So many wonderful, tasty dishes come out of the Southern United States. Crab cakes, Gumbo, Oysters Rockefeller and tender, sweet Crawfish recipes!

My Southern Spicy Crawfish Cake Recipe is packed with Crawfish tail meat and a little red pepper to give it some pizzazz, just like in the south where paprika and red pepper are used often to make recipes sing! This is a very adaptable recipe.

You can make separate batches of these crawfish cakes and omit the red pepper if you are serving children who can't handle the spiciness yet. Just split up your batch and add pepper to one and leave it out of the other.

As always, see my Chef's Notes & Tips at the end of the recipe for substitutions for this delightful recipe.

Ingredients

Level - Easy

16 oz. cooked Crawfish tail meat
4 tsp. Old Bay seasoning
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
1/4 cup fresh baby arugula, finely chopped
1/4 cup fresh baby spinach, finely chopped
1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp. mayonnaise
1/3 cup scallions, white and green parts only, sliced thinly
6 tbsp. fine breadcrumbs
Lemon wedges for garnish and squeezing

Method

1. Drain the crawfish meat in a colander and squeeze out the excess liquid with your hand. Remove to a cutting board and chop well. It's okay to leave some chunky pieces, it just adds to the texture of the cake.

2. In a large mixing bowl, combine all of the ingredients except the lemon and mix well. Shape the crawfish mixture into round patties. You may make them as large or as small as you want to. The mini size would be great as a party appetizer or as a first course for a main meal. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to firm them up.

3. Heat approximately 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat for about 2 minutes. Add the crawfish cakes and cook on each side until golden brown, approximately 4 to 5 minutes per side. Drain on paper towels.

Serve on top of leaf lettuce, add a squeeze of fresh lemon and with tartar sauce or your favorite remoulade on the side.

Chef's Notes & Tips

You may substitute lump crab meat, chopped cooked shrimp or even some firm, cooked white fish such as cod, haddock or sea bass to make this recipe. The breadcrumbs can be flavored or plain. I used Italian seasoned breadcrumbs in this recipe. Vary it the way you want to, but just follow the same quantities set forth above.