🇺🇸 United States · Maryland and the Chesapeake Bay (Tidewater)
Maryland crab soup
A Maryland soup of crab in a tomato and beef or vegetable broth, thick with potatoes, corn, peas, beans and other vegetables, seasoned with Old Bay.
Origin and history
David Shields's survey of Maryland newspapers and cookbooks finds that, shortly after 1900, Maryland papers routinely printed two crab soup recipes, one white and one red. The white was a butter-and-cream soup served at Baltimore clubs; the red began as a robust open-air event soup made with crab fat, tomatoes and peppers, and crab soup contests at crab feasts were later judged in white and red categories. Chesapeake canneries supplying steamed, picked crabmeat from the late 1800s changed how cooks handled the meat.
Make it at home
- Makes
- 6 servings
- Total time
- 1 h 35 min
- Hands-on
- 30 min
Ingredients
- 3 large carrots, peeled and chopped
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 2 cups chopped celery
- 1 medium potato, diced
- 1 can, 800 g1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes
- 1.4 liters6 cups water, or half beef broth, half water, for a deeper base
- 225 g1/2 lb fresh green beans, cut in 2.5 cm (1 in) pieces
- 250 g (3 ears)1 1/2 cups sweet corn kernels, fresh preferred
- 150 g1 cup lima beans, fresh or frozen
- 75 g1/2 cup peas, fresh or frozen
- 4 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 3 to 4 tbsp Old Bay or J.O. Crab Seasoning, J.O. is saltier and spicier
- 2 tbsp dry mustard
- red pepper flakes, salt and black pepper, to taste
- 450 g1 lb picked crabmeat, lump for sweetness or claw for richness; fresh, not canned
Method
-
1. Put the carrots, onion, celery, potato, tomatoes, green beans, corn, lima beans, peas, Worcestershire, seasoning, dry mustard, pepper flakes and water in a large pot.
-
2. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then lower to medium-low and simmer 30 minutes.
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3. Add the crabmeat, folding it in gently so the lumps stay whole, and simmer about 45 minutes more, stirring from time to time.
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4. Taste and adjust with salt, pepper or more crab seasoning, then serve hot.
Notes
- Quantities follow the Visit Maryland tourism recipe (6 servings). McCormick's much quicker version for ten uses 3 cups of water with 2 cups of beef broth, a can of tomatoes, 1 tbsp Old Bay, lima beans, carrots, corn and a little onion, and adds the crabmeat only for the last 10 minutes.
- The red soup is one of two Maryland crab soups. According to David Shields, the white soup was a butter-and-cream soup thickened with a floury sauce and finished with Madeira, served at Baltimore clubs, while the red used crab fat with tomatoes and peppers; early red versions had no okra and were not gumbos.
- Half-and-half is the Maryland habit of mixing this soup with cream of crab soup in equal parts.
- Use fresh picked crabmeat, lump for sweetness or claw for richness.
Adapted from Visit Maryland, Maryland Crab Soup recipe and McCormick, Old Bay Maryland Crab Soup.
At the festivals
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