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Chinese Buffet Cheesy Crab Casserole

This recipe for Chinese Buffet Cheesy Crab Casserole is an indulgent treat. Filled with imitation crab, cream cheese, two types of shredded cheese, lemon zest and crunchy celery and green onions.

What is it?

Chinese Buffet Cheesy Crab Casserole is a new one to me. It is a unique side or main dish filled with imitation crab, which I think is a fantastic protein.

A bit of cream cheese and sour cream bind the ingredients, with lemon zest for a pop of flavor, and celery for crunch. Shredded cheese, freshly shredded is best, tops it all off. It is delicious and rich.

Ingredients Needed

  • imitation crab meat
  • sour cream
  • lemon juice plus lemon zest
  • garlic powder or minced garlic
  • shredded mozzarella & cheddar cheese
  • celery and green onions
  • cream cheese
  • mayonnaise
  • Worcestershire sauce
Chinese Buffet Cheesy Crab Casserole

Crab Casserole varies depending on restaurant

From what I can tell, restaurant Chinese Buffet Crab Casserole can vary a bit depending on what place of business you eat at. This reminds me of my recipe for Copycat Steak ‘n’ Shake Frisco Melts which spurred a lot of comments debating if sautéed onions were served on the sandwich.

As it turns out, it just depends on what place you eat at. That is similar to this recipe, so please keep that in mind before you come for me in the comments. 😅

Can I make this lighter?

If you’d like to lighten up this recipe, feel free to try using light cream cheese and fat free shredded cheese. I haven’t tried this out yet myself, but I’d love to know what you think if you try it yourself.

Imitation crab is a bit more affordable

Super tasty and more affordable using imitation crab. I know the rising prices of food are on most peoples minds, so I am all for saving where I can. Enjoy!

Looking for more seafood recipes? Check these out!

Chinese Buffet Cheesy Crab Casserole
Chinese Buffet Cheesy Crab Casserole

Chinese Buffet Cheesy Crab Casserole

This delicious casserole is filled with imitation crab, cream cheese, two types of shredded cheese, lemon zest and crunchy celery and green onions. 
4.85 from 45 votes
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Course Main Course, Side Dish
Cuisine American
Servings 8
Calories 263 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 16 oz. imitation crab meat
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 1.5 Tablespoons lemon juice, plus lemon zest see notes
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder or minced garlic
  • 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
  • 1 cup shredded cheddar
  • 1 cup celery thinly sliced
  • 1/2 cup green onions thinly sliced
  • 4 oz. cream cheese softened to room temp
  • 2 Tablespoons mayonnaise
  • 1.5 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce see notes

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
  • In a large mixing bowl combine the sour cream, lemon zest & juice, garlic powder, half of each type cheese, mayo, celery, onion, cream cheese and Worcestershire sauce. Mix well to combine. Gently stir in the imitation crab meat.
  • Spoon into a greased 9×13-inch casserole dish. Top with remaining cheese.
  • Bake for 30 minutes or until the cheese is golden brown and casserole is bubbly.

Notes

This recipe does provide a bit of a strong flavor of lemon and Worcestershire. As written, the reviews have been great, but if you want a more subdued flavor profile, please cut the lemon juice and Worcestershire sauce in half, or omit if you prefer.
Recipe adapted from The Food Hussy.

Nutrition

Calories: 263kcalCarbohydrates: 13gProtein: 11gFat: 18gSaturated Fat: 10gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 57mgSodium: 616mgPotassium: 146mgFiber: 1gSugar: 4gVitamin A: 640IUVitamin C: 3mgCalcium: 216mgIron: 1mg
Loved this recipe?Please consider leaving a 5 star rating and share your feedback in a comment below. Thank you!
Chinese Buffet Cheesy Crab Casserole

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Recipe Rating




21 Comments

  1. The directions don't say when to mix in the cream cheese. I assumed it's not split in half and put on top, so I mixed it all in with sour cream, etc.

    1. Thank you for the heads up! I'll fix that. That is indeed when you want to add the cream cheese.

  2. 5 stars
    I added real crab and real seafood mix instead of imitation.. the carb nutrients improved and it was delicious thank you for the recipe. This is one of my favorites at buffets. We are now doing low carb and this was great! Any ideas what to serve it with as a side?

  3. I made it exactly as the recipe shows. However, I now question the amounts of lemon juice and Worcestershire sauce. I will probably exclude both next time as having both of them in those quantities yielded too much ‘bite’ in each taste.
    Thank you.

    1. Appreciate the feedback GC. It may come down to personal tastes, as I enjoyed the bite from the lemon. I will make a note of that in the recipe that it can be omitted or cut in half for a less potent flavor.

    1. Hi Liana – I haven’t tried freezing this so my guess is as good as yours. Typically I am a little leery of freezing sour cream or cream cheese based recipes. It could be enough of a mix of cheese and other ingredients included to hold up though. If you try it, please let me know how it goes.

  4. Initially I was planning to make stuffed mushrooms with the imitation crab meat. Never used it before but am trying to come up with keto friendly recipes for my daughter and son in law. Since my husband came home with 2 packages of tiny mushrooms I had to go with plan B. Saw this, made it mostly how your recipe reads. Then sautéed the button mushrooms and stems, celery, and half an onion in olive oil and butter, salt/pepper. I spread this over your recipe then added the rest of the cheese. It’s in the oven now and I think it’s going to be delicious! I will sprinkle diced green onions and parsley on top when I take it out.

  5. I try to make recipes as close to ‘as-written’ the first time. I read the comments and make adjustments next time. I’m not on any special diet. I made this recipe (as written, but halved it because I cook for two. Also, my oven is on the fritz, so I did it in the air fryer in a 7 x 3″ pan at 300 degrees for 20 minutes.) It was delicious. I served it over rice noodles with an Asian cucumber salad on the side. It’s a keeper. We are not people who object to ‘too much bite each taste’. Around here . . . we express that as ‘flavorful’. The joy of cooking at home means you can tweak . . . and I usually do.

    1. Hi Riki – Thanks so much for your feedback! I’m glad to hear you enjoyed it. I am tempted to try it out again and cook it in the air fryer next time. I’m with you on enjoying things with a lot of flavor.

  6. 5 stars
    If I could have I would have given you 5 more stars!!! I’m the main cook in my family and I made this dish,ate the whole dish myself! Not all at once,lol😋 That was 6 days ago and I’m making it again today! I love seafood and this one is fantastic!! My wife and mother in law better not dawdle when it’s ready cause I ain’t waiting for nobody when it’s done!Thanks so very much for posting this recipe.

      1. I don’t feel it is fair to rate this, as I had to make too many changes. I don’t really like celery in this kind of dish, and I don’t like green onion at all, so I always planned on leaving those out. Since that is a cup and a half of the recipe, that’s a big change. I did add some dried onion. But the biggest issues were the sour cream and the cream cheese. I have both, but they are needed in another recipe. I thought I had enough of both. I didn’t. I ended up subbing Greek yogurt for the sour cream and adding more of that, the cheese, and the mayo to try to compensate. I also didn’t measure things like the garlic and the Worcestershire sauce; I just eyeballed. If I had realized I didn’t have the cream cheese, I probably wouldn’t have started it. But I was just too far into mixing ingredients to scrap the whole thing. And, I have to say, this recipe is sooo forgiving. It’s delicious. Rich, without the celery, but delicious. I look forward to making it again, with all the proper ingredients. I might even throw in a little celery. :-P. For those who are questioning the Worcestershire sauce, you might try soy sauce instead. I love the Worcestershire sauce, but the two often work interchangeably in recipes like this. And for those who are doing keto, be careful. Imitation crab often has more carb than you’d think.

        1. Hi! Thank you for your thoughts on this recipe and the substitutions you made. I think the Greek Yogurt and sour cream are a great idea that I would be interested in trying next time around. Thank you also for the tip on the soy sauce.

  7. 5 stars
    This is very close to the cheesy imitation crab dish at our local buffet, with the addition of a little Old Bay Seasoning and quite a bit less Worcestershire. Thank you for this recipe!

  8. i liked it i just used lemon juice with no zest and it turned out really well and will make it again . you can follow me on tic tok all are welcome tim bitterman 581

    thank you have a good day