It’s officially summer! Time to enjoy a succulent bevy of boozy garlic butter snow crab legs and feel absolutely zero shame while you savagely slurp and suck that tender meat from the shells. Go ahead, we won’t judge you. This recipe is probably one of the easiest things to make on CarnalDish, and requires very little effort to put together. There is no “cute” way to devour this dish, so you’re just gonna have to tie your hair back and go in. It’ll be worth it, I promise.
You can use any kind of crab legs you want, but I know most people are buying up the snow crab legs — they’re just easier to find at any grocery store. They come pre-cooked, so all we’re doing is heating them up in a flavorful bath of fat and booze. Personally, I don’t like a ton of caked up seasoning all over my crab. I like to taste the crab! Some folks go a little too hard with the seafood seasoning to the point where all you taste is salt and grit. If you like it, that’s your business — but I prefer a weee bit less.
Another thing, fresh garlic is key here. It’s key in every recipe that calls for garlic. It tastes so much better than the jarred stuff. But you can use garlic paste in a tube, that’s an acceptable substitute because it’s just pure garlic — no weird brine. I love to use a combination of dried and fresh herbs for recipes like this, but use what you have on hand. If you want it spicy, kick it up a few more notches by adding cayenne or cajun seasoning, or just more crushed red pepper flakes. The garlic butter is the star here, so I didn’t wanna overpower it too much, just complement it.
Listen…the boozy garlic butter situation here is already fire — but when you squeeze those cooked down lemons over the crab meat before you bite into it?? Be prepared to receive every blessing your life can accept in that moment. It’s INSANE!
Y’all…these are soooo good! I’m talking manners-out-of-the-window-damn-near-pornographic-GOOD! Simple, easy, hella flavorful. You will adore this recipe.
Check out some more crabby recipes:
Garlic Butter Snow Crab Legs
Snow crab legs baked in a boozy bath of butter, tons of fresh garlic, seasonings and lemon paired with juicy sweet bites of fresh corn. Ughhhh, so good!
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Ingredients
- 2 pounds snow crab legs (or about 6 clusters)
- 8 ounces good-quality salted butter (or 2 sticks)
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 15-18 cloves garlic, finely chopped (about a half cup)
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, finely chopped
- 2 teaspoons Old Bay Seasoning
- 1 teaspoon granulated garlic
- 1 teaspoon granulated onion
- 1 heaping teaspoon dried parsley
- 1 teaspoon dried dill
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 2 ears fresh corn, shucked and chopped into 2-inch chunks
- 8 ounces beer (I used Budweiser)
- 6 lemon wedges
- Sea salt, to taste
- Black pepper, to taste
Garnish
- More fresh parsley
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375-degrees F.
- Add the butter, olive oil, garlic, fresh parsley, Old Bay, granulated garlic, granulated onion, dried parsley, dried dill, and crushed red pepper flakes to a large skillet or braising dish over medium heat. As the butter melts, stir everything around. Give it a taste, and add sea salt and black pepper as needed. Cook for about 2 minutes, then reduce the heat to low.
- Add the crab legs, one cluster at a time, and with a large spoon baste the crabs with the butter mixture thoroughly. Get every nook and cranny. Continue until all of the crabs are in the pan. Nestle the chunks of corn in, and baste those with the butter mixture too. You may have to tilt the pan towards you to make this easier.
- Pour in the beer, and bring the heat back up to medium. Once the beer starts to simmer just slightly, nestle in the lemon wedges. Cover the pan with a domed lid or use heavy-duty foil.
- Place the dish in the oven on the middle rack for 30-35 minutes.
- When they’re ready, finish with another hit of fresh parsley and serve. Be sure to squeeze the cooked down lemons over the actual crab meat as you eat!
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Category: Seafood
- Method: Oven-baked
- Cuisine: American
These crab legs were everything you said they were… PLUS! Dinner tonight was a special treat because I got the chance to finally try this recipe. There was so much flavor! My husband is usually quite skeptical when I am trying a new recipe (he is really picky) but no complaints with this one. It was perfect.
15-18 cloves of garlic…. you’re speaking my language! We just had some crab legs delivered (if anyone else is having trouble sourcing them, this site was helpful: https://qualityseafooddelivery.com/crab/), so I will be trying these over the weekend. Can’t wait to taste!
Wow wow wow!!! Wanted a special meal to prepare for my college age children home for the holidays. Made this along side beef tenderloin. They devoured the crab legs and were wishing for more, excellent recipe!! Thank you.
Cooked this as posted but with chicken broth and lemon pepper seasoning added, no beer on hand. Delicious!!! The flavors seeped into the meat of the crab and was perfect! My husband loved it. This is a keeper. Thanks so much for sharing.
This turned out very good. It was a nice change from the popular heavily spiced, butter sauce boils. (Which I also love.) I plan to use this often, especially in the summer…thanks!
Good snow crabs!!!!!
Sooooo freaking yummy!!! Best I’ve had & I’ve had alot! Thanks for this recipe!!!
This was fantastic! I made this for my neighbor and she still raves about it! In fact, I’m bringing her more tonight! The only difference was I used 4lbs of crab meat only & improvised on the Old Bay. 10/10!
Lawdamercy. I bought some crab legs (Giant always comes through with the sale) for super bowl snacks, and I didn’t want to do a boring bowl. I envisioned a stove top butter situation and knew immediately who would have a recipe. When you say “food is sexy”, you undoubtedly are talking about this dish. Damn. Just damn. I’ll never prepare crab legs any other way. Thanks, Chef.