Follow this simple step-by-step guide on How Long to Boil Crab Legs? It is so easy and will be ready to enjoy in a matter of minutes. Perfect for sharing with family and friends at your next special occasion or dinner party!
The Best Boiled Crab Legs
We are huge seafood fans over here at The Wooden Skillet and have been cooking crab legs for years! It has become a New Year’s Eve tradition, but we are happy to cook them any time of the year. We have baked crab legs and grilled crab legs, but boiling crab legs is another classic cooking method to prepare these crab leg clusters! No matter how you cook them, the whole family enjoys perfectly cooked crab by itself with some garlic butter sauce or use them to make your favorite crab recipe. This crowd-pleaser will wow everyone and is so simple to make!
Love crab – try our Creamy Crab Salad or Crab Pasta Salad!
What You Will Need
- crab legs – just head to your local grocery store or seafood market to pick-up snow crab legs, stone crab, alaskan king crab, or dungeness crab – any types of crab will work, it just needs to fit in the pot.
- plain water – enough boiling water to cover the amount of crab your are cooking, feel free to cook in batches!
How Long To Boil Crab Legs
The first steps to this easy recipe are to bring a large stockpot or dutch oven to a boil over high heat. Once it reaches a rolling boil, carefully submerge the fresh snow crab clusters in the pot.
Let them boil for about 5-8 minutes of cooking time or until the outside shell changes to a bright red color.
Carefully remove the cooked crab legs and place on a rimmed baking sheet to cool slightly before serving.
Best Ways To Serve Boiled Crab Legs
Surprisingly there are actually a variety of ways to enjoy perfectly boiled crab legs! We love to keep it simple by using kitchen shears or a crab cracker to break the outside shell and remove the tender crab meat on the inside. You can then dip that juicy crab meat in small bowls of melted butter or cocktail sauce! Other ways to enjoy this delicious crab are to use it to make Crab Cakes (+ homemade crab cake sauce), Crab Salad, or Crab Pasta Salad! No matter how you serve them, it is going to be delicious!
Recipe FAQ
Yes! Some people like to add the classic Old Bay Seasoning or cajun seasoning to the boiling water for some added flavor or serve with lemon wedges for a splash of fresh lemon juice once they are done cooking.
You can absolutely put frozen crab clusters directly in the pot of boiling water. They might take 8-10 minutes, instead of 5-8 minutes. So just a few extra minutes, but keep an eye on them so they don’t overcook.
There are a few ways to tell when they are done cooking, the outside shell will turn a very bright reddish-pink color, the meat is cooked all the way through, and you will be able to smell the most amazing aroma!
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How Long to Boil Crab Legs (how to boil crab legs)
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 8 minutes
- Total Time: 18 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
- Category: How-To
- Method: Stove Top
- Cuisine: American
Description
Learn how to boil crab legs with this simple tutorial! The quickest way to cook crab legs – serve with butter or use in your favorite recipe!
Ingredients
- water
- 4 snow crab leg clusters, thawed
Instructions
- Bring a large stock pot of water to boil.
- Place crab legs inside.
- Let boil gently 5-8 minutes of cook time.
- Remove from pot and let cool before serving.
Notes
- King Crab: if you are wanting to make king crab legs, a regular pot won’t be big enough. You can try using a turkey fryer pot, otherwise you can always bake your crab legs!
- Number of Clusters: you can easily do this with 1 cluster or 4, the timing is the same. Just make sure your pot is big enough to fully submerge the crab.
- Serving: you can eat the crab meat as-is with some melted butter (or clarified butter) OR you can you use it in your favorite recipe (like these Crab Cakes).
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