How To Cook Crab Legs 5 Ways Wholesome Yum

While they are pricy even at the store, cooking crab legs at home is surprisingly easy and still more affordable than a fancy restaurant dinner. I’ll show you the best ways to do it and you can choose your preference.

Tips For Selecting Crab

Availability often varies by region, but certain types of crab are better than others…

Choose Your Crab Variety:

King crab legs are the largest and most expensive, but also taste the best, with a sweet flavor and buttery texture. They are the cream of the crop for making the best crab legs! Snow crab legs are smaller, with long legs, firm texture, and sweet, briny flavor. I usually buy this variety (shown here) for crab leg recipes, because it’s not as expensive as king crab but still has good-sized clusters of legs. Stone crabs, blue crabs, and Dungeness crabs are not ideal for cooking crab legs, because they are either small or have very short legs.

Cooked vs. Raw:

Most crab at the grocery store or fishmonger is actually pre-cooked and frozen, so crab leg recipes are essentially reheating them. If you’re fortunate enough to live in an area where you can find fresh uncooked crab, you can still use the same cooking methods — they’ll just take a bit longer. You can tell if crab legs are precooked by their color. If they are red or orange, then they are precooked. If they are gray or brown, they are raw.

Fresh vs. Frozen:

Boiling or steaming are the best methods to use for frozen crab legs, and you don’t even have to thaw them. For other methods, thaw crab legs in the refrigerator overnight first.

How To Cook Crab Legs

This section shows how to make crab legs (5 different ways), with step-by-step photos and details about the technique, to help you visualize it. For full instructions with amounts and temperatures, see the recipe card.

How To Boil Crab Legs:

How To Steam Crab Legs:

How To Broil Crab Legs:

How To Bake Crab Legs:

How To Grill Crab Legs:

How Long To Cook Crab Legs?

Crab legs cook time will depend on the cooking method: It just needs to be heat safe, fit in your pot or dutch oven, and have feet to stand up above the water. This applies to the broiling, baking, and grilling methods.

Crab legs boil time: 3-5 minutes for precooked crab, 8-12 minutes for raw Steamed crab legs time: 6-8 minutes for precooked crab, 10-12 minutes for raw Broiling time: 6-8 minutes for precooked crab, 10-12 minutes for raw Baking time (at 350): 15-20 minutes for precooked crab, 25-30 minutes for raw Grilling time: 10-14 minutes for precooked crab, 18-22 minutes for raw

How To Eat Crab Legs

Now that you know how to cook crab legs, how do you get the juicy meat inside? It’s pretty easy to do with the right tools:

Separate the legs. You can usually just twist and pull the legs away from the body portion and from each other. For larger crabs, you may need kitchen shears. Crack the legs. Just bend the leg in the middle (not at the joint) with two hands until it breaks in half, then pull out the solid piece of crab meat inside. (See the photo below!) If needed, use a lobster or crab cracker (this is the set I have) or nut cracker. Crack the claws. The shell on the claws is thicker and also has the sweetest meat inside. You’ll need the cracker tool for this step, though a flat meat tenderizer can work in a pinch. Start gently and add more force only as needed, to avoid tiny shell pieces. Get the body meat. Use a seafood fork to pick it out of all the crevices.

Storage Instructions

Store: Keep leftovers from this crab legs recipe in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2-3 days. You can also use them to make a crab salad, buttery stuffed salmon with crabmeat, my 5-minute crab dip recipe (or creamy hot crab dip), or add some into a lobster bisque recipe for even more flavor. Reheat: You can reheat crab legs using any of the methods above: boil, steam, bake, broil, or grill. Microwaving is not recommended. Freeze: You technically can freeze cooked crab legs, but keep in mind that the ones from the store were probably already precooked and frozen at the store or fishmonger. So if you thawed or cooked them, it’s best enjoy them fresh and avoid freezing again. If you still want to freeze, the maximum time is up to 2-3 months.

What To Serve With Crab Legs

Serve up your crab legs recipe with these accompaniments and sides:

Melted butter & lemon wedges – Butter (or clarified butter) and lemon juice is the simplest option and so delicious! Dipping Sauce – Try lemon butter sauce. You can also upgrade it after cooking by adding fresh herbs, such as dill, chives, and parsley, or spices, such as paprika and chili powder. Add garlic powder to make it a garlic butter sauce. Vegetables – Veggie sides like roasted asparagus, green beans almondine, or roasted brussels sprouts all pair well with this crab legs recipe. Starches – I love these with a buttery air fryer baked potato, but when you want lighter options, make zucchini noodles or mashed cauliflower.