Hearts of Palm Cakes are a simple and crunchy cake served with delicious garlic aioli. Perfect as an appetizer or vegetarian entrée, these vegetarian crab cakes will blow your mind!
Hearts of Palm Cakes are crunchy cakes made with hearts of palm, artichokes, garlic and panko served with a zesty garlic aioli.
Hearts of Palm Cakes
I live in the heart of crab cake country on the Chesapeake Bay. Folks around here are serious about their crab cakes; little filler and jumbo lump crab.
The Hearts of Palm Cake was developed as a solution for our vegetarian friends not having a similar option. Essentially, it is the vegetarian crab cake!
Fresh palm hearts offer a similar texture to crab, smooth and buttery. Most, as I did, also add artichoke hearts and additional seasonings.
As with any good crab cake, hearts of palm cakes are not dense, in fact they are fairly loose and fragile.
Why You’ll Love These Hearts of Palm Cakes
These small cakes are loved by many for all kinds of reasons. Here are a few reasons why we love them:
- Full of flavor – With ingredients like fresh garlic, dijon mustard and dried onions, the flavor of these cakes is out of this world and very sophisticated.
- A great vegetarian option – If you’re having a dinner party with vegetarian friends, this is a great way to serve something that everyone is able to enjoy.
- Perfectly crispy – The panko breadcrumbs coating on these cakes makes them perfectly crispy and ready for dipping into your favorite sauces.
Hearts of Palm
Many seem to associate hearts of palm with artichokes, but they come from a completely different plants. They come from trees, palm trees in fact, hence hearts of palm. They are plentiful in Costa Rica, South American and Florida. The actual tree is sometimes referred to as a swamp cabbage, but more formally the sabal palm.
Known as a delicacy around the world since palm trees can’t be grown just any place, they are a vegetable harvested from the inner core and growing bud of certain palm trees.
Hearts of Palm are low in cholesterol, and a good source of potassium, contain vitamin C and are ideal for adding to your favorite family dishes.
Toss them into a leafy green salad, pasta salad, pasta dishes, on top of pizza, in omelets, dips and spreads, casseroles or even blend into homemade salad dressings to thicken.
They are shelf stable, so you can always keep a few cans in the pantry to use in a jiffy.
They may not be harvested from the same place, but hearts of palms best friend are the artichoke.
Ingredients
Besides a few ingredients, you might have most of these simple ingredients on hand. Everything else can be easily found at the grocery store.
- Hearts of palm – Grab a jar from the grocery store, it’s the easiest way to do it. Make sure they are drained, dried and chopped.
- Artichoke hearts – Same for these, grab a jar form the store rather than buying fresh. Also make sure these are drained, dried and chopped.
- Garlic cloves – I much prefer to mince my own garlic rather than buying the jar from the store. The flavor is much more potent that way. You can also use garlic powder.
- Italian parsley – Fresh herbs make all the difference, so make sure to use fresh chopped parsley here.
- Dried onions – I like to use dried onions rather than fresh so that there’s not too much moisture in my cakes.
- Dijon mustard – You wouldn’t believe the tang and flavor that dijon mustard adds to these hearts of palm cakes.
- Egg – Egg acts as a binder for this recipe. This is what is going to bind everything together.
- Mayonnaise – Use your favorite store-bought brand, or you could even make your own homemade mayonnaise.
- Panko bread crumbs – We use this both in breading for the crispy coating, but also to bind with the eggs to hold everything together on the inside.
- Olive oil – We use this for frying. I prefer to use light extra virgin olive oil so that the flavor doesn’t overpower the rest of the ingredients in these cakes.
- Salt and pepper – To finish off the seasoning for the breading, we just need a blend of freshly ground black pepper and fine sea salt.
How to Make Hearts of Palm Cakes
Despite their complex and delicious flavor, you will be pleasantly surprised at how easy this great appetizer is to make.
- Combine ingredients. In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients for hearts of palm cakes, mixing well.
- Make panko mixture. In a shallow dish or pie plate, mix together ingredients for panko crust: panko bread crumbs, sea salt and ground black pepper.
- Form patties. Divide hearts of palm cake mix into eighths, form into patties. Patties will be loose.
- Dip in panko. Place in panko crust mix and pat on both sides. Transfer to a large plate or baking sheet. Repeat with all.
- Chill. Freeze cakes for half an hour.
- Heat oil. Heat olive oil in a frying pan or sauté pan over medium-high heat.
- Fry in batches. Working in two batches, fry cakes in olive oil until golden brown.
- Drain on plate. Remove to a paper towel lined plate to drain.
- Enjoy! Serve immediately with garlic aioli and lemon wedges.
What to Serve with Hearts of Palm Cakes
You can serve these cakes as a main entrée for a great vegetarian option. If that’s the case, pair with something hearty like mashed potatoes or a rice dish.
They also serve as a great side dish to many proteins like pork chops, a juicy steak or grilled chicken. Pair it with a leafy vegetable, side salad or baked potato.
Variations
While I like these hearts of pal cakes just as they are, there are several ways that you can make this recipe your own.
- Seasoning – If you like a traditional crab cake, chances are you like Old Bay Seasoning. Sprinkle some of that in the mix to take the flavor of these hearts of palm crab cakes up a notch.
- Make it vegan – You can easily make this into one of your new favorite vegan recipes. Just use vegan mayonnaise and a flax egg. Serve with vegan tartar sauce for dipping.
- Fresh herbs – These crispy cakes would have a great taste if you used fresh herbs. Thyme, oregano and rosemary would all be great additions to the fresh parsley.
- Veggies – You can also add some veggies into the mix if you’d like. Green pepper, red onions or green onions can be added to the remaining ingredients for even more flavor.
Storage and Freezing
Storage: You can store these hearts of palm cakes in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to three days. It’s helpful to add either parchment paper or paper towels in between the layers.
Freezing: You can also easily freeze these cakes. Do it the same way, in an airtight container with parchment paper between each layer.
Frequently Asked Questions
While this recipe isn’t vegan, it can easily be made vegan by using a vegan mayo and a flax egg. Check the ingredient section above or the recipe card for a full list of ingredients.
There is not a vegan imitation crab meat that I know of, but this heart of palm version can be if you use a vegan mayonnaise and a flax egg rather than real egg.
Good Catch is a brand of pre-made crab cakes. However, they have a plant based version that consists of a pea and chickpea plant protein blend, vegetables like red pepper, lemon juice and seasonings.
Check the section above, but crab cakes are great with almost anything. Serve them as a main dish with a salad, or serve them as a side dish to most proteins.
More Easy Vegetarian Recipes
Asparagus Soup
Broccoli Quinoa Casserole Recipe
Hearts of Palm Cakes Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
For the cakes:
- 14 oz Reese Hearts of Palm drained, dried and chopped
- 14 oz Reese Artichoke Hearts drained, dried and chopped
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 2 teaspoons Italian parsley minced
- 2 tablespoon dried onions
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 egg lightly beaten
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- 3/4 cup panko bread crumbs
- light extra virgin olive oil for frying
For the Panko Crust:
- 1 cup Panko bread crumbs
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
For serving (optional):
- Garlic Aioli
- Lemon wedges
- Fresh bean sprouts
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients for hearts of palm cakes, mixing well.
- In a shallow dish or pie plate, mix together ingredients for panko crust: panko bread crumbs, sea salt and ground black pepper.
- Divide hearts of palm cake mix into eighths, form into patties. Patties will be loose.
- Place in panko crust mix and pat on both sides. Transfer to a large plate or baking sheet. Repeat with all.
- Freeze cakes for 20-30 minutes.
- Heat olive oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat.
- Working in two batches, fry cakes in olive oil for 3-4 minutes on each side, or until lightly browned.
- Remove to a paper towel lined plate to drain.
- Serve immediately with garlic aioli and lemon wedges.
- If you’ve tried this recipe, come back and let us know how it was!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Came out amazing !!! Will be one of my regular go-to recipes , I did put a little old bays seasoning it for a small kick
I still prefer crab cakes, but these were good.
These are great whether you are a vegetarian or not! I made them for a party where one guest is a vegetarian. She arrived late and they all got eaten. So the day after the party I made another batch and gave them to her. She loved them. Apparently everyone at the party did too! Thanks for the recipe. Great idea!!
I had never cooked with hearts of palm and wasn’t sure what to do with them. This was a delicious solution! Simple to make, very tasty, and the garlic aioli put it right over the top.
Glad you loved it!
I made this and it was so easy and delicious!
My family love it so much!
Glad you liked them and thanks for coming back to let us know !
A little bit of messy work, but so worth it! I made nine patties for my family of three. Served with grilled cheese 🥪. Great side.
Love and thanks for the feedback!
These have been a big hit! I just serve with a drizzle of lemon juice
Woohoo! Thanks for coming back to let us know.
Great flavor but way to loose. It was really difficult to get the panko on and even after freezing for 30 minutes they wouldn’t hold together while cooking.
Maybe I dried the artichokes and hearts of palm too much. They were good enough to make me want to try again.
I’m sorry to hear that, Lance. They are certainly a very fragile food, but yes, try it again! You don’t want too much filler or they get tough.
Wow! These exceeded my expectations! Really wonderful & mine held together well. I followed your recipe exactly & was pleased with the taste. I might add a bit of “the family recipe” spices next time, but a real winner. Does anyone have thoughts about amping the protein?
Thank you! Are you looking to amp the protein with a meat or with additional things like beans? You’d need more binder for beans, but if you are looking for seafood options, our Crab Cakes and Salmon Croquettes are equally as good.
Just made these & they look great! They are in the freezer stage, I wonder if some can be frozen & cooked later? Would it be better to cook them all & freeze left overs? Maybe there won’t be any! Thanks for a easy great recipe!
Hi Julie- you can freeze them, but cook them first and then cook them from frozen to reheat.