Minced cooked crawfish combined with egg, crushed saltines, seasonings and fresh parsley, shaped into patties and pan fried or air fried for a Deep South favorite.
Crawfish Burger Patties
Most everybody is familiar with seafood cakes in the form of crab cakes and tuna or salmon patties. All are well-loved and popular, especially here along the coast during Lent, but you may not have thought about crawfish!I know that around the country as a whole, crawfish are, well... let's say a little weird and misunderstood, but here along the Gulf Coast and especially in Louisiana and Mississippi, crawfish season is anticipated every year like a kid at Christmas.
Yep. Crawfish boils are a thing, and a pretty big thing here along the coast.
It's a perfect excuse to gather in the backyard and enjoy some spicy crawfish, adult beverages and good music, while the kids all get to hang out together. And if you're smart, you peel and set aside some of those crawfish tails for dishes like this and others!
No worries, though because crawfish are available in the freezer year-round, though you do pay a bit of a premium for the already peeled tails and a bigger premium when it's out of season.
Always, always, always make sure you are eating crawfish from the U.S.A. though. Just trust me on that. Nearly all of the crawfish in our country come from Louisiana and don't fall for the tricky names that sound like they are from Louisiana but are really imported.
I fell for that nonsense once without flipping over the package to read the "Country of Origin" and discovered later they were imports, despite the name "Boudreaux" on the front label branding.
Imports cannot match Louisiana crawfish in flavor or quality, so look for that "Certified Cajun" seal!
Here's how to make my Crawfish Burger Patties and as always, full recipe text with measurements and instructions, as well as a printable document, are a little bit further down the page. Just swipe or scroll past the step-by-step pictures below.
I'm using saltines for my patties, like I do with my recipe for salmon patties. Some people like to use cornmeal. Some like the softer, buttery crackers. Some simply flour. My personal preference are saltines. This little rotary grater gadget makes an easy job of making those into beautiful crumbs - and it's easy to clean. Love this thing!
I'm making a simple sauce for these - mayo, sour cream, horseradish and Cajun seasoning.
Combine ingredients.
Refrigerate until needed.
Chop up the crawfish.
Simple seasonings here - lemon pepper, Old Bay and Cajun seasoning with minced onion, one egg and a little fresh parsley.
Combine chopped crawfish, cracker crumbs, egg, onion, seasoning and parsley to a bowl.
Use a fork to gently combine.
Shape mixture into 4 to 6 large balls.
Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour or up to overnight.
When you're ready to cook, heat oil in a skillet over medium high heat oil and carefully pat balls into patties.
Add patties to hot oil, cooking until browned, about 3 to 5 minutes per side. I'm just doing one patty in the pan, so I'm using a good Curtis Stone nonstick Durapan, so I only needed a few spritzes of oil.
Use a fish turner or wide spatula to carefully turn and brown the other side. Drain on paper towels. Serve immediately with fresh lemon wedges.
To serve as a burger, spread sauce on both sides of bun, add patty and dress as desired.
I wanted to serve the remaining patties as-is with the sauce but ran them through the air fryer instead of pan frying. I'm using a 1500-watt Instant Vortex oven style air fryer, so please remember just like ovens, individual air fryer brands differ in wattage and how they cook; monitor any air fryer recipe the first time you make it to adjust time as needed. Total time will also depend on how thick you make the patties.
I actually have a variety of air fryers, or countertop appliances that also air fry, but the Vortex does the best job. I love it!
Preheat air fryer to 400 degrees F. Be sure to spray the trays or basket so they don't stick. Spritz patties generously with oil on both sides.
I've tried several different kinds of sprayers but the winner in my book is the EVO brand.
Air fry for about 10 minutes, or until golden brown.
Turn patties over, spritz again, and return to fryer for an additional 2 minutes.
Serve with the sauce for dipping.
Unable to view the printable below on your device? Click here.
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