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5 from 1 vote

Gluten Free Soft Shell Crabs with Balsamic Tomato Caper Sauce

Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time10 minutes
Total Time25 minutes
Course: dinner, lunch
Cuisine: American, French
Keyword: balsamic vinegar, Capers, cherry tomatoes, ginger, gluten free, lemon, Parsley, soft shell crabs
Servings: 2 people
Author: GFchow @ gfchow.com

Ingredients

  • 3-4 tablespoons olive oil more, if needed
  • 4 soft-shell crabs cleaned and pat dry
  • kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste, for seasoning the flour and the sauce
  • 1/2 cup gluten free all-purpose flour more if necessary (I use Bob’s Red Mill All-Purpose or 1:1 Flours)
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon fresh ginger minced and peeled or 3 cubes Trader Joe’s frozen ginger
  • 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon drained capers roughly chopped or whole
  • 1 tablespoon flat-leaf parsley roughly chopped
  • 2-3 tablespoons tomato roughly chopped, any type - cherry, grape or plum tomatoes are easiest
  • garnish with lemon and more parsley and tomatoes

Instructions

  • Heat olive oil in a large pan over medium-high heat.
  • Season flour with salt and pepper and combine with a fork.
  • Dredge each crab in the flour and gently shake off any excess flour.
  • Add crabs to the pan upside down and cook for 2-3 minutes, until golden brown and crisp. Add more oil to the pan if necessary. Using tongs, turn each crab and cook for additional 2 minutes. Remove crabs from the pan and place on a platter while making the sauce.
  • Reduce heat to medium-low and add butter to the pan. Once butter is almost melted add the lemon juice, ginger, vinegar, capers, parsley, and tomatoes. Stir to incorporate. Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper.
  • Spoon sauce over the crabs.
  • Garnish with lemon, parsley and tomatoes. Serve immediately.

Notes

I buy the soft shells at Whole Foods. Even though they are prepped you may still need to rinse them before cooking if there is too much “yellow stuff." Rinsing them is really easy. Just be sure to dry them after rinsing.
If using regular tomatoes for this dish, remove the seeds. 
If not following a gluten free diet, use regular all-purpose flour when dredging.
In order for the crabs to brown and crisp properly, do not crowd the pan.
For best results, use fresh soft shell crabs, not frozen.
Soft shell crabs have a very short season that starts in April. 
 
It can be difficult to find soft shell crabs in markets.  So when you see them, buy them.