Healthier Hatch Chile Crab Cakes

Celebrate Hatch chile season with easy, lightened up Hatch chile crab cakes filled with jumbo lump crab and served with an avocado green chile sauce!

Do you ever get a craving for something random that just won't go away until you have that food? Mr. Table surely does, and he suggests that food for every meal until you finally give in. Most recently, he had the biggest catfish craving. I was not into getting catfish with him. I don't know if I've mentioned, but we live in west Texas, where there is not a lake or shore or fishing hole to be found. Not the most optimal place for seafood. He ended up fulfilling that craving without me. (Sorry, babe.)

I digress. Crab cakes.

I stayed at my parents' house a couple of weeks ago when I came back into town while finishing up my masters, and my dad was apparently craving crab cakes because he suggested crab cakes for dinner every night. My mom gave in and bought crab so we could make my dad some crab cakes. They were delicious.

I guess my dad passed his craving for crab cakes on to me because once I returned home, I couldn't get enough crab. I needed to make more crab cakes asap. Since it is also Hatch Chile Fest here in west Texas, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to spice up my crab cakes with a little southwest flair. Thus, the Hatch Chile Crab Cakes were born.

I love my crab cakes brimming with tons of luscious crab left on big chunks so I can really taste it. I add just enough bread crumbs to hold them together (and technically classify them as crab cakes). And of course, they have plenty of freshly roasted hatch green chiles to make them smoky and spicy and delicious. They're made healthier (and easier) by baking them in the oven brushed with a touch of olive oil (shout out to Sonali at The Foodie Physician for the genius method!) and using whole wheat breadcrumbs.

I like to use some of my homemade whole wheat sourdough bread to make my breadcrumbs. I simply toast a slice or two in the toaster and then grind it up in my Nutribullet to form breadcrumbs. That way I know they are both whole wheat and tasty. You can use this method for any bread you have on hand if you don't have any breadcrumbs. You can also use panko for the breadcrumbs if you want.

These Hatch Chile Crab Cakes are absolutely delicious served with my Roasted Poblano Avocado Crema that I made to pair with my Roasted Poblano, Corn and Goat Cheese Sweet Potato Bites. I simply replaced the poblano with a roasted hatch chile, and it turned out great! They are also equally delicious on their own with a squeeze of lemon.  They're the perfect party appetizer, tailgating snack, or light dinner that will surely satisfy your crab cravings!

Did you make this recipe? Please leave a star rating in the comments!

Hatch Green Chile Crab Cakes

Print Recipe

Celebrate Hatch chile season with easy, lightened up crab cakes filled with jumbo lump crab and spicy hatch chiles served with an avocado chile sauce.

• Author: Kaleigh
• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 15 minutes
• Total Time: 25 minutes
• Yield: 8 crab cakes 1x
• Category: appetizer
• Method: baked
• Cuisine: American

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 1 egg + 1 egg white, beaten
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1 cup lump crab meat
• ¼ cup chopped cilantro
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 3-4 roasted Hatch chiles, chopped (or about ½ cup canned green chiles)
• 1 cup whole wheat bread crumbs or panko
• ¼ tsp onion powder
• ¼ tsp smoked paprika
• ¼ tsp Old Bay seasoning
• Olive oil (for brushing)

For serving:

• Roasted Poblano Avocado Crema (made with roasted chiles instead of poblano)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 ° F.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs and lemon juice. Stir in crab, cilantro, garlic, and green chiles. Gently stir in bread crumbs, onion powder, paprika and Old Bay seasoning until just combined. Form into 8 patties and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone baking mat. Lightly brush the top of each with olive oil.
3. Bake for 15 minutes or until the tops are lightly golden. Remove form the oven and serve with Roasted Poblano Avocado Crema Preheat oven to 400 ° F.
4. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs and lemon juice. Stir in crab, cilantro, garlic, and green chiles. Gently stir in bread crumbs, onion powder, paprika and Old Bay seasoning until just combined. Form into 8 patties and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone baking mat. Lightly brush the top of each with olive oil.
5. Bake for 15 minutes or until the tops are lightly golden. Remove form the oven and serve with Roasted Hatch Chile Avocado Crema.

Keywords: baked crab cakes, hatch chile crab cakes, green chile appetizer