This Crab Pasta Salad is a family recipe, one of my favorites! Packed with veggies and delicious flavor, it’s a staple at summer BBQs! This crab pasta salad is made with Italian dressing and either Spike or Old Bay Seasoning.
It is made with imitation crab, though you could certainly substitute real crab meat int his pasta salad. The pasta shells work perfectly in this recipe, holding on to the sauce and making a great crab pasta salad recipe that you will want to make again and again.
Today my mom would have been 69 years old. And I’m sure that she would have loved me sharing that with the internets.
Or maybe at this point in her life, she would have been completely cool with it. She might have even worn it as a badge of honor.
My mom was diagnosed with fourth stage metastatic breast cancer when she was 57 years old. I was just shy of my 21st birthday. I remember vividly taking a walk with her in the brisk cold April Wisconsin weather just after she was diagnosed. I can remember the exact coat and hat she was wearing. Her doctors had told her to just go home and enjoy the last month of her life with her family. She was talking about fighting. She was talking in terms of years. And she was saying if she could just have two more years. She and I agreed that that would be amazing.
And then two years flew by.
I graduated college, started graduate school, bought a house, got engaged.
Two years wasn’t nearly enough. There was no time that would have been enough.
After I became pregnant with Gavin my mom told me all confession style that she had really wanted to live just to see me get pregnant. And then Gavin was here, and just hours later she made her exit. Like once she knew he and I were safe she could succumb and give her body some peace.
Regularly I think to myself, “Okay, now I really need my mom.” As if all the challenges that came before were just a rehearsal compared to this current challenge. I mean, I’m totally kidding myself. There was nothing about Elliot that was a dress rehearsal. It’s just that when you are in the current challenge, and the past is the past . . . you get it.
I’ve been having those moments recently. The “Okay, now I really need my mom,” moments. And I just keep thinking that if I can’t have her here, the least I can do for myself is try to be the kid that she would have been proud to have raised. Scratch that. My mom would never have wanted to take credit for my poise, strength, patience with my screaming kids, etc. . . . I want to be the kid that I feel like lives up to the amazing mom that Betty was.
So that was kind of intense for a Friday morning, huh?
Let’s have some Crab Pasta Salad, shall we?
This was one of my mom’s recipes and I LOVE it. It was one of those recipes that meant summer to me. One of those recipes that I would just stand in the door of the fridge and eat out of the container with a fork when I was a teenager, until my mom would walk in and say, “Lisa. Just put some in a bowl for yourself.” Sooooooooo good!
One of the things you are going to love about this recipe is that it is super forgiving. My mom didn’t even use a recipe. The recipe I have from her is like, “a generous squirt of mustard.” So if you don’t really like that much dressing on your pasta salads, just cut back on the yogurt. Don’t like olives? Leave ’em out. No celery? Add some frozen peas instead. You get it.
Make it for your summer picnics and love it year after year!
If you make this recipe leave me a comment letting me know what you think!
I tripled your recipe and was very pleased with the outcome. At the gathering I took it to, the people raved. Thank you.
Crab Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 1 lb medium pasta shells
- 1 pound package imitation crab meat cut bite size
- 1 can medium black olives sliced
- 1 medium red bell pepper diced
- 3 or 4 green onions sliced thin about two inches into the green
- 3 stalks of celery diced
Dressing
- 1 1/2 cups plain non fat yogurt see note
- 1/4 cup fat free mayonnaise
- 1/2 TBSP Spike found in the spice aisle (you can also substitute with 1/2 a tablespoon of Old Bay Seasoning)
- 1 tsp celery salt
- 1 TBSP yellow mustard
- 1/2 TBSP soy sauce
- 1/4 cup Italian vinaigrette salad dressing see note
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to package instructions. Drain and rinse with cold water.
- In a very large bowl, mix the pasta, crab, olives, red peppers, green onions, and celery.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the yogurt, mayo, Spike, celery salt, yellow mustard, soy sauce, and salad dressing.
- Pour the dressing over the pasta and veggies and stir to combine. Refrigerate at least two hours before serving.
Notes
did you make this
Crab Pasta Salad
Zilla Olivia Akl says
Hi,
Excited to try this. We are a Greek household so I will be using Greek yoghurt but will thin it out first with lemon juice. We are also crab snobs and will use real crab. I’m hoping that if I mix the salad together and then gently fold in the crab meat it will stay together enough for us to shovel this into our face! It sounds delicious and I’m excited to check out your other recipes!
sally says
I made this with real crab and it held up and I loved it before I put the spike in, but not so much with the spike. Next time I’ll leave that out.
Sharon says
I do not care for any type of olives is it ok to leave them out!?
Of course! This is an easy recipe to switch up to your personal liking.
Paula Slack says
This is delicious! I am 67 years old and still need my mom! She will always live in your heart. Keep cooking! I love all your recipes!
Robbin says
What is Spike?
Never heard of it. I k ow what old bay is.but not spike.
It is a spice mix sold in the U.S. If you can’t find it, just use Bay. It will be great too.
Heather says
Nice recipe, love recipes handed down! I would use lemon in it to bring the crab out and even a grating of lemon rind instead of soy sauce myself, but that’s just because I love lemon, and it pairs well with fish. You could also try lemon 🌶️ pepper for extra zing.
Cassandra Hapsas says
Love your recipes I love your column the reason behind this is because I enjoy cooking very simple and tasteful and all the recipes I’ve tried from you are just that. Today I’m going to try the crab cellar I’ve never used Spike or Old Bay I have always used brown mustard with seeds and I always add a little English cucumber. Thank you for the emails and thank you for sharing about your mom just remember she’s looking over you and your family every day and enjoying it very much. Thank you Cassandra
Linda says
I tried to share this recipe on FB and they refused saying it goes against their community standards. ????
Hey Linda, well that stinks! I’m not sure what happened there as I’ve shared it a number of times of FB without any problems.
Mona R. says
What’s a good main dish to serve with this as a side? Looks so good!!
Hi Mona! This would be really good with so many things. I think of it as a summer BBQ type recipe, so my Grilled Chicken Sandwiches, Turkey Burgers, or burgers made with my Hamburger Seasoning would be great options.
ANN MARIE BATYKO says
Hi Lisa, Can you substitute sour cream instead of yogurt ?
I haven’t made this with sour cream, but yes. That would work. Sour cream is a great swap for yogurt.