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Get It NowOnce you learn how to cook crab legs yourself, you might never want to order them from a restaurant again. This is one of those foods that I absolutely love at home and hate ordering out, because it’s so overpriced at restaurants. (You might’ve heard me say the same about halibut, lobster, scallops, and filet mignon.) Cooking crab legs at home is surprisingly easy, and they turn out tender, sweet, and buttery. And while they’re pricy even at the store, they’re definitely more affordable to prepare at home. I’ll show you 5 ways to do it. Pick your favorite and make this crab legs recipe with me for your next special occasion!
5 Ways To Cook Crab Legs
I’ve cooked crab legs using 5 different methods. To be honest, they’re all amazing, but here are some differences to help you decide:
- Boiled crab legs – If you’ve got a large stockpot, boiling water is the easiest way to prepare large batches. But, I find this method has less flavor, because some of it escapes into the water (even if you season the water — which I recommend doing).
- Steamed crab legs – Because they don’t get submerged in water, they’re more flavorful than boiled ones. The downside is you need a steamer basket and won’t be able to fit very many legs into it, so you’d have to cook in batches.
- Broiled crab legs – This is my favorite way to cook crab legs, because it’s flavorful, fast, and hands-off! Broiling caramelizes the crab a bit and you’re able to add more flavor by brushing with butter first.
- Baked crab legs – Similar to broiling, but at a lower temperature, so it takes much longer. Use this method if you want the benefits of broiling but don’t want them to caramelize.
- Grilled crab legs – Grilling imparts a smoky taste, plus it’s a great way to cook crab in the summer months without heating up your kitchen.
My Tips For Buying Them
You can buy crab legs at the grocery store, but I usually find better quality at my fishmonger. Availability can depend on where you are. If you’ve got multiple options, I’ve got tips to help you choose:
Type Of Crab:
- King crab legs are the best crab legs! They’re the largest and most expensive, but have the most tender, delicate texture and biggest chunks of meat.
- Snow crab legs are smaller, with long legs, firm texture, and sweet, briny flavor. I usually buy this type (shown here), 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 this crab legs recipe, 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 find fresh uncooked crab, you can use the same cooking methods — they’ll just take longer.
TIP: You can tell if crab legs are precooked by their color.
Red or orange ones are precooked, gray or brown ones are raw.
Fresh vs. Frozen:
Boiling or steaming work best for frozen crab legs, and there’s no need to thaw. For other methods, defrost in the refrigerator overnight before cooking.
How To Cook Crab Legs
I have step-by-step photos here to help you visualize the recipe. For full instructions, including amounts and temperatures, see the recipe card.
Boil:
- Season your cooking water. Fill a Dutch oven or large pot half full with water, and season generously with Old Bay Seasoning and sea salt. Bring to a boil.
- Boil crab legs. Add them to the hot water and simmer.
Steam:
- Prep your pot. Fill a Dutch oven with about 1-2 inches of water, and place a steamer basket (I love this one) inside. Make sure the bottom isn’t submerged in water.
- Steam crab legs. Bring the water to a boil, the add the legs to the steamer basket. Cover and steam until hot.
Bake Or Broil:
- Brush with butter. Preheat oven and arrange the legs in a single layer on a large baking sheet. Brush with melted butter (or olive oil).
- Bake. Cook crab legs in the oven (or under the broiler), flipping halfway through.
Grill:
- Brush with butter. Preheat the grill to medium-high heat. Brush the legs with melted butter or oil.
- Grill. Cook crab legs on the grill, flipping once, until warm in the center and lightly browned. (I’ve got a grill pan in the picture below because I couldn’t get a great pic on my grill, but I tested this method on my actual outdoor grill!)
My Recipe Tips
- My rule of thumb is 2 tablespoons of butter per pound of crab legs. This is a good amount for the broiling, baking, and grilling methods. You can serve it on the side for other methods.
- Want to steam but don’t have a steamer basket? A colander can work! It just needs to be heat safe, fit in your pot, and have feet to stand up above the water.
- Can you add other seasonings? Yes, but in my experience they don’t really make it past the shell unless you boil the crab legs. For other methods, I recommend seasoning the melted butter you serve on the side instead.
- How do you know when they are done? If your crab is precooked, the best way to know is by temperature and smell. They’re ready when they’re hot and smell amazing. If they’re raw before cooking, wait for them to turn bright red!
How Long To Cook Crab Legs?
The cook time for crab legs will depend on your cooking method, but it’s pretty quick: anywhere from 3-5 minutes for the fastest way to 15-20 minutes for the slowest. Raw crab will take longer. I’ve got a time chart depending on the type you have and how you’re cooking them:
| Cooking Method | Precooked Crab Legs | Raw Crab Legs |
|---|---|---|
| Boil | 3-5 minutes | 8-12 minutes |
| Steam | 6-8 minutes | 10-12 minutees |
| Broil | 6-8 minutes | 10-12 minutes |
| Bake (at 350 F) | 15-20 minutes | 25-30 minutes |
| Grill | 10-14 minutes | 18-22 minutes |
How To Eat Them
So how do you get that juicy meat inside? Here’s how I do it:
- Separate the legs. Just twist and pull them away from the body and from each other. For larger crabs, I use kitchen shears.
- Crack the legs. Use both hands to bend the crab leg in the middle (not at the joint) until it breaks in half, then pull out the solid piece of crab meat inside. See my photo below!
- Crack the claws. Their shell is thicker, but 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.
TIP: I highly recommend getting a crab cracker tool!
The claws are almost impossible to break without it, and thicker legs can be tough, too. I have this set, which includes crackers and forks. You can also use it for lobster!
Storage & Reheating
- Store: Keep leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2-3 days. I use them to make crab salad, crab stuffed salmon, crab dip (I’ve got recipes for cold crab dip or hot crab dip), or crab stuffed mushrooms.
- Reheat: You can reheat crab legs using any of the methods above: boil, steam, bake, broil, or grill. The time will be about the same. I don’t recommend microwaving.
- Freeze: You technically can freeze these, but keep in mind that the ones from the store were probably already precooked and frozen. So I don’t like freezing them again, but if you want to, the max time is 3 months.
Serving Ideas
My crab legs recipe is the perfect meal for date night or a special occasion! Serve it with:
- Melted butter & lemon wedges – This is the simplest option, but you can also jazz it up with fresh herbs (dill, chives, or parsley work well), paprika, and salt. Sometimes I make lemon butter sauce or melt compound butter.
- Vegetables – My roasted asparagus, roasted broccolini, and green beans almondine feel really elegant with seafood.
- Potatoes – I love these with a buttery air fryer baked potato, but my mashed cauliflower recipe makes a nice lighter option.
How To Cook Crab Legs (Easy!)
Learn how to cook crab legs perfectly – buttery, sweet & tender! Make my easy crab legs recipe boiled, steamed, baked, broiled, or grilled.
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Ingredients
Tap underlined ingredients to see the ones I use.
For All Versions:
For Boiled Crab Legs:
For Baked, Broiled, Or Grilled Crab Legs:
Instructions
Tap on the times in the instructions to start a kitchen timer.
Boiled Crab Legs:
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Fill a large pot or Dutch oven about half full with water. Add Old Bay Seasoning and sea salt. Bring the water to a boil.
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Add crab legs. Cook for 3-5 minutes, until hot.
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Remove crab legs from the water with tongs and transfer to a plate.
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Serve with melted butter and lemon wedges.
Steamed Crab Legs:
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Fill a large pot or dutch oven with about 1-2 inches of water, or just enough water so that your steamer basket won’t be submerged after adding it later. Bring to a boil.
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Place the steamer basket into the pot. Add crab legs into the steamer basket and cover with a lid. Steam for 6-8 minutes, until hot.
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Serve with melted butter and lemon wedges.
Broiled Crab Legs:
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Preheat the oven to Broil.
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Arrange crab legs in a single layer on a large baking sheet. Brush with melted butter.
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Set the oven rack to be about 6-7 inches from the broiler. Place the baking sheet onto the oven rack and broil crab legs for 3-4 minutes. Flip and broil for 3-4 more minutes.
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Serve with melted butter and lemon wedges.
Baked Crab Legs:
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Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
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Arrange crab legs in a single layer on a large baking sheet. Brush with melted butter.
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Set the oven rack to the center of the oven. Place the baking sheet onto the oven rack and bake crab legs for 15-20 minutes.
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Serve with melted butter and lemon wedges.
Grilled Crab Legs:
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Preheat the grill to medium-high heat.
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Brush crab legs all over with melted butter.
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Place crab legs on the grill. Cover and cook for 5-7 minutes per side, until warm in the center and lightly browned.
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Maya’s Recipe Notes
Serving size: 1/2 pound crab legs (yields about 1/4 lb crab meat)
- Tips: Check out my recipe tips above for my easy rule of thumb on butter, an alternative to a steamer basket, notes on seasoning, and how to know when they are done.
- Timing: I have times listed on this recipe card, but you might find my time chart above helpful to see times at a glance.
- How to eat them: See my step-by-step instructions to crack and eat your crab legs above. I own and recommend this cracker and fork set!
- Store and reheat: I’ve got details to store, freeze, and reheat crab legs above.
I provide nutrition facts as a courtesy. Have questions about calculations or why you got a different result? Please see my nutrition policy.
© Copyright Maya Krampf for Wholesome Yum. Please DO NOT SCREENSHOT OR COPY/PASTE recipes to social media or websites. We’d LOVE for you to share a link with photo instead.
How To Cook Crab Legs
16 Comments
Daria
1It’s my first time cooking crab legs and it was honestly easier than I expected. I baked mine with garlic butter and they came out so tender and delicious!
Belle
1Absolutely delicious! Made mine with butter, lemon and I added cajun seasoning! Thanks for this guides!
Bianca
1I love crabs so much! Tried this recipe of yours and it was so perfect yesterday for lunch! I love the buttery-sweet flavor combination – really awesome flavors 🙂
Michelle
0All recipes sounds tasty. thank you for the different methods
Dina
0Thanks for this guide! I came across crab legs at Costco last week and really wanted to try them, but wasn’t sure where to start – and then your recipe came across my feed! It was perfectly cooked and I loved the amount of butter.
Eloise cade
0How to make the sauce
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Eloise, They are shown just with melted butter, but you could make this lemon butter sauce if you like.
Amy
0These were absolutely delicious! I can’t believe how simple they were to make too!
Patti
0Thank you so much for this amazing recipe! So easy to make and tasted really delicious! Highly recommended, will surely have this again!
Natalie
0Love that you shared the different ways to cook crab legs! Your pics are making me hungry! Yum!
Kristyn
0Thanks for all the wonderful tips!! I’ve never made these, but you make it look so easy. I am excited to try!
Corinne
0I love how simple this recipe is! Super easy to follow, thanks!
Robin
0This post is so informative! Bookmarking it for next time I have crab legs to cook!
Betsy
0Thanks for all the great tips! You’ve made this so easy! I’d not ever made crab legs at home before and your recipe and directions are exactly what I needed! Perfection! Thank you!
Gina
0I made these for my husband, I broiled them and they came out perfect! Thanks!
Erin
0These crab legs were so delicious! We all just loved them. Thanks!