My husband, Bobby, and his family are seafood fiends. They’re the only people I know who have oysters on Thanksgiving and crab cakes with Christmas dinner (not that I’m complaining – I’m definitely a fan of seafood). This of course means that one of Bobby’s absolute, hands-down favorite foods in the world is cream of crab soup. I love it too, but I’ve always been vaguely aware of the fact that it’s made with loads of heavy cream, which on top of being extremely calorie-dense, doesn’t always sit well with my stomach. I was in the grocery store a couple weeks ago, and I came upon a container of local (read: very expensive) crab meat marked half-off, and of course snatched it up immediately. That sort of thing just does not happen very often, and not buying it would’ve been an insult to the unexpectedly generous, crab-meat-providing universe. I didn’t want to risk getting caught in a random, sudden, blizzard on my way out of the store because I rejected such a wonderful gift, after all. I live in Maryland, though, so that might’ve happened anyway.
I was then faced with the decision of how to use my crab meat, since it’s something I cook with fairly infrequently. I started researching cream of crab soup recipes, and was a little discouraged. They’re all basically 80% heavy cream, with some crab meat and sherry (and Old Bay if you love yourself) thrown in. I decided to start with ideas from other lighter soup recipes I’ve made in the past, like my Lighter Broccoli Cheddar Soup, combined with the concept of adding cauliflower, the healthy, low calorie substitute for all things, apparently, and it spiraled from there.
The base of this recipe is onion, butternut squash, cauliflower, and white beans, all simmered together in chicken broth until soft, and then pureed until silky smooth. It basically starts out as baby food. I know. But don’t let that deter you, because I swear on all the half-priced, high-quality crab meat in the land that you don’t taste all the healthy stuff in the final product. To the veggie/bean base, I added seasonings, the crab, and good amount of half & half – because as much as I like the nutritious components here, it wouldn’t be cream of crab soup without some actual cream.
The result is nothing short of astounding. My crab-soup-loving husband agrees heartily. This cream of crab soup has the same smooth texture he’s used to, interrupted only by those wonderful lumps of crab meat. It’s extremely similar in flavor to the full-fat kind, especially if you add the sherry and use a heavy hand with the Old Bay, as I do. I will admit that this is a Maryland kind of cream of crab soup – if Old Bay isn’t your jam, you’ll need to add more in the way of other seasonings, and a decent amount of salt. Honestly, I’m so pleased with the way this recipe turned out that I might even go nuts and buy full-price crab meat so I can make another batch!
Healthier Cream of Crab Soup
Makes approximately 16 cups
Ingredients
- 1 medium onion, roughly chopped
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 Tbsp garlic, minced
- 5 cups cauliflower florets (about 1/2 a head of cauliflower)
- 1 cup butternut squash, chopped into cubes
- 1 15.5oz can white beans (I use cannelini)
- 5-6 cups chicken broth (just enough to cover the vegetables in the pot
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1 1/2 tsps celery salt
- 2 Tbsps Old Bay
- 1 1/2 cups half & half
- 1 Tbsp cooking sherry
- 1 lb lump crabmeat
Instructions
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Add onion and olive oil to a large pot and cook on medium heat until onion softens. Add the garlic and cook for one more minute.
2. Add the cauliflower, butternut squash, beans, and just enough chicken broth to submerge everything. Bring soup to a boil, and then reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes, or until the vegetables are fork tender.
3. Allow the soup to cool slightly, and then blend until completely smooth. I do it in batches in a Nutri-Bullet.
4. Return blended soup to the pot, and re-heat it gently over medium heat. Stir in pepper, celery salt, and Old Bay. While the soup is reheating, warm up the half & half on the stove or in the microwave, until it is hot to the touch.
5. Gradually stir the heated half & half into the soup. Reduce heat to low, and do not let the soup boil. Stir in the cooking sherry and crab meat – you can microwave the crab for a few seconds just to warm it up before adding it to the soup.
6. Serve and enjoy!
Notes:
You may find that the amount of Old Bay is too much for you, unless you like it’s flavor as I do – You can add a partial amount of the Old Bay measurement to your soup, and then just add salt as needed from there.
If you have the time and devotion to very smooth soup, remove the skins from the white beans you use. It makes a world of difference in the texture, as most blenders, even the Nutri-Bullet, have a hard time fully breaking down the skins.
This yields a fairly thin soup (compared to a normal cream of crab at least), as I don’t use a roux at the beginning – lots of my family eat gluten free, and removing the roux makes this soup gluten free. If you want a thicker end result that’s still gluten free, dissolve 1 Tbsp of corn starch in 2 Tbsps of water, and add to the soup after you have blended it and returned it to the stove. Bring the soup to a boil and then immediately reduce the heat and proceed with the rest of the recipe as written.
