Welcome to Plan n Cook — plan meals, shop once, cook with less stress.

Home kitchen plans

Charleston She-Crab Soup

Charleston She-Crab Soup

Cuisine:American

Course:Soup

0s prep 15m cook 15m ready

About 4 cups; 4 servings “She-crab” alludes to the traditional use of female crabs in this soup, along with their ruby-red roe. To use fresh crabs (and, potentially, their roe) you will need approximately 6 pounds blue crabs or 4 pounds Dungeness crabs. Poach or boil if necessary, crack the shells and pick the meat out, and proceed as directed, adding any roe along with the crabmeat.

Ingredients

Servings:
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 3 cups milk
  • 1 pound lump crabmeat, picked over for shells and cartilage
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons dry sherry
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
  • (½ teaspoon hot pepper sauce, or to taste)
  • ⅛ teaspoon ground mace
  • Thinly sliced green onions

Let's Cook

  1. Step 1.

    Melt in a large saucepan over low heat: 2 tablespoons butter

  2. Step 2.

    Whisk in: 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

  3. Step 3.

    Cook, whisking, until the flour smells toasted but is not browned, about 3 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and slowly whisk in: 3 cups milk

  4. Step 4.

    Return to the heat, bring to a simmer, and cook over medium-low heat whisking constantly, until thickened and smooth. Reduce the heat to low and stir in: 1 pound lump crabmeat, picked over for shells and cartilage; 1 to 2 tablespoons dry sherry; ½ teaspoon salt; 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce; (½ teaspoon hot pepper sauce, or to taste); ⅛ teaspoon ground mace

  5. Step 5.

    Adjust the seasonings. Heat gently just until the crab is warmed through. Garnish with: Thinly sliced green onions

Ratings & reviews

Have you made this? Take a moment and let us know what you think. Sign in to leave a rating.

Get weekly meal ideas

Fresh recipes and planning tips from Plan n Cook.

Plan a week

Drop recipes onto breakfast, lunch, and dinner for every day.

One grocery list

Ingredients combined and scaled to your household servings.

Cook from recipes

Browse the library and public kitchens when you need inspiration.

Keep your kitchen

Save favorites, pantry items, and meal plans in one place.