These Crabless Cakes are truly amazing, due to a unique ingredient: Lion’s Mane mushroom! I usually steer clear of specialty ingredients, but this type of mushroom is so close to crab meat in texture, it’s incredible and worth seeking out!
Crabless Cakes
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
- Yield: 11 patties 1x
Ingredients
Sweet-n-Spicy Sauce:
- 2 pitted Medjool dates (or 4 Deglet Noor)
- 1½ cups silken tofu
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons mustard
- 1 clove garlic
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
Cakes:
- 6 oz. Lion’s mane mushrooms (or see Notes)
- 1 cup cooked cannellini beans, rinsed and mashed well
- 1 cup small-chopped celery (about ribs)
- ½ cup small-chopped yellow or white onion
- ¼ cup finely chopped fresh parsley
- ½ cup rolled oats
- 6 tablespoons Sauce
- Lemon wedges
Instructions
- To start the Sweet-n-Spicy Sauce, place the pitted dates into a small bowl and cover with hot water; set aside. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (for this recipe, I’ve found that parchment crisps and browns the better than a silicone baking mat).
- To prepare the Cakes, start by pulling apart the mushroom florets/large pieces, then shred each by pulling smaller pieces off, which will look like crab meat. This takes me about 15 minutes, as it’s careful work, and you should have about 3½ cups once shredded. Put into a mixing bowl.
- Add the mashed beans, small-chopped celery, onion and parsley to the bowl of shredded mushroom. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- For the oats, place them into a blender, and pulse 1 or 2 times, just enough so the oats are broken up coarsely; we don’t want a fine flour. Add the oats to the bowl.
- To finish the Sweet-n-Spicy Sauce, drain the water off of the dates (discard the water) and put the dates into a blender. Add the tofu, lemon juice, mustard, garlic and red pepper flakes, and blend until very smooth.
- Add 6 tablespoons of the Sauce to the mixing bowl. Use your hands to mash all of the ingredients, so everything sticks together well.
- Using a ¼-cup measuring cup, pack the cup fully with the mixture and press it in tightly. Shake the measuring cup so that the mixture pops out and place it on the parchment paper-lined baking sheet (this will yield 11 Crabless Cakes). Press each down to make a patty.
- Bake for 25 minutes uncovered on the middle or just above middle rack. Gently flip the patties over and bake for 15 more minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack, and let cool for 5 to 10 minutes before serving for best results (to let the inside firm up a bit). Serve with the remaining Sweet-n-Spicy Sauce on the side and lemon wedges.
Equipment
Tribest PB-250 Personal Blender and Grinder
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Tupperware Mixing Bowl with Lid
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Zyliss Easy Pull Food Processor
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Instead of mushrooms: I have seen other vegan crabless cakes recipes use other ingredients besides mushrooms for the crab, including hearts of palm, jackfruit, and artichoke hearts. I have not tried these substitutions, but if you’re feeling creative, I think they would taste great too!
Other mushroom types: If you’re okay with mushrooms but can’t find Lion’s Mane (which I find at Whole Foods), a good second choice is trumpet or oyster mushrooms; and my last choice would be white button mushrooms.
Tofu: I have used Mori Nu silken “organic” (green box) and “soft” (red box) tofu for the sauce (in the 12-ounce box, which is 1½ cups), as well as 365 brand (Whole Foods) organic soft tofu.
If you’d like to add some seafood flavor, add 1 to 2 teaspoons of kelp granules (found in the Asian cooking or spice aisle).
Leftover sauce: I wanted to use the whole box of tofu in the Sweet-n-Spicy Sauce, so it makes 2 cups. For any leftover sauce, it makes a great creamy salad dressing or topping for baked potatoes (use within 2 to 3 days).
- Prep Time: 40 mins.
- Cook Time: 40 mins.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 patty (makes 11 total; see above photo caption of sauce for nutrition information for sauce alone). Sodium based on no-salt mustard.
- Calories: 52
- Sugar: 2g
- Sodium: 25mg
- Fat: 1g
- Saturated Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 9g
- Fiber: 3g
- Protein: 3g
- Cholesterol: 0g
Can you use something in place of tofu? I have a soy allergy. Thanks!
You could probably use cashews blended with a bit of water to make up the tofu. I've not tried it yet, but when I do, I'll put this substitution in the Notes section. Thanks! 🙂
My daughter is gluten free and can’t tolerate any oats - suggestions for a substitute? Would almond flour or another gf flour work? Thanks
Hi Terri, quinoa flakes would probably be closest to rolled oats. Another GF flour would likely work, but don't use flour, grind from whole if you can so it's not so fine. 🙂
If I freeze a portion of this recipe, should it be frozen before it is baked or after it is baked?
Hi Fay, I did freeze these and the sauce during testing, and I was not impressed with the thawed result, even after reheating. I think it's because they both contain tofu, and it just doesn't freeze well. Upon thawing the sauce, it was thin, and the patties were too soft in the center even after heating. So I'd freeze before baking and see how that goes. Although, I think the tofu again wouldn't do as well. These are best eaten after baking and making the first time I think. But when you make them, freeze one and see how you like it. 🙂
Any rec for temp and time in air fryer?
Hi Chris, I did try these in the air fryer (I have a Breville Air Fry Pro) and they overbrowned; so I'd say 375 but on the bottom rack or at 350 mid-rack and keep an eye on them toward the end. If you want them browner at this point, you can use "broil" or turn the heat up to 375 toward the end.
Absolutely delicious! This was my first time eating Lion's Mane mushrooms and I could not believe they actually smelled like crab cakes while baking. A huge hit with my husband. We'll definitely be having these again. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
Hi Lisa! I was just thinking that there wasn't much feedback on this new recipe, so thank you! It's so good! 🙂
I haven't ever had Lion's Mane mushrooms so forgive the question; do these taste mushroom-y? I love raw mushrooms but barely tolerate cooked cremini or button mushrooms.
I don't think Lion's mane has much flavor at all; it's mostly for the spongy texture and wave shape, which makes it look like crab. You could try a half batch if you're not sure. Also, Lion's mane, I've come to learn, is seasonal, so if you can't find it, use oyster mushrooms instead. 🙂
I use fresh, cooked Lion Mane mushrooms often. Do you think dried LM mushrooms could work for this recipe? Thank you
I haven't tried it, but I would think so since you'd re-hydrate it first. 🙂
These were a hit at our WFPB/SOS-free Thanksgiving dinner! I should have made a quadruple-recipe
Yay! Glad to hear it! Thanks Johnny 😉
These look great--I can't wait to try them out. One of the suggestions is to add 2 teaspoons of kelp granules, but I heard that kelp is too high in iodine for safe consumption (see nutrition facts.org.
Good point! 1 tsp has a little over 1,000% daily value. The recipe makes 11 patties, so if you were to just eat 1 patty, that would give you about 100% of your daily value. So you could just eat one patty for the day to keep it safe, or use less or none of the kelp in the recipe so you can eat more patties. Thanks for the comment! 😉