Leave the cute little crabs where they belong & make these Thai Style Vegan Crab Cakes instead. Tender, moist, packed with flavour & subtly ‘fishy’, they are so like the real deal! And they are really easy to make!
THIS RECIPE IS SPONSORED BY REESE SPECIALITY FOODS
These are such a big deal in my life right now. I haven’t felt this way since my Baked Vegan Mac and Cheese. It’s the bomb and so are these Thai Style Vegan Crab Cakes.
I have been making them non-stop over the past couple of weeks. They are just perfect. Perfect flavour, perfect texture and they look mighty fine too, in all of their crispy, golden gloriousness! 😋
These Thai Style Vegan Crab Cakes are incredible. They are golden, tender, moist, flaky and absolutely full of flavour thanks to a combo of Thai Red Curry Paste, green onions, lime, tamari and ginger. If you aren’t big on spicy food, don’t be put off because there isn’t much Thai red curry paste in them and they aren’t really spicy. Having said that if you do like spice feel free to add more!
WHAT GIVES THESE VEGAN CRAB CAKES THEIR SLIGHTLY FISHY TASTE?
The addition of nori sheets  is what makes these Vegan Crab Cakes taste ‘of the sea’ and slightly fishy.
You know?… The stuff you use to roll sushi. You can pick it up in most stores now and it is perfect in this recipe.
In addition to nori, you are going to need a new ingredient. (I’m assuming it’s new to you because it was to me until I stumbled upon it quite recently!) Â That ingredient is Hearts of Palm. I used the Reese Speciality Foods brand in my Crab Cakes and they worked brilliantly.
Hearts of Palm are not to be confused with palm oil. They are a totally different species of palm tree and are grown in different parts of the world entirely. They are a really tasty, versatile and nutritious ingredient. Rich in potassium, cholesterol free and a great source of plant powered protein. The perfect addition to your vegan recipes!
You will find them in most grocery stores. They will be with the canned vegetables, usually pretty near the artichokes. Reese Speciality Foods have a handy store locator on their site so if you get stuck finding them give it a try.
You can buy hearts of palm in all sorts of shapes and sizes. Medallions, sliced, pieces, but the long tubular sticks are better for this particular recipe because you need to shred or grate them.
The cans look like this:
The shredded hearts of palm and some chopped canned artichoke hearts are what gives these vegan crab cakes their crab meaty texture. It really is so similar once it’s shredded up. In combination with the artichoke and the nori it is so hard to believe that there is no actual crab in these cakes!
Just look at that inside shot!
HOW TO MAKE MY THAI STYLE VEGAN CRAB CAKES
These vegan crab cakes are so simple to make. The base ingredient and glue to hold them all together is mashed potato.
1 – Add the green onions, curry paste, tamari, lime zest, lime juice and ginger to a food processor
2- Break up some nori sheets and add them too
3 – Process until you have a slightly chunky paste
4- Grate or shred the Hearts Of Palm
5 – Chop the artichoke hearts
6 – Mix everything together with the mashed potato and a generous amount of seasoning
7 – Shape into patties
8 – Either pan fry or oven bake
These Thai Style Vegan Crab Cakes really don’t take long at all to make. With just a few easy steps they are done and ready to cook. They will keep in their uncooked state for 3 to 4 days in the fridge and for the same time once cooked so are perfect for making in advance. They also reheat really well once cooked. Â I haven’t tried it because we always eat them too quickly, but I think they would probably freeze well.
HOW TO SERVE VEGAN CRAB CAKES
As it’s summer we have been enjoying these yummy Vegan Crab Cakes with lots of fresh and crisp salad for dinner. They are particularly good with my Tomato Chickpea Salad with Cilantro & Lime. Â You could also serve them with home-made potato wedges, steamed new potatoes, polenta, grits, arugula, corn on the cob, potato salad, coleslaw or even in a bun as a veggie burger substitute. They would also be fab made into mini cakes and served with a sweet chili dipping sauce <double drool> either as an appetizer at a dinner party or as part of a buffet.
However you serve them they will be awesome. SO awesome that I am about to make them again for dinner tonight. Told ya we can’t get enough! 😛
You also need to make them now, like right now.
Go!
The crabs and I will thank you..🦀 And you will thank me right after because they really are the bomb!
Share your pics with me on Instagram. I’d love to see. Use the hashtag #avirtualvegan so I don’t miss them! You can rate the recipe and leave a comment below too!
Thai Style Vegan Crab Cakes
Leave the cute little crabs where they belong & make these Thai Style Vegan Crab Cakes instead. Tender, moist, packed with flavour & subtly 'fishy', they are so like the real deal! And they are really easy to make!
Ingredients
- 600g / 4 cups diced or about 4 medium potatoes
- 7-8 individual / 1 bunch green onions
- 1 lime , zest & juice
- 1½ inch knob of fresh ginger
- 1 tablespoon Tamari , or soy sauce
- 4 tablespoons Thai Red Curry Paste
- 4 sheets nori
- 220g / 1 can hearts of palm , the long tubular shaped ones work best
- 100g / ¾ cup canned artichoke hearts
- pepper , to taste
- salt , to taste
- 2 tablespoons oil for pan frying , optional
Instructions
Peel and cube the potatoes then add them to a pan. Cover with water and boil until fork tender then drain, mash and set aside.
While the potatoes are boiling, add the green onions, lime juice, lime zest, ginger, tamari and curry paste to a food processor. Break the nori sheets up into manageable pieces and put them in the food processor with the other ingredients. Process until it is a paste. The nori tends to stay a little chunkier than everything else and that is ok.
Drain the hearts of palm and either grate them, or shred them with a fork, then drain the artichokes and roughly chop. Be sure to drain them throughly and give the artichokes a little squeeze to get any residual liquid out of them.
Once the potatoes have cooled enough to handle, add the paste and stir through really well so it's evenly distributed then add the shredded hearts of palm and the chopped artichoke and stir through gently.
Form into patties and place them on a tray with some baking parchment as you go. To cook you can either pan-fry them, oven bake or cook them on a griddle. They are best pan-fried as they develop a lovely golden crust.
To pan-fry
Warm a couple tablespoons of oil in a pan over medium high heat. Once really hot add the crab cakes carefully. Leave them well alone for around 4 minutes to allow a thick, golden crust to develop then turn over and do the same on the other side. Remove from the pan and rest them on some kitchen paper to absorb excess oil. Your pan probably wont be big enough to cook them all at once so have the oven on low and pop the cooked ones in there to keep warm while you cook the rest.
To griddle
Warm your griddle to a medium high heat. When hot carefully place the crab cakes on the griddle and cook for 4-5 minutes each side.
To oven bake
Place on a tray on baking parchment and bake at 400°F for around 25 minutes. Turn over half way through.
Recipe Notes
Once shaped into patties the crab cakes can be stored in the fridge for a few days before cooking.Â
If you have leftovers they reheat really well in the oven.Â
This post is sponsored by Reese Specialty Foods. Â Thank you for continuing to support the brands who help make this site possible.
Shelly says
What brand of Red Curry paste do you use?
A Virtual Vegan says
I tend to use the Thai Kitchen one as it’s the only one easily available in the stores here. It’s great in these crab cakes.
Teresa says
I had a little trouble with this recipe. It seemed like the lime juice overpowered the other flavors, and my crab cake batter was pretty soft and wet so it didn’t hold it’s shape too well. When I baked them on parchment paper, they got stuck and it was a mess to flip them over. They did much better when I tried them in my air fryer at 380 deg F for 15 minutes.
Next time I think I’ll cut back on the lime juice, maybe let the batter dry out in the fridge. If baking, I do recommend drizzling some oil over your parchment paper. That might have prevented my problem.
Overall still very good! The texture reminded me of the Portuguese codfish cakes my mom and grandmother used to make, so I might try to veganize those using this recipe as a base.
Maggie says
Is the Nori the reason the Sodium is 580mg/cake?
My husband has Hypertension and I know he’s going to want at least 2.
Thank you.
A Virtual Vegan says
Nori is pretty high in sodium but there isn’t that much in each crab cake so I don’t think it’s a major contributor. It’s canned hearts of palm and artichokes that are making the sodium content so high. They are generally canned in a brine solution. You could cut the sodium by using a sodium free soy sauce or coconut aminos instead of the tamari and by trying to find low sodium hearts of palm and artichokes. I’ve never looked for them so I’m not sure how easy that would be. Pre-made red curry paste is pretty high in sodium too. I just checked my jar in the fridge and it has 350mg per tablespoon. Making your own red curry paste would reduce that substantially. If you made the cakes he would be wanting 2 for sure. I’m sorry that it’s not looking like the best recipe for him.
Maggie says
Thank you for quick response 😊
I will try the coconut amino since I have some here and look into making my own red curry paste. I don’t mind the extra work. I think this would be a nice treat for him.
Nicole says
Can these be frozen before cooking and if so, how long will they last in the freezer?
A Virtual Vegan says
I haven’t tried freezing them so I’m not sure how they would fare. Potato does tend to go a bit grainy when frozen so that would be my only worry. Perhaps just try with one or two first in case it doesn’t work out well?
lisa says
is there a secret in getting rid of that bitter taste from palms of heart i tried making crabless crab cakes and that bitter flavor ruined it. its the liquid that it soaks in. i wanna give it another try and master the crabless crab cake
A Virtual Vegan says
That’s a shame! I don’t find hearts of palm bitter. They do have distinctive taste though. I don’t think there’s much you can do about that if you buy canned ones, as like you say, it’s because of the liquid they are soaking in. I almost think they taste a bit like mild olives. Reese Specialty Foods who I link to in the post, sell jars of marinated hearts of palm. They might be a better choice for you if you can find them. If you can’t though, all you can do is pack as much flavour as you can into the cake then it will mask the taste you don’t like, or, just use all artichokes and no hearts of palm perhaps?
This recipe would be a good one for you to try again as it’s got lots of other powerful flavours going on. My husband is pretty sensitive to funny tastes and had never tried hearts of palm. He loved these crab cakes. Hope that helps!
Greg says
Great idea and the flavors that you are combining here are so good – they taste wonderful and we really enjoyed them!
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you Greg! They are absolutely packed with flavour!
Gregory says
Mel, these are awesome! We loved everything about them. Thank you for a wonderful recipe!
A Virtual Vegan says
So glad you enjoyed them and thank you for stopping by to let me know!
Nico @ yumsome says
These do look rather good, Mel. I really like using artichokes in crabless cakes but I’ve not used plam hearts. 🙂
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you. Hearts of palm are my new favourite ingredient. I have so many recipe ideas!
Linda from Veganosity says
YUM! These look wonderful, Melanie. I make a similar “crab” cake, but not with the flavors you used. Love this!
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you Linda!
Sarah says
Yum! These look so good. I love the versatility of heart of palm!
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you Sarah. Hearts of palm are such a great ingredient!
The Herbivorous Traveler says
They are so simple and tasty! Perfect switch up for a vegan dinner.
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you!
Marlena | Where You Get Your Protein says
I’m a novice when it comes to crab cakes, but these look crispy and delicious! I can’t wait to try them!
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you! I hope you enjoy them!
Choclette says
Not sure I want “fishy” but the ingredients sound wonderful, so I’m sure I’d like them. You’re recipes are always inspiring.
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you Choclette! You could reduce the nori or omit it completely then the slightly fish flavour would be no more!
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine says
Hearts of palm of one of my favorite “meaty” subs and always have a few cans on hand! Crab cakes are essential!
A Virtual Vegan says
I agree! Ideas for hearts of palm recipes are bursting out of my head at the moment. Watch out for more of them!
Letty / Letty's Kitchen says
Such a fun recipe–They are amazing!
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you Letty!
Amy Katz from Veggies Save The Day says
It’s amazing how much they look like the crab cakes I used to eat back in the day! I would much rather eat yours. Can’t wait to try them!
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you Amy. I have memories of horrible bits of crunchy shell when I ate them in the past 🤢 Crabless cakes are a much more appetizing prospect!
Mrs. T says
How clever! I’m excited to try this recipe!
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you. Let me know what you think when you try them!