Garlic Butter Crab Legs

Turn any meal into a celebration with homemade crab legs. These Snow Crab legs, drenched in a rich garlic butter sauce, are always a hit.

Where to Purchase Crab Legs

This dish uses Snow Crab legs, which are favored for their delicate taste and easy-to-crack shells. More affordable than King Crab, you can find fresh or frozen Snow Crab clusters at most grocery stores or seafood markets.

How to Prepare Crab Legs

Below is the complete, step-by-step guide. But here's a quick summary of what you'll do to cook these delicious crab legs in a savory garlic butter sauce:

Prepare the Sauce

Melt butter in a pan, then toss in the garlic and cook it until soft and fragrant. Add your seasonings and let the butter bubble up.

Cook the Crab Legs

Make a lengthwise cut in each crab leg shell. Add the legs to the garlic butter mixture and cook until the crabmeat is thoroughly heated.

How Long to Cook Crab Legs

After about 5-6 minutes in the bubbling butter, your crab legs will be perfectly cooked. The entire recipe, including the sauce, takes just around 20 minutes to prepare.

How to Enjoy Crab Legs

Eating Snow Crab legs is easy—no special tools needed! Simply pull a leg from the cluster, bend at the joint, and gently separate the pieces. The crabmeat should slide right out. Tip: Make sure the legs are warm before cracking them; it's harder to get the meat out of cold crab legs.

How to Reheat Crab Legs

Keep cooked crab legs in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-5 days. When you're ready to enjoy them again, brush the legs with butter (leftover garlic butter works great) and bake them at 350°F for about 8 minutes.

Dinogo Community Tips and Praise

"You might think you need more sauce since it doesn't fully coat the crab, but if you crack the legs before adding them to the sauce, you should be fine," shares mfreeman89. "The sauce adds fantastic flavor without overwhelming the crab."

"This is my go-to method for crab legs," praises Renee. "The buttery garlic flavor pairs perfectly with the crab. It was also super easy to make, and using pre-cooked crab legs was so convenient. Fantastic recipe!"

"This was so simple and so delicious," shares alylikestoeat. "My family absolutely loved it. Don't waste the extra butter—use it as a dipping sauce, though honestly, the crab is so tasty on its own that you might not even need it."

Contributed by Corey Williams

Ingredients List

• 1 pound Snow Crab clusters, thawed if necessary

• ¼ cup butter

• 1 clove garlic, minced

• 1 ½ teaspoons dried parsley

• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

• ⅛ teaspoon salt

Instructions

Make a lengthwise cut along the shell of each crab leg.

Heat butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes until soft. Stir in parsley, pepper, and salt. Keep cooking until the mixture is bubbling.

Place the crab legs in the skillet and toss them to coat with the buttery mixture. Let them simmer for 5-6 minutes until fully heated.

Serve immediately while hot and enjoy!

Nutritional Information (per serving)