How To Cook King Crab Legs On The Grill

How to cook king crab legs on the grill

We wanted to try something new and thought we’d make some Grilled King Crab Legs. While it isn’t the cheapest recipe I could possibly make (and I hope my wife doesn’t look at the credit card statement too closely!), it was one of the best things I made on the grill and it took less than 15 minutes to make!

I love wandering around Whole Foods, especially the Seafood and Butcher counters. I loaded up on fresh mussels, clams, and of course these insanely delicious King Crab Legs. Hey, I am an Amazon Prime member and saved a couple of bucks per pound – so that kinda counts as frugal, right? We’ll see if that argument works with the wife.

🍽️ Why This Works

Super Easy – These are precooked, so there are no complicated instructions.

Delicious – Holy moly, are these delicious! We made three different types of butter-based dips for the crab legs, but I think they taste perfect without anything too!

Celebratory – These are perfect for a special occasion or holiday!

🦀 Ingredients

Crab Legs – I chose King Crab for this meal, but Snow Crab legs work just as good. King crabs have larger and thicker legs and claws, which means there is a lot more meat in there. Snow Crabs have thinner legs, but their shells are much easier to break.

Butter Dips – There are three options here: 1) Plain melted butter, 2) Garlic Butter, and 3) Charred Lemon Butter. All of them are delish! If you want to get real swanky, you can Roast Garlic on the Grill before adding it to your butter.

🔥 Grilling Instructions

Step One: Heat the grill to 375 degrees over direct heat.

Step Two: Clean the legs and spray them with a little bit of spray oil. You don’t need much!

Step Three: Place the legs on the grill and let them cook for 5-7 minutes.

Note: If you are making the Charred Lemon Butter Dip, cut the lemons in half and place them face-down on the grill grate now. They will develop nice sear marks and will be perfect for mixing with the butter at the end of the grill.

Step Four: Turn the legs over and grill the other side for another 5-7 minutes.

Step Five: Remove them from the grill and serve immediately.

🧈 Butter Dip Instructions

Plain Butter: Melt a stick of salted butter in a cast iron pan on the grill or simply microwave it. It’s as easy as that!

Note: To make the butter “clarified” skim off the solids that float to the top of the dish as it melts. That leaves a nice ghee that is more attractive for dipping. I’ll be honest, I rarely use clarified butter for this – I just can’t taste the difference on the legs!

Garlic Butter: Chop a garlic clove and add it to the melted butter. Keep the garlic butter on low heat to keep the butter melted and give the garlic time to infuse its fantastic flavor.

Charred Lemon Butter: As noted above, char the lemon halves of the grill. After they have nice sear marks, squeeze them into the butter for a nice, refreshing flavor.

📝 Expert Tips

• Don’t over cook the crab legs. These are precooked, so you don’t need to worry about much other than reheating them. If you do heat them too long, they will dry out. Fortunately, these are pretty forgiving!
• Pre-Crack or Post-Crack. That is the question. If you are concerned that your guests will have a tough time cracking the shell, you should crack or cut it before placing it on the grill. The benefit of this is that you can take your time and you don’t have to worry about everyone sharing a crab cracker. For me, I figured my family could do it themselves after they were off the grill! 😀
• If you grilled too many (which RARELY happens!) pick out the meat and store it in a Ziploc bag. I try to eat it all the next day as a salad topping, but you can freeze it for a short amount of time.

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