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You are going to love my recipe for crab legs on the grill! My luscious and tender grilled crab legs recipe is served with garlic butter sauce and ready in under 30 minutes. I'll show you how to grill crab legs to perfection!
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Crab Legs on the Grill
Living in Florida, I don't wait for the summer to grill. Whenever it's nice and sunny out, you can bet I'm out in the backyard firing up the grill for dinner. One of my family's all-time favorite grilled recipes is my recipe for grilled crab legs. Whenever I'm not steaming crab legs, I'm grilling them!
Crab legs on the grill are amazing. The flavor is incredible, and it hardly takes any time at all. Pair it with my garlic butter sauce, tartar, or homemade remoulade, and you have an unbeatable meal I can bet you're going to want to make again.
Grilling Crab Legs Ingredients
- Crab Legs: You can use king crab legs, snow crab legs, or Dungeness crab legs for grilling. I'm using king crab legs for this recipe, but feel free to use your favorite.
- Butter Dipping Sauce: Use my garlic butter sauce, cowboy butter, or creamy lemon butter sauce as a dip for crab legs. All are delicious choices for serving with crab!
- Lemon Wedges: After mixing my garlic butter sauce, I like to use my remaining parsley to top the grilled king crab legs with along with a squeeze of lemon juice. It adds an extra layer of flavor that is just irresistible.
How to Grill Crab Legs
- Preheat your grill to medium heat.
- Split 3 pounds of crab legs and place them on a baking sheet split-side up.
- Combine the ingredients to make garlic butter sauce in a bowl using a spoon. Use melted butter so you have a sauce.
- Gently spoon the garlic butter over the meat of the crab legs. Reserve additional butter for serving after grilling crab legs.
- Place the split crab legs on the grill, shell-side down. Close the lid and grill for approximately 10 minutes or until the crab is cooked through. Crab leg meat is cooked when it is reddish-orange and opaque.
- Remove from the grill and serve with the delicious garlic butter sauce and fresh lemon wedges. Enjoy!
Easy, right? Once you know how to cook king crab legs on the grill, I guarantee you're going to want to make them this way every time. The flavor of the crab meat with the garlic butter sauce is just incredible.
What to Serve with King Crab Legs
There is nothing better than a Surf and Turf combination when serving crab legs. It is the ultimate combination of flavors! Try these:
Storing Leftover Crab Legs
Store leftover grilled crab legs in an airtight container or resealable plastic bag in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.
Guide to Cooking Crab Legs
For more info, tips, and recipes for crab legs, check out my guide on How to Make Crab Legs! It's comprehensive and has everything you need to know to cook crab legs perfectly.
How to Reheat Cooked Crab Legs
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Fill a casserole dish with approximately ½-inch of water.
- Place the crab legs in the dish.
- Cover the casserole dish with aluminum foil and poke holes on top to let out the steam .
- Bake for 10 minutes.
- Serve with garlic butter and enjoy!
Grilled Crab FAQ
Set your grill to medium. Medium is about 350°F (depending on your grill) and is the perfect temperature to grill crab legs. Crab legs on the grill will cook in about 10 minutes and have a delicious flavor!
If you use frozen crab legs, let them thaw in cold water or simply leave them out at room temperature while your grill heats up. They can still be a little frozen when you grill them.
To split the shell, simply cut them lengthwise with kitchen shears to open up the leg and reveal the meat on one side. Cut through the whitish part of the shell - this part is softer
Cooked grilled crab legs will have a reddish-orange tint with pearly white, opaque meat. Overcooked crab begins to turn pink and becomes rubbery, so be careful not to leave them on the grill for too long. 10 minutes should be enough time.
Crab is a keto-friendly food. Paired with the garlic butter sauce, this is a superstar of a low-carb recipe!
Crab legs are not only gluten-free, but are generally very good for you. The garlic butter sauce in this recipe is also gluten-free, so this is a perfect recipe for a gluten-free meal plan.
You can store them in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
BBQ Crab Legs
I know you're going to love my recipe for grilled king crab legs! Give it a try with one of my recommended dipping sauces, and you'll have an instant family favorite. I grill crab legs whenever I have the chance - they're impossible to resist! Let me know what you think in the comments below and with a rating.
Grilled Crab Legs
Ingredients
- 3 pounds king crab legs - or snow crab legs, or dungeness crab legs
- 1 serving garlic butter sauce recipe
Instructions
- Preheat your grill to medium. Split the shells of 3 pounds of crab legs and place them on a baking sheet split-side up.3 pounds king crab legs
- Combine the ingredients to make garlic butter sauce in a bowl using a spoon. Use melted butter so you have a sauce.1 serving garlic butter sauce recipe
- Gently spoon the garlic butter over the meat of the crab legs. Reserve additional butter for serving after grilling crab legs.
- Place the split crab legs on the grill, shell-side down. Close the lid and grill for approximately 10 minutes or until the crab is cooked through. Crab leg meat is cooked when it is reddish-orange and opaque.
- Remove from the grill and serve with the delicious garlic butter sauce and fresh lemon wedges. Enjoy!
Notes
- Make sure to reserve additional garlic butter after spooning it onto the crab meat so you have extra to serve the grilled king crab legs with when they’re done grilling. It is just so flavorful!
- I love to grill crab legs along with beef for a surf and turf pairing. My favorite choice has to be either Grilled Beef Short Ribs or Portuguese Beef Skewers!
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