Imitation Crab Roll Recipe

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Imitation Crab Roll Ingredients:

You can get the full list of ingredients with measurements in the recipe card below.

• Imitation crab meat – We prefer the lump imitation crab, also called flaky style, rather than the sticks for this recipe. It gives it a better texture and feels more like a real crab roll. But, if you can only find the sticks, they work.
• Celery – This adds some texture to the soft crab meat.
• Kewpie mayo – I prefer Kewpie mayo, which is a Japanese mayonnaise, in this recipe. It’s a little sweeter than American mayonnaise, so it complements the crab better. If all you have is American mayo, that’s fine.
• Lemon – The zest and juice of lemon adds the acidity that you’re used to crab rolls.
• Seasoning – Old Bay seasoning adds more of a seafood taste to the imitation crab meat, which is a little mild on its own, and salt brings out all of the flavors.
• Rolls – Any sort of hoagie roll that you can split from the top works.

How To Make Imitation Crab Rolls:

Rough chop your flaky, imitation crab meat and add it to a large bowl.

You don’t have to do this, but the flaky pieces in the 24 oz. bags of imitation crab meat have really large pieces in it, so I like to cut them a little bit smaller so they fit better in the rolls.

If you buy a couple of the 8 oz. packs rather than one 24 oz. pack, those pieces are generally smaller. You don’t have to cut those, but I do anyway.

Chop the celery and add it to the bowl.

I usually chop off the top and bottom of the celery and discard them. Then, I cut the celery in half lengthwise and make quarter inch cuts widthwise.

You don’t have to cut it exactly that size, but if you want your rolls to come out exactly like ours, that’s what I do.

Add in the mayo.

Quick note: I mentioned this up above, but Japanese mayo is a little sweeter than American mayo and I think it goes better with the crab. It only uses egg yolks, rather than the whole egg, so it’s creamier too. You have you can use American mayo if you prefer. You just might want to add a dash of sugar to sweeten it a little.

Grate in the rind of the lemon.

Then, cut the lemon in half and add in the juice.

Quick note: Every time I add citrus to a recipe, I have to give a Pete’s hack. Microwave the citrus for about 15 seconds in the microwave. Then, bang it on the counter and roll it aggressively. This helps to break apart the pulp inside, so you get more juice than you do from a cold lemon or lime.

Add in the Old Bay seasoning.

I often add this to imitation crab meat cause it adds the fishy flavor you’re looking for when you’re eating this without actually adding any sort of fish.

Add in the salt.

Stir until everything is combined.

When you’re stirring, look for any large pieces of imitation crab meat and break those apart. You kind of want everything to be as uniform as possible.

Also, there’s enough mayo in this to cover the imitation crab, but not hide it. Crab and lobster rolls tend to add a lot of mayo to them to add volume and to get away with using less seafood.

Since you’re using a really budget-friendly seafood option, you don’t need to do that.

Cut the rolls down the middle and gently open them.

We watch a lot of Beat Bobby Flay and one of his tricks is to partially hollow out bread when he’s making a sandwich so that you get more of the filling and less of the bread in each bite.

If you’re really stretching your budget, you don’t want to do this because you don’t wanna waste any bread. I get it. But you can always just eat that inside by itself or save it to make breadcrumbs. Or, just leave it.

Spoon the imitation crab mixture into the bread and serve.

I eat my sandwich as is, but Pete likes to add a dash of togarashi and a little hot sauce on his.

I usually serve this with homemade French fries if I’m making it on the weekend or chips if I’m making it for lunch.

Imitation Crab Roll: Frequently Asked Questions