King crab legs brushed with lemon vermouth butter, are you kidding me? You are looking at our Christmas tradition right here, and I can hardly wait because it’s almost time to have this feast once again. King crab legs are a huge treat and our entire family thoroughly enjoys every last bite when it comes time to eat them. We used to boil the crab legs to warm them and then serve them up with garlic butter, but everything changed when my neighbor told us to cut a strip down the center of each leg, throw them on the BBQ and baste them with vermouth, butter and fresh lemon juice. Major game changer!!!
The crab is already pre-cooked when you purchase it from the store so you are really just warming it through to serve, so it only takes a few minutes on the grill. The tricky part is getting a very sharp pair of kitchen scissors and cutting about a 1/4 inch strip out of the shell on the back side of the crab leg. If you look at this picture closely you can see the strips that are cut. By cutting this strip it allows for the vermouth/butter/lemon to really soak into the crab meat so there is no need to serve any additional butter or sauces when it comes time to serve the crab. Another huge bonus with the strip cut out is it makes accessing the meat so much easier, you really don’t need crab crackers when you prepare the crab this way.
You will never make crab the same way again, BBQ and baste all the way baby!! Stay tuned…if you happen to have leftovers we will be posting the BEST crab cakes that will make you want to have some crab for leftovers every time. You should really just plan on buying a little extra crab so you can have the crab cakes in your life, you don’t want to miss out!
- 6-7 King Crab Legs
- 1 stick unsalted butter, melted
- ¼ C vermouth
- ¼ C freshly squeezed lemon juice
- Using sharp kitchen scissors ¼ inch strip down the back of each crab leg.
- Heat bbq to high. Place crab legs directly on grill with the cut side facing up. Brush butter mixture over thr crab legs, repeating throughout the 5 minutes the crab is on the grill. Remove crab when heated through.
- Serve with fresh lemon wedges.