August 25, 2026
Crab croquetas
Croquetas are the Spanish answer to leftover shellfish, and crab suits them better than anything. A thick béchamel carries the meat, the crumb does the rest. Make the mix a day ahead and it fries far more cleanly.
This recipe comes from Seafood & Eat It, the Newlyn crab company whose hand-picked Cornish crab we stock on the deli counter. Their original is here. We have written ours for a counter, so you can use picked meat from a whole crab or one of their pots.
Ingredients
- 100g picked crab meat, or 1 pot of Seafood & Eat It Brown Crab (ask the counter and we pick a cooked crab)
- 60g butter
- 60g plain flour, plus a little extra for dusting
- 500ml hot whole milk
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 6 spring onions, finely chopped
- 30g Manchego cheese
- ½ tsp of grated nutmeg
- 150g Panko breadcrumbs
- 2 whisked eggs
- 500ml olive oil for frying
Method
- Add the butter and 2 tbsp olive oil to a saucepan over a low heat and allow to melt. Add the spring onions and sweat for 1 minute. Whisk in the flour and cook out the flour for 8 minutes.
- Gradually whisk in the hot milk, heat until the mixture thickens to the consistency of creamy mashed potato. Remove from the heat and whisk in the cheese, crab and nutmeg, season to taste. Place in a bowl, seal the top of the béchamel with a layer of cling film making sure the cling film covers the surface of the béchamel. Place in the fridge for 2 hours or until completely chilled.
- Use floured hands to roll spoonfuls of the béchamel into cylinders, dip in the egg and then roll in breadcrumbs. Heat the olive oil to 180ºC and fry the croquetas for a couple of minutes until golden brown. Serve with a green salad, tartare sauce and a wedge of lemon.
Shop this recipe: brown crab, the deli counter and what is on the counter today. Ask us to pick and dress a cooked crab.