Grilled King Crab Legs with Garlic Butter Seafood Sauce (with video)
Grilled king crab legs with garlic butter sauce are huge, juicy, and succulent pieces of crab meat that are grilled to perfection. Served with an addictingly delicious garlic butter sauce.
Since you love seafood, check out this recipe for a garlic butter seafood boil, and the full recipe for the garlic butter seafood boil sauce.
King crab legs are a delicious and traditionally HUGE piece of meat. Our family loves to have king crab on special occasions. Mainly special occasions because it is a bit on the pricey side for seafood.
Grilling the king crab legs at home make this tradition much more fun, and less expensive than ordering them at a restaurant!
How to split king crab legs:
Splitting the king crab legs is not necessary, but makes the eating and grilling process much easier. By using your hands, and kitchen shears, the process of splitting the king crab is done in a breeze!
- Using your hands, break the king crab at the “knuckle” which is the large end of the king crab leg.
- Next break the king crab at the other joint by bending them, and pulling. The joints are the hinge type, moveable parts of the crab leg. There should be about four pieces of king crab legs once they are split.
- There will be tendons, the white translucent, almost stringy looking piece that sticks out from the crab legs. Cut the tendon using kitchen shears.
- Use the kitchen shears to split the LARGE piece of king crab down the middle. Just one slit- as this allows the smoke flavor to permeate the crab. It also makes it easier to eat when the crab legs are ready to eat.
Place the crab legs on a dish lined with parchment paper, and place them in the refrigerator. Get started on the garlic butter seafood sauce.
Making the garlic butter seafood sauce:
Here is the full recipe for the garlic butter seafood boil sauce. Gather all of the ingredients you need, it always makes life so much easier! Either thinly slice the onion, or chop it. Melt the stick of butter in a sauce pan over medium heat. Add the onion to the pan and saute for 5 minutes, or until the onion is translucent.
Roughly chop enough garlic to make 3 tablespoons, (about one whole head of garlic, depending on size). After the onion is translucent, add the garlic to the pan. Saute the garlic for 30 seconds to 1 minute, stirring often so that it does not burn.
Now add the juice of one whole lemon. Use a lemon juicer if you have one available- to avoid getting seeds in the sauce. Sprinkle in all of the seasonings and stir.
Optional additions to add to the garlic butter sauce:
Add additional butter, or less butter if desired. Cut the sauce with chicken broth or water if a less thick sauce is desired. Using the sweet chili sauce is optional (but recommended). It offers a sort of sweet heat for the sauce. Combine well and simmer on low-medium for about 15 minutes so sauce can thicken.
The garlic butter sauce will get thicker the longer it simmers!
How to grill king crab legs:
Start the grill, and heat to 350 degrees. Brush each piece of the crab leg with the garlic butter sauce. Brushing on the outside of the shell is okay, as it just adds flavor. Try to get some of the sauce into the split crab legs by prying them.
Once the grill is at temperature, transfer each piece of the crab legs to the grill. Close the lid and cook for seven minutes. Open the grill and flip each piece of the crab legs. Grill an additional five minutes. Remove the king crab and place on a dish.
How long does it take to cook crab legs?
Like most shell fish, king crab legs do not take ling to cook. Whether boiling, baking, or grilling, king crab cooks fast. For this grilling method, it only takes about 15 minutes total to have them grilled to perfection!
Grill on one side for about seven minutes, flip them over and grill an additional five minutes. It is important to not over cook the crab legs. Over cooking crab legs will change the texture of the meat significantly.
Can you cook king crab legs from frozen?
Most king crab legs come frozen. It is not recommended to cook king crab legs from frozen. Thaw them in the refrigerator for 8-12 hours prior to cooking them. Thawing them ensures that they will cook evenly.
What if I don’t have a grill?
If you do not have a grill, there are alternative methods to cooking king crab legs. They can be baked, boiled, or cooked on the stovetop. Refer to this post for how to make a seafood boil.
In that post you will find a lot of detailed information about putting a seafood boil together. Instead of snow crab, apply the same exact method, but instead using king crab.
What to serve with king crab legs:
There are so many delicious options that can be served with king crab legs. My family enjoys them with some of these sides:
- White rice
- Cole slaw
- Garlic bread
- A good salad
- Potato salad
- Cajun fried corn on the cob
- Grilled zucchini and squash
Grilled King Crab Legs with Garlic Butter Seafood Sauce
Ingredients
- 3 King crab legs
Garlic Butter Sauce
- 4 sticks Butter unsalted, 3 sticks optional read post and see notes below
- ¼ cup Olive oil
- 1 whole Onion diced
- 3 tablespoons Garlic diced
- 1 Lemon juiced
- 4 cups Chicken or Vegetable broth or water
- 3 tablespoons Old Bay seasoning
- 3 tablespoons Paprika
- 2 tablespoons Chili powder
- 1 tablespoon Cajun seasoning
- 1 tablespoon Cayenne pepper
- 1 tablespoon Red pepper flakes
- 1 tablespoon Lemon pepper seasoning, optional depending on fresh lemon juice
- 1-2 dashes Tobasco sauce
- 2 tablespoons Sweet chili sauce optional
Instructions
Make the Garlic Butter Sauce
- Stir in the Garlic and saute for 30 seconds to one minute, be sure to stir constantly so the garlic doesn’t burn. Add juice of the lemon, and all of the seasonings. Adjust cayenne and red pepper to your level of desired spiciness.
- Melt one stick of butter and olive oil in a skillet on medium heat. Add the sliced or chopped onions and sauté them until they become translucent, about 5-7 minutes.
- If using additional butter, add the additional sticks now (see notes above about healthier option).
- Pour in the chicken broth, vegetable broth, or water now (choose either or, not all three). Simmer the sauce until the butter is melted and the sauce reduces a bit, about 10 minutes.
Prepping the King Crab Legs
- Using your hands, break the king crab at the "knuckle" which is the large end of the king crab leg.
- Next break the king crab at the other joint by bending them, and pulling.
- Cut the tendons from the ends of the crab legs using kitchen shears.
- Use the kitchen shears to split the LARGE piece of king crab down the middle.
- Place the crab legs on a dish lined with parchment paper, and place them in the refrigerator. Get started on the garlic butter seafood sauce.
Grilling the King Crab
- Start the grill, and heat to 350 degrees.
- Brush each piece of the crab leg with the garlic butter sauce. Brushing on the outside of the shell is okay, as it just adds flavor. Try to get some of the sauce into the split crab legs by prying them.
- Once the grill is at temperature, transfer each piece of the crab legs to the grill.
- Close the lid and cook for seven minutes.
- Open the grill and flip each piece of the crab legs. Grill an additional five minutes.
- Remove the king crab and place on a dish and serve with garlic butter seafood sauce.
I would have never attempted king crab legs without your recipe. Thank you for breaking it down so easily!
I would have never attempted king crab legs without your recipe. Thank you for breaking it down so easily!
I live for crab legs and this recipe makes me want to have them foreverrrrrr! I enjoyed this recipe; the flavours were so perfect and illbe making these again!
This was amazing and the sauce was the star of the show.
This sauce was too good to be true! We love snow crabs and will never have them again without this sauce! Period.
Awesome! I’m so glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for coming back to leave a review!
After tasting this Garlic Butter Seafood Boil Sauce I will never need another – my family is hooked!
I felt all the emotions as I took my first bite of these crab legs. It took me back to Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. So perfect.