchatel works fine, too. Make sure your cream cheese is softened at room temperature, so that it mixes in well.
- Sour Cream – If you want to lighten it up a bit, substitute Greek yogurt.
- Mayonnaise – Make my homemade mayo or use store-bought; either will work. You can also use only sour cream or only mayo instead of both, but combining them tastes better in my opinion.
- Lemon Juice – I always love adding lemon to seafood dishes, and this one is no exception. It really brightens the flavor! Fresh lemon juice tastes best, but not going to lie, I’ve been known to use bottled lemon juice as a convenient time saver.
- Old Bay Seasoning – This classic seafood seasoning makes an easy crab dip without messing with multiple spices individually. I love a good shortcut!
- Cheddar Cheese – We’re using shredded cheese, so buy it shredded to save some time or shred it yourself. Feel free to swap some of the cheddar for others, such as mozzarella or Parmesan cheese.
- Chives – These add delicate flavor and a pop of color. You could also use thinly sliced green onions instead.
- Hot Sauce – This is called hot crab dip because it’s warm, and while I add a dash of hot sauce, it is not spicy. If you like some heat, add more hot sauce, simply black pepper, or even some finely diced jalapenos. Unfortunately that’s usually a no-go in my house because I have young kids!
How To Make Crab Dip
This section shows step-by-step photos together with the instructions, to help you visualize the recipe. For full instructions, including amounts and temperatures, see the recipe card below.
- Mix the creamy base. In a large bowl, stir together the cream cheese, sour cream, mayonnaise, lemon juice, and Old Bay seasoning, until smooth. Sometimes I use a hand mixer to make this easy (yay!), but it’s a tradeoff because then I have to wash it (nay!).
- Add the cheese, chives, and hot sauce. Stir until uniform. Taste and adjust hot sauce and/or Old Bay seasoning if you like.
- Add the crab. Fold in the crab meat using a spatula.
- Bake. Spoon the mixture into a small baking dish (this one is the perfect size). Smooth the top. Place the baking dish in the oven and bake crab dip until hot. If desired, garnish the hot crab dip with more chives — I almost always do! Serve with your favorite dippers (see below for ideas).
My Top Recipe Tips
- Soften your cream cheese if it doesn’t mix well. You can microwave the mixture for about 30 seconds to soften it, then stir until completely uniform.
- Be gentle when folding in the crab. You want lumps of crab throughout the dip, so don’t overmix.
Recipe Variations
As always, I like simple, and simple means few ingredients. But I also get bored and like to change things up! If you want to take this dip to the next level, try one (or more) of these additions:
- Garlic – Add 2-3 cloves of minced garlic or 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder.
- Worcestershire Sauce – I decided not to include this due to the sugar content, but many crab dip recipes add this sauce for flavor depth and light sweetness. Feel free to add 1-2 tablespoons if you like.
- Salt – I don’t usually find it necessary to add any salt, since the cream cheese, cheddar, and Old Bay seasoning are already salty, but feel free to adjust to your taste.
- Bacon – Make bacon in the oven (my favorite method for crispy bacon), air fryer bacon, or microwave bacon. Crumble it and mix it into the dip.
- Spinach Artichoke – Stir about 1/2 cup drained frozen spinach and 1/2 cup chopped marinated artichoke hearts to the dip, or simply add crab meat to my spinach artichoke dip.
- Jalapeños – Add 1-2 jalapeños, finely diced, for a spicy kick.
Storage Instructions
- Store: After cooling the warm crab dip to room temperature, keep leftovers in refrigerator for up to 3 days. If I have leftover crab meat, I often use it to make a crab salad, but if I have a lot of extra dip, it’s yummy to turn into crab stuffed salmon!
- Make Ahead: You can make the dip ahead, place in a baking dish, cover with aluminum foil or plastic wrap, and store in the fridge for up to 3 days. Bake right before serving.
- Reheat: Bake crab dip in a 350 degree F oven, or heat gently in the microwave. (I recommend the oven if you can.)
- Freeze: I don’t recommend freezing this dip, as the dairy will change texture during freezing/thawing process. It’s safe to eat, but the texture won’t be smooth.
What To Serve With Hot Crab Dip
I like to serve this recipe for crab dip hot and fresh with a variety of dippers, so everyone can find something they like:
- Raw Veggies – My favorite! Mini bell peppers, celery sticks, cucumber slices, and carrots are all great for scooping up dips. When I make this dip for only my husband and kids, I just set it out with some veggies and call it a day.
- Crackers – Any kind will do, but flax seed crackers or almond flour crackers are delicious, real food options.
- Breads – Sliced baguette is a common choice with hot crab dip, but I don’t usually have it around at my house. When I want this with bread, I make my lighter almond flour bread.
- Chips – Use tortilla chips (or my almond flour tortilla chips), light and crispy zucchini chips, or any other kind you like.
- Mushrooms – You could even use this dip to stuff portobello or cremini mushroom caps! That’s exactly what I did in my recipe for crab stuffed mushrooms.
- Appetizer Spread – Sometimes when I have guests over, I like to just make an appetizer spread. This dip pairs well with crispy air fryer chicken wings, simple steak bites (for a surf and turf spread), or my flaky salmon bites.
My Favorite Baking Dish For This Recipe
I like this small baking dish. It’s nothing fancy, but it’s the perfect size for this dip and is beautiful enough to go from oven to table.
Hot Crab Dip (Easy & Creamy!)
This easy hot crab dip recipe is creamy, cheesy, and loaded with lump crab meat! It makes the perfect irresistible party appetizer.
Instructions
Tap on the times in the instructions below to start a kitchen timer while you cook.
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Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C).
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In a large bowl, stir together the cream cheese, sour cream, mayonnaise, lemon juice, and Old Bay seasoning, until smooth and creamy.
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Stir in the cheddar cheese, chives, and hot sauce, to taste. Adjust Old Bay seasoning to taste if needed.
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Using a spatula, fold in the crab meat. (Do this gently and don't over-mix. You want some lumps of crab throughout.)
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Transfer the crab dip to a small baking dish (mine was this oval one). Bake for about 20 minutes, until hot.
Did You Like It?
Leave a rating to help other readers, or get the recipe sent to your inbox.
Recipe Notes
Serving size: 1/4 cup
Nutrition facts are provided as a courtesy. Have questions about calculations or why you got a different result? Please see our nutrition policy.
© Copyright Maya Krampf for Wholesome Yum. Please DO NOT SCREENSHOT OR COPY/PASTE recipes to social media or websites. We’d LOVE for you to share a link with photo instead. 🙂
146 Comments
Padma
0I am a huge fan of dips, they make any meal so much more interesting! Love that this is cheesy.
Dianne
0I used Sriracha instead of hot sauce, and it turned out amazing! The dip is so creamy, cheesy, and so satisfying. Perfect for snacking.
Sage Scott
0I made mine dairy free by subbing out the traditional dairy ingredients. Soooo yummy and delicious!
jennifer
0Such a yummy and popular recipe when people coming over — they gobble it up! Making it this weekend again, for sure!
Dana
0We had this for a quick appetizer before dinner this weekend, and the whole thing was gobbled up! Even the kids loved it!
Natasha
0This easy hot crab dip recipe turned out to be super creamy and cheesy! My family loved this dip a lot!
Nora W
0I made this for book club and everyone loved it. I gave the recipe to 3 friends lol. I will definitely make it again.
Sha
0This is one of the best healthy appetizer I’ve tried! So easy and turned out incredibly delicious and satisfying!
Kristyn
0This is the perfect party appetizer!! It’s such a crowd-pleaser & full of flavor!!
Sherrill White
0I used Sriracha sauce as I didn’t have hot sauce. The recipe turned out amazing! This is a great party dip. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
Beth Anne
0I love this recipe! It’s so easy to make. I do use 16 oz of crab meat instead of 8 oz. The rest of the recipe I keep the same. I really like the suggestions for changing up the dip a bit too. Next time I’m going to try with jalapeños.
Laura
0It was really easy to make. We love anything with melted cheese so we loved it. It was slightly runny probably because of generic brand mayo so as always you get what you pay for and I learned a lesson.
Easy Peasy
0Love this! Easy to make for sure! I already had most of the ingredients anyway, prep was quick & only 20 minds to bake!
Kali
0What can I substitute cream cheese with? Can I use mozzarella or Alfredo sauce instead
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Kali, I have never tried either of those in this recipe, if you do please let me know the results.
Cathy Bodenhamer
0Do you use raw crab meat for this recipe when baking in the oven?
Wholesome Yum A
0Hi Cathy, I used canned white lump crab meat. You could also use Backfin crab meat, Claw meat, leftover fresh crab meat, or imitation crab meat.
Samovila
0Would it be possible to use shrimp in this? I can go buy crab but I happen to have shrimp on hand already.
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi, I have never tried that, but it should work!
June
0Can you double the batch?
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi June, Yes, you can double this recipe.
Denise
0I substituted Violife cream cheese and Kitehill vegan sour cream and the recipe was great.
Denise
0How about adding fresh jalapeño?
Wholesome Yum A
0Hi Denise, Absolutely, feel free to add finely diced jalapenos to the recipe for a spicy kick!
Karen
0I made this for a superbowl party for a small group; only about half of it was eaten. The overall consensus was that the cheese overpowered the crab, could barely taste the crab. Maybe, a milder cheese rather than cheddar would have been better. Next time I will try the cold crab receipe.
Richard Kurth
05 STAR MADE 5 TIMES ALREADY
sharon George
0I was thinking the ratio of crab to other ingredients was too slim. I will double crab when I make this tomorrow. Perhaps a milder cheddar, mozzarella or jack would be less prominent.
Lisa Eaton
0I’m going to try this asap!
rosanne drechsel
0Excellent. My family loved this. It was delicious. Thank you for this fabulous recipe.
Virginia Bates
0Can you use canned crab meat for this recipe?
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Virginia, Yes, you could use canned crab meat.
Kimberly Murphy
0I love both cold and warm crab dip, and your recipes are perfect! Simply delicious!
Lucinda
0Made this for a family gathering this week. It was a big hit, even my grandmother loved it. I ended up making 2 more batches.
Kathy
0I love your almond flour cracker recipe. I would serve them with this dip