This recipe for crab towers is your answer to the easy to make but super dramatic appetizer or first course. Or for a fancy light lunch!
Remember a few days ago when I said the next few weeks on this here website were going to be a mix of super easy recipes and super fancy recipes? Welcome to the fancy part…I give you these very dramatic, very scrumptious, very holiday-colored crab towers! And I know, they LOOK all complicated, but remember this is me you are talking to, and I don’t do complicated. So if you are looking for a show-stopper first course for your holiday table, look no further and let’s make them!
I especially don’t do complicated during the holidays because I have now already spent many days up past by bedtime and with more than a week to go until Christmas I am already feeling like this.
So you know my holiday menu is going to be one that combines maximum fanciness with minimum kitchen time. These crab towers are the definition of that…you mix up ingredients for a crabmeat salad, a veggie mixture, and an avocado topping. The only slightly complicated part is making the towers, but even that just takes a little patience and faith!
Ideally you will have a 3 inch wide/1 inch high biscuit cutter, but if you don’t the top of a wide mouth mason jar will work perfectly. Put it on a dish and pack it with 1/3 cup of the crabmeat mixture. Raise it up so that it is still covering just the top of the crabmeat and carefully spoon on 1/3 cup of the veggie mixture. One more time with the avocado mixture. Now lift the cutter up and off, and voila! Crab tower!
I like to garnish mine with a little frisee lettuce sprig, but that part is up to you. And if by some chance your tower tumbles, I promise you that it is still going to taste glorious. But I’m betting it won’t! Happy fancy holiday cooking, all…I’ll be back in a few days with the Southern daughter’s all time favorite Christmas cookie!
Crab Towers
Prep Time: 45 minutes- Total Time: 45 minutes
Yield: 6 servings 1x
Category: Appetizer
Method: No Cook
Cuisine: American
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeIngredients
Crabmeat Layer
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
- Zest from 1/2 lemon
- 12 ounces lump crabmeat
Vegetable Layer
- 1/2 cup chopped cucumber (peel it first)
- 1/2 cup chopped cherry tomatoes (cut them in quarters)
- 1 stalk celery, chopped
- 1/4 cup chopped shallots
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
- Pinch each of salt and pepper
Avocado Layer
- 3 avocados, peeled, pitted and diced
- Juice from one small lime
- Pinch each of salt and pepper
- Frisee lettuce for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Make the crabmeat mixture by combining the olive oil, vinegar and mustard together. Mix three tablespoons of the mustard mixture with the mayo and the lemon zest (save the rest of the mustard mixture for later). Add the crabmeat and mix well.
- For the vegetable layer, mix all the ingredients for that layer together and set aside.
- For the avocado layer, mix all the ingredients for that layer together and set aside.
- To make the layers, put a 3 inch round cookie cutter on a plate (you can also use a large mason jar lid or a well-washed tuna can with the top and bottom cut out). Press 1/3 cup of the crab mixture inside the cookie cutter. Lift it up a little and gently spoon in 1/3 cup of the vegetable layer. Lift it up slightly one more time and add 1/3 cup of the avocado layer. Now lift it up and away gently.
- Tear the firs lettuce into sprigs and toss with the remaining mustard mixture. Garnish your tower with a sprig of frisee lettuce.
- Repeat 5 more times!
- Serve, keeping your cool if any of your towers tumble over, because no matter what they are going to taste scrumptious. Been there, done that. :)
Hi there! I’m Kate, and I’m a recipe writer, food photographer and devoted bacon lover. I started Framed Cooks in 2009, and my mission is to create and share family-friendly recipes that make cooking both easy and fun…yes, I said FUN! My kitchen is my happy place, and I want yours to be that place too. And if you make this recipe, I would love you to tag @FramedCooks on Instagram so I can see the deliciousness!
This IS fancy! Looks really tasty, too! And if you don’t happen to have a round biscuit cutter or a mason jar ring, you can use an empty tuna can. Wash it, of course, and cut the bottom out with your can opener and, Voila! instant ring mold! Looking forward to the cookie recipe!
As always, AWESOME idea! Thank you my friend!
Sounds yum, looks great! xx
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Thanks sweet Sharon! Merry happy everything to you and yours! xo
What a fun and impressive recipe! Love the unexpected ease with which these towers come together, so perfect for holiday entertaining!
Luci’s Morsels | fashion. food. frivolity.
Thanks Luci! Hope your holidays are merry ones!
Brilliant! I want to make my Thanksgiving dinner guests Crab Towers for a first course. The only problem I’m having is the math (and I’m SURE it’s me!) but if I use 1/3 of each of the mixtures won’t that only make 3 towers?
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Hi there, and I’m so happy that you are planning to try this one out! Here’s the answer: you aren’t using 1/3 of the total mixture, you are using 1/3 of a CUP of the mixture. Each layer makes about 2 cups, so that adds up to enough for 6 crab towers. Does that make sense? Happy cooking and let me know if you need more help! :)