Lunch
Crab Salad in Avocado Boats
Lunch
Simple Chicken Breast Salad
Lunch
Easy Italian Meatballs
Lunch
⏲ ~41 min total · prep 16 · cook 25 · 4 servings
Published Sep 15, 2026 · Updated Sep 15, 2026
Even the best lump crab hides a fragment of shell. Spread it on a plate and run your fingers through it once. Finding a shell at the table ruins the dish; finding it at the counter takes ten seconds.
Turn the crab through the dressing with a rubber spatula only until combined. Stirring in circles grinds the lumps into shreds. You are dressing the crab, not mixing a dip.
Celery, red onion, and cilantro get coated in the dressing before the crab arrives, so the onion can sit in the acid and lose its harsh edge. It also means less folding later, which keeps the lumps whole.
Two teaspoons is a warm baseline, not a dare. Taste after the first fold and add more by the quarter teaspoon. The lime and salt round it out, so judge the heat with the full dressing mixed.
The avocado browns and the lettuce weeps once dressed, so plate right before eating. The crab mixture itself holds for a few hours in the fridge, which makes entertaining easier. Everything else waits.
Divide the butter lettuce among four plates, tuck avocado wedges against it, and spoon the crab alongside rather than on top, which keeps the greens from wilting. Lime wedges and an extra drizzle of sriracha finish it. At 5.0 net carbs, this is a complete lunch on its own, though cucumber spears or pork rinds for scooping suit the plate. Serve it chilled, straight from the fridge, on the warmest day of the month.
The crab mixture keeps 3 to 4 days refrigerated in a covered container, best within the first two; stir gently before serving again since dressing settles. Do not freeze it, as mayonnaise breaks and crab turns watery. Avocado does not hold once sliced, so cut only what you serve and keep the rest whole with the pit in and the surface oiled. Assemble each plate fresh for the same reason.
Lump crabmeat, picked over for shells as the recipe says. Jumbo lump is worth it when the budget allows, since whole lumps are the texture of the dish. Backfin works and costs less with more broken pieces.
The crab mixture holds a day in the fridge and the flavors actually settle in that time. Assemble the plates right before serving, since the avocado browns and the lettuce wilts within the hour. Slice avocados at the last minute.
Mildly warm at the written 2 teaspoons of sriracha, more of a background hum than a burn. The mayonnaise and avocado soften it further. Add more by the quarter teaspoon if you want it louder.
You can, though full-fat mayonnaise carries the dressing better and suits a keto plate anyway. Light versions are watery and thin out the dressing. The 5.0 net carbs leaves room for the real thing.
Acid slows it, so an extra squeeze of the lime juice over the cut wedges helps. The real fix is timing: slice avocados last, right before the plates go out. Chilled wedges brown slower than room-temperature ones too.
As an Amazon Associate and affiliate partner, Keto Food Ideas earns from qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you. Nutritional values are estimates. Recipes are developed with AI assistance and reviewed by our editors before publishing.