Boiled Crab Legs

How To Make Boiled Crab Legs

To learn how to make boiled crab legs, just follow the detailed instructions and a few fun butter variations below. Refer to our how to make crab legs article for even more helpful tips for how to boil crab legs. Use the recipe below for all the details, and you’ll be indulging in your “restaurant meal at home” in just a few minutes:

Picking the Pan

The best way to boil crab legs is to use a stockpot. Since king crab legs are long, the entire length of them can be immersed in water in this tall, narrow pot. If you don’t have a stock pot, use a large Dutch oven.

Prepare the Water

Seafood seasoning—a blend of many herbs, spices, and salt is added to the water to boost the crab flavor behind-the-scenes.

Cook the Crab

The crab is already cooked, so all you need to do is reheat them. The large pot ensures they have enough water around them to reheat evenly.

Serve with Butter Dipping Sauce

Remove shells as you are ready to enjoy the succulent meat inside. Dip pieces of the crab meat into melted butter and then pop them into your mouth, for sinfully rich flavor. Use plain melted butter or try one of our butter variations in the how to season crab legs section below, for even more flavor.

Seasonings for Crab Legs

How to Season Crab Legs

Seasonings are added to the cooking water so that the flavors leach through the shell to the crab meat during cooking, giving the crab meat a mildly seasoned flavor. This is done intentionally so that when you eat the meat, the crab flavor comes through the most, with just a hint of seasoning taste. There are two ways to change up the seasonings to suit your tastes: change the seasoning in the water for a subtle flavor or add seasonings to the melted butter for a more pronounced flavor punch.

Seafood Seasoning Types

Seafood seasoning can be found in the baking aisle of your grocery store. There are several brands and flavor varieties to choose from, including blackened, hot, or even lemon-herb.

Butter Sauce Variations

If you love an extra punch of flavor, try one of these amazing butter sauce variations instead of using plain melted butter:

To 1/2 cup melted butter, add:

Herb: 1 tablespoon chopped fresh herb (chives, oregano, tarragon, or thyme) and 1 teaspoon lemon juice

Garlic: 1/2 teaspoon paprika, 1/8 teaspoon pepper and 2 finely chopped garlic cloves

Mustard: 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley and 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard 

Sesame: 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seed and 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Lemon-Chive: 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, 1 teaspoon fresh chopped chives and 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest.

Mix and Match the Seasonings

Consider if you’ll be using one of the butter sauce variations below or sticking to plain melted butter to serve with the crab legs. Let that be your guide as to whether you use a different flavored seasoning blend or not in the cooking water. You’ll want the subtle flavor the crab gets from the cooking water to blend well with the taste of the butter you serve with them.

Serving Boiled Crab Legs

The best side dishes for crab legs are those that can either be made ahead or can cook without a lot of attention. That way, you can focus on the short-cooking crab and making a memorable meal. Strive for a variety of textures and colors to complement the crab, and you’ll have a feast for your eyes as well as your stomach. Here is our list of crab side dishes we can’t stop serving or feel free to make others that you love:

Sweet-and-Sour Coleslaw: It’s got everything going for it—it’s colorful, crunchy, and is a nice balance of flavor for the rich-tasting crab.

Broccoli-Bacon Salad: Crunchy, colorful, and topped with bacon. Need we say more.

Cheesy Garlic Herb Pull Apart Bread: This luscious, gooey bread is a great flavor pop when paired with crab legs.

Roasted Red Potatoes: Simple and scented with rosemary, these scrumptious small red potatoes add heartiness, color, and flavor served next to the crab legs.

King Crab Versus Snow Crab

Snow Crab

The most common form of frozen crab legs are from snow crabs. They originate mostly in the Northern Pacific and Canada’s east coast. Its white flesh is frequently tinged with pink and is slightly salty in flavor.

King Crab

You can find king crab legs in some big box stores or online. King crabs have a snowy white, mildly flavored meat, and are edged with bright red color. The meat is slightly more tender than snow crab and king crab are typically more expensive than snow crab. They are commonly found in the Northern Pacific, particularly around Alaska or Japan. It’s common to see king crab legs labeled as Alaskan king crab or Japanese king crab.

Substituting Snow Crab for King Crab

Snow crab legs can certainly be used in place of the king crab in this recipe. The frozen legs are cooked exactly the same way as the king crab; however, they may take less time. Start with cooking them as directed in the recipe below but be sure to check them after 3 minutes to see if they are hot before cooking them any longer.

More Seafood Recipes

Make your occasion, as well as your guests, feel special with any of these other favorite seafood recipes:

Ultimate Crab Cakes: A savory blend of crab meat with Swiss cheese and bell pepper in crispy, crunchy-crusted crab cake. Yum!

Crab Cake Bites: A bite-size way to enjoy delectable crab cakes that’s perfect for a party.

Shrimp Scampi: Shrimp cooked in a garlicy butter sauce for a comfortable weeknight dinner or an impressive birthday dinner.

Seared Scallops with Garlic Beurre Blanc: A fancy way to say scallops in a garlic-white wine sauce. It’s a seriously impressive dish that’s ready in just 20 minutes.

Seafood Bisque: A rich, creamy chowder made with both shrimp and fish is an extravagant way to treat yourself at lunch or to serve as a first course at a dinner party.

How to Eat Crab Legs

To enjoy the rich, succulent crab meat from crab legs, you have to literally break it out of the shells:

Crack the Shells

Use seafood crackers (give everyone their own to use so no fights take place while waiting to share one) to crack the shells at the joints.

Loosen and Remove Shells

Twist the shells gently where they are cracked to loosen them. Place a hand on each side of the crack, pull the crab leg apart to expose the meat. Use a fork to pull the meat away from where it’s still connected to the shell.

Dip in Butter

Dip the forked crab meat into a small butter warmer and enjoy. Use tiny seafood forks to go back into the shells and remove any remaining bits and pieces of the coveted crab meat left behind.