Easy Vegan Crab Cakes w/ Tartar Sauce

Crispy vegan crab cakes made with plantains…say what? It may sound obscure, but we promise this will be a new favorite!

With the addition of other fresh veggies including artichoke hearts, hearts of palm, and fresh bell peppers, these vegan crab cakes are bursting with flavor and have the perfect crab cake texture and consistency. We served them with our homemade vegan tartar sauce which can be found here!  This recipe is part of our monthly collaboration series with our friend Caitlin of From My Bowl.

For this month, we decided to do a “chopped challenge” and asked our YouTube audiences to vote on ingredients to include in our recipes. The top 4 ingredients chosen were plantains, hearts of palm, artichoke hearts, and oyster mushrooms. With these ingredients, we decided to put together a vegan seafood platter (above) including vegan crab cakes, our oyster mushroom calamari, and a homemade vegan tartar sauce.Caitlin put together these delicious mushroom veggie burgers for her challenge recipe. They include the 4 challenge ingredients and are topped with pickled onions and a creamy cashew mayo. May I also state the obvious here and say they are mighty delicious!

Both recipes are super simple to make and require just a few additional ingredients along with the challenge staples. We hope you enjoy them as much as we do!If you make this recipe, let us know what you think in the comments below! + If you post any photos on Instagram, make sure you tag us @sweetsimplevegan and @consciouschris so that we don’t miss it, we love seeing your photos!

Vegan Crab Cakes w/ Tartar Sauce

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• Author: Sweet Simple Vegan
• Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
• Yield: 8 crab cakes

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Description

Vegan crab cakes that are wholesome and delicious. Made with hearts of palm, plantains, and artichoke hearts, this unique recipe is sure to be one of your new favorites and is perfect to serve to a crowd!

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Ingredients

• 1/2 flax egg* (1/2 tablespoon flaxseed meal + 1 1/2 tablespoons water)
• 1/2 large green plantain
• 2 tablespoons vegan mayo (we use Follow Your Heart)
• 1–2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon yellow mustard
• 1/2 can (7 oz.) artichoke hearts*
• 1/2 can (7 oz.) heart of palm*
• 1 celery stalks, roughly chopped
• 1/2 red bell pepper, roughly chopped (optional)
• 1/4 cup green onion, diced
• 1/2 sheet nori or 1 tablespoon dulse flakes (optional but recommended)
• 2 tablespoons fresh parsley
• 1 tablespoons fresh dill
• 1/2 teaspoon old bay seasoning
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt (+ more to taste)
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 cup of panko breadcrumbs + ~1/2 cup more for breading
• 2 tablespoons preferred oil (we used olive oil)

Serve with

• Fresh parsley and/or green onions, to garnish
• Vegan tartar sauce

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Instructions

1. Prepare the flax egg by mixing the flaxseed meal and water in a small bowl and setting it aside for 15 minutes to thicken.
2. Cut the ends off of the plantain and then cut it into thirds. Remove the peels and add the plantains into a small pot and add in enough water to cover them. Bring it to a boil over medium to high heat and boil until tender, about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from heat, drain, and set aside to cool.
3. In a food processor, add the cooked plantains along with the mayo, lemon juice and mustard, Process until completely smooth. Add the artichoke hearts and hearts of palm and pulse until they are broken up into a crab-like consistency. Don’t process them too much as you don’t want them to turn into mush. Empty the contents of the food processor into a large bowl and set aside.
4. Add the remaining ingredients into the food processor except for the breadcrumbs, breaking the nori down with your hands into very small pieces so that it is not chunky. Pulse everything into fine and relatively uniform pieces, then add it into the large bowl with the plantain mixture along with the breadcrumbs.
5. Mix everything together until it is uniformly combined and adjust seasonings to taste. Pop the mixture into the freezer for 20 minutes.
6. Add about 1/2 cup breadcrumbs onto a shallow plate and remove the mixture from the freezer. Place 2 tablespoons of mixture into your hands to form a ball and then gently flatten it out to form a thick a patty (about 1/3-1/2” thick). Gently press each side of the patty in the bread crumbs and set it aside. Continue until you have formed and coated patties with all of the dough.
7. Heat a large skillet over medium heat (about 2-3 minutes) with about 2 tablespoons of oil and line a large plate or pan with paper towels (to absorb the oil). You’ll know the oil and pan are ready when you add in the crab cakes and it sizzles (you can test it out with a few breadcrumbs).
8. Place about 3-4 patties on your pan, depending on the size. You want to be sure your pan is now overcrowded so that you can flip the patties easily. Pan-fry the crab cakes for about 3-4 minutes on each side, or until light golden brown. Try your best to flip them as minimally as possible (only once is ideal) to prevent them from breaking apart. Wipe the pan and add fresh oil as needed when more patties are added.
9. Transfer the cooked patties to the lined plate and cool until easy to handle. Serve with our homemade vegan tartar sauce and a lemon wedge, and top with fresh parsley and/or green onions.

Notes

• You can use chia seeds instead of flax as well.
• You can opt for just artichokes or just hearts of palm as well.

• Prep Time: 40 minutes
• Cook Time: 30 minutes

Nutrition facts label provided by Nutri Fox.

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