ALDI Fremont Fish Market Crab Cakes Review

A review of ALDI’s frozen Fremont Fish Market Crab Cakes — are they worth buying, or should you hold out for the more expensive refrigerated ones?

Next up in our reviews of ALDI special buys: Fremont Fish Market oven ready crab cakes! ALDI does occasionally carry different varieties of both refrigerated and frozen crab cakes, but these multi-packs were new to me. I picked up a bag for lunch today because Middle School Guy is a crab cakes fiend, and $3.99 for 5 seemed like a great price. Update — they’re up to $4.99 as of their last 2023 appearance.

Note though, while the bag says a serving size is one, I actually enjoyed two crab cakes for lunch — while Middle School Guy easily polished off three. You’d easily need two bags (plus a side) to feed a family of four.

These multi-packs of crab cakes are available in the freezer section for a limited time, only while supplies last.

A Fremont Fish Market oven ready crab cakes review

Fremont Fish Market crab cakes can either be made in the oven or in a deep fryer. I chose to make ours in the oven, which takes 24-30 minutes at 350 degrees, while the deep fry directions say to fry 350 degrees for 4 1/2-5 minutes.

I’m assuming you could also cook these up in an air fryer, but there are no specific instructions on the bag. Please comment if you give it a try, with the timing that worked for you.

Crab cake pluses

These are nice, thick crab cakes that actually browned up fairly nicely in the oven. A little fresh lemon juice nicely brightened up their mild flavor, and these were a nice change of pace if you’re craving a quick heat-and-eat seafood meal.

ALDI crab cakes are also made with sustainable seafood, and you can read more about this on their site. The bag notes that this is a wild caught product of the USA:

• Crab FAO: 77, Gulf of California, catch method: Pots
• Pollack FAO: 67, Pacific Northwest, catch method: Trawl

Unlike some other ALDI frozen seafood products, these do not appear to be processed in China.

Crab cake minuses

At this price, no: ALDI Fremont Fish Market crab cakes are not made from 100% real crab. They contain a mixture of crab, mock crab, and fish flakes, and get a lot of their flavor from fillers and additives, rather than from the crab itself — making the “restaurant quality” claim on the bag somewhat dubious. (If you prefer your crab cakes with real crab and fewer fillers, you’ll want to watch for ALDI’s more expensive Specially Selected crab cakes to reappear.)

The chopped bell peppers inside these crab cakes were also a little chewy, although the breading was nice and crunchy.

Fremont Fish Market crab cakes, overall

If you are looking for a cheap crab cake option, Fremont Fish Market crab cakes fit the bill. Overall, though, I probably wouldn’t buy these again: I’d rather wait for ALDI’s more authentic Specially Selected crab cakes to roll around. Because I was in a hurry today, I didn’t read the ingredients before buying and didn’t realize just how many additives and fillers these contain.

Are you trying these multi-packs of ALDI crab cakes this week? If so, let us know what you think!