Crab Benedict with Old Bay Hollandaise : Jawns I Cooked

Name: Crab Benedict with Old Bay Hollandaise Recipe
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 25 min
Ingredients: 2 English muffins (split); 2 tbsp butter (melted); 4 eggs (for poaching); 1 tsp salt; 1 tablespoon white vinegar; 8 oz crab claw meat (or jumbo lump crab meat broken up into smaller pieces); 1 egg yolk; ¼ cup mayonaise; ½ tsp sugar; 1 tsp Old Bay; fresh ground black pepper, to taste; the juice of half a lemon; 2 egg yolks; ½ tsp lemon juice; 8 tbsp hot melted butter; 6-8 shakes Old Bay seasoning

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This Crab Benedict piles broiled Crab Imperial onto buttery toasted English muffins with a poached egg and a silky Old Bay hollandaise poured over the whole thing. It's the kind of brunch that tastes like a special occasion, and it's on the table in 25 minutes. If you love unique ways to enjoy poached eggs, try this Turkish eggs with yogurt dish!

Crab Benedict on a white plate sprinkled with green onions.

Recipe Summary: Crab Benedict

✅ Recipe Name: Crab Eggs Benedict
🕒 Ready In: 25 minutes
👪 Serves: Makes 4 halves to serve 2
🍽 Calories: 1168 per serving
🥣 Main Ingredients: Lump or claw crab meat, eggs, butter, Old Bay seasoning, and English muffins
📖 Dietary Info: Pescatarian. Contains shellfish, eggs, dairy, and gluten. Easily made low-carb or gluten-free with simple swaps.
⭐ Why You'll Love It: It's fast! Start to finish in 25 minutes, which is less time than it takes to get a table anywhere good on a Sunday.

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If you love seafood the way I do, this is the brunch recipe of your dreams. I save this one for weekend mornings or holidays with guests when I really want a dish to impress!

The crab is what sets it apart. There's no breadcrumb filler, no patty to form, nothing quietly stretching your eight ounces! Just crab, a rich mayo-and-yolk binder, and a few minutes under the broiler until the top goes golden. That's Crab Imperial, a Chesapeake Bay classic I also use in this crab stuffed mushrooms recipe, and it beats the crab cake version every time.

Why You'll Love This Recipe

The Old Bay is in the sauce. Most crab Benedicts finish with a dusting of paprika and call it seasoned. Here it goes into the crab mixture and the hollandaise, so you're getting more flavor in every layer instead of just on top.
Foolproof hollandaise. No double boiler, no whisking until your arm gives out. You stream hot butter into an immersion blender cup, and it emulsifies in about sixty seconds.
All crab, no filler. Eight ounces of crab meat, bound and broiled, and that's it.
It makes a morning feel like an event. Holidays, Mother's Day, an anniversary, or a random Saturday when you just want to eat well.

Ingredients

Crab meat: You can use jumbo lump or claw meat, just like in this recipe for baked cod with crab. Claw is cheaper, sweeter, and honestly perfect here since it's getting broiled anyway. If you go jumbo lump, mash it with a fork before mixing because those big intact pieces won't soak up the binder. And no matter which you buy, pick through it for shell.
Mayo + egg yolk: Mixed with the crab and added to the top of the muffin. It stays creamy and melts into the muffin.
Old Bay: This seasoning is in the crab mixture and in the hollandaise, along with a shake over top at the end. Most crab Benedict recipes dust a little paprika on and call it a day. We're building it into the sauce.
Butter: You need it melted twice, once for brushing the muffins and once for the hollandaise. Note that the butter for the hollandaise needs to be hot, not just melted.
Eggs: You need four for poaching, plus yolks for the crab mix and the sauce. Add a splash of white vinegar and a pinch of salt to your poaching water. The vinegar helps the whites hold together rather than feather out across the pot, and the salt actually seasons the egg. Cooking eggs on a sheet pan is another easy way to enjoy eggs for brunch.

See the recipe card for the full list of ingredients with quantities.

Crab Eggs Benedict Variations

Variation	How to Do It
Crab Imperial Toast	Skip the poached egg and broil the crab mixture on thick-cut sourdough, a split brioche bun, or the English muffin. Spoon the Old Bay hollandaise over top. It makes a great appetizer too!
Shrimp or Lobster	Chopped cooked shrimp works beautifully in the imperial mixture and costs a fraction of what crab does, while the sweetness of the lobster really plays off the Old Bay.
Low-Carb	Trade the English muffin for a thick slice of roasted tomato or a broiled portobello cap. Both hold up under the broiler and give you something sturdy to build on.
Dairy-Free Hollandaise	Use a good-quality vegan butter in place of the regular butter and make it the same way in the immersion blender cup.
Turn Up the Heat	A few dashes of hot sauce in the crab mixture or a pinch of cayenne in the hollandaise gives the whole thing a little spice. Old Bay is more savory than spicy on its own, so this is an easy way to add some real warmth without losing that Chesapeake flavor.

For more ways to enjoy crab, try making crab rangoon egg rolls or ceviche with shrimp and crab for your next dinner party or any gathering.

How to Make Crab Benedict

To get started making crab Benedict, gather all your ingredients, turn your broiler on high, and melt 2 tablespoons butter in the microwave on high for about 45 seconds, or in a small saucepan on the stove over low heat, until completely melted.

English muffins split on a baking tray with a pastry brush adn dish of melted butter.

Step 1: Place the split English muffins on a broiler-safe baking tray and brush all each one with the melted butter.

Toasted English muffins on a baking tray.

Step 2: Place them under the broiler and broil until golden brown, about 3-5 minutes. Check frequently to ensure they don’t burn.

Step 3: While your muffins broil, add the ingredients for the crab mixture to a small mixing bowl. Make sure to break up any larger pieces with a fork. You also want to place a large pot of water with vinegar and salt added on the stove and bring to a simmer. This way, it’s ready for poaching the eggs.

Crab mixture added to each English muffin with butter and a pastry brush on the side.

Step 4: Top each toasted English muffin with equal amounts of the crab mixture. Brush remaining melted butter on the top of the crab mixture and return the pan to the broiler. Broil until crab mixture is golden and crisp on top, about 5-8 minutes.

Step 5: While the crab mixture cooks, poach your eggs. I like to crack the eggs into a fine mesh sieve, then let the extra white run through for a prettier-shaped poached egg, but cracking them right into the simmering water works just as well.

Step 6: Poach the eggs 3-4 minutes over low heat until whites are just set and yolk is still jiggly. Remove with a slotted spoon and place on a paper towel-lined plate to drain.

Egg yolks and ingredients in a tall cup with melted butter on the side.

Step 7: Melt 8 tablespoons of butter on the stovetop in a small saucepan. Add the egg yolks, lemon juice, and 6-8 shakes of Old Bay seasoning to a cup or liquid measuring cup. You want something tall and just wide enough to fit your immersion blender. Place the blender into the cup and pulse the mixture briefly to combine and slightly thicken.

Blended hollandaise in a cup with the immersion blender resting to the side.

Step 8: Once butter is fully melted, with the immersion blender running, slowly stream the hot butter into the cup. The key here is to go super slow when adding the butter so the emulsion doesn’t break. Adding it too quickly results in a thinner sauce. Continue to blend until all the butter is well incorporated and the sauce is slightly thickened, about 1 minute.

English muffins topped with poached egg.

Step 9: Place two crab-topped muffins on each plate and top each muffin with a poached egg.

Pouring the Old Bay hollandaise over the top of each poached egg on a muffin.

Step 10: Pour the Hollandaise sauce over the top of each one. Sprinkle a bit of Old Bay over top each muffin and serve your crab Benedict with these colorful baked stuffed Roma tomatoes.

Expert Tips

Go slow with the butter. This is the one place people go wrong. Stream the hot butter into the blender cup in a thin, steady trickle rather than pouring it all at once. The yolks need those first few seconds to warm up and start setting before they can hold all that fat. Rush it, and you'll end up with a thin, liquidy sauce instead of a thick one.
If your hollandaise breaks, you can save it. Whisk a fresh egg yolk with a couple teaspoons of hot water in a clean bowl, then slowly whisk it into the broken sauce a little at a time. It comes back together almost every time, so don't dump it out and start over.
Make the hollandaise last. It doesn't hold well, and trying to reheat it will just break the sauce. Have your muffins toasted, your crab broiled, and your eggs poached before you touch the blender, then pour and serve right away.
Mix the crab ahead. The imperial mixture can be stirred together up to a day in advance and kept covered in the fridge. This step takes most of the work out of a holiday morning. Just give it a quick stir before you spoon it onto the muffins.
Storage: Leftover broiled crab topping keeps in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days and reheats nicely under the broiler for a minute or two. Don't store an assembled crab Benedict, though, because the muffin ends up soggy, the hollandaise separates, and the poached egg keeps cooking. If you know you'll have extras, hold the components separately and build them fresh.

Crab Benedict Recipe FAQs

Why is my hollandaise for crab Benedict runny?

You almost certainly added the butter too fast. The egg yolks need a few seconds of blending to warm up and start to thicken before they can absorb the fat in the butter. Pouring it in quickly leaves you with a thin, soupy sauce. Stream the hot butter in slowly and steadily instead, and if it's already runny, whisk a fresh yolk with a little hot water in a clean bowl and slowly blend the sauce back into it.

Can you make hollandaise for crab Benedict ahead of time?

It's really best made right before serving. Hollandaise doesn't hold, and it doesn't reheat because warming it up will break the emulsion. Since this version comes together in about a minute with an immersion blender, just get everything else ready first and make the sauce last.

Can I use canned crab meat to make crab Benedict?

You can, but buy the refrigerated canned crab from the seafood case rather than the shelf-stable cans near the tuna. Drain it well and pat it dry, or the extra liquid will make your imperial mixture loose.

Can I make hollandaise for my crab Benedict without an immersion blender?

Yes! Whisk the yolks, lemon juice, and Old Bay in a heatproof bowl set over barely simmering water, then whisk in the hot butter a little at a time. It takes closer to 10 minutes and a lot more arm work, but it gets you there.

Serving Suggestions

This crab eggs Benedict is a rich plate, so everything around it should be light and a little bit sharp.

Something green and acidic. A simple arugula salad with lemon and olive oil is the move — it takes two minutes and cuts right through the hollandaise. Roasted asparagus with Parmesan works just as well if you want something warm.
Crispy potatoes. Home fries or these air fryer new potatoes are well seasoned and crunchy so they hold their own next to the crab.
Something to drink. Mimosas are the classic pairing for brunch. During the holidays, this dish is great with cranberry mimosas.

Crab benedicts on a blue plate garnished with Old Bay and green onions.

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