How many calories are in a crab cake?
One restaurant-style crab cake weighs 85 g and carries 182 calories. Per 100 g the same cake runs 214 calories, and 14.97 g of that 100 g is fat. Crab meat is one of the leanest things you can put on a plate. The breading, the binder and the pan are what cost you.
You'd need to walk about 36 minutes to burn the 182 calories in one crab cake (85 g).
How long does it take to burn off a crab cake?
One crab cake (85 g) is 182 kcal. Enter your weight and the amount you ate to see how long it takes you to burn that off:
lb
| Activity | Time to burn 182 kcal |
|---|---|
| Walking, brisk | 36 min |
| Cycling, moderate | 23 min |
| Swimming, moderate | 26 min |
| Jogging | 21 min |
| Weight training, moderate | 40 min |
Times are for a 155 lb adult at a steady pace; change the weight to see yours. The amount is set to the portion in the text (85 g); change it to what you actually ate. BodyPal works this out from your steps automatically.
On this page
- Crab cake quick facts
- US servings, from one ounce to two cakes
- Sandwich, homemade and mini crab cakes
- Cholesterol and sodium are the rows to watch
- How does a crab cake compare?
- Most popular crab cake brands
- Crab cake FAQs
Crab cake quick facts
The number above comes from the USDA record FNDDS 2706549, "Crab, cake", a breaded cake cooked in fat — the thing you actually get handed at a seafood counter, pull out of a freezer box, or order as an appetizer. That record also carries the household portion most people mean: one cake or patty, 85 g.
There is a second, much leaner USDA entry for a home-recipe blue crab cake, and a third for the sandwich. They are not competing versions of the same number; they are different foods, and both get their own section below. The difference between them is preparation, not disagreement between sources.
| Nutrient | Per 100 g | Per 1 crab cake (85 g) | % Daily Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calories | 214 | 182 | — |
| Total fat | 14.97 g | 12.7 g | 16% |
| Saturated fat | 2.47 g | 2.1 g | 11% |
| Carbohydrate | 4.48 g | 3.8 g | 1% |
| Dietary fiber | 0.3 g | 0.3 g | 1% |
| Total sugars | 0.66 g | 0.6 g | — |
| Protein | 14.4 g | 12.2 g | 24% |
| Sodium | 430 mg | 366 mg | 16% |
% Daily Value is based on a 2,000-calorie diet.
Verified nutrition data
Numbers on this page come from USDA FoodData Central, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s food composition database, and from manufacturer labels where a branded product is named. Last verified September 2026. How we verify our data →
Two rows you would see on a supermarket label are missing here on purpose: added sugars and trans fat. This FNDDS edition does not publish either one for the dish, so listing them would mean inventing them. Cholesterol and potassium it does publish — 114 mg and 212 mg per 100 g, which works out to 97 mg and 180 mg in one cake. Hold on to the cholesterol figure; it turns out to be the most interesting number on the page.
USDA also has no separate record for a baked crab cake, so anyone quoting you an exact "baked" calorie count is estimating. What you can say honestly: skipping the fry pan removes cooking fat, and the fat is where the calories sit.
US servings, from one ounce to two cakes
| Serving | Weight | Calories |
|---|---|---|
| 1 oz | 28 g | 60 kcal |
| One crab cake | 85 g | 182 kcal |
| A 4 oz restaurant cake | 113 g | 242 kcal |
| Two crab cakes | 170 g | 364 kcal |
| Per 100 g | 100 g | 214 kcal |
Only one line there is a USDA household measure: the 85 g cake. The ounce figures, the 4 oz cake and the two-cake plate are our own arithmetic from the USDA 100 g number, not USDA servings — useful because menus talk in ounces and freezer boxes talk in pieces, while the database talks in grams.
That 4 oz line matters more than it looks. A "jumbo lump" cake at a sit-down restaurant is routinely 4 to 6 oz of cake before the sauce, which puts a two-cake entrée in the 480 to 730 calorie range on the cake alone. The 182 figure is a counter-service or frozen-box cake, not a white-tablecloth one.
Sandwich, homemade and mini crab cakes
| Version | Per 100 g | Typical portion | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Restaurant-style crab cake | 214 kcal | one cake, 85 g | 182 kcal |
| Crab cake sandwich | 231 kcal | one regular sandwich, 180 g | 416 kcal |
| Homemade blue crab cake | 155 kcal | one cake, 60 g | 93 kcal |
| Mini crab cakes, frozen brand | 259 kcal | four minis, 85 g | 220 kcal |
| Fish cake or patty | 212 kcal | 100 g | 212 kcal |
The sandwich is the trap. Per 100 g it looks barely worse than the plain cake, 231 against 214, because bread is lighter than fried crab. Put it on a scale and the story flips: a regular 180 g sandwich is 416 calories, more than two plain cakes, and carbohydrate jumps from 4.48 g per 100 g to 19.39 g. The 416 and the 93 in that table are our arithmetic from the USDA 100 g figures.
The home-recipe cake is the opposite lesson. At 155 calories per 100 g it is the lightest USDA version on this page, and it still delivers 20.21 g of protein per 100 g against 14.4 g for the breaded one. Less crust, more crab — that is the entire mechanism. Nothing about the crab changed.
Frozen minis behave the way small fried things always behave: more surface, more coating, more calories per gram. A popular Maryland-style mini runs 259 calories per 100 g, with four cakes at 85 g listed as 220 on the label. Across the frozen aisle the spread is wide — brands sit anywhere from 141 to 327 calories per 100 g — so on packaged cakes the label beats any generic estimate, including this page's.
Cholesterol and sodium are the rows to watch
Calories are not the notable part of a crab cake. Cholesterol is. One 85 g cake carries 97 mg, which is 32% of the 300 mg Daily Value used on the Nutrition Facts label. Order the standard two-cake plate and you are at 194 mg, close to two thirds of the day's value, before tartar sauce or a fried side.
Sodium is the second one. A single cake is 366 mg, 16% of the 2,300 mg DV, or roughly a sixth of a teaspoon of table salt. Two cakes reach 732 mg — about a third of the day, from a portion that fits in one hand.
The number in the crab cake's favor is protein: 12.2 g per cake, 24% of the DV, for 182 calories. That ratio is why crab cakes work as a lunch anchor. And two of them, 170 g, count as roughly 6 oz toward the 8 oz of seafood a week that the Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend for adults. If you are watching sodium, the homemade version is the one worth making — 330 mg per 100 g against 430 mg, with more protein attached.
How does a crab cake compare?
USDA lists the whole family of seafood patties, and they land remarkably close together.
| Patty | Per 100 g | Protein per 100 g | Serving | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crab cake | 214 kcal | 14.4 g | one cake, 85 g | 182 kcal |
| Fish cake or patty | 212 kcal | 13.63 g | 100 g | 212 kcal |
| Shrimp cake or patty | 218 kcal | 13.93 g | 100 g | 218 kcal |
| Tuna cake or patty | 206 kcal | 15.33 g | 100 g | 206 kcal |
The three neighbors are shown per 100 g because the USDA index does not carry a gram weight for their "cake or patty" portions, and guessing one would put a made-up number in a table.
Our take: stop shopping between seafood patties. The whole family spans 12 calories per 100 g, from 206 for tuna to 218 for shrimp, which is noise next to the 59-calorie gap between a breaded crab cake and a home-recipe one. Tuna edges the group on protein at 15.33 g, crab is second at 14.4 g, and none of that will move your day. What moves your day is the format: one cake is 182, the sandwich is 416, and a plate of two with sauce is a dinner. Pick the format first and the fish second.
Most popular crab cake brands in the United States
Ranked by how widely each product appears among foods sold in the United States, from the BodyPal food database of over 3.3 million products. Calories are the figures printed on each Nutrition Facts label, checked against USDA FoodData Central.
| Product | Calories (per 100 g) |
|---|---|
| Phillips Maryland Style Crab Cake Minis | 259 cal |
| Archer Farms Maryland-Style Mini Crab Cakes | 327 cal |
| Dockside Classics Crab Cakes | 212 cal |
| Arctic Shores Maryland Style Crab Cakes | 211 cal |
| Kitchens Seafood Crab Cakes | 147 cal |
| Yankee Trader Seafood Crab Cakes | 141 cal |
Brand popularity: BodyPal food database. Nutrition: manufacturer labels / USDA FoodData Central.
Crab cake FAQs
How many calories are in one crab cake?
A standard 85 g crab cake is 182 calories, based on the USDA record at 214 calories per 100 g. That is a breaded cake cooked in fat, the kind sold at a seafood counter or in a freezer box. Two of them come to 364 calories, before sauce or a bun.
How many calories in a Maryland-style crab cake?
USDA has no generic Maryland-style record, but frozen Maryland-style cakes range from 141 to 327 calories per 100 g. One brand lists 150 calories for a 71 g cake and another 220 for four 85 g minis. For a restaurant version, scale from 214 calories per 100 g.
How much protein is in a crab cake?
One 85 g crab cake gives 12.2 g of protein, which is 24% of the Daily Value, or 14.4 g per 100 g. A home-recipe blue crab cake does better at 20.21 g per 100 g, because it is mostly crab meat instead of breading and binder.
Are crab cakes high in sodium?
One cake carries 366 mg of sodium, 16% of the 2,300 mg Daily Value, or about a sixth of a teaspoon of table salt. Two cakes reach 732 mg, roughly a third of the day. The sandwich version is similar per 100 g, at 436 mg against 430 mg.
How many calories in a crab cake sandwich?
A regular crab cake sandwich of about 180 g is 416 calories, or 231 per 100 g. The bun looks harmless per gram but more than doubles the portion, and it pushes carbohydrate from 4.48 g per 100 g in the plain cake to 19.39 g in the sandwich.
How many calories in mini crab cakes?
Four Maryland-style mini crab cakes weighing 85 g together are 220 calories on the label, or 259 per 100 g. That is denser than the 214 of a full-size USDA cake, because small fried things carry more coating per gram. Two pieces of another brand, 49 g, list 160 calories.
Are crab cakes healthy for weight loss?
At 182 calories with 12.2 g of protein, one crab cake is a workable lunch anchor, though 12.7 g of fat makes it far denser than plain crab meat. If you are counting closely, the home-recipe style at 155 calories per 100 g gives more protein for fewer calories.
How many carbs are in a crab cake?
One 85 g crab cake has 3.8 g of carbohydrate, 1% of the Daily Value, with 0.3 g of fiber and 0.6 g of sugars. That is low-carb territory. The sandwich is a different food entirely: 19.39 g per 100 g, roughly 35 g for a regular 180 g sandwich.
Similar foods
- Fish Cake — 180 cal per cake or patty
- Shrimp Tempura Roll — 432 cal per roll, 8 pieces
- Bagel — 277 cal per bagel
- Sesame bagel — 277 cal per medium bagel
- Bread — 75 cal per medium slice
- French Bread — 174 cal per medium slice
Count it without the math
Point the camera at the plate and BodyPal counts the crab cake for you, breading and all.
