Steamed Snow Crab Legs

"I know that many advocate using seasoning and boiling crab legs, but I like the simplicity of the naturally sweet and rich flavor of crab legs that have been steamed. Using a two-piece pasta pot with the strainer portion as a steamer insert works well to perfectly steam crab legs. I always serve clarified butter for dipping the crab meat."
 
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photo by Jonathan Melendez photo by Jonathan Melendez
photo by Jonathan Melendez
photo by Jonathan Melendez photo by Jonathan Melendez
photo by Pam-I-Am photo by Pam-I-Am
photo by Jonathan Melendez photo by Jonathan Melendez
photo by Jonathan Melendez photo by Jonathan Melendez
Ready In:
17mins
Ingredients:
2
Serves:
4
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ingredients

  • 3 -4 cups water
  • 2 lbs snow crab legs, frozen
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directions

  • In a large pasta pot with strainer insert, bring 3-4 cups water to boil. (Water amount may vary, but just keep below the level of the strainer portion of the pot.).
  • Rinse ice from frozen crab legs, and place in the strainer insert of the pot. Cover.
  • Steam crab legs for 6 to 14 minutes, or until heated through.
  • Serve crab legs with clarified butter for dipping. (Recipe #51525 works well.).

Questions & Replies

  1. How long do I steam my crab legs?
     
  2. Can you subsitute white wine or beer for water, i usually steam.my clams and mussels in pinot grigio
     
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Reviews

  1. I've used this "recipe" forever. As for Chelsea S's comment...... A photographer's job is to make the picture (especially food) look very pleasing to the eye. The angle that this particular picture was taken, has a lot to do with how the crab legs look. ALSO, There are such a thing as JUMBO snow crab legs (in fact, I just purchased them). They're thicker than what normal snow crab legs look like. So, the next time you want to post a negative remark, research the subject (in this case it would have been "photography" and "snow crab legs"), before making yourself look less than intelligent.
     
  2. I'm not a fan of cold crab legs served over ice and so I was excited to try this recipe at home! They're so simple but so good!
     
  3. The picture should feature the food in the recipe. That is not snow crab. It looks like king crab. Pretty lazy.
     
  4. This is such a simple technique. Certainly a cheaper and taster option than going to Red Lobster.
     
  5. Although your recipe is for Snow Crab, it works well for any crab. I used King Crab legs that I bought on sale...already cooked but just needed to reheat. I'm glad I found your method. This turned out perfect! My husband was in hog heaven!!! Pam
     
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Tweaks

  1. I don't have a steamer basket at home, so I filled a large pot (with a tight fitting lid) with about 2 inches of water and brought it up to a simmer. Then I placed fresh corn pieces, on the bottom and placed the crab legs on top of the corn so it didn't touch the water and just steamed. Then served the legs with corn!
     
  2. They came out great! I did add a little crab boil and garlic on top of my snow crab legs before steaming. By the way, your picture is of snow crab legs! Great job!!!
     
  3. I had this when crab legs went on sale here and it was great! A fast and delicious way to eat crab legs. I had them with fresh squeezed lemon juice instead of butter. Thanks.
     

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