(upbeat music)
- Ooh!
Hey, everybody.
It's Natasha of NatashasKitchen.com,
and I have such a treat for you.
I'm gonna teach you our four favorite ways
to cook crab legs.
Crab legs are so easy.
Most of times you get them in the grocery store,
they're already cooked,
so it's a matter of heating them up,
keeping them super juicy
and bringing out all of that scrumptious flavor.
And we have a mouthwatering flavored butter
to dip the meat in, so let's get started,
'cause I want some crab meat.
The first method I'll show you is the instant pot method,
and this is so easy.
Place a trivet in the bottom of the instant pot
and add one cup of water.
Then, top that with your four clusters of crab legs.
You can use fresh or frozen.
Fresh are a little bit easier to fit
because you can fold the legs easier.
Close the lid, set that on manual high pressure
for four minutes,
and make sure the valve is set to the ceiling position.
Once the timer is up,
switch that to the venting position,
and do a quick release of any pressure in the pot.
Once all of that pressure is released,
remove the lid and serve the crab legs.
The steaming method is the best way
to make a large batch to feed a crowd.
Place a steam basket into a large stock pot
and add one cup of water.
Add as many crab legs as you can fit
so you can still close the lid.
Bring that to a boil over medium-high heat
and let that steam-cook for about five to 10 minutes,
depending on if they were thawed or frozen to begin with.
They're ready when they're fragrant and steaming hot.
You can also grill or bake the crab legs in foil packets.
Using heavy-duty aluminum foil,
create a foil pack with four clusters of crab legs.
Bring the two ends up and fold twice to seal.
Then, fold each end twice to seal the sides.
This method doesn't require any added water,
but you do want to seal that foil pack
so the steam doesn't escape.
Place the foil pack on a preheated grill
over medium-high heat, or about 450 degrees Fahrenheit,
for 15 minutes if frozen,
or 10 minutes if the crab legs are thawed.
To bake the foil packs in the oven,
place it on a baking sheet
in the center of a preheated oven at 450 degrees Fahrenheit
and bake for 25 minutes if frozen and 15 minutes if thawed.
You'll know they're done
when you see steaming as you open the foil pack.
Now on to my favorite part, the garlic butter dipping sauce.
In a small saucepan, melt four tablespoons of butter
and add two pressed or minced garlic cloves.
This is my favorite garlic press.
I use it all the time, and I will link to it in the notes.
Also add one-fourth teaspoon of salt
and one-eighth teaspoon of black pepper.
Stir that for just 30 seconds or until fragrant,
then take it off the heat.
Once that's off the heat,
squeeze in half a tablespoon of lemon juice
or add the lemon juice to taste.
Divide that sauce into ramekins
to serve as a dipping sauce for that scrumptious crab meat.
All right, our crab is all done,
and that was ridiculously easy and pretty fast.
So now it is time, it is time for the taste test.
Who's hungry?
Okay.
Oh, let's get real here.
I'm just gonna get a little...
Just kidding, just kidding.
(laughs)
But we will need that.
Okay.
Serve this of course with that yummy flavored butter
that we just made.
And we're gonna dig right into this.
Just kind of go at it.
So...
If you don't have a crab cracker,
you can just, on these parts,
crack.
And really, these are so good.
Where there's a will, there's a way.
Okay.
And then the meat should come right out.
Look at that.
Like, wow.
I'm really excited inside.
Okay, and then dip, dip, dip.
And give it a little swirl because the tasty stuff
kind of sinks down to the bottom,
and you've got that butter layer on top.
So I want some garlic flavor.
Yum.
And then you can also serve this with lemon wedges.
So I like to put them on the platter when I serve.
You can just squeeze a little more lemon on your meat.
Mmm.
Mmm, hmm, mmm.
Mmm.
That is so, so delicious.
So with crabs, anywhere there's a pocket,
there's meat inside.
So make sure you don't miss anything.
And then you can use a nutcracker for those bigger claws
that are tougher to get through.
Sometimes they're pre-cracked.
Sometimes it's not good enough,
so I like to use this crab cracker.
But again, a nutcracker would work.
I'll link to this one in the notes.
Here we go.
Give it a little crunchedy crunch.
Okay, take this part off first,
so that it gets rid of that tough part
that you don't want to eat.
Let's crack that open to get to the good stuff.
And if you don't know what the good stuff looks like,
it's right there.
That's the good stuff.
Yum, okay.
Again, dip, dip, dip,
in that super yummy, garlic lemon butter.
Wow.
I mean, crab tastes great on its own,
but when you've got this dip added to it,
it's like restaurant style.
So, so delicious, and such a treat.
All right, and one more thing.
Don't forget.
Remember, our motto is no crab meat left behind,
so don't forget these little clusters on the ends
that hold the legs together.
They are actually loaded with crab meat.
So you can peel back,
and you'll find some yummy, yummy pockets
of crab meat inside.
Like this.
Mmm.
(laughs)
And we have a very special taste tester
who also loves crab meat,
and she has been waiting very patiently.
So we're gonna get her out here.
Come on.
Come on over.
She's pretending to be a kitty cat.
Kitty cats love crab too.
Okay, here we go.
You ready for this?
Yeah. - Yeah?
Let's crack this for ya.
Ya!
Hiya!
Okay, here we go.
You want me to dip it for you?
- Yeah.
- All right.
Okay, you ready?
Ready?
What do you think?
Okay.
All right.
I hope you love all of these methods.
Give all of them a try.
My personal favorite, the instant pot, because it's so fast.
For more special occasion or romantic dinner ideas,
check out some of our favorites right over there
and right down there.
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We'll see you in our next video.