Crabs Legs with Garlic Butter
Learn how to cook Crab Legs at home! It's easy to make restaurant-quality seafood at home, and it can be much more cost-effective. Choose one of 4 methods: steaming, baking, grilling, or Instant Pot. Then, finish the dish with easy garlic butter, because we love to dip crab meat into the incredible crab dipping sauce.
Ingredients
What You Will Need to Cook Crab:
- 2 lbs snow crab legs, (4 clusters), or Dungeness or King Crab.
- 1 cup water, (for Instant Pot or steaming methods)
Ingredients for Crab Dipping Sauce:
- 4 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1/8 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice, freshly squeezed
Instructions
Steamed Cook Crab Legs:
- Steam - Place a steamer basket or wire rack at the bottom of a large stockpot. Add 1 cup of water. Place crab legs over the rack (as many as your pot will accommodate). Bring the water to a boil, then cover and steam cook until fragrant and steaming hot (5-10 minutes). Frozen crab legs will take longer, thawed crab legs cook faster).
Oven-Baked Crab Legs:
- Wrap - Using heavy-duty aluminum foil, create a foil pack with 4 clusters of crab legs. Using a long sheet of foil with the crab legs in the center, bring the two ends together and fold them together twice. Fold the other two ends together twice to seal the foil packet. Do not add water since it will steam cook with the natural moisture from the crab legs.
- Bake - Place on a baking sheet and onto the center rack of a preheated oven at 450˚F for 25 minutes if frozen or 15 minutes if thawed. The crab legs are ready when you open the foil pack, and they are steaming.
Grilled Crab Legs:
- Wrap - Create the same foil pack of 4 crab leg clusters as in the Oven-Baked directions.
- Grill over medium/high heat at 450˚F for 15 minutes if frozen or 10 minutes if thawed. Crab legs are ready when you see steaming as you open the foil pack.
Instant Pot Crab Legs:
- Fill the pot - Place a trivet in a 6 qt Instant Pot and add 1 cup of water. Add 3-4 clusters of fresh or frozen crab legs per batch, folding the legs to fit more in (thawed are easier to fit than frozen).
- Cook - Close the lid, set the vent to sealing position, and cook on manual high pressure 4 minutes, then switch the vent to venting position and do a quick release* of remaining pressure.
How to Make Crab Dipping Sauce:
- Heat - In a medium saucepan, melt 4 Tbsp butter and add 2 minced garlic cloves, 1/4 tsp salt, and 1/8 tsp black pepper. Stir 30 seconds until fragrant, then remove from heat. Off the heat, squeeze in 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice. Divide between ramekins to serve.
Notes
*Instant Pot Pro Tips: Cook the crab legs in your Instant Pot outside or depressurize under the range vent, so the crab leg smell doesn't take over your home! You can repeat with a second batch right away using the same water at the bottom.
For all the cooking methods, the crab legs are done cooking when they are uniformly steaming. If they aren't steaming, you haven't cooked them long enough. Serve the crab meat hot or cold, using a Crab Cracker or kitchen shears to open the hard shell.
Storing and Reheating Crab Legs:
- Before cooking, thawed crab meat should be cooked/consumed within 2 days.
- After cooking, cool leftover crab meat and then store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- Reheat from frozen in a saucepan set on low heat on the stove until warm (165°F). Sauté with a tablespoon of water or butter to prevent drying out.
Nutrition Facts
Crabs Legs with Garlic Butter
Amount per Serving
Calories
397
% Daily Value*
Fat
24
g
37
%
Saturated Fat
15
g
94
%
Cholesterol
155
mg
52
%
Sodium
2197
mg
96
%
Potassium
463
mg
13
%
Carbohydrates
1
g
0
%
Sugar
1
g
1
%
Protein
42
g
84
%
Vitamin A
754
IU
15
%
Vitamin C
18
mg
22
%
Calcium
116
mg
12
%
Iron
1
mg
6
%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
