Maryland is known for its seafood, particularly its crab, and this Maryland crab soup is an excellent way to showcase that shellfish. In Maryland, you’ll have no problem finding crab soup or cream of crab when dining out. If you don’t live in the state, however, you’re not out of luck—you can make this soup yourself in a slow cooker.
This is vegetable-heavy, which means a lot of chopping and slicing in preparation. Go ahead and use thawed frozen vegetables when possible to make the prep a little easier. Those vegetables will also hold up better in the soup compared with canned veggies and won’t become too squishy after cooking. Canned vegetables will already be soft when you add them, and the cooking process could make them overly soft, if not downright mushy.
Maryland Crab Soup Ingredients
- Diced tomatoes with green peppers and onion: You get three flavors in one here when you use canned diced tomatoes, peppers and onion. The undrained tomatoes mix with the broth to create a pleasant, savory base for the soup.
- Potatoes: In addition to providing something solid to bite into, the potatoes will also help thicken the soup as they soften.
- Rutabaga: Rutabagas (aka swedes in other parts of the world) have a sweet flavor and soften very well in soup. However, if you don’t like rutabaga, can’t find them or think they’re too hard to cut up when raw, you can omit them in this recipe.
- Cabbage: Cabbage provides bulk, fiber and nutrients.
- Onion: The taste of fresh onion mellows out when cooked, helping counter the acidity of other ingredients.
- Carrot: Add some sweetness to the finished soup with fresh carrots.
- Frozen corn: Corn adds another flavor to the soup. Using frozen corn is fine.
- Frozen lima beans: These add a lot of fiber and protein to the soup. Use frozen instead of canned for better texture.
- Frozen peas: Frozen peas add more flavor and fiber. Don’t use canned, as they’ll be too mushy.
- Fresh green beans: The green beans add another vegetable for additional flavor and fiber.
- Seafood seasoning: The many ingredients in this soup contribute to the overall flavor, but you need something to pull them all together. Seafood seasoning will do that; most Maryland crab soup recipes use Old Bay brand seasoning.
- Celery seed: This is an amazing spice that will further enhance the overall flavor of the soup, along with the seafood seasoning.
- Vegetable bouillon cube: Bouillon cubes lend that coveted umami flavor to recipes.
- Fresh or lump crabmeat: This is the main ingredient here. Break or cut the meat up into small chunks so they cook more quickly.
Directions
Step 1: Slow-cook most of the ingredients
In a 6-quart slow cooker, combine all the ingredients except the crabmeat. Cook, covered, on low for six to eight hours. The vegetables should be tender when done.
Step 2: Add the crab and heat through
Add the crabmeat and cover the slow cooker, then cook on low for an additional 15 minutes, or until everything is heated through.
Maryland Crab Soup Variations
- Use beef broth: Traditional crab soup uses beef broth instead of vegetable broth, so give that variation a try and see if you prefer it.
- Add cooked crab claws: You can buy precooked (often steamed) crab claws and add them to the soup for extra flavor. Boil them in water for at least six minutes, then add them to the soup at the same time as the crabmeat, and cook for another 15 minutes.
How to Store Maryland Crab Soup
Store Maryland crab soup in an airtight container in the refrigerator for no more than three days. Freezing may be possible, although it might not be the best option, as freezing and thawing may affect the texture of the ingredients in a negative way. If you do decide to freeze the soup, thaw it in the refrigerator for a day or so before reheating it. You may actually want to make a test batch where you store some in the refrigerator and some in the freezer, then compare reheated versions.
How do you reheat Maryland crab soup?
Put the portion you want to reheat in a saucepan over medium heat. (Remember, soup that was frozen needs to be thawed first before reheating.) Keep stirring until the soup has warmed up. The crabmeat should be 165°F internally; check with an instant-read meat thermometer.
Maryland Crab Soup Tips
Can you use imitation crab for Maryland crab soup?
What is Maryland crab soup without real crab? In other words, we don’t recommend using imitation crab for this recipe because the taste will be different. Imitation crab is made from other fish, and this is a soup meant to spotlight actual crabmeat. Stick with the real thing.
Can you use a homemade seasoning mix?
You could, and there are a number of copycat Old Bay recipes available online. But Old Bay itself is easy to find and saves a lot of time and money, given that it contains 18 different spices and herbs.
Can you use frozen mixed vegetables instead of chopping up fresh ones?
Yes, you can, but make sure they taste good. It won’t be of any benefit to the soup if the vegetables are bland.
What can you serve with Maryland crab soup?
Some sort of bread is a common accompaniment, especially cornbread or crackers. Another option is crusty wheat bread with butter.
