RESET360 with Camille McLaughlin
Lunch

Crab Louie Lettuce Cups

Sweet lump crab, jammy eggs, asparagus, and avocado in butter lettuce cups, spooned with a tangy Louie dressing of tomato, horseradish, and lemon.

Why you'll love Crab Louie Lettuce Cups

Crab Louie is a West Coast classic, served in San Francisco and Seattle hotel dining rooms since the early 1900s: a cold salad of Dungeness crab, hard-cooked egg, tomato, and asparagus under a creamy, rosy dressing. Here the same parts go into soft butter lettuce leaves, so lunch is something you pick up and eat in a few bites.

The Louie dressing is traditionally colored and sweetened with ketchup or bottled chili sauce. This one gets its color, its rounded tomato sweetness, and its depth from a spoonful of tomato paste, which is tomatoes cooked down until their own sugars concentrate. Prepared horseradish brings the sinus-clearing bite that chili sauce usually supplies, and chopped capers stand in for sweet pickle relish with a briny snap.

Nothing here needs more than a saucepan of simmering water for the eggs and asparagus, and the crab is already cooked when you buy it. Twenty minutes in, you have protein, a real fat, and a pile of crisp vegetables that will carry you through the afternoon.

Quick overview: This Crab Louie Lettuce Cups takes 20 min of hands-on time and about 35 min in all and makes 4 servings, each 3 or 4 lettuce cups with 1 egg. You'll need a saucepan.

Jump to recipe

Crab Louie in butter lettuce cups with eggs, asparagus and avocado
Prep 20 minCook 15 minTotal 35 minServes 4Serving 3 or 4 lettuce cups with 1 eggYou'll need Saucepan

Ingredients

  • 1 lb fresh lump crabmeat, picked over for bits of shell
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1/2 lb thin asparagus, woody ends snapped off, cut into 1-inch pieces
  • 1 large head butter lettuce, leaves separated
  • 1 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 1/2 English cucumber, diced
  • 1 large ripe avocado, diced
  • 1/2 cup avocado-oil mayonnaise Label: avocado oil, eggs, vinegar, and salt, with no sugar or seed oils
  • 1 tbsp tomato paste Label: tomatoes, and salt if any
  • 2 tsp prepared horseradish Label: horseradish, vinegar, and salt
  • 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice, divided, plus wedges to serve
  • 1 tbsp capers, rinsed and finely chopped Label: capers, water, vinegar, and salt
  • 1 scallion, finely chopped
  • 1/2 tsp paprika
  • a pinch of cayenne
  • 1/4 tsp fine sea salt, plus more for the water
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 tbsp finely chopped chives

Instructions

  1. Cook the eggs: Bring a saucepan of water to a gentle boil, lower in the eggs with a spoon, and simmer for 10 minutes, until the whites are set and the yolks are firm with a slightly fudgy center. Lift them into a bowl of ice water and leave them for 5 minutes. The cold bath stops the cooking so the yolks stay golden without a gray ring, and it shrinks the egg away from the shell so they peel cleanly.
  2. Blanch the asparagus: Salt the same simmering water well and drop in the asparagus for 90 seconds to 2 minutes, until bright green and just tender when bitten. Scoop it into the ice water with the eggs. Chilling it fast sets the green color and keeps the snap.
  3. Whisk the Louie dressing: In a small bowl, whisk the mayonnaise, tomato paste, horseradish, 1 tablespoon of the lemon juice, capers, scallion, paprika, cayenne, and a few grinds of pepper until smooth and evenly pink. Tomato paste is thick, so work it in fully; a streak of it tastes sharp on its own and mellow once it is blended. Taste and add more horseradish if you like a stronger bite.
  4. Season the crab: Put the crab in a bowl and toss it very gently with the remaining tablespoon of lemon juice and the salt, lifting from underneath with a fork so the big lumps stay whole. Lemon on the crab first brightens its sweetness so the dressing has something to sit against.
  5. Prepare the rest: Peel the eggs and cut each into quarters. Drain the asparagus and pat it dry along with the lettuce, since water left on either one thins the dressing. Toss the tomatoes, cucumber, and asparagus together with a pinch of salt.
  6. Build the cups: Lay out the lettuce leaves, cupped side up, two layered together if they are small. Fill each with some of the vegetables, then the crab, then a few pieces of avocado. Spoon the dressing over the top, scatter the chives, and tuck the egg quarters alongside. Serve cold with lemon wedges.

Storage and leftovers

Crab is best the day you open it. Keep any leftover dressed crab in a sealed container in the coldest part of the refrigerator and eat it within 1 day.

The Louie dressing keeps in a sealed jar in the refrigerator for up to 4 days, and peeled hard-cooked eggs for up to 5 days. Store the lettuce wrapped in a dry towel and the avocado cut only when you serve. This one does not freeze: the crab turns watery and the dressing separates.

Variations

  • Shrimp Louie: Use 1 lb cooked, peeled shrimp, halved lengthwise, in place of the crab.
  • Salad bowl: Chop the lettuce and pile everything into four shallow bowls, the way the original was served.
  • Olive and herb: Fold a few chopped kalamata olives and a tablespoon of chopped parsley into the dressing in place of the capers.
  • With heat: Add a few drops more cayenne and a finely chopped serrano to the dressing.

Notes and tips

  • Pick over the crab: Spread the crabmeat on a plate and run your fingertips through it lightly. Small pieces of shell and cartilage hide in even the best lump crab, and they are easy to feel.
  • Keep it cold: Lump crabmeat is sold fully cooked, either fresh-picked or pasteurized in a tub. Keep it in the refrigerator at 40°F (4°C) or below until you build the cups, and put leftovers away within 2 hours.
  • Check the tomato paste label: Tomato paste should read tomatoes, and salt if any. The sweetness in the dressing comes from the tomatoes themselves.
  • Choose the mayonnaise by its label: Avocado-oil mayonnaise should read avocado oil, eggs, vinegar, and salt. It is the creamy base of the dressing and the main fat with the avocado.

Nutrition and mindful eating

  • Crab brings protein along with zinc, selenium, and vitamin B12, and its sweet, delicate meat feels like a treat at an ordinary lunch.
  • Eggs add a second protein and choline, and the yolk's richness rounds out the sharp, tangy dressing.
  • Avocado and avocado-oil mayonnaise are the real fats here. Fat carries the flavor of the horseradish and tomato and slows the meal down, so the crab and vegetables keep you satisfied longer.
  • Butter lettuce, asparagus, cucumber, and tomatoes add crunch, water, and fiber, and eating with your hands makes each cup a few unhurried bites.
  • As you eat, notice the cold, sweet crab against the bite of horseradish, and check in through the afternoon: this lunch should hold you a solid 3 to 4 hours with steady energy and no pull toward something sweet once you leave the table.

Frequently asked questions

Have a question about this Crab Louie Lettuce Cups? Start here, with the questions people ask most.

What crab should I buy?

Fresh-picked lump or jumbo lump crabmeat from the seafood counter, or pasteurized lump crab from the refrigerated case. Dungeness is the traditional West Coast choice, and blue crab works beautifully too. Look for crabmeat whose label reads crab, and salt if any.

Who was Louie?

Nobody knows for certain. Several San Francisco and Seattle restaurants claimed the salad in the early 1900s, and the name has stuck to the dressing ever since.

Can I make it ahead?

Cook the eggs and asparagus and whisk the dressing up to a day ahead and refrigerate them separately. Season the crab, cut the avocado, and build the cups just before you eat.

Is the dressing spicy?

It has a gentle bite from horseradish and a pinch of cayenne. Start with half the horseradish if you prefer it mild, and add more after tasting.

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Tags: Lunch, American, Dairy-Free