This Is Hands-Down The Best Store-Bought Crab Dip On The Market

Crab dip is an old-school appetizer that totally holds up. When you don't feel like whipping up a bubbling tureen of homemade crab dip for dinner parties and elevated movie night snacks, one ingenious pre-made tub belongs in your fridge. In Tasting Table's ranking of nine store-bought crab dips, Ocean Legacy's Jalapeño Crab Dip swept the competition.

For starters, Ocean Legacy's Jalapeño Crab Dip actually tastes like fresh seafood. Crab meat is listed first in the ingredients list (an accolade not shared by many of the competitor offerings in our taste-test). The dip is made with 100% real North American crab, plus pepper chunks, pimientos, cream cheese, Neufchâtel, sour cream, and Parmesan. The result is a rich, creamy texture that totally delivers on the luxury-factor we'd expect from a crab dip. Meanwhile, the lightly-spiced components like jalapeños, red pimientos, paprika, and dried mustard, which keep the flavor profile interesting. Ultimately, this harmonious interplay of well-balanced and intriguing elements distinguished Ocean Legacy's Jalapeño Crab Dip from one-note grocery store competitors.

As our review mentioned, this dip "places the shredded crab front and center" but isn't littered with large pieces. Our taste tester further said that it's "creamy, crab-focused, versatile, rich, and briny with a unique spicy accent — it's everything you could ask for in a store-bought crab dip." The dots of green jalapeño chunk lend a spicy, tangy tasting profile and a pleasant pop of color.

It's no wonder that Ocean Legacy's crab dip topped our ranking, considering the brand's name has become synonymous with sustainable, premium seafood. In fact, in another grocery roundup, we also ranked Ocean Legacy's canned crab meat as the best offering on supermarket shelves — all thanks to the brand's commitment to quality and freshness. Beyond industry-leading sustainability strides, Ocean Legacy has also developed a unique industry pasteurization process, giving its crab dip an impressive 18 months of fresh shelf life. As for the eating experience, we liked it served both hot and cold. It's microwaveable for convenient-yet-elevated hosting when last-minute guests swing by. Bonus points if you serve it hot in a bread bowl. For the Tasting Table crab dip ranking, our reviewer scooped it up with pita chips.

If we were going to dock points anywhere, it'd be for availability. A lot of grocery stores don't carry it. For our taste-test, we secured our tub from BJ's, where two 6.5-ounce containers (13 ounces total) cost $6.98. Multiple customer product reviews on the BJ's website echo our praise. One customer remarked, "Was delicious. Good price. Very tasty. Easy appetizer." Another wrote, "We had this at a bbq and it was very good, cold! The next time we had it was movie night hot and was just as good!" This knockout crab dip may have limited availability, but if you can find it, it's well worth adding to your shopping cart.