Baked Crab Dip With Old Bay and Ritz Crackers

As a Baltimore native with a lifetime of experience making crab cakes and crab dip with glorious Chesapeake blue crab, let me suggest that you blend all dip ingredients except for the crab first; then, with a rubber spatula, gently fold in the crab meat taking care taken not to break up the lumps of crabby goodness. I read "mix with a fork until thoroughly combined" and winced. C'mon, hon!

As a born and raised Baltimorean, I second JRR's suggestion. Spending $38 on a pound of fresh jumbo lump crab meat means you want to preserve as many of those big yummy lumps as you can. I would add the Old Bay is pretty salty on its own, so I this recipe I would most likely omit the kosher salt. Also, there is salt in the cream cheese and parm as well.

I’ve made this 3 times now. Notes: no, the additional salt is not needed. Everybody is correct. X1 - no salt. Tasted great. I always up the Old Bay. I’ve upped it each time I’ve made it and have never had it over powered. Noticed that it needed more texture though. X2 - added celery to the mix for a little extra crunch. Delightful. Used red bell peppers as well as cucumbers for the dipping vehicles. Red bell peppers 10/10. Mmm. X3- more old bay. No salt. Left celery in. Red bell is great

Thing 3: I usually giggle at the comments that say “Your recipe is all wrong!” But seriously. Cream cheese. No. Here’s the recipe you were looking for from a former MDer and die-hard crab fan: Mix together 1 cup mayo, 3/4 cup cheddar, 2 tsp Old Bay, 1 tsp Worcestershire, and 1/4 tsp dry mustard. Gently fold in the best lump blue crab you can swing. Pile it into a casserole dish. Top with more shredded Cheddar; sprinkle a little Old Bay on top. Bake at 350 until bubbly. You’re welcome!

I winced too, JRR! Definitely mix everything before folding in the crab. And I've found that if everything is room temp, it's softer, so easier to fold in and keep as many of the lumps together. Also, I sub greek yogurt for the mayo because I have a serious aversion to mayo!

Ok, the Maryland folks will skewer me for this question but tell me….can you use canned crab meat or is that just preposterous?

I doubled the recipe using the Phillips lump crab from Costco. Mixed all ingredients before folding in the delicate crab and omitted the kosher salt altogether. It was delicious and everyone loved it!

So this is amazing, but if you add the salt in the recipe it will be all you taste. Even without it, I’m on a quest to lower the salt in this recipe. I used unsalted butter. I just researched that you can buy Old Bay with 30 percent less salt. That would help. I’m wondering if cream cheese comes low sodium? Use lots of lemon and scallions.

This recipe appears to be a direct retort to Mr. Troy Barnes, who once remarked, "don't eat the crab dip, yay-yayee!" Had Mr. Barnes tried this iteration, I doubt he would have been so dismissive!

This worked well with grated zucchini (salted, rinsed, and pressed) in place of the crab meat. Great party appetizer!

Terrible recipe - I prepared as instructed. I picked 7 fresh blue claw crabs. One cannot taste the crab - much too salty.

Was there ever a better time for dips than the 1970s? It seems like the 70s were all about dips. And jello too.

I have made a version of this for many years. I used Worcestershire instead on Old Bay but the rest was about the same. I bolster the seafood by adding cut up shrimp. You can cook the shrimp ahead or let raw shrimp cook while it's baking. Yum!

Made this with Phillips "special" crabmeat. It was not special. Too fishy, not crabby. It is hard to justify spending $$$$ on lump crab, only to put it in a dip, but cheaper crabmeat will not give you a good result.

Joe from Baltimore noted that Old Bay is salty. I'm from Baltimore, too. And I've been able to find a low sodium Old Bay in the local supermarket.