Baked Parmesan Dip With Crabmeat
Festive and fabulous, this baked parmesan dip with crabmeat is the perfect appetizer for your next restaurant style seafood dinner.
Perfect for any occasion, not only because it is so easy to make but because the flavor strikes the right balance of delicately seasoned crabmeat with a hot and creamy sauce.
Instead of mayo, we substitute a rich blend of labneh and sour cream, that is lower in fat and calories.
Labneh, a thick yogurt cheese is similar to cream cheese and when mixed with a little sour cream, the texture is a perfect alternative to mayo.
You won’t even know the mayo is missing. It’s really that good!
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Ingredients Used in Baked Parmesan Dip With Crabmeat
- Crabmeat — typically made with lump crabmeat, you can use canned crabmeat for convenience. If you’d like to go all out, you can remove crab meat from crab legs and mix that in as well.
- Parmesan Cheese — freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano parmesan cheese.
- Cream Cheese — we used regular Philadelphia cream cheese.
- Labneh — a thick yogurt cheese, similar in flavor to cream cheese, we like to substitute it for mayo and use less cream cheese.
- Sour Cream — we recommend to use regular sour cream, not light or fat free, although you can if that’s what you have on hand.
- Hot Sauce — we like Frank’s Red Hot sauce for a little kick, you can use your favorite hot sauce for a little kick.
- Seasoning — Old Bay seasoning or an all purpose seasoning blend, if you don’t have Old Bay.
- Garlic — garlic cloves, minced finely by hand or through a garlic press.
- Lemon Juice — freshly squeezed lemon juice for the best flavor.
Optional Garnishes include snipped chives, green onions or parsley.
How To Make Baked Parmesan Dip with Crabmeat
This baked parmesan dip with crab couldn’t be any easier to make. Just place your crab and remaining ingredients (except for a half cup of parmesan cheese) into a medium bowl.
Mix it all up well and place into an oven save baking dish that also functions as a serving bowl.
Sprinkle the rest of the parmesan cheese on top. Place the oven safe dish with dip in the preheated oven for about thirty minutes, enough for the dip to heat through and become golden in color.
Serve with crackers and nacho chips.
Oh and if you’re planning to take a pic, remember to do so before it’s almost gone! 🙂 That is definitely the most difficult part of this recipe!
Health Benefits of Crabmeat
Lump crabmeat is very low in carbs while being rich in protein. It is a good source of vitamin B12, selenium and omega 3 that has anti-inflammatory benefits.
What To Serve With Baked Parmesan Dip With Crabmeat
Baked parmesan dip with crabmeat goes so well with many main courses, particularly it reminds us of Red Lobster parmesan crab dip.
We love it for a homemade seafood restaurant inspired dinner with the following:
You’ll want to have a variety of crackers, pita bread cut into wedges and nacho chips to go with it. You can also serve with prepared vegetables like carrot, cucumber and celery sticks.
Plus, it’s a great appetizer for a surf and turf steak dinner or BBQ dinner.
You can serve it for any occasion, like Super Bowl game day, Valentine’s, Birthdays, Anniversaries, Christmas, Thanksgiving, New Year’s Eve and more.
What’s more, it pairs well with additional restaurant style appetizers (listed below) as well as a freshly made salad or soup.
It’s truly a go to recipe that you can make often.
Preparation and Storage Tips
Prepared crab dip can be stored in the refrigerator (covered) for up to five days.
Later, when you’d like to reheat, remove any plastic wrap and place the oven safe serving dish into the oven to heat through. Keep a close watch to ensure it doesn’t burn.
Alternatively, you can remove the plastic wrap and microwave the crab dip.
More Restaurant Style Appetizers (Copycat Recipes)
These are some excellent Red Lobster inspired appetizers that are fantastic in a seafood dinner style menu:
- Red Lobster Style Crab Pita Pizza
- Escargot Stuffed Mushrooms
- Red Lobster Lobster Artichoke Dip
- Stuffed Mushrooms With Crabmeat
You’ll Also Love
This crab dip inspired Crab Melt Pita Pizza is perfect for a quick weeknight pizza dinner. Serve with Swedish pizza salad or a house style salad to round out the meal.
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Red Lobster Parmesan Crab Dip Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 ounces Crab Meat, canned, drained
- 1-½ cup Parmesan Cheese, grated (save ½ cup for garnish)
- ½ cup Cream Cheese, softened
- ½ cup Labneh, (or Greek yogurt)
- ½ cup Sour Cream
- 2 teaspoons Lemon Juice, fresh squeezed
- 1 teaspoon Hot Sauce, Frank's
- ½ teaspoon Seasoning, Old Bay
- 3 cloves Garlic, minced
Instructions
- Mix all ingredients (aside from ½ cup of the parmesan cheese) in a medium size mixing bowl.
- Pour the mix into an oven-safe baking dish.
- Sprinkle the remaining parmesan cheese across the dish. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes until lightly browned. Serve with crackers or nacho chips.
Nutrition
Note
The above nutritional values are estimates and should only be used as a guide. If you are following a specific diet or have dietary restrictions, please use your preferred nutritional calculator. If you have a food allergy please ensure that none of the listed ingredients are part of your restrictions. As well, always use a food thermometer to ensure safe cooking temperature of the food items.
