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Legendary macaroni cheese gets elevated with an indulgent dash of seafood. Crab mac and cheese is everything you want it to be; oozy, smooth cheese sauce, and bitey pasta, with the elegant addition of sweet crab meat. Easy to dress up or down, how will you serve yours?
I am a crab lover to the core. I actually prefer it to lobster! So it’s unsurprising you’ll find a number of crab recipes here. Besides quick and easy crab pasta, there’s crab cakes, crab fried rice and a hot crab and roasted corn dip to name just a few.
Seafood mac and cheese
Mac and cheese needs no introduction on my blog, besides the classic baked mac and cheese, I’ve tinkered with the recipe making using of smoky Polish kielbasa sausage, luxurious truffles, French brie cheese, even smoky roasted butternut squash. And now seafood! Crab to be precise.
But why? It really is the convergence of two worlds. Two textures. Two flavours. We associate mac and cheese with creamy, homemade comfort that’s affordable. And crab with fine dining and elegance.
Here the two can be combined and brought to the table in a way that still feels a little luxurious and a little familiar.
As for the taste. Crab meat is fine, delicate and sweet. You would think it would be overpowered by a sharp and salty cheese sauce, but actually they compliment each other beautifully.
The same goes for the texture; a slight chew to the crab and This is an affiliate link.macaroni, and a thick and fluid flow of cheese sauce makes a perfectly balanced mouthful.
This dish is both the right side of elegant without being pretentious and the right side of rustic without being rough. I hope you love it!
Recipe Tips and Notes
- Be careful not to over bake your baked crab macaroni and cheese. Any longer than 10 minutes will shrink the tender crab and start to solidify the oozy sauce.
- Grate your own cheese. The pre-grated kind has all sorts of unpalatable nasties that will ruin the smoothness of your carefully blended sauce. Use the best quality cheese you can.
- I like a combination of medium to aged cheddar and French Comté. Comté is a cheese I adore after touring the region it comes from. Learn a little about how it’s produced and fall in love with it too after reading my ode to Jura.
- I used cooked crab meat that was a mix of white and brown. Feel free to use fresh if you can get it, it is infinitely moist and sea-flavoured! Or if you’re really pushing the fishing boat out, lobster is lovely too.
- 200g/7oz of crab meat to 450g/1lb of macaroni is the perfect ratio, in my opinion. Less enthusiastic seafood eaters might want to halve the crab measure.
- Nothing beats a golden, melty topping. If you like to add breadcrumbs to your baked mac and cheese, use panko breadcrumbs for the ultimate golden crust.
Serving suggestions
Seafood mac and cheese is surprisingly versatile. It’s both a luxury dish that could be served with an expensive and juicy tomahawk steak and champagne, and a humble comfort with a simple corn-on-the cob and cold beer.
The question really is, are you serving your crab meat mac and cheese as the main event or supporting side?
This rich and cheesy dish will always benefit from an ingredient that will cut through the weight of melted cheese and pasta, so I like to serve something lemony- which also compliments crab. Sides like lemon butter green beans or peppery garden salad will assist digestion and bring the zing.
As a side itself, besides a surf’n’turf steak, lemon butter chicken cutlets or salmon with dill sauce have just the right amount of fresh herbs and acidity to keep the meal in balance.
Storage and leftovers
In my house, any kind of macaroni and cheese dish is consumed as though life depended on it, and the dishes all but licked clean. If you have any leftovers though, they will keep in an This is an affiliate link.airtight container for 3-4 days.
Reheat in the microwave for 60-90 seconds, or on the stove top with an extra splash of milk. Don’t re-bake this baked mac and cheese or you run the risk of it drying out miserably.
More pasta recipes to try
- Easy Carbonara Sauce
- Spicy Sausage Pasta with Ricotta
- Creamy Salmon Pasta with Mixed Greens
- Sun-Dried Tomato and Chilli Spaghetti with Shrimp and Arugula
Crab Mac and Cheese
Ingredients
- 450g / 1 lb This is an affiliate link.macaroni
- 3 tbsp butter
- 3 tbsp flour
- 500ml / 2 cups whole milk
- 240g / 2 cups (12 oz) grated cheddar cheese, or a mix of cheddar and your favourite cheese
- 120g / 1 cup Comte cheese, or Gruyere
- Salt to taste
- 200g / 7 oz cooked crab meat
Instructions
- Cook the macaroni in a large pot of salted water according to package instructions. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F.
- Meanwhile, make the cheese sauce by melting the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat, blend in flour with a wire whisk. Continue cooking for 1-2 minutes while stirring the entire time. The mixture will turn yellow and start to smell pleasantly nutty. Now add the milk gradually while stirring to avoid lumps, allow the sauce to thicken for 5-7 minutes over medium heat. Stir in all but 1/2 cup of the grated cheese and allow it to melt and fully incorporate into the sauce. Set aside the reserved cheese for a topping.Then stir in the crab meat. Add salt to taste. (Don't forget the salt!)
- Drain the pasta, then return it to the pot and pour the cheese sauce over it, stir to coat. Turn out the macaroni and cheese into a buttered baking dish (at least 3.5-4 Quart/3.5-4 L capacity). Top with grated cheese and bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. (Baking it longer will only dry out the sauce!)
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
