Air Fryer Crab Legs
Making fried crab legs in the air fryer is so easy! This recipe uses snow crab and claws drizzled in butter, garlic, and lemon for epic flavor.
Servings 2 servings
Calories 265kcal
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pound crab legs
- foil
Garlic Butter Sauce
- 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 1/2 tablespoons melted butter Measured solid
- 1 teaspoon finely chopped parsley
- 2 garlic cloves Minced
- 1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning Optional. You can also use salt and pepper to taste.
- 1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
Instructions
- Combine the ingredients for the garlic butter sauce in a bowl.
- Brush the mixture over both sides of the crab legs.
- Wrap the crab legs in foil and place them in the air fryer.
- Air fry for 5-8 minutes on 370 degrees.
- Examine the shoulder (this is the large white part of the cluster). It should be pearly white.
Video
Notes
- You cannot cook large batches unless maybe you use an air fryer oven. Other than that, these are perfect for making a few clusters at a time.
- Depending on the air fryer you use, you may need to flip the crab legs halfway through the cooking time to ensure the clusters are cooked through.
- Every air fryer cooks at varying speeds. Keep a watchful eye for accurate cook time.
- You will likely have trouble getting king crab legs to fit. You may be able to cut them. I have not tested king crab legs in the air fryer.
- Adjust the spices and seasoning to suit your taste. Omit the Cajun seasoning if you want.
- If your crab legs don’t have much flavor, you didn’t purchase quality crab or the crab is expired/has gone bad. Even without seasoning, the crab legs should have a sweet taste (if they haven’t gone bad).
- Some people feel like brushing the garlic butter sauce and seasoning onto the crab legs makes it more of a messy experience. It does. Feel free to skip this step and use the ingredients as a dipping sauce.
- I typically make an extra batch of the garlic butter sauce just for dipping because I love to dip.
- To crack a crab leg, I hold the leg horizontally, with the back of the leg facing me. Then press down on either the middle of the leg or about 1/4 of the way up from the bottom of the leg. I can always tell if the crab is fully cooked (reheated) and fresh because of how easily it cracks.
- If when I crack the leg, it doesn’t return a nice chunk of meat, and the meat is stuck on the inside, it’s usually because it wasn’t cracked soon enough after cooking. The longer they sit, the harder they are to crack and easily remove the meat.
- I tested these in the Instant Pot and in the oven. Making them in the Instant Pot is probably my favorite. The shells are the easiest crack likely due to the pressure cooking.
Nutrition
Serving: 0.5pound | Calories: 265kcal | Carbohydrates: 8g | Protein: 28g | Fat: 13g