I'm not a big seafood eater but after my BF made me watch "Deadliest Catch" we've both been craving crab. I just have no clue what to do with it! I've had it in restaurants plain, and I've had it integrated with everything from pasta to brothy soups.
I am thinking I want to buy some king crab legs over the weekend but I don't know what to do with it or what to serve it with. Any seafood eaters out there?
I'm a whole foodie, low-carb kind of gal. Any recipes or tips would be great!

Why do anything with it?!?!?!

I love it steamed/boiled, plain....dipped in a bit of butter (I've realized that I use less than 1/2 T...not much at all....).

Side of grilled or steamed veggies, maybe a little brown rice....

Do you need anything else in life?!?! Now you've made it my craving!!!

I agree, crab is so naturally sweet and delicious you don't need to do anything except cook it! Yum!

I buy King Crab legs all the time from Sam's....they are already cooked before freezing them...I just rinse them really well clean them with kitchen shears to cut the shells and a hammer for the claws and warm the meat...I serve it with lite butter and lemon....YUM!

This summer my husband and I threw some crab legs on the grill...they were so good!!

I dont have a grill :/ Or a steamer .... we're working with basic apartment oven here.
I found fresh snow crab and king crab legs nearby, but what do I do with them? My oven is electric and has a broil setting.
I could buy a steamer tray thingie ...
I will love you forever for specifics. If you know a method for cooking them without ruining very very expensive meat I would soooo owe you.
Cuz I want crab

Do you own a pot and a colander or sieve? You can set a colander over a pot of boiling water and steam them that way. 4-6 mins should be enough.

You can also boil them.

Many grocery stores that carry them, will actually cook them for you. When I lived near a Kroger (hardly a fancy store), I'd have them steam fish or a lobster for me, either on my way home from work, or even during the lunch hour (fish that is, while I could have ordered lobster on my lunch hour, I never did). One store (I can't remember the chain, but it wasn't Kroger) had seasoned marinades in pumps at the fish counter. When you picked out your fish, you could pick out a marinade and they would put a few pumps of the marinade on the raw fish before wrapping it for you, or before steaming. This worked for fish, not for lobster or crab though because of the shell.


As for apartment cooking of crab legs, they could be boiled, baked, or broiled, I'm sure. Though boiling would be my last choice (unless the crab was heavily salted - if they come in a box, check the sodium content). Although if you buy the ones in the box, they'll probably also have cooking directions.

I know I've put frozen snow crab on rimmed baking sheets in the oven at 350 for ??? can't remember how long. If you're buying them in a store with a seafood dept., someone in the seafood department will be able to tell you how long. And the important thing is that since they're already cooked and you're just heating them up, the exact time isn't going to be so important. Thawed looks like it's five minutes at 350. Frozen 10 minutes at 450. Another oven method for frozen is to place legs on baking sheet with a rim and add at least one inch of hot water. Cover tight with foil. Put in a pre-heated oven at 325 degrees for 30 minutes. Basically if you look for instructions on the internet, the times and heats are all over the place.

I like to just boil them. You can buy seafood seasoning at the grocery store. I suggest the one in a cheese cloth that way when you are done you can just toss the bag. Gives the crab a nice flavor. Eat with some steamed veggies. Or grill some squash w/garlic to go with it.

Also you could make crab salad. Like tuna salad. Use yogurt or ff mayo whatever you fancy. a little cumin. YUMM

Since they are already cooked you can just microwave them on a low power just to heat through. I can "taste" them best when they are just above room temp. Also very low fuss. Another point is if you are having a slew of them just nuke as you go so they are always the perfect temp. I find they taste rich enough already so I prefer a mustardy sauce (Dijonnaise even?) Accompanied by a nice simply dressed salad and some crusty bread makes a simple special meal.

Just thaw and eat. I like them dipped in melted butter, but I also like them with just a squeeze of lemon, or with nothing. I am not a salt freak so I never need to add salt.

You could make a crab salad. Most of the recipes call for something high calorie as a dressing, but you can use your favorite lo-cal dressing.

Yummo! I am wanting crab now.

A while back someone brought a bunch of crab legs to a pot luck lunch at work. Most of the people either didn't like crab or didn't want to mess with opening it. There was lots left over and the guy that bought it gave it all to me. I had crab for breakfast, lunch and dinner the next day.

We finally got our king crab legs and this is just what we did. Came out fantastic!
So if you ever want to blow 10 bucks on a simple craving this is an easy one that I couldn't even screw up.
The cat went insane though and had to be restrained from begging (she will not take no for an answer when it's seafood on the line).