This simple recipe for Grilled Crab Legs with seasoned butter delivers a restaurant-quality meal at a fraction of the price. Crab legs on the grill pair perfectly with grilled veggies like broccoli and carrots!

Stop steaming your snow crab legs!

Snow Crab Legs have been an all-time favorite to order when we went to expensive sit-down restaurants. Both my husband and I were shocked when we realized just how easy and affordable it is to make delicious, restaurant-quality Snow Crab Legs at home. Shockingly, I love this buttery grilled variety better than any I used to get when we ate out. Perfectly paired with carrots and broccoli as a side, you have a meal that’s sure to impress. The secret that it’s so simple to put together is one we’ll keep just between us!

How to cook snow crab legs on the grill:

Prepare your grill as usual for cooking out; we prefer charcoal. With this meal, you’ll be steaming the items on the grill, so don’t worry about adding any flavored wood chips, unless you just love the smell. Once your coals are burning down, it’s time to prep the meal.

Want to know the biggest secret? For this dish, you’ll actually be using pre-steamed snow crab. Yes, you read that correctly. When we first looked into grilling crab legs, we realized that our fresh seafood counter at our local grocery store only sold it pre-steamed. This is wonderful because you don’t have any worries about it not being cooked enough. Grilling adds delicious flavor to the pre-steamed crab.

Time to prep the buttery, seasoned crab legs!

To prepare you’ll want to get several large pieces of tinfoil. Place the crab and the veggies in the center of two different pieces of tinfoil. Another great thing about this meal is that it’s so easy to adjust for any serving size. Are you planning an intimate date night? Just a few clusters of crab and cups of veggies will do. Have a big family celebration that you’re going all out for? Purchase several pounds and divide the mounds of veggies and crab into several different, smaller packs.

To season and cook both the crab and the veggies, you should use plenty of oil and butter. If you’re wanting to err towards the healthier side, you can also add in some water. Since we usually save this meal for celebrations, we slather on butter to our heart’s content. Drizzle the olive oil over the crab and veggies, and place tablespoon-sized chunks of butter over as well. We always use broccoli crowns and break off smaller pieces. Baby carrots are the exact right size and no additional prep is required for them! Season the crab with Old Bay® Seasoning until the top looks nicely covered.

Now wrap the tinfoil up and around the top, pressing it together to trap the heat in. The butter will all melt as it cooks, so you want to make sure you have heavy-duty tinfoil layers that won’t allow it to leak. Feel free to add additional layers of tinfoil up and around the sides if needed.

The coals will be ready when about 1/2 are turning white, or the heat is 300-400ºF.

How to cook veggies on the grill:

The veggies will take the longest to cook and will be cooked directly over the center where the heat is the most intense. You can add both the crab and the veggie tinfoil packs on at the same time and pull the crab off early, or add it on later. When the broccoli stems and carrots are fork tender, you’ll know it’s ready! This takes anywhere from 30-40 minutes.

Grill the crab for approximately 10-20 minutes placed over indirect heat (the side of the grill) until heated throughout. The exact amount of time will depend on how much you have, but this is a good starting point. Be careful not to overcook the crab. Since the meat is already pre-steamed, if you leave it on for too long, the meat will begin to shrivel up and lose its juiciness.

Once the crab is heated and the veggies are tender, you’re ready to serve! If this is a meal you plan on making often, you can purchase seafood hand crackers like you’ll find in the restaurants. However, using a regular fork and sliding it along the side of the leg works well to open them up also. You can serve the crab with additional butter for dipping and cocktail sauce if desired.