How To Bake Crab Legs Recipes

CRABS - GARLIC BUTTER BAKED CRAB LEGS

Steps:

• Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Meanwhile, grab yourself a small saucepan. On med low heat, melt the butter. Add the garlic (I prefer a press) and LIGHTLY saute. Squeeze in the juice of the citrus of choice. If using a lemon, squeeze the juice into your hands so that you can remove the seeds with ease. Turn the heat to low and let those flavors mesh until the oven is nice and hot. Toss in as much salt (to taste) and a couple pinches of parsley. Then whisk in that olive oil with a fork. Turn off your burner.
• Arrange your tasty crustaceans in a 9x13 baking dish, brushing each leg with the sauce. ***TASTY TIP*** I use an injector to pop a *little* extra UMPH into my crabs. Pour any remaining sauce over those puppies. Now toss the pan into the oven on the center rack.
• Bake your crabs for about 25 minutes or so (depending on how thick the legs you have are), brushing the sauce from the bottom of the pan onto the legs every 5-7 minutes. Remove from oven. Sprinkle with a few pinches o' parsley for garnish.
• I am a lazy gal, detest doing more dishes than I have to, and am a firm believer in the "waste not, want not" phrase. With that said, I just serve the crab in the same dish I baked it in so I can dip the meat into the tasty sauce, savoring every last drop. If you are the opposite, use tongs and place them on a platter and pour the buttery-goodness into ramekins. VOILA! Crab House comparable delicacy! "Ohhhh my CRAAAABS!

HOW TO BAKE CRAB LEGS

Steps:

• Thaw the crab legs. If you bought frozen crab legs, let them defrost in the refrigerator for 8 to 12 hours. You can also place the crab legs under cold running water until they're defrosted.
• Cut the crab legs and preheat the oven. Turn the oven on to 350 °F (177 °C). Rinse the crab legs with cold water and use towels to pat them dry. Take a pair of kitchen shears and cut each crab leg lengthwise. Cutting a long slit in the shell of the legs will help the meat absorb the flavorful sauce.
• Melt the butter and add the seasonings. Measure 3/4 cup (170 g) of salted butter into a small saucepan. Turn the heat to medium and melt the butter. Whisk in 3 tablespoons (15 g) of finely minced garlic, 1/4 cup (60 ml) of dry white wine, 2 tablespoons (30 ml) of lemon juice, and 1/4 cup (5 g) of finely chopped flat leaf Italian parsley. If you want a smoky flavor, add 1 teaspoon (2 g) of hot smoked paprika.
• Whisk and simmer the sauce for 1 minute. Keep the heat on medium and whisk the sauce until the ingredients combine and become fragrant. This should take 1 minute. Turn off the heat.
• Place the crab legs on a sheet and coat them with the sauce. Lay the crab legs on a rimmed baking sheet. Pour three-quarters of the butter sauce over the legs. The legs should be covered with the sauce. Set the remaining butter sauce aside to use for basting the legs as they cook.
• Bake the crabs for 8 minutes and baste them with the sauce. Put the sheet of crab legs in the preheated oven and cook them for 8 minutes. Open the oven door and dip a pastry brush in the butter sauce. Brush the sauce over the legs and close the oven door.
• Cook the crab legs for 8 more minutes and baste them. Open the oven door after cooking them for another 8 minutes and brush more of the butter sauce over the legs. Close the oven door.
• Bake the crab legs for 6 minutes. Remove the crab legs from the oven once they've finished cooking. King crab legs will take a total of 22 minutes. If you're using snow crab clusters, you'll need to reduce cooking time by 7 minutes or by 4 minutes, if you're using dungeness crab clusters.
• Serve the crab legs with the butter sauce. Set the hot crab out on a large serving platter. Pour the buttery liquid from the baking sheet into dipping bowls. Place these near the crab legs for guests to dip the meat into. Remember to set out crab cracking tools and paper towels. Store leftover crab legs in the refrigerator for 3 to 5 days in an airtight container.

KING CRAB LEGS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Place crab legs in a shallow baking pan.
• Heat butter in a small saucepan over medium heat until melted, about 3 minutes. Whisk in seafood seasoning, lemon juice, garlic, and olive oil. Brush crab legs with butter mixture and pour any remaining mixture over crab legs.
• Bake in the preheated oven until opaque and flaky, basting regularly with the butter mixture in the pan, 25 to 35 minutes.

BOILED CRAB LEGS

Steps:

• Fill large stockpot or Dutch oven half full with water; add seafood seasoning and salt. Heat to boiling.
• Add crab legs. Cook 3 to 5 minutes or just until heated. Remove with tongs to serving platter. Serve warm with melted butter.