Chinese Buffet Crab Casserole
Chinese Buffet Crab Casserole is creamy, crunchy and cheesy! Crab Casserole is my favorite item on the buffet – along with the pink chicken on a stick – and the donuts!
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🔎 Restaurant Secrets for Copycat Chinese Buffet Crab Casserole
⭐ Don’t Skip This If You Want That Chinese Buffet Flavor
If you want this to taste like the creamy, slightly sweet crab casserole from a Chinese buffet, these are the three things that make the biggest difference:
- Imitation crab – this is the KEY identity ingredient – get the flake style vs the stick
- Mayonnaise choice – if you’re not using Duke’s Mayo 👀 what are you doing? This is THE ingredient for creamy
- Raw celery – The crunch of raw celery is that texture balance between creamy + crunchy that you love at the buffet!
Chinese Buffet Crab Casserole Recipe Ingredients
Lots of pantry ingredients here – and I have Imitation crab meat on hand because it’s such a low-cal snack! (I just made this Imitation Crab Ceviche – it’s so good!) Here’s what you’ll need:
- Imitation Crab Meat – Chinese buffets always use imitation crab — real crab actually changes the flavor too much.
- 👉 Look for flake or chunk-style imitation crab like this because it gives you that same texture and mild flavor
- Cheeses: Mozzarella & Colby Jack – you can also use cheddar cheese – I like the mild flavor of the cojack
- Dairy: Sour Cream & Cream Cheese – This is what creates that rich, creamy base — if the ratio is off, it won’t taste like the buffet version. If you’re out of cream cheese, just double up the sour cream. I would NOT go the other way – the half package cream cheese would be too overwhelming to the taste.
- Veggies: Celery & Green Onions – these add a nice crunch
- Mayonnaise – I prefer using Duke’s mayo here because it has a richer flavor that works really well in this dish
- Worcestershire sauce
- Lemon juice
- Garlic Salt – you could also use garlic powder or onion powder
Recipe Variations
- Real Crab – you could get fancy and use real crab meat but it might be overwhelmed by the cheese and cream cheese – so you might want to use a little less of those. It would be a lot pricier casserole as well and the Chinese buffet always uses imitation. 😉
- Shrimp – cooked shrimp would be a good swap for the imitation crab meat as well
- Veggies – you could also add in finely diced green pepper
How to make Chinese Buffet Crab Casserole
This is an easy casserole to make – stir it all together and bake! So delicious!
- Preheat the oven to 325º F.
- In a large mixing bowl – combine crab meat, HALF of the mozzarella cheese, HALF of the Colby jack cheese, celery, sour cream, green onions, cream cheese, mayonnaise, Worcestershire, lemon juice and a pinch garlic salt. Using a spatula, stir well to combine.
- Spoon into a greased casserole dish (8×8 or round) and top with the remaining cheese.
- Place into the oven and bake for 20 minutes or until the cheese is golden brown and the casserole is bubbly.
🧰 Tools That Help You Get That Buffet Texture
- 8×8 ceramic casserole dish – ceramic casserole dishes help the casserole bake evenly and stay thick and creamy. I have a bunch and love a cute one!
- Silicone spatula – makes it easier to mix everything without breaking up the crab too much
- Mixing bowls – helpful for evenly combining the creamy base
What is imitation crab meat?
Imitation crab meat is made from minced white fish, like pollock. It’s pressed into shapes that LOOSELY resemble crab legs. I really don’t think it tastes like real crab meat but I do like it! It’s a must for this recipe!
Why doesn’t my crab casserole taste like the Chinese buffet?
The most common reasons are:
- Using real crab instead of imitation
- Not enough mayo or too much cream cheese (this affects both flavor and texture)
- Overbaking (which dries it out)
👉 The key is sticking with imitation crab and keeping that creamy base — that’s what gives it that classic buffet flavor.
How do you store & reheat leftover crab casserole?
Store leftovers in an airtight container (I like these glass storage ones) in the refrigerator for up to a week. You can freeze up to three months. Reheat in the microwave for 1-2 minutes.
Can you freeze Imitation Crab Casserole?
I wouldn’t put this in the freezer. There’s a lot of dairy in this – and it’s much better fresh. You can reheat it though! Since I’m by myself – I actually had this for dinner a couple nights in one week!
More Chinese Restaurant Recipes
- Pink Chicken on a Stick
- Chinese Buffet Donuts in the Air Fryer
- Benihana Chicken Fried Rice
- Beef & Broccoli
- Panda Express Mushroom Chicken
Seafood & Crab Recipes
Get Heather’s NEW cookbook – Air Fryer Cooking for One today!
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Chinese Buffet Crab Casserole
Ingredients
- 8 oz imitation crab meat flake or chunk
- 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese shredded
- 1/2 cup colby jack cheese shredded
- 1/2 cup celery diced (2 small stalks)
- 1/4 cup green onions thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 2 oz cream cheese softened, 1/4 package
- 2 tbsp mayonnaise
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tbsp Lemon juice
- 1/4 tsp garlic salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325º F.
- In a large mixing bowl – combine crab meat, HALF of the mozzarella cheese, HALF of the Colby jack cheese, celery, sour cream, white ends from green onions, cream cheese, mayonnaise, Worcestershire, lemon juice and a pinch garlic salt. Using a spatula, stir well to combine.8 oz imitation crab meat, 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, 1/2 cup colby jack cheese, 1/2 cup celery, 1/4 cup green onions, 1/4 cup sour cream, 2 oz cream cheese, 2 tbsp mayonnaise, 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce, 1 tbsp Lemon juice, 1/4 tsp garlic salt
- Spoon into a greased casserole dish (8×8 or round) and top with the remaining cheese.1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, 1/2 cup colby jack cheese
- Place into the oven and bake for 20 minutes or until the cheese is golden brown and the casserole is bubbly.
- Sprinkle with green ends of green onions and serve.1/4 cup green onions
Thank you for this recipe
I'm try to make it today.
I make this recipe quite often. It’s my hubs favorite. Chinese is my favorite so we have it once a week lol. This recipe is great. I make a 9×13 pan and the only thing I do different, is use celery flakes because he doesn’t like celery.
I think there is a typo in the recipe. It calls for lemon zest in the ingredient list, but lemon juice in the directions. Just wanted to let you know 🙂 Ty for the recipe!
Thanks – fixed!
Great recipe Thx!
I saw this at one our China buffets in our town. I tried some of it and liked it. So today I went on GOOGLE to find the recipe and I found yours. Thank you! So easy to make! Making it for my Husband and I dinner tonight. Going to serve it with rice. YUM!
Was searching for crab recipes to try and I found your casserole. Made it today and loved it! I also usually eat imitation crab cold right out of the fridge so this was the first time I have eaten it warm.
I found there to be too much Worcestershire sauce and I added a little too much cream cheese. But hey I definitely can adjust it to my taste.
Leave out cream cheese not actually needed. taste of cream cheese to over whelming
made this recipe and loved it. will definitely make it again
Tried this easy recipe for dinner tonight. I liked the idea of the celery and green onions. I didn’t have colby cheese so I substituted a bit of sharp cheddar. I’m sure Coby Jack would have been better, but it was tasty.
I followed the recipe to a T, but mine turned out oily instead of creamy. What did I do wrong? 🤔
well – it could be the brands – I use Duke’s mayo and I hand shred cheese (vs pre-shred) and then philly cream cheese – the mayo or the cheese could have been the culprit. It’s going to be a little oily after it sits but should be creamy to start.
Is it lemon zest or lemon juice?
Just juice – sorry about that – I redid and updated the recipe!
can I do this in the slow cooker.
yup – should be fine – i would do low for 2-3 hours – it may need more time but it mainly needs to heat through and melt the cheese
Sounds delicious!! Could this be prepared and then frozen or cooked then frozen for later?
No – i would not freeze this one – the texture will change of the sauce
This was pretty good. Next time I am going to double up on the crab meat and keep everything else the same though. Little less saucy by adding more crab will be the ticket for me I do think, because I like a lot of crab, but I only had 8 ounces on hand. Thank you so much! It is a great recipe.
love that and yes – you can always use MORE crab!
I made this yesterday and I thought it was good. I warmed some more up for lunch today and oh my goodness it was so amazingly good that I had to go back for seconds. The sauce had thickened, the tastes had melded together, and it was the best ever. I did everything according to your recipe, except for cheeses. All I had was Swiss and cheddar. Yesterday, I thought it needed more crab, but today it has thickened up nicely and needs nothing else. Awesome job and thank you for the recipe.
FAB!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Delicious! Added 1/2 fried chopped onion instead of the green onion plus added 1/4 cup of fried red pepper.
This recipe is AMAZING! I am definitely keeping this as one of my top go to’s!
I had some egg roll wraps from Walmart I had picked up for another recipe. I still had half the package left so I used a pizza cutter and sliced them in chip sized strips, fried them, added a little salt. I used those to dip in this delicious crab casserole! so so good!
I made this, but I was both lazy, and didn’t have cream cheese. I didn’t include the onion and celery, and substituted the cream cheese for whole milk plain greek yogurt. The result was interesting, and I’ll probably not make it that way again, lol! It was kind of sour, and fishy. It was still good, and it was eaten! I’ll try the proper way next time.
yeah – when you sub out half the stuff its not going to be quite the same! and greek yogurt is way more sour than sour cream
Ok but heavy