Novel Crab Newburg

This crab Newburg takes a clever shortcut: cream of shrimp soup stands in for the traditional from-scratch Newburg sauce, giving you that layered seafood flavor without fussing over egg yolks and double boilers.

You still build a proper roux with butter and flour first, which thickens the sauce beyond what the soup alone can do. The frozen soup goes in with milk, and as it thaws and melts into the roux, you get a creamy, shrimp-laced sauce that’s richer than you’d expect from a weeknight-fast recipe.

A pound of crab meat gets folded in just long enough to warm through. Don’t cook it longer than that or the crab toughens up. The sherry goes in right at the end, off the heat ideally, so the alcohol doesn’t cook out completely and that warm, slightly sweet note stays in the sauce.

Now here’s the fun part: serve it over hot waffles. Sounds wild, but the crispy waffle pockets catch all that creamy sauce the same way they hold syrup. It’s a savory brunch move that’s been around since the mid-century and deserves a comeback.

Pro Tips

• Stir constantly as the soup melts into the roux to prevent lumps from forming
• Add the sherry at the very end and just barely stir it through so it stays fragrant
• Use lump crab meat rather than shredded for better texture in the finished dish
• If you can’t find cream of shrimp soup, cream of mushroom with a pinch of Old Bay works in a pinch

Variations

• Classic Newburg serve: Spoon over toast points or puff pastry shells instead of waffles for a more traditional presentation
• Lobster Newburg: Swap the crab for chopped lobster tail meat for a splurge-worthy version