There’s no way around it — crab legs are a luxurious food. But you don’t need to go to a fancy brunch buffet or high-end seafood restaurant to enjoy this sweet, tender shellfish. You can cook crab legs at home with ease for a romantic evening in. (Or you can cook them just because.)
There are numerous types of crab legs to cook at home — king crab, snow crab and stone crab, to name a few — and the technique for cooking them is the same regardless of the type you purchase.
How Many Crab Legs to Buy per Person
How many crab legs to buy per person will depend on diners’ appetites. One pound of crab legs will yield 8 to 12 ounces of meat, depending on the type of crab. If you’re serving crab legs alongside steak for a little surf and turf or on an opulent brunch buffet, you can count on about 1/2 a pound per person.
If you’re serving crab legs as an entree, go for about 1 1/2 to 2 pounds or more per person. Worst case scenario, you’ll have leftover crab that you can use for crab cakes, cream of crab soup, crab rangoon or crab dip.
