This White Crab Chili is for the seafood lover who is looking for a unique twist on the classic cream of crab soup.
I took all of my favorite parts of white chicken chili and cream of crab soup and put it together to make something that is truly delicious. This chili has won me plenty of awards and can stand up toe to toe with any chili recipe you can throw at it.
Why You Need to Make This Recipe
I was entering a local chili cookout back home in Maryland a few years back. we had to make one traditional chili and one unique recipe. Needless to say my white crab chili won first place in the unique Category. We got 3rd in the traditional...we were robbed lol!
The Crab chili is loaded with big crab flavor, white beans, fresh corn, and a slight jalapeño kick, this chili is an absolute crowd-pleaser.
If you love cream of crab soup you will be quite pleased with this amped-up Chesapeake crustacean creation.
BONUS: This recipe is perfect for taking your Football Sunday appetizers and snacks to the next level.
Need More Crab in your Life? Checkout: Chesapeake Crab Butter Sauce, Air Fried Crab Cake Egg Rolls, Jumbo Lump Crab Burgers
Ingredient List For Creamy White Crab Chili
- Crab meat: 1 pound of fresh crab meat from your local fish market or store is best. You can also use frozen crab if that is what you have.
- However, I would advise staying away from imitation crab; the flavor and texture are not the same.
- Beans: 1 can of both Cannellini and pinto beans.
- Corn starch: ⅓ cup of corn starch.
- Cream: 1 quart of half and half and 1 pint of heavy cream.
- Vegetables: 1 cup of corn, 1 cup of diced white onions, 1 cup of diced bell peppers, ¼ cup of diced jalapeños (2-3 peppers), ½ cup of garnished diced tomatoes, and 2 tablespoons of chopped parsley.
- Condiments/sauces: 1 tablespoon of old bay, 2 teaspoons of dry mustard, and 1 tablespoon of Worcestershire.
- Butter and oil: 2 tablespoons of butter and 2 ounces of dry sherry.
- Cheese: ½ cup of shredded cheddar.
- Scallions: ½ cup of scallions.
Cooking Instructions:
- Dice. Start off by dicing up your jalapeños, tomatoes, bell peppers, and onions. Chop up the parsley and shave the corn off the cob. Drain and rinse the canned beans.
- Sauté. Next, in an 8 quart dutch oven, sauté your onions, jalapeños, bell peppers, and corn with butter over medium-low heat until veggies begin to soften. Deglaze with dry sherry and Worcestershire.
- Add spice and cream. Add dry mustard and old bay to the pot and then stir in half & half and heavy cream.
- Simmer. Continue to simmer until the cream is warm and then stir corn starch together with a ½ cup of water before whisking into the cream.
- Stir. Stir frequently making sure not to burn the bottom of the pot. Once the cream begins to thicken, add the beans and crabmeat. Continue stirring until it reaches a simmer, but do not bring to a boil.
- Remove. Remove from heat and serve!
- Garnish. Garnish with cheddar cheese, sliced jalapeños, scallions, and diced tomatoes!
What To Serve With Cream Of Crab
A leafy, healthy side salad is a staple of a side for soups. Plus, a salad will add a healthy nutritional balance to your meal.
You always need something to dip out your soup with, so why not a sandwich or a good slice of Artisanal bread. This will help you soak up every last drop of your creamy white crab chili!
What kind of crab should I use in soup/chili?
When I make Maryland crab soup I prefer to use a combination of claw and backfin crabmeat.
I think that jumbo lump is just a waste because the lumps will just get broken up in the soup.
Cream of crab is different because most of the time the crab is added to each individual bowl and the lumps remain in tact.
For this creamy white chili, I went with the claw/backfin combo because I wanted the crab stirred throughout the chili.
If you happen to have jumbo lump feel free to garnish with a few lumps on top. I chose to just varnish with a few large claw pieces on top and I feel that worked out just fine.
Helpful Tips
One of the biggest mistakes I see when making any cream-based soup is to have the heat too high on the burner. For this recipe, you should never raise the heat above medium.
Most of the cooking process should be done over medium-low heat and at no point should this crab chili come to a boil.
If it does you run the risk of the soup breaking or burning the bottom of the pot leaving a bitter burnt flavor. Use a wooden spoon and stir frequently.
You are not trying to caramelize your veggies so go slow and gently soften the peppers and onions just until opaque.
Once it’s time to add the cream you will slowly warm it up just below a simmer and then add your cornstarch slurry.
Be sure to mix the cornstarch with water or you’ll have clumps in the chili. After the chili has thickened you can gently fold in the beans and crab.
They only need to be warmed through because the crab and beans are already cooked. Reserve just a bit of extra crab to garnish on top of the chili.
More Crab Inspiration
- Chesapeake Crab Butter Sauce
- Cedar Plank Smoked Crab Cakes
- Ultimate Guide To Steamed Blue Crabs
- Jumbo Lump Crab Burgers
- Crab Mac and Cheese Hot Dogs
Creamy White Crab Chili
Ingredients
- 1 lb Crabmeat
- 1 can Cannellini Beans
- 1 can Pinto Beans
- ⅓ cup Corn Starch
- 1 Qt Half & Half
- 1 Pint Heavy Cream
- 1 tbsp Old Bay
- 1 cup Corn
- 1 cup Diced White Onion
- 1 cup Diced Bell Peppers
- ¼ cup Diced Jalapeno 2-3 Peppers
- 2 tbsp Butter
- 2 oz Dry Sherry
- 2 tsp Dry Mustard
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire
- 2 tbsp Chopped Parsley
- ½ cup Shredded Cheddar Garnish
- ½ cup Scallions Garnish
- ½ cup Diced Tomato Garnish
Instructions
- Dice up Bell peppers, jalapenos, onions and tomato. chop parsley and shave corn off the cob. Drain and rinse canned beans
- in a 8 Qt. Dutch oven saute onions, jalapeno, bell peppers and cor with butter over medium low heat until veggies begin to soften. Deglaze with Dry sherry and Worcestershire.
- Add Dry mustard and Old Bay to the pot and then stir in half & half and Heavy Cream.
- Continue to simmer until the cream is warm and then stir corn starch together with ½ cup of water before whisking into the cream.
- Stir frequently making sure not to burn the bottom of the pot. Once the cream begins to thicken add beans and crabmeat. Continue sturring until it reaches a simmer but do not bring to a boil. Remove from heat and Serve. Garnish with cheddar cheese, scallions, sliced jalapeno and diced tomato.
Notes
Nutrition
Maureen Cox
Jalapeno not listed in ingredients. How much?
Culinary Lion
2-3 peppers depending on how hot you like it. thanks I just updated the recipe!!
Aubrey
Incredible!
Culinary Lion
Thank you so Much!!! I love this Recipe and Im glad you enjoyed it as well
Culinary Lion
Fantastic!! Its one of my favorites
Holly
I want to find a crockpot. Ersion...Erosion... help. Lol
Melissa
3/3/2024 - Made this for a Sunday family dinner. I mostly followed the directions. I did cut up some jumbo shrimp and trout into bite-sized pieces and sautéed them with some scallops. Added all of that and the juice along with a can of clams with the juice and used real crab meat from the deli. It far exceeded our expectations! There was only enough left to share some with the neighbors and they thought it was INCREDIBLE! We served it as suggested with diced cherry tomatoes, green onions, sliced jalapeños, and shredded cheese as toppings.
Frank Campanella
Still one of my personal favorite recipes!!!