King Crab Recipe: Crab Salad with Creamy Avocado Dressing

Love King Crab?  This King Crab Recipe uses king crab on a salad with creamy avocado dressing.  It’s delicious at home or on a picnic, and is a light, refreshing, and healthy seafood salad!

This post is sponsored by Orca Bay.

Let’s all take a moment to pause, ponder, and be thankful for whoever it was, long, long ago, that discovered that crustaceous crabs, with their hard shells and spiny legs, are full of sweet, delicious meat.

To me, these crawly sea monsters do NOT appear edible, and quite honestly are a little scary-looking, but I’m extremely grateful to whoever figured out that they make a fabulous dinner!

Today we’re cooking with legs from red king crab, a crab that can grow up to 5 feet in length, and golden (or brown) king crab, its slightly smaller relative.  I’ll walk you through how to open up the crab legs (even without a crab cracker!), and how to make a healthy and delicious King Crab recipe.

Buying King Crab Legs

What should you look for when you’re buying king crab legs?  For the most part, king crab is harvested off the Alaskan and Norwegian coastlines in the Barents Sea, and is considered a highly sustainably-sourced seafood.  Most of the king crab legs you’ll find will be frozen and precooked.

For this recipe, use either (or both) red king crab legs or golden (brown) king crab legs.

What’s the difference?

The flavor is slightly different– some people claim red king crab is sweeter, and some claim that golden king crab is sweeter.  The meat is interchangeable in this recipe, so use whichever you prefer!

How to Grill King Crab Legs

Grilling king crab legs is pretty straightforward– simply get your grill hot, brush the legs with oil, and set them on the grill in a single layer.

If you’ve let the frozen legs thaw, you’ll grill them for about 4 minutes, and if they’re still frozen, grill them for about 10 minutes.  Use grill tongs to turn them about halfway through the grill time.

Want more tips about how to grill seafood?  Check out this post on How to Grill Fish! 

Cracking Open King Crab Legs (Without a Crab Cracker)

Are you a crab cracking expert?  Skip this section.

For those of us who don’t own crab crackers, or for those of you who DO own them, but can never remember where you stored your handy crab tools, this tutorial is for you!  All you need is a large cutting board, a chef’s knife, and kitchen shears.

1. Using the back of a chef’s knife, cut the crab legs apart at each joint.  (Alternatively, you could bend them back and forth until they break.)  Cut off the shoulder meat (but don’t throw it away!), and pull out the long plastic-like cartilage strips.
2. Try to push the crab meat through the shell with your finger.  This won’t work for each section, but when it does work, it’ll save you a little effort.
3. Take the remaining large leg sections, and split the shells by holding each leg on end, placing the tip of a chef’s knife at the top, and pushing the knife down through the shell.  (Alternatively, skip to step 4 and use the kitchen shears on each leg section.)
4. For the remaining smaller leg sections, use kitchen shears to cut a slit lengthwise up the shell.  Use the scissors to open the claws up too, or pick the meat out with a seafood fork or pick.
5. Use your fingers to pry open the split shells and shoulder sections and remove the meat.  Discard the shells, and keep the meat.

Making Grilled King Crab Salad with Creamy Avocado Dressing

Once you’ve grilled the king crab legs and removed the meat, go ahead and start assembling your salad.  You’ll need lettuce (I like to use a spinach and romaine mixture), some boiled eggs, diced tomato, and a few lime wedges on the side.

For the avocado dressing, simply blend together an avocado, a little yogurt, and some lime juice.  Top the salad with the crab meat, and serve this salad at home, at a picnic, or wherever your crab-loving friends will be!

Shopping Tip: I use (and adore) a  Vitamix 7500 Professional Series Blender.  If you’re looking for a new blender, read this Blender Review first.

*When you’re shopping for crab legs, be aware that red king crab legs are sometimes sold in ‘colossal’ or ‘jumbo’ sizes.  While these legs are pretty spectacular, they can be tricky to prepare for those of us without commercial-sized kitchen equipment or massive grills!  Personally, I prefer to buy king crab legs that are a little easier to handle, and will fit on my 18″ charcoal grill.

Want more CRAB recipes?  Try these:

• Dungeness Crab Recipe: Eggs Benedict
• Crab Fries
• Crab Louie Salad with King Crab

Want more Seafood Salads?  Try these:

• Salmon Caesar
• Canned Mackerel Recipe: Niçoise Salad