Mom’s Best 10-Minute Holiday Crab Dip Recipe

This easy crab dip recipe can be served hot or cold, and it only requires about 10 minutes of prep!

Total Time: 10 minutes

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Mom’s Best Holiday Crab Dip recipe is an easy 10-minute appetizer that can be served hot or cold. With cream cheese and mayonnaise, the decadent, perfectly seasoned snack is loaded with big chunks of tender, buttery crabmeat for a crowd-pleasing treat!

Simple is always best when entertaining, so you’re going to want to hold onto this recipe because I guarantee that it will come in handy VERY soon!

Why This Recipe Works:

• This crab dip is just one of those great easy appetizers that’s appropriate year-round — hot or cold — and it disappears in a flash.
• You can prep the dip in advance and just pull it out when your guests arrive.
• It’s quick to stir together, and it’s absolutely perfect with a glass of wine, a cold beer, or a fancy champagne cocktail on New Year’s Eve!

HOW TO MAKE CRAB DIP COLD:

As I mentioned above, Mom’s best crab dip recipe can be served hot or cold! Let’s start with the cold dish, and I’ll give you directions for heating it up in just a minute…

In addition to the high-quality jumbo lump crab meat (or claw meat, if necessary), the base of this crab dip starts with cream cheese. Don’t all good dips start with cream cheese?!

For the cold crab dip, it’s really just a two-step process. First, use an electric mixer to blend together cream cheese, mayonnaise, mustard, onion, garlic powder, and salt.

Then just fold in the parsley and the crab meat. Cover and refrigerate the dip until your guests arrive!

HOW TO MAKE CRAB DIP HOT:

If you want to serve a hot crab dip for a cozy snack on a chilly day, transfer the dip to an oven-safe dish and bake at 350 degrees F until bubbly and heated through (about 15-20 minutes).

How long is crab dip good for in the refrigerator?

Properly stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator, your crab dip will stay fresh for about 3-5 days. After that, I’d toss it!

COOK’S TIPS:

• Make sure that your cream cheese is at room temperature before you try to prepare this easy crab dip recipe. This will ensure that all of your ingredients blend smoothly together.
• To quickly bring cream cheese to room temperature, you can:
  • Remove cream cheese from packaging, cut it into small cubes, and allow the cream cheese to sit out on a plate for 15-20 minutes; OR
  • Remove cream cheese from packaging and place on a microwave-safe plate. Microwave in 10-second increments, flipping the cream cheese over after each 10-minute segment, for a total of about 30 seconds (or until the cream cheese softens). Be careful that you don’t completely melt the cream cheese!
• Use an electric mixer instead of a simple whisk. The electric mixer makes the base of the crab dip nice and smooth.
• Use high-quality crab meat. My mom always splurged on jumbo lump crab meat for holidays! Sometimes I’m not able to find the pricey jumbo lump crab meat at my little rural grocery store, though. In that case, the refrigerated claw meat is a good substitute.

Whether you’re looking for a hot crab dip recipe or a cold crab dip recipe, my mom’s version will be the star at all of your holiday gatherings!

Looking for other great crab dishes? Try these:

• Aunt Bee’s 5-Minute Crab Bisque
• Avocado and Crab Melt

Did you try this recipe? Don’t forget to rate it and leave me a comment below! You can follow me on Facebook, on Instagram, on Pinterest, and on Twitter!

5 from 1 vote

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Mom's Best Holiday Crab Dip Recipe

This easy crab dip recipe can be served hot or cold, and it only requires about 10 minutes of prep!

Course Appetizer

Cuisine American

Keyword cold crab dip recipe, crab dip, hot crab dip recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes

Total Time 10 minutes

Servings 7 people

Calories 196 kcal

Author The Seasoned Mom

Ingredients

• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1/3 cup mayonnaise
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon dried minced onion
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ teaspoon seasoned salt
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
• 16 ounces jumbo lump or claw crabmeat drained

Instructions

1. In a medium bowl, use an electric mixer to blend together cream cheese, mayonnaise, mustard, onion, garlic powder, and seasoned salt. Fold in parsley and crab meat. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

2. This dip can be served hot or cold. For a warm dip, place in an oven-safe dish and bake at 350 degrees F until bubbly and heated through.

Recipe Notes

COOK'S TIPS:

• Make sure that your cream cheese is at room temperature before you try to prepare this easy crab dip recipe. This will ensure that all of your ingredients blend smoothly together.
• To quickly bring cream cheese to room temperature, you can:
  • Remove cream cheese from packaging, cut it into small cubes, and allow the cream cheese to sit out on a plate for 15-20 minutes; OR
  • Remove cream cheese from packaging and place on a microwave-safe plate. Microwave in 10-second increments, flipping the cream cheese over after each 10-minute segment, for a total of about 30 seconds (or until the cream cheese softens). Be careful that you don't completely melt the cream cheese!
• Use an electric mixer instead of a simple whisk. The electric mixer makes the base of the crab dip nice and smooth.
• Use high-quality crab meat. My mom always splurged on jumbo lump crab meat for holidays! Sometimes I'm not able to find the pricey jumbo lump crab meat at my little rural grocery store, though. In that case, the refrigerated claw meat is a good substitute.

Nutrition Facts

Mom's Best Holiday Crab Dip Recipe

Amount Per Serving (0.25 cup)

Calories 196 Calories from Fat 117

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 13g 20%

Saturated Fat 6g 30%

Cholesterol 64mg 21%

Sodium 900mg 38%

Potassium 191mg 5%

Total Carbohydrates 3g 1%

Sugars 1g

Protein 14g 28%

Vitamin A 10.1%

Vitamin C 6.7%

Calcium 6.5%

Iron 3.2%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

This recipe was originally published in December, 2015. It was updated in October, 2018.

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