Easy Baked King Crab Legs in the Oven

The best way to cook king crab legs is steamed in the oven with wine and lemon, then cut them open to reveal the tender and sweet juicy crab meat. It's super easy to make, takes just 25 minutes to make, and goes perfectly with my rich and creamy garlic butter seafood sauce!

Other shellfish seafood recipes you might fall in love with -- my classic garlic butter seafood boil, a Juicy Crab restaurant-style seafood boil in a bag, my guide on perfectly cooking whole lobsters, and my mama's Maryland steamed blue crab feast.

Fabulous Oven Baked Alaskan King Crab Legs - Perfect for any Special Occasion!

Sometimes date night or the holidays just need a little something different, you know? 

As I've said so many times before, seafood is for celebrations in my home. We break out the melted butter and crab legs the moment there's an A+ on a report card, a goal that has been met, Valentine's Day (because I'm not crazy enough to go to a restaurant then!) or any day that we just want to celebrate each other.

That's exactly why these sweet and tender wine-steamed king crab legs is my favorite food for a celebration, they're effortless to make and are perfect with any menu you add them to. Not to mention it's done in less than half an hour!

Why You'll Love Cooking King Crab Legs at Home

• So simple, so easy. No, seriously! - This is my favorite way to cook crab legs: no fussing with boiling water or a large pot, or risking dry
• King Crab is a delicious addition - crab risotto or swapping lobster for king crab in a creamy pasta? Delish, y'all.
• Everyone will be impressed - I don't know what it is about king crab legs (is it the name? The price of king crab legs? The fact that they're giant and super spiky?) but when you serve them, prepare for the oohs and ahhs!

Equipment

• A Large Baking Dish or Rimmed Baking Sheet
• Aluminum Foil
• Kitchen Shears to cut the crab legs open
• Crab Cracker

Ingredients

Full ingredients, measurements, and printable instructions are in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

• Frozen Crab Legs - king crab legs are always sold frozen (or thawed) but not alive unless you buy from a specialty shop or live outside of the continental U.S. where they sell live.
• Dry White Wine - use your favorite wine, I like a pinot grigio. The steam will infuse the crabs with the flavor of the wine and lemon.
• Lemon Slices

Thick and Creamy Garlic Butter Seafood Sauce

• Unsalted Butter 
• White Wine
• Minced Garlic
• Herbs - I use fresh thyme but dried thyme can also be used, just remember that dried has a more concentrated flavor so use about half the amount dried you would need for fresh herbs.
• Lemon Juice and Zest
• Chicken Broth
• Heavy Cream - this adds both the richness and helps with the thickness of our creamy sauce.
• Shallots - you can also use a small yellow onion
• Salt and Pepper

How to Cook King Crab Legs in the Oven

This is so simple since crab legs are already cooked and then frozen, leaving them bright orange and ready to eat. We are essentially steaming the king crab meat, infusing it with the flavors in the baking dish.

I kept it simple with lemon and wine to indulge in the king crab's natural flavors, but add in herbs, old bay seasoning for a classic Mid-Atlantic flavor, and watch how easily those delicious crab legs' flavor transforms.

Step 1  | Take the lemon slices and wine and place/pour right into the baking dish. And simply place the king crab legs right on top.

Step 2 | Wrap the top in aluminum foil to cover the crab legs and put them in the oven and bake for 20 minutes, the crab legs should be hot to the touch.

Step 3 | Crab legs are traditionally served with melted butter and lemon wedges but I serve them up with creamy garlic butter sauce. To open the crab shells and expose the crab meat, use kitchen shears to cut lengthwise up the under sides of the crab legs where the shell is thinner/weaker. Use claw crackers to break open the claws.

Make the Seafood Sauce

Step 1 | Melt down a tablespoon of butter in a medium saucepan with the white wine, grated shallots, garlic, lemon zest and thyme leaves.

Step 2 | Add a little chicken broth and lemon juice, then reduce it down half way. This intensifies the flavors, don't skip it.

Step 3 | Add the heavy cream, then whisk in the rest of the cold butter, one tablespoon at a time, until the sauce is slightly thickened and is super creamy. Then taste and season and you're done!

How to Buy and Thaw Crab Legs

King crabs tend to appear in your local grocery stores around October or November, depending on the cold weather patterns. I bought mine from a local mom and pop crab shack, but I have also bought king crab at Costco before!

Like other types of crab harvested for their legs, you'll find they're already cooked and bright orange, frozen as crab leg clusters in the store.

To thaw crab legs, place them on a rimmed baking sheet and into your refrigerator overnight.

To thaw quickly, put the crab legs in a large colander in your sink under cold running water for about 15 minutes until they are thawed out.

What's the Difference Between Snow Crab Legs and King Crab Legs?

Both snow crabs and king crabs are well known for sweet, tender leg meat but there are key distinctions that make a big difference in so many aspects.

Price

First, snow crabs are much more affordable than king crab. The price of snow crab legs is $7.50 per pound on average, while king crab legs are $30-$50 per pound on average! That price difference is crazy, right?

Harvest Season

That's because of the difference in the harvesting seasons. King crabs hide out in between Alaska and Russia in the Bering Sea, having a short harvest time of a couple. of months in the brutal winter weather, giving Deadliest Catch vibes.

Snow crabs are considered a sustainable seafood found in the Northern Atlantic and Pacific oceans and they can be harvest from early fall until the summer, so they have a much longer harvest time...though because of overfishing, harvest has been paused for the 2022 and 2023 seasons.

Appearance

As for the crabs themselves, snow crabs have longer, smoother, skinnier legs with smaller bodies and a softer shell whereas the king crabs have thicker legs with bigger bodies all covered in a thick, strong shell with sharp spikes.

And those claws? Huge! King crabs can get up to and even surpass 20 pounds.

Flavor and Texture

Snow crab legs have a sweet, delicate, slightly briny flavor and the meat shreds and flakes easily. They're also easy to crack open with your hands.

King crab leg meat is more akin to lobster in terms of flavor and texture, tender and sweet but not really flaky or fibrous. The shells are incredibly tough, so you'll need sharp shears and cracking tools to remove the meat.

Variations and Substitutions

Grill crab legs - place the crab legs in a hot grill, pour the wine and lemons into a grill-safe pan to keep the steam going.

Swap wine for other flavorings - use chicken broth, citrus juices, beer, whatever you want to infuse flavor into the crab legs. You can also just use some water so the crab's natural flavor isn't changed.

Pro Tips

Don't overcook the crab - dried out crab is not good, and overcooking makes the meat tough. We are simply rewarming the crab since they're already cooked.

Crackers and Shears - this is not the time to use your hands or teeth to open the shells. The shells on a king crab are much, much thicker than the others with sharp spikes. Have plenty of tools for everyone to use.

Break the legs apart to cook - if you need to. They're huge, they need a lot of room, so break them at the joints.