Maryland Crab Soup Recipe (With Old Bay!)

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 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.

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Maryland Crab Soup Made With Old Bay

Being from Maryland I know that Maryland Crab Soup Made With Old Bay. There is no other way. This is a bowl of Chesapeake Bay comfort food. Full of vegetables and tender crab meat this soup has all the flavors my family loves. Ladle me another bowl and pass the extra Old Bay.

Last week we had our annual crab feed at the house. We invite a bunch of people, order almost 2 bushels of Maryland blue crabs, eat and enjoy a good time. Being from Maryland picking blue crabs is a tradition for me any my family and summer would not be complete unless we picked a few dozen of these delicious crustaceans.

After everyone left we had about a dozen large crabs left in the bushel. I was so excited because that means we had enough for a batch of my Maryland crab soup! Being from Maryland it was going to be made with Old Bay. Why? because there is no other way. Trust me on this one.

I know everyone has their own take on Maryland crab soup. This is mine. I hope you love it as much as I do.

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. 

Maryland crab soup instructions:

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

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Yield: 10 people

Maryland Crab Soup

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

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Ingredients

• 32 ounces Chicken Stock
• 32 ounces Beef Stock
• 2 Tablespoons Old Bay
• 1/4 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 1/2 cups diced carrots
• 1 1/2 cups diced celery
• 1 1/2 cups frozen peas
• 1 1/2 cups corn, 1 15 oz can
• 1 cup  Potatoes, diced
• 1 Onion, Diced

Instructions

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

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Nutrition Information:

Yield:

10

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving:Calories: 304Total Fat: 4gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 184mgSodium: 1691mgCarbohydrates: 27gFiber: 6gSugar: 11gProtein: 42g

Nutritional facts are just estimates. Please utilize your own brand nutritional values to double check against our estimates.

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Sarah Mock

CEO/Owner/Founder/Culinary Blogger

Sarah Mock is a classically trained Chef and graduate of Johnson & Wales University. A culinary blogger for 11 years Sarah helps the home cook prepare her recipes with professional results.

June 2, 2018