Caroline's Cooking

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Crab pasta

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Crab pasta is incredibly quick and easy, but also wonderfully fresh, delicately flavored and thoroughly delicious. A great quick meal.

crab pasta

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It’s no overstatement to say this is one of the simplest and quickest meals you can imagine. Plus better yet, it’s also incredibly tasty. Today’s Sunday Supper theme is ‘five ingredients or less’ and I could think of no more perfectly fitting a main dish as this delicious crab pasta.

Made simply of pasta, crabmeat, garlic, parsley, olive oil (or butter/ a combination) and optional red pepper flakes, it’s simple and delicately flavored, but makes a great meal.

OK, I know that the red pepper knocks it into six ingredients, but it’s kind of a condiment so don’t know that it counts. For me, it’s worth making an exception for the nice little kick it gives.

crab pasta

Crab meat or dressed crab?

We used to make this crab pasta when we lived in London and would get dressed crab from our local farmer’s market. I do like making it with dressed crab rather than just the white crab meat if you can get it, as the brown meat has a lot of flavor that is really great in there as well.

Dressed crab also has that bit more ‘glue’ to stick to the pasta which works well, but either way is still really tasty. Here we used fresh crabmeat from our local fish market, but canned/tinned would also be fine.

crab pasta viewed from side

How to make crab pasta

It is, as I say, incredibly quick to make.

  • Set the pasta to cook;
  • Cut up the parsley and garlic while you are waiting;
  • Drain the pasta;
  • Gently cook the garlic in the oil/butter (I use the pan the pasta was in since it’s already warm);
  • Mix everything together.

It’s super easy and ready in about 10 minutes flat. It’s a very fresh-tasting dish with delicate flavors, that’s perfect for this time of year. The red pepper flakes do add that little bit of heat/bite but as long as you don’t put on too much, it doesn’t take over and works really well.

crab pasta ingredients

I made this with spaghetti, but other pasta would work well too, particularly other “noodle” pastas like linguine or bucatini. This pasta is an authentic Italian pasta that we have enjoyed and I recommend (affiliate link, meaning we’d earn commission on any purchases, but we genuinely loved it!)

I’ve said this recipe does 2-4 people as it will depend on your appetites – we seem to be gluttons compared to a lot of recipes I see and so we managed this between two of us. But I understand it would do three or four more normal people 🙂

Crab pasta is so easy and delicious, it’s definitely one to add into your meal plan for a night when you don’t have all that much time, but still want something tasty and homemade. It’s definitely going to be something we have again soon.

crab pasta served on blue plate

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Try these other easy pasta meals:

crab pasta
Print Recipe
4.8 from 5 votes

Crab pasta

This crab pasta is a ridiculously easy and tasty combination.
Prep Time2 mins
Cook Time8 mins
Total Time10 mins
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Italian
Keyword: 30 minute meal, easy pasta recipe
Servings: 2 -4
Calories: 311kcal
Author: Caroline's Cooking

Ingredients

  • 8 oz pasta 225g, recommend wholewheat spaghetti/thin spaghetti or linguini
  • 8 oz crabmeat 225g, or one large dressed crab
  • 1 handful parsley small
  • 1 clove garlic or 2, depending on size (or more to taste - this isn't that strong)
  • 3 tbsp olive oil approx, or butter/a mixture
  • a couple shakes of red pepper flakes optional

Instructions

  • Cook the pasta according to the packet instructions - would recommend slightly al dente.
  • Meanwhile, remove the leaves from the parsley and roughly chop, and peel and finely dice the garlic.
  • Drain the pasta and dry the pan then add 2 tbsp olive oil (or 1tbsp each of butter and oil) and cook the garlic for a minute until you can see it is softening but not browning.
  • Remove pan from the heat and add back the pasta, add the parsley and crab and a bit more oil and mix everything so the garlic, crab and parley are well distributed through the pasta. Add a little more oil if needed to loosen it.
  • Serve with a little red pepper flakes sprinkled on top (optionally).

Notes

This pasta is an authentic Italian pasta that we have enjoyed and I recommend (affiliate link, meaning we'd earn commission on any purchases, but we genuinely loved it!)

Nutrition

Calories: 311kcal | Carbohydrates: 6g | Protein: 22g | Fat: 21g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 47mg | Sodium: 1544mg | Potassium: 606mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 685IU | Vitamin C: 19mg | Calcium: 67mg | Iron: 2.1mg

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Crab pasta is incredibly quick and easy, but also wonderfully fresh, delicately flavored and thoroughly delicious. A great quick meal. #crab #pasta

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Comments

  1. Marlene Huschke says

    4 stars
    I use more garlic than recommended….maybe three cloves. I also use pasta water to make the dish more moist without having to add more oil. It’s very good.

    Reply

    • Caroline's Cooking says

      Glad you enjoyed! Garlic is definitely something to adjust to taste, and yes pasta water is a good idea if you prefer more liquid, depending on how your crab is as well.

      Reply

  2. Ehisnigel says

    Thank Caroline for your crab pasta recipe. It was really helpful. I would have been lost without your recipe. Ehisnigel

    Reply

  3. Elsa says

    Caroline thank you for sharing your expertise in cooking i like your recipes.it’s too yummy..especially the crab pasta .again thank you elsa

    Reply

  4. Brad says

    5 stars
    Just cooked this with fresh blue swimmer crabs I cought in Perth Western Australia (pealed) . It was so good. I will be doing this again. Thanking you for the great dish.

    Reply

  5. Joanne says

    5 stars
    I’ve never made pasta with crab before but this was excellent. So simple with both olive oil and butter, less pasta and more Dungeness crab and used Aleppo pepper at the end.

    Reply

  6. Janet says

    5 stars
    This was really good! I did make it into a 7 ingredient recipe with the zest of a lemon and 2 tablespoons of capers. Also added some pasta water. We will definitely make this again.

    Reply

  7. Sarah says

    Couldn’t wait to see this one! I’d have to use fake crab (allergy) but dang would this be tasty!

    Reply

  12. Wendy says

    This recipe shows that simple can be indulgent! I love this simple pasta dish, and I’m thinking it would be great with shrimp too!!

    Reply

    • Caroline's Cooking says

      Thanks, Wendy. Yes shrimp would also be good, I just like how the crab blends through the pasta that bit more but both would be great.

      Reply

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