Crab stock substitutes

By far the best substitute, because both are crustacean shell stocks and share the same sweet-briny character. Shrimp stock is a shade sharper and more iodine-forward, and slightly less sweet and rounded than crab, which in a gumbo is undetectable and in a delicate crab bisque is faintly noticeable. If you have a bag of shrimp shells and heads saved in the freezer, this is a 25 minute job and costs nothing.

Best for

gumbo, crab bisque, etouffee, seafood risotto, chowder

Shrimp heads carry the most flavour but also go bitter fastest. Simmer, never boil, and stop at 25 to 30 minutes.

Easy to buy in a carton and a fine base, but it tastes markedly less sweet than crab stock and more plainly savoury and fishy. In a bisque that difference reads as the soup being hollow in the middle, which is exactly what the sugar and sherry fix. Fish stock is also paler, so your bisque loses the faint orange tint that crab shells give. Avoid anything smoked.

Best for

bisque, gumbo, seafood soups, paella, sauces

Boxed seafood stock is often already salted. Taste it before you season the dish and hold back the salt until the end.

The convenient jar version and closer in flavour than fish stock, since it is made from crab or lobster shells. What you notice is that it is one-dimensional and salty: a strong crab hit with none of the layered aromatic background that real shells, onion and bay give you, and no gelatin, so a sauce made from it will not gloss. Good in a heavily seasoned gumbo, thinner in a simple bisque.

Best for

gumbo, quick bisque, seafood pasta, emergency substitution

Add absolutely no salt until the finished dish is tasted. A tablespoon of base per quart is already close to fully seasoned.

The supermarket standby. It delivers real shellfish salinity and a clean mineral, oceanic tang, but it is a completely different note: sharply briny with zero sweetness, where crab stock is soft and sweet. It is also very salty, hence the heavy dilution. Excellent in chowder and seafood pasta where cream or tomato rounds it out, harsher in a plain crab soup.

Best for

chowder, seafood pasta, cioppino, steaming shellfish

Clams are molluscs, a separate allergen from crab. Half a teaspoon of sugar per quart takes the metallic edge off.

The route to take when there is no seafood in the house, and the only option here that is safe with a shellfish allergy. Chicken stock supplies body and savoury depth, tomato paste supplies the orange colour and a savoury lift, Old Bay supplies the celery-and-paprika seafood signal, and sherry supplies the aromatic top note. In gumbo this is genuinely good. It does not taste like crab, and pretending otherwise sets you up for disappointment.

Best for

gumbo, jambalaya, shellfish allergies, seafood-free bisque

Brown the tomato paste in the roux or in a little oil first. Old Bay contains salt, so cut the recipe's salt accordingly.

A clean, marine-tasting broth with real savoury depth and a hint of natural sweetness from the kelp, which is closer to crab stock than most people expect. What is missing is fat, gelatin body and any crustacean sweetness, so it feels lean and looks pale. Fine for a light crab noodle soup or a steamed dish; too thin to carry a rich bisque without added cream or butter.

Best for

light seafood broths, noodle soups, steamed fish and dumplings, vegan adaptations

Soak a 4 inch piece of kombu and two dried shiitake in a quart of water for 30 minutes, heat to just below a simmer, then remove the kombu before it boils.