How to Make Chef John's Hot Crab Dip
Dive into culinary excellence with Chef John's video tutorial on how to make Hot Crab Dip! Join him in the kitchen as we guide you through creating this irresistible appetizer that's perfect for any occasion. From succulent crab to a medley of savory ingredients, this hot crab dip is a flavorful sensation that will elevate your entertaining game. Watch now to master the art of crafting this crowd-pleasing dip and delight your guests with a creamy, crab-infused treat!
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00 Hello this is Chef John from foodwishes.com with the best hot crab dip.
00:07 That's right I'm gonna show you the best recipe for what I consider the king of
00:12 the hot dips. And whether you have an unlimited budget and use the really
00:17 expensive fresh crab, or your funds are limited and you have to use something
00:21 out of a can, this easy bake dip will still be a huge hit at your party. And to
00:27 get started we will take some room-temperature cream cheese and to
00:30 that we will add some mayonnaise as well as some sour cream. And if you're new to
00:34 hot bake dips this is pretty much how all of them start. And then after that
00:39 I'm gonna add one of my secret ingredients which is a little touch of
00:42 ketchup, which not only adds a little bit of sweet and sour savoriness but I think
00:47 it makes for a nicer color also. And then we will follow that with lemon in two
00:51 forms. All right we'll do some freshly grated zest which gives us a beautiful
00:56 intense lemon flavor. And then we'll also add the juice for a different kind of
01:00 lemon flavor, but also more importantly for some acidity. And then you can't make
01:05 a hot crab dip without a little bit of Worcestershire sauce. And then it is
01:09 optional but I do also like to add some minced garlic, followed by another key
01:13 ingredient, a couple teaspoons of Old Bay. And please do not under any circumstances
01:19 substitute with Young Bay. That will not work. And then we'll finish up our
01:24 seasonings with some paprika, as well as some freshly ground black pepper, and of
01:29 course a little touch of salt. And then if you want, and I do, I'm gonna heat this
01:34 up with a few splashes of hot sauce. Plus to hedge our bets a few shakes of cayenne.
01:40 And then before we give this a mix I'm gonna toss in some grated white cheddar.
01:44 And a sharp cheddar would work but I do prefer the mild or medium for this. And
01:49 I'm not sure why, but everybody uses the orange cheddar for this. But personally I
01:54 think it looks better with the white. And that's it. We'll take a spatula and give
01:58 this a mix until we're pretty sure everything's been evenly combined. And
02:03 you're probably thinking at this point, "Shouldn't there be crab in this?" Well yes,
02:07 we're gonna add that soon. But I think it's a good idea to mix everything at
02:10 this point, since our crab is already gonna be in pretty small pieces. And if
02:15 we mix that in with everything else, it's pretty much gonna disappear into the
02:18 other ingredients. So by mixing that in at the end, we can hopefully retain a few
02:23 identifiable pieces. And then the other ingredient we won't add until this has
02:27 been mixed, is our freshly sliced green onions. Since if you overwork and crush
02:32 and smash cut onions, the flavor can actually get a lot more intense and
02:36 harsher. So I think it's better to dump those in at this point. Followed by, as
02:41 promised, the best lump crab meat we can find. And by the way, someone in Maryland
02:46 just said, "That doesn't look like lump crab meat." Well to them it probably
02:50 doesn't, since if you're from a place that's famous for fresh crab, the lump
02:54 crab meat is much lumpier and in much bigger pieces. But most of us are not
02:58 going to be able to find or afford that nice fresh stuff. So we'll just use a
03:02 couple containers of that refrigerated stuff they have at the supermarket, which
03:06 works great and is more affordable. But if you can't swing that, don't worry. You
03:11 can use canned crab meat, which you can find right next to the tuna fish. And
03:14 believe it or not, even with the cheap stuff, this dip is still gonna be pretty
03:19 amazing. And that's it. Once our crab has been gently but evenly mixed in, we will
03:24 transfer that into whatever baking dish we're gonna use. And as usual with these
03:28 type of baked dips, you can put it in two or three smaller baking dishes or
03:32 ramekins, and you can bake those one at a time. And then once one is almost gone,
03:37 you can pop another one in, thereby giving yourself a continuous supply of
03:41 hot dip. But this time I just put everything in one dish. And then we are
03:46 definitely not gonna smooth out the top. Alright, crabs are many things, but smooth
03:50 is not one of them. So I like to leave the surface kind of rough and gnarly. And
03:54 then what we'll do to finish this, once everything has been transferred in and
03:58 maybe tidied up a little bit, is we will apply a little more grated cheddar to
04:03 the top. Okay, just enough, but not too much. And then after the surface has been
04:08 cheesed, to spice this up a little more and make the top look a little bit
04:12 crabbier, I like to do another generous application of cayenne. And if you're not
04:17 into the extra heat, just go ahead and use some paprika. And that's it. This is
04:22 now ready to transfer into the center of a 450 degree oven for about 20 minutes
04:27 or so, or until our dip is nice and hot and the cheese on top starts to take on
04:31 a little bit of color. And it hopefully looks like this. Oh, and speaking of looks,
04:37 as you can see here when I give that rack the old shake-a-shake-a, these dips
04:41 are gonna be very soupy when they first come out of the oven, which is still fine
04:45 to eat. But we're making hot crab dip and not hot crab drip. So we really do want
04:51 to let this sit for about 10 minutes or so before we serve. And while we wait, we
04:55 can go ahead and garnish the top, which I'm gonna do with, yes, even more cayenne.
04:59 Because, no, I didn't put enough on yet. And then I finished up with some more
05:03 freshly sliced green onions. And that's it, our hot crab dip is ready to serve.
05:08 And yes, I should use a towel, but I chose accurate placement over not feeling
05:14 pain. And you're about to see here as I grab that adorable cheese knife and
05:18 serve some of this up, that even though this was still super hot and it had only
05:23 been out of the oven for about 10 minutes, it has definitely thickened up
05:26 enough to stay on the bread. So we really do want to be a little bit patient. And
05:30 that, my friends, really was truly incredible. Alright, even though we used a
05:35 decent amount of crab, those other ingredients we included, like the
05:39 Worcestershire sauce and the Old Bay, really amplify that crabby flavor. And
05:43 this is gonna taste like we used even more than we did. And even though it's
05:47 hard to see, as I'm eating this, I am feeling and seeing pieces of crab. So
05:52 mixing that stuff in at the end really does make a difference. Oh, and there is
05:56 another alternative method where you can add half the crab into the dip mix and
06:00 then take the other half of the crab and kind of poke it into the top a little
06:03 bit, which will make this look like it has more crab in it than it does. So if
06:08 you want to try that, go ahead. I mean, you are after all in charge of the
06:11 administration of your crustacean. But having said that, I absolutely loved how
06:16 this came out. Oh, and by the way, if you're gonna call something a dip, it has to
06:21 work just as well if you dip the bread or cracker in. Otherwise, if you have to
06:25 use a knife, it's a spread. And those comments I just made are dedicated to
06:29 the ten people in the world that are actually bothered by that kind of thing.
06:33 You know, the people that are telling you it's not a stuffing if you didn't stuff
06:37 it in the bird. That's alright. They can't help themselves. But anyway, the much more
06:42 important point is whether you dip or spread, there are very few things as
06:46 delicious on bread, which is definitely my first choice here. But my second
06:51 choice, believe it or not, would be some nice thick potato chips. And then after
06:55 that, any kind of cracker would also be very, very effective. But anyway, that's
06:59 it. What I'm calling the best hot crab dip. The only real problem with this is
07:05 that it's really, really hard to stop eating. So consider yourselves warned. But
07:10 other than that, this dip is pretty much perfect. And I really do hope you give it
07:15 a try soon. So please follow the links below for the ingredient amounts, a
07:20 printable written recipe, and much more info as usual. And as always, enjoy!
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