Crab cakes with homemade mayonnaise

Name: Crab cakes with homemade mayonnaise
Cook time: 6 min
Yield: 4 servings

James Martin shares his recipe for crab cakes with homemade mayonnaise.

Two crab cakes on plate with a pot of mayonnaise and a slice lemon

By James Martin | Published - 14 Nov 2025

Cooking Time

6 mins

Serves

Ingredients

400g white crab meat
400g cooked potato, pushed through a ricer
6 spring onions, sliced
Small bunch of chives, chopped
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 egg yolk
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
25g plain flour, for dusting
Olive oil, for frying

For the mayonnaise

3 egg yolks
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
200ml vegetable oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

To serve

Small bunch of watercress
1 lemon, cut into 4 wedges

Method

Start by making the mayonnaise. Whisk the egg yolks, mustard and vinegar together in a medium bowl until smooth. Slowly pour the vegetable oil into the bowl, starting with a little drizzle and whisking well. This is easiest to do with an electric hand whisk. Continue to drizzle in the remaining oil, whisking all the time, until the mixture has thickened. Season to taste.
Put the crab into a large bowl with the potatoes, spring onions, chives, lemon juice and egg yolk. Season and mix everything together well. Divide the mixture into eight portions. Dust your hands with flour and form each into a round fish-cake shape roughly measuring 8–10cm in diameter and 2cm thick.
Heat a large, non-stick frying pan over a medium heat until hot. Drizzle with a little oil and pop the fish cakes in. Cook for 2–3 minutes on each side until golden and heated through. You may need to do this in batches, depending on how big your pan is.
To serve, pop two crab cakes onto each plate, garnish each with watercress and a lemon wedge and serve with a dollop or a little pot of mayonnaise.

Extracted from James Martin’s Great British Adventure by James Martin (Quadrille), RRP: £25. Photography © Peter Cassidy

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(Hero image credit: Peter Cassidy)

Written by: James Martin

James Martin is a chef, TV presenter and host of James Martin’s Saturday Morning certainly knows his dairy. His latest book Cheese has 100 recipes which make the most of the UK’s favourite ingredient.

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