Fremont Fish Market Imitation Crab Meat

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When I was a kid, I remember my mom sometimes served imitation crab as part of a quick and easy meal. She’d buy it in stick form, heat it in the microwave, and serve in a style similar to fish sticks. Of course, it didn’t taste like regular crab, but it was an acceptable poor man’s substitute. As a child, I thought it was fun that I could unroll the imitation crab sticks into thin sheets. Later when I was in high school and worked in a department store at the mall, one of my favorite break-time meals to pick up at the Subway shop in the mall was a seafood salad sub featuring chunks of imitation crab.

These days, I buy imitation crab to serve as a salad topping. I’ve used it in certain soup recipes and in a mac and cheese dish. It’s also good mixed with mayo and seasonings for a crab salad or served as a component of certain pasta salads. Sometimes I serve it warm with pasta and alfredo sauce. Most often, my family enjoys eating it heated in the microwave and served with melted butter for dipping. It’s simple, but we like it. While we don’t care for sushi or sushi-style meals, a lot of people also use imitation crab to make California rolls.

I usually buy my imitation crab from Aldi. It’s sold under their Fremont Fish Market house brand.

Fremont Fish Market Imitation Crab Meat is a Regular Buy, meaning you should be able to find it at Aldi any time of year. It’s sold in two different styles: flake style, which consists of larger pieces, and chunk style, which consists of smaller bite-sized pieces.

Fremont Fish Market Imitation Crab Meat cost $2.39 for an 8-ounce package at my local store at the time of publication. That’s around 30 cents per ounce. With 2.5 servings per package, that comes out to about 96 cents per serving.

For comparison, I found 16-ounce packages of Louis Kemp branded imitation crab on sale for about 27 cents per ounce at Walmart at the time of writing. When not on sale, it costs around 30 cents an ounce, the same as the Aldi imitation crab. So you may be able to find a similar deal, or even a better deal, on imitation crab outside of Aldi. What you prefer might also depend on how much imitation crab you need, since the Aldi version is sold in 8-ounce packages while I only found the Louis Kemp brand in 16-ounce packages.

The Aldi imitation crab packages state this contains a blend of Alaska pollock and snow crab, and that it contains 100 mg of omega-3 per serving. That’s less omega-3 than what you’ll find in a serving of salmon, but it’s something. Omega-3 fatty acids are healthy fats that can be good for your heart.

You’ll find this imitation crab in the refrigerated deli case near some of the sausages and lunchmeat at Aldi. It is fully cooked and ready to eat. The packages state to keep refrigerated and to use within three days of opening. You could also toss this in the freezer to save for later.

This is a product of the U.S. The fish in this was wild caught in the Northeast Pacific using a trawl net. It is certified sustainable.

Nutrition information and ingredients. This information is identical between the chunk style and flake style imitation crab. (Click to enlarge.)

If you’re looking out for allergens, this contains fish (Alaska pollock and/or Pacific whiting, sardine, anchovy, wheat, soy, crustacean shellfish (swimming crab, snow crab), and eggs.

One 1/2-cup serving has 110 calories, 1.5 grams of total fat (2% DV), no saturated fat, 5 mg of cholesterol (2% DV), 410 mg of sodium (18% DV), 21 grams of total carbohydrates (8% DV), no dietary fiber, 2 grams of added sugars (4% DV), and 4 grams of protein.

Flake style on the left, chunk style on the right.

This tastes like other brands of imitation crab I’ve had: meaty with a mix of sweet and salty flavors. It’s fairly solid when served cold, and it gets softer and separates more easily when served warm, so it can be worth trying it both ways. Again, you might be able to find a slightly better price on other brands, but otherwise this tastes like name brands.

The Verdict:

Fremont Fish Market Imitation Crab Meat comes in flake or chunk styles and tastes like other brands. It’s good for adding to recipes, serving as a salad topping, using in California rolls, or simply serving on its own, maybe with some melted butter. There may not be a huge price difference between the Aldi imitation crab and other brands, though.