On our Panama City Beach road trip, I was reminded how wonderful she crab soup can taste. Living in Minnesota, it’s not something we see on the menu very often. My first taste of she crab soup was at The Bubble Room on Captiva Island in Florida when my daughter was a baby. Since then, I’ve been ordering it whenever I’m near the gulf. Like most regional foods I crave when I’m back at home, I set out to try to make it myself.
The version below is pretty close to what I know and love. It was inspired by Paula Deen’s She Crab Soup Recipe on Foodnetwork.com and The Classic She Crab Soup recipe on Allrecipes.com. I switched it up by blending it with a stick blender (shown below). If you use fresh crab meat (vs. the canned kind I used) you may want to omit that step for a chunkier soup. Note: NEVER use imitation crab meat in this recipe. I didn’t want the flaky texture of the canned crab in my soup and opted to blend it to make it creamy. If you can’t find Louisiana Hot Sauce, you can add heat with a few shakes of Tabasco.
Frugal Tips: Traditional she-crab soup calls for the roe of the crab, but hard-cooked eggs are a frugal (and more accessible) substitute.
- 3 hard boiled egg yolks
- 4 Tbsp. butter
- 2 green onions, minced
- 1 stalk celery, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
- 1½ C. fish stock
- 1½ C. milk
- 1½ C. heavy cream
- 2 6-oz. cans crabmeat
- ⅓ C. sherry
- ¼ tsp. black pepper
- 1 Tbsp. Louisiana Hot Sauce (or similar)
- ¾ C. Parmesan cheese, grated
- ½ tsp. paprika for garnish
- With a fork, crumble the eggs yolks. Set aside. In a stockpot over medium heat, melt the butter. Add green onion, celery and garlic, and stir until translucent. Add the flour and cook until it starts to form a paste. Add fish stock, milk, and cream. Bring to a simmer.
- Add egg yolks, crab meat, sherry, pepper, hot sauce, and Parmesan cheese. Heat until cheese has entirely melted. With a stick blender, blend until the soup is thick and creamy. Garnish with green onions and a sprinkle of paprika.
