Crab Salad Sliders are what happen when a classic seafood salad meets sweet Hawaiian rolls toasted with a little buttery garlic love. The crab salad itself is creamy, savory, and honestly good enough to eat by the spoonful, but tucking it into toasted slider rolls turns it into a party-ready bite that disappears fast. These sliders are easy to make, and easy to scale from family to a crowd. Whether you’re serving them alongside a big pot of gumbo for Mardi Gras or setting them out for game day, these little guys disappear fast.
These Crab Salad Sliders are my answer for when I want to serve something a tiny bit fancier than your average slider, but without a lot of fancy fuss.
I mix up a creamy crab salad that’s so good it’s hard to hold back from just grabbing a spoon and going to town. After a rest in the fridge, the creamy salad gets stuffed it onto toasted Hawaiian rolls brushed with garlic butter with a little melty cheese. They’re sweet, savory, and so appetizing!
If you love decadent sandwiches as much as I do, check out my Muffuletta Sliders, my Crab Salad Grilled Cheese sandwiches, and my Bratwurst Grilled Cheese on Pretzel Rolls.
Recipe Highlights
- You can use lump crabmeat, or save some (a lot of!) bucks by substituting surimi. The creamy, herby-spiced dressing makes either protein so tasty!
- The garlic-buttery baked rolls, filled with a little fontina cheese, give structure and toasty flavor.
- Old Bay seasoning is a must-have for this creamy seafood salad. So delish!
- My recipe makes enough for a crowd, but it’s easily cut right in half for a family dinner.
- Make the crab salad an hour or two ahead of time so it can rest in the fridge while the flavors meld. Then it’s just 20 minutes to finish and assemble!
Key Ingredients in Crab Salad Sliders
Crab/Surimi — For this salad, I have no hesitation in using surimi (imitation crab). Lump crabmeat is very spendy, so it’s not my first choice for a salad where the flavors will be mixed with other ingredients.
Old Bay Seasoning — This spice blend is such a classic enhancement to seafood; you can’t go wrong with this all-in-one mix.
Sweet slider rolls — My preference, both for flavor and preparation, is to use a pack of unsliced buns (King’s Hawaiian is always a classic choice). To minimize the mess of a creamy crab salad, I split the buns open at the top, rather than cutting them across the equator like a hamburger. The crab salad sits neatly in the vertical opening. And of course, the sliders buns are toasted in the oven after being brushed with garlicky melted butter and more Old Bay.
How to Make Crab Salad Sliders
Ready to make the recipe? Skip to the recipe card now to see the full ingredient list, quantities, prep/cooking times, and printable, detailed instructions. Or, keep scrolling for a visual walk-through and summary of making the sliders.
Make the Crab Salad
Mix together the dressing ingredients until well-blended. Break up the crab/surimi meat into small pieces or shreds, and fold into the dressing. Refrigerate the crab salad to let the flavors meld.
Prepare the slider rolls for toasting
Slice the slider rolls through their tops and brush with the seasoned melted butter. Press a big pinch of the shredded into the slice, and bake the slider rolls until golden.
Assemble the sliders
Spoon the chilled crab salad into the toasted slider rolls and serve!
Storing
Like most creamy salad sandwiches, these sliders don’t store particularly well in that the rolls will become soggy over time. However, I have refrigerated leftover sandwiches by scraping the crab salad into a bowl, and then placing the empty rolls in a large zipper bag and storing everything in the fridge.
To reassemble, reheat just the rolls at 300ºF for 5 or 10 minutes, and then stuff them with the chilled crab salad. The crab salad by itself will last in the fridge for 2-3 days (seafood salad can get funky more quickly than other types of salads).
Frequently Asked Questions
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I hope you give these Crab Salad Sliders a try at your next gathering. They come together so quickly but always feel like something special, and that creamy salad-toasted rolls combo keeps people coming back for more. If you make them, I’d love to hear how they turned out! Drop a comment below and let me know what you think.
Crab Salad Sliders
Ingredients
For the Crab Salad
- 16 ounces imitation crab (surimi)*
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon mascarpone or sour cream
- 1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
- 1 small celery rib , finely diced (about 2 tablespoons)
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh chives
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
For the buns:
- 2 tablespoons melted butter
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
- 2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh parsley
- 24 Kings Hawaiian sweet rolls
- 1 cup shredded fontina or mozzarella cheese
Instructions
For the Crab Salad:
- Break up or shred the crab meat into small pieces.
- In a large bowl, whisk the remaining crab salad ingredients together until well-blended. Refrigerate for at least hour to let the flavors intensify.
For the buns:
- Preheat oven to 350ºF.
- Slice the slider buns vertically through the tops, down the center, taking care not to cut all the way through the buns (you’re making split-top rolls).
- Mix the melted butter, garlic powder, Old Bay seasoning, and parsley, and brush tops and insides of the buns with the butter. Press a generous pinch of shredded cheese into the split.
- Place the rolls on a baking sheet (you can leave them in their cardboard container). Bake until the tops are golden, about 10 minutes.
- Spoon the chilled crab salad into the splits. Serve at room temp (for up to two hours).