A tomato-based vegetable soup loaded with blue crab, Old Bay, corn, lima beans, and potatoes. A thrifty, nutrient-dense Chesapeake one-pot that stretches crab across a big family.
This is the everyday, feed-the-family Chesapeake crab soup — the thrifty cousin of she-crab soup. Black Baltimore and Eastern Shore cooks made a little crab go a long way by building it into a big pot of vegetables. It is a Sunday-pot, leftover-stretching dish.
Unlike the cream-based crab soups, this one is built on tomatoes and vegetables, making it genuinely heart-friendly. The crab brings zinc, B12, and lean protein; the lima beans and vegetables add fiber, potassium, and antioxidants. Potassium and fiber both work against hypertension and help blood sugar control. The main watch-point is sodium from Old Bay and any canned vegetables or broth.
Simmer a base of tomatoes, beef or crab stock, and Old Bay. Add mixed vegetables — corn, lima beans, green beans, potatoes, carrots, cabbage, onion. Cook until vegetables are tender, then fold in blue crab meat and a few whole crab pieces near the end so the meat stays sweet. Many cooks add the crab claws and bodies for flavor.
Free, no account needed to ask.