Maryland Crab Soup

Summertime in Maryland means picking crabs and making Maryland Crab soup. Maryland crab soup is a vegetable-based crab soup recipe instead of a cream-based crab soup. This is my family's recipe for the best Maryland crab soup.

Another Maryland classic is the Lemon Peppermint Stick. The perfect combination for a sweet summertime treat. If you love this soup you are going to want to try the rest of the soup recipes I have here on the site.

Maryland Crab Soup Ingredients:

• Chicken Stock 
• Beef Stock
• Old Bay
• Worcestershire Sauce
• Bay Leaves
• Sugar
• Maryland blue crabs, steamed, cooled and picked (or 1 pound crab meat)
• petite diced tomatoes
• carrots, diced
• celery, diced
• peas, frozen is fine
• corn (1 15 oz can) or frozen corn. Be sure to read how I put up freezer corn.
• Potatoes, diced
• Onion, Diced

Optional crab soup ingredients:

• green bean pieces
• cabbage, shredded
• lima beans

** My family is not a fan of these items so I omit them. Feel free to add them to your soup. Just be sure to add an additional 2 cups of stock to the soup.

Old Bay Seasoning is a MUST

Not only did I grow up in Maryland, but I remember driving by the McCormick plant outside of Baltimore and we would try and guess what spice they were packaging that day. The air would be thick with the fragrance of what they were roasting, drying or blending that day. I remember pepper days made my nose perk up a bit.

If anyone tells you to use a seafood spice other than Old Bay, they are wrong. Just wrong. But take that with a grain of salt as that advice comes from a Maryland girl who grew up outside Baltimore!

How to pick crab meat:

1. Flip the crab on its shell and remove all the legs by twisting and pulling the legs off. The little legs will not have a lot of meat in them.
2. Remove the claws with the same twist and pulling motion.
3. Pull the 'tab' of the crab back, it is going to look like a pencil, and this will reveal a small opening for a butter knife.
4. Insert the butter knife into the shell of the crab and using the knife for to keep the shell on the table, pull the body of the crab away from the shell.
5. Scrape the 'yellow mustard' out of the crab. The yellow paste in the crab is part of the digestion system of the crab. 
6. Remove the gills or lungs of the crab. They are the small triangle, sponge looking par of the crab.
7. Crack the crab body in half and separate into two portions.
8. Fold and bend each section of the crab body that was attached to a leg and remove it.
9. Peel back the shell with a small knife and remove the crab meat.
10. Do your best to keep the crab meat in one piece as you remove it from each section. 
11. The crab meat is white and soft. Be aware of the cartilage, it is hard and inedible. 

How to make Maryland Crab Soup:

1. Bring the beef and chicken stock to a boil in a large stockpot.
2. Add the Old Bay, Worcestershire sauce, bay leaves and sugar.
3. Add the tomatoes, carrots, celery, corn, peas, and onion, bring to a low simmer, reduce heat to medium and cook for 10 minutes.
4. Add the potatoes and cook until tender.
5. Add the crabmeat and cook for and additional 10 minutes.
6. Season with salt and black pepper.
7. Serve garnished with chopped parsley.

More easy soup recipes:

• Black bean soup recipe
• Oven Roasted Tomato Soup
• Chilled Strawberry Soup
• Home Made Corn Chowder
• Beanless chili
• Peach Gazpacho

Maryland Crab Soup

Sarah Mock

Maryland crab soup is a vegetable based crab soup recipe instead of a cream based crab soup.

5 from 15 votes

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Note From Sarah

There is more to a recipe than just the recipe card. Frequently Asked Questions within the blog post that you may find helpful. Simply scroll back up to read them!

Prep time for the recipePrep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook time for the recipeCook Time 15 minutes mins

total time to prep and cook the recipe.Total Time 30 minutes mins

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Course Soup Recipes

Cuisine American

Makes 10 people

Per Serving 304 kcal

HELPFUL KITCHEN TOOLS

Lodge 6 Quart Enameled Cast Iron Dutch Oven. (Blue)

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

1x2x3x

• ▢ 32 ounces Chicken Stock
• ▢ 32 ounces Beef Stock
• ▢ 2 Tablespoons Old Bay
• ▢ ¼ cup Worcestershire Sauce
• ▢ 2 Bay Leaves
• ▢ 2 Teaspoons Sugar
• ▢ 12 Large Maryland blue crabs (steamed, cooled and picked (or 1 pound crab meat))
• ▢ 3 15 oz. petite diced tomatoes
• ▢ 1 ½ cups diced carrots
• ▢ 1 ½ cups diced celery
• ▢ 1 ½ cups frozen peas
• ▢ 1 ½ cups corn (1 15 oz can)
• ▢ 1 cup Potatoes (diced)
• ▢ 1 Onion (Diced)

US CustomaryMetric

Instructions

 

• Bring the beef and chicken stock to a boil in a large stockpot, then add the Old Bay, Worcestershire sauce, bay leaves and sugar.
  32 ounces Chicken Stock, 32 ounces Beef Stock, 2 Tablespoons Old Bay, ¼ cup Worcestershire Sauce, 2 Bay Leaves, 2 Teaspoons Sugar
• Add the tomatoes, carrots, celery, corn, peas, and onion, bring to a low boil, and cook for 10 minutes.
  3 15 oz. petite diced tomatoes, 1 ½ cups diced carrots, 1 ½ cups diced celery, 1 ½ cups frozen peas, 1 Onion, 1 ½ cups corn
• Add the potatoes and cook until tender.
  1 cup Potatoes
• Add the crabmeat and cook for 10 minutes.
  12 Large Maryland blue crabs
• Season with salt and pepper.
• Serve garnished with chopped parsley.

Nutrition

Serving: 1servingCalories: 304kcalCarbohydrates: 27gProtein: 42gFat: 4gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 184mgSodium: 1691mgFiber: 6gSugar: 11g

Nutrition Disclosure

Nutritional facts are estimates and are provided as a courtesy to the reader. Please utilize your own brand nutritional values to double check against our estimates. Nutritional values are calculated via a third party. Changing ingredients, amounts or cooking technique will alter the estimated nutritional calculations.

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June 2, 2018