She-crab soup is a classic low country dish with a rich, creamy base. This recipe has a special trick for making sure every bowl gets plenty of delicious, lump crab meat.
If you live in the South like me, it might not feel like it, but it’s true… Fall is here, y’all! I can think of no better way to usher in the cooler weather than with a nice creamy soup and she-crab soup is a favorite of mine.
If you’re not familiar, it’s a soup traditionally made in the South Carolina Lowcountry, Tidewater, Virginia, and Georgia coast.
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Similar to a bisque, old school she-crab soup has heavy cream, seafood stock, crab meat, crab roe, and a sprinkling of dry sherry. The roe is where it gets it’s name, “she-crab” referring to the female crabs that produce the roe.
Over the years, the ingredients have changed a bit according to people’s taste and this is not exactly the traditional recipe. Mostly because, well… I don’t do roe. Sorry, y’all! Not on my sushi, not in my soup, and not anywhere else people put roe. If you really want to add it in, feel free. I won’t judge.
If you’re here you must love creamy soups, so be sure to check out our Easy Potato Soup. Our method is foolproof! And our Italian Sausage Soup has a couple of southern twists that you’ll love!
Another way I changed this from the traditional recipe is what results in that beautiful pile of lump crab meat in the middle of the bowl. Instead of sprinkling the sherry over the top, I actually reserved half of the crab and combined it with the sherry and put a generous serving of it right in the center of each bowl of soup. I’m telling you, it is definitely the way to go!
If you want an entire meal with a southern seafood theme you’ll want to follow up the She Crab Soup with Southern Style Fried Shrimp.
To keep your experience focused on low country cuisine these Charleston Pecan Chewies are a traditional sweet treat from the area, and are made with simple pantry ingredients
Love soup and salad? This Salad with Marinated Asparagus and Oranges pairs beautifully with the She Crab Soup. Check it out!
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Without further ado, on to the recipe! Be sure to comment below to tell us what you think and put a photo of your she-crab soup on Instagram and tag us @biscuitsandburlap!
She-Crab Soup
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/4 cup onion minced
- 1/4 cup flour
- 3 cups seafood stock
- 2 cups heavy cream set out for a few minutes to prevent curdling when added to hot stock
- 1/2 tsp worcestershire
- 1/2 tsp lemon zest
- 1/2 tsp mace nutmeg can be substituted
- 1 tsp Old Bay Seasoning
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1-1/2 tsp salt divided
- 1 lb lump crab meat picked through and divided
- 1/4 cup dry sherry
Instructions
- Melt butter of medium heat in large stock pot. Cook onion until soft (about 3-5 mins)
- Add flour and blend to make roux.
- Add seafood stock to roux, stirring well. Reduce to low heat and stir until thickened (about 5 mins)
- Stir small amount of hot roux into cream to temper.
- Add cream and bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat to low. Add next 5 ingredients, 1 tsp of salt, and 1/2 of the crab. Simmer 5 mins.
- Combine remaining crab meat, salt, and sherry in a small bowl. When you divide the soup into individual bowls, top with a scoop of the crab mixture in the center of the bowl.
This recipe made our top 10 of 2018. See them all.
Love seafood? Check out these other posts!
Shrimp with Buttery Sofrito Sauce 
Fiery Cajun Shrimp 
Chicken & Seafood Gumbo 
Itlian Sausage & Veggie Soup 
Cajun Crab Dip 
Smoked Crab Dip
This looks and sounds absolutely incredible. Big crab fan and I definitely need to try this!
Awww, thanks so much Bintu!
Did you ever try this?
This sound amazing! Perfect for a brisk fall day.
Right? We’re ready for one of those. Haven’t even come close yet here in Atlanta. Thank you!
Yummy!! This sounds surprisingly easy to make!
It really is, Joanna.
I am with you, I’m not sure I’ve ever once cooked or prepared a meal with roe, and I don’t really see any reason to start. 🙂 And plus this soup looks and sounds plenty amazing without it! Those big lumps of crab meat in each bowl are just tantalizing – I can practically taste them from your photos!
Yeah, I guess we’re in agreement on that Monica. Thank you for your sweet words!
I love crab but don’t eat it enough – this looks delicious! Very hearty – the perfect comfort food!
We live near a coastline in CA, so we get lots of fog which always puts me in the mood for soup! This will be a hit with my family, and no roe for us. No one will miss it, just like you said!
Thanks so much, Sandra!
Hi – can’t wait to make this soup but I will make it with Dungeness Crab meat and use Better than Bouillon Fish Base. But I have a question – what the heck is mace? Have never seen this out here in California grocery stores. Is there a substitute for this? Thanks again for the recipe.
similar to nutmeg
Why do people rate a recipe without having made it? Unlike everyone above, I did make this recipe and ate it. My husband, who is a picky eater said to give you 5-stars for the recipe. He would gladly eat it again. The flavor was good, nice and smooth and easy to make. I would change the name though, since no “she” crab was used in the ingredients – Maybe call it Creamy Southern Crab Soup. Nonetheless, you hit the nail on the head with your recipe. Well done. I will make it again in the future. Thank you.
Thank you for your kind words, Max!
Did you make the seafood stock or buy it?
We used bought seafood stock, Stephanie, but homemade would be awesome if you have it.
How many servings does this recipe make?
I made this for a special dinner for my husband. We absolutely loved it. The flavors are spot on. I will definitely make this again.
I just made this recipe, I only had about 7.4 ounces of crab (left over from crab legs) so I cut the recipe exactly in half. It turned out great. It’s just me, my fiancé and our one year old. It ended to being enough once paired with a chicken wrap and some red lobster biscuits you can buy in the store in the box.
It’s so yummy.
So glad you loved it! Thanks, Jess.
This is a quick to make recipe and very delicious too. Love to have this for dinner with some crusty bread on the side.
yes, that’s the perfect way to eat it!
Thank you Sandhya!
What a delicious and comforting soup. I can’t wait to try it – it looks really easy too.
Thanks, Dannii! It is easy and delicious for sure!
I have been having so much fun trying new recipes! Today I made your recipe and it was delish!! My kids tried it as well and liked it! that’s a win!
Yay! Thanks for letting us know.
Made these over the weekend. Absolutely delicious!
Super delicious looking and sounding soup. I cannot wait to taste this!
Hope you love it!
This soup was easy to make, flavourful, and quite comforting. Definitely a keeper!
What a wonderful soup! My whole family loved it!
Yay! That makes us happy!
Crab is mty absolute favorite so I will be trying this ASAP! And what is roe?!
Roe is actually the name given to the eggs of the “she” crab.
Quick and easy! Wonderful tasting. I’ve made it twice now. My Maryland husband loves it!
Thanks so much for letting us know, Laurie!
I loved this when I lived in the Washington DC area, for 35 years, and would spend time in the Outer Banks of N. Carolina. I live in Florida now, but if I can get decent crabmeat, I am definitely making this! Thank you so much for the recipe.
Hope you enjoy Alene!
I have searched and searched for this recipe ever since eating it in Myrtle Beach ! this is super good and easy to make but expensive to find decent crab meat in my land locked state !! I have really enjoyed this on special occasions !! Thanks for sharing it !!
Awww… thanks so much Christine! Hate that it’s so expensive for you, but hopefully well worth it.
We don’t care for the taste of sherry or maybe we’ve just had bad sherry…lol. Would it still be good with leaving the sherry out? Thank you…it sounds really good!!
We’ve not tested it without the sherry, but it should still be good Tammy. The sherry does add a layer of complexity to the flavors that She Crab Soup is known for but I don’t see why it wouldn’t be good without it.
Can you tell us exactly what dry sherry you used?
Hi Tammy, We just used an inexpensive cooking sherry.