Crab-stuffed Cucumber Cups make an easy refreshing appetizer. These little cucumber cups filled with spicy crab are paleo, gluten-free, dairy-free and delicious!
Make a quick crab salad with crab, avocado, red pepper, jalapeño, cilantro and a bit of mayonnaise to fill these Crab-Stuffed Cucumber Cups the next time you need an easy seafood appetizer.
Last week, after a full day on the ocean and an onboard feast of Dungeness crab and salmon, we came home with a small mountain of the leftover freshly caught crab.
When our good friends (who had caught it) offered it to us, we politely protested, "Oh no, you keep it." However, when they insisted, we quickly accepted before they changed their minds!
We came home with a bag full of Dungeness crab legs, ready to crack open and scoop out all that sweet tender meat.
Determined not to waste a single morsel, I made my favourite Bangkok Crab Cakes and then used the rest to make a simple crab salad for these Crab-Stuffed Cucumber Cups to take to a potluck dinner.
These make a very easy appetizer that will appeal to your friends who are following paleo, gluten-free, or dairy-free diets.
🛒 Ingredients
You'll find a complete list of ingredients to make this easy crab appetizer in the recipe card below.
- crab: fresh, canned or frozen and thawed. If you're using thawed crab, pat it dry with a paper towel to remove the excess moisture. Make sure the canned crab has been well drained.
- avocado: you'll need half a medium avocado. Toss it with a small amount of lemon juice to prevent it from turning brown.
- red bell pepper: finely chopped
- jalapeño pepper: finely minced. Use a small amount if you don't like a lot of heat.
- cilantro: for garnish. You can substitute parsley.
- mayonnaise or vegenaise
- a long English cucumber
🥄 Instructions
- Gently mix the crab, avocado, red pepper, jalapeño, and cilantro with a little mayonnaise to bind all the salad ingredients together.
- Leave the peel on the cucumber and slice it into rounds about ¾ inch thick.
- Scoop out the centre of cucumber rounds, leaving the base intact. Fill the cavity with a small scoop of spicy crab salad.
- Serve chilled and enjoy with friends and family!
👍🏼 Helpful tip
You can make the crab filling ahead of time, but fill the cucumber cups just before serving so they stay fresh and crisp.
Be food safe! Refrigerate leftover crab bites promptly.
🗒 More recipes using crab
- Easy Cold Crab Dip with Cream Cheese
- Tex-Mex Crab Cakes with Strawberry Mango Salsa
- Bangkok Crab Cakes with Spicy Thai Dip
🗒 More finger food and appetizer recipes
When you make these cucumber cups stuffed with spicy crab, please leave a comment and a 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 rating below. Thanks in advance! Subscribe to my newsletter and have new recipes delivered straight to your inbox once a week.
Crab-Stuffed Cucumber Cups
Ingredients
- 1 medium Long English Cucumber
- 1 cup fresh crab meat, or well-drained canned
- ½ medium avocado peeled, pitted and finely diced, toss with 1 teaspoon lemon juice to prevent browning
- ¼ cup red bell pepper finely chopped
- 2 teaspoon jalapeño pepper finely minced
- 2 teaspoon finely chopped cilantro plus more for garnish
- 1 tablespoon mayonnaise, or vegan mayonnaise substitute
- sea salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Slice cucumber into rounds ¾ inch thick. Remove some of the seeds with a small melon baller, leaving the base intact. Don't scoop all the way through.
- In a small bow, gently combine the remaining ingredients.
- Fill cucumber cups with the crab mixture. Garnish with fresh cilantro leaves.
- Put any remaining crab salad dip in a small bowl to serve with crackers.
Flavour & Savour
Thanks Kari! Wish I could send you some fresh-from-the-ocean crab meat!
Kari Peters
What and elegant appetizer! I love crabmeat but we don't often get it here, sometimes I end up subbing in chopped shrimp for crabmeat, but if I get my hands on some, I'm trying these right away!