The pros: The taste of Trader Joe's Wild Caught Crab Meat will remind you of the ocean. There is a distinct saltiness that hits you first followed by the soft and sweet flavor of crab. It will take a little breaking up the meat by hand to make it not look so unattractive coming out of the vacuum sealed bag.
The cons: Crab meat not from the US, keep an eye on possible shells. A little grey coming out of the package which visually made me a bit uneasy, but its pre-cooked so you can eat it once the package is defrosted.
The verdict: For $7.99 for 8 ounces, this is cheaper than Phillips brand crab meat that is usually available in many grocery stores, but since this is in the freezer aisle it has a substantially longer shelf life. Out of the package it tasted far superior to Trader Joe's Canned Crab in the pantry aisle. It instantly reminded me of the ocean when eating it.
When dealing with seafood, that is actually a good thing. I think this can be used in many ways such as crab salad, dip, or crab cakes. Since it is packaged in plastic, it will be easier to transport. While there was a subtle grey tone to some of the meat, I took a bite and it was very fresh tasting. I'd buy this again.
It would be better mixed into a salad or crab cakes. But that is always a matter of preference.
Here is a quick visual rundown of this item before I give my final thoughts:
The box of Trader Joe's Wild Caught Crab Meat in the freezer aisle:
The nutritional information and the ingredient:
How Trader Joe's describes this product:
How to defrost:
Out of the package you get:
After being defrosted it came out of the package like this:
I broke it up with my hands to make sure I wasn't getting any shells:
Since it was pre-cooked it took a bite of it. It was salty like the ocean, but when dealing with seafood, this is a good quality. It was pretty fresh for being recently defrosted. You could make this into a salad, dip, or as a side by side comparison to Trader Joe's Crab Meat in a can. I chose to make crab cakes out of this product. Here is the finished product:
Here are both batches of crab cakes (one using Trader Joe's frozen, the other using Trader Joe's canned crab):
Cut in half, you can tell which is which.
You could always go the gluten free route here with this recipe for Spicy California Crab Avocado Boats:
Would I buy this again? Yes. If price is a concern, only then should you buy the canned stuff. Otherwise, I recommend Trader Joe's Wild Caught Crab Meat fully and yes, the extra money is worth it in terms of quality. Yes, this is double the price of the canned crab, but there is no comparison as to which is better. Just be aware, once people really find out that this is good stuff, then this product might be hard to come by.
Want to see more items I've reviewed from Trader Joe's? Click on Thoughts & Reviews of Trader Joe's for a searchable list.
Did you try it? Let me know what you think in the comments section!
joe says
Would you choose this over the premade crab cakes Trader Joes has?
becomebetty says
I loved the premade crab cakes. They were pure crabby goodness and they required no effort. The recipe I used (an adaptation of Barefoot Contessa's) is a lot more savory and has a lot more ingredients to it and takes a lot more time. Both are good but are completely different crab cakes. If you prefer the Maryland all crab minimal filler, I'd say pick the premade ones. If you are looking to make your own the crab meat is good to reach for. Hope that helps!
Randy says
The first surprise was that this Indonesian crab is not the pink-and-white variety pictured on the box, but off-white and yellow and gray. Tasty, but unusual to the American audience. What killed it for us was our second surprise, a rather large number of small surprise crab shell shards that quite effectively ruined our crab salad dinner. Hopefully others will have better luck, but we won't be buying this again.
becomebetty says
Hey Randy! I was surprised too. I completely looks uncooked. The shell thing is a surprise and yes, that would absolutely ruin things. Just remember Trader Joe's does have a really good return policy. Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts!
Ryan Blanchard says
Where to buy the crab meat?
Would like to purchase the canned crab meat.
becomebetty says
Hey Ryan! Unfortunately, this item has been discontinued. But if you look in the refrigerated aisle, there are some other crab meat options available. Thanks for stopping by!