Warm and cold crab dips — Chesapeake Bay Crab Dip, Maryland Style Crab Dip Bites, Smoked "Crab" Dip, Cold Crab Dip — for parties, holidays, and easy nights.
★ appetizer
Imitation crab meat has never tasted so good!
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Open in Pepper →Crab dip is the one you set down and step back from. A block of cream cheese, a little mayo, sweet lump crab, and suddenly a plain Tuesday feels like company came over.
Cooks on Pepper reach for these when the game is on, when the holidays hit, or when they need one good thing to carry to a potluck and come home with an empty dish.
Every recipe here starts with crab and cream cheese and goes its own way: Chesapeake Bay Crab Dip baked hot and bubbly, Maryland Style Crab Dip Bites tucked into flaky biscuits, Joe's Crab Shack Crab Dip, Million Dollar Shrimp & Crab Dip, and a Cold Crab Dip with horseradish that needs no oven at all.
Soften the cream cheese
Leave an 8-ounce block on the counter 30 to 45 minutes before mixing. Cold cream cheese leaves lumps no amount of stirring will smooth out.
Drain the crab well
Press canned or packaged crab in a strainer and pat it dry, or the dip turns watery in the oven.
Fold the crab in last
Stir everything else together first, then fold in the crab with a spatula in about 5 gentle strokes so you keep those big lumps.
Bake until edges bubble
Give it 20 to 25 minutes at 350°F, until the sides bubble and the top is golden, then rest 5 minutes before serving.