Got fresh, whole Dungeness crab and are not quite sure what to do with it? This easy to follow guide will show you step-by-step how to clean and how to cook Dungeness crab to use in some delicious crab recipes!
As a Pacific Northwest kid, I grew up crabbing for Dungeness crab off the Oregon Coast and in Washington's Puget Sound. I have fond memories of helping my dad set up the bait and then watching him throw the crab traps (also known as crab pots) into the water. My "job" was usually to chase after the cute little hermit crabs that would scurry out from the traps and onto the docks.
These days, I still like to take my own family to the Oregon Coast for some dock crabbing. And while places like Kelly's Marina will clean and cook the crab for you if you want, I still find satisfaction in cleaning and cooking crab at home.
There is nothing like fresh Dungeness crabs! And if this is your first time to clean and cook fresh crab, have no fear. It's actually a lot easier to do at home than you might think!
We've created this guide on How to Cook Dungeness Crab to help, whether it's your first time or tenth time cooking fresh crab. Our guide has some frequently asked questions and our best tips that we've learned from over two decades of cooking and cleaning this delicious seafood.
Jump to:
🌟 Cleaning and cooking Dungeness crab
The best way to prepare whole live crab is to cook them before you clean them.
The two main cooking methods are to boil crabs or steam crabs. My favorite way is to boil them, so the instructions I've included here are how to properly boil Dungeness crab.
✅ Step-by-step instructions
If you have a live Dungeness crab, the first thing you will need to do is cook it. Then, I will show you how to properly clean the crab to use in your Dungeness crab recipe.
How to cook Dungeness Crab
- Fill a large pot with cold water -- enough water to fully cover the size of your crab -- over high heat. Salt the water with a heavy hand. It should be salty like the ocean.
Note: some people like to season the water with Old Bay seasoning and/or bay leaf; this is really only helpful if you are going to be serving the crab meat as is after cooking and cleaning the crab and not using the meat in another Dungeness crab recipe. - Using tongs, very carefully pick up the fresh crab in the center of its body and place crab into the pot. Bring the water to a boil.
- Boil for about 10 to 20 minutes. The color of the crab shell will change to a bright orange when it's fully cooked. Use tongs to take the crab out of the pot and transfer to a plate or wire rack to cool down.
How to clean Dungeness crab
4. Once the cooked crab is cool enough to handle, start by removing the "apron" of the crab. This is the triangle part of the crab shell. You're simply going to grab hold of the top of the triangle and pull it toward you and off the shell.
5. Next, you're going to separate the top shell of the crab. The easiest way is to find the small hole between the body of the shell and the top shell of the crab. Hold the top shell of the crab so that it faces down and hold it with one hand while you pull open the body of the shell up and open and removing it with the other hand.
6. Now you'll be holding the top shell with the crab butter or crab juices in the top shell. You can either reserve this to make crab butter, or discard it. You can also either discard the top shell or you can rinse it out and clean it to use as a serving dish for your crab recipe.
7. With the crab open, you'll now see the mandibles and the gills. The gills are in two rows at the top of the crab body. They're feathery and don't taste good, so go ahead and remove those and discard them. The mandibles are two pointy parts at the top of the crab that you can snap and break off of the crab; discard those as well.
8. Now you can rinse off the crab guts that are hanging out in the crab with cool running water. You should only have crab meat left in the crab. Pat the crab dry with paper towels.
👩🏻🍳 Recipe FAQs
Dungeness crab are found in the Pacific Ocean and in waters along the West Coast, while King crab are primarily found in the Atlantic Ocean. Dungeness crab are purplish-brown before they are cooked, while King crab are a bright orange. King crab are very large, with long legs, and can span up to 5-6 feet wide; Dungeness crab are smaller and grow up to 9 inches. In terms of flavor, Dungeness crab are favored by chefs for their sweet, succulent crab meat. Whereas, King crab has a very mild, bland flavor.
Once a crab is cooked, the meat will stay fresh at room temperature for up to two hours. If you don't intend to eat the crab meat within that time, be sure to store it properly in the refrigerator or freezer (see below).
Cooked crab meat can stay fresh in resealable Ziplock bags or an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 to 5 days.
Here in the west coast, the season runs between November and April.
You can either freeze a cooked crab in its shell, or freeze crab meat. Once the crab has been cooked and cleaned following the instructions here, allow the crab to cool and then place the crab in its shell in a resealable freezer bag. Use cooked then frozen whole crab within 6 months. If you just want to freeze the crab meat, place the crab meat in a freezer bag or freezer safe airtight container, then freeze for up to 3 months. When you are ready to use frozen crab, be sure to thaw it in the refrigerator overnight first.
🍽 Serving ideas
Whatever you do, save the crab shells! Use them to make a delicious crab stock full of briny flavor. Then you can use the stock for dishes like seafood risotto and soups.
Cooked Dungeness crab is delicious on its own. All it needs is a little melted butter and lemon juice. You can also serve it with cocktail sauce.
Use the Dungeness crab meat to make Crab pansit, crab cakes, or crab pasta.
Use the Dungeness crab legs to make Air Fryer Crab Legs with a yummy garlic butter sauce. This is such a delicious way and a fast way to enjoy crab -- I love it!
🍷 🥂 Wine pairings
The salty crab flavor pairs well with a crisp white wine. Try a Sauvignon Blanc, dry Riesling, and Pinot Grigio.
🍳 Kitchen tools and equipment
Ready to make this recipe? Here are the kitchen tools and equipment you'll need:
A big pot -- You'll need a large pot that can hold at least one crab plus enough water to submerge a whole crab.
Kitchen Tongs - Kitchen tongs with long arms will be helpful when you are moving a live crab into the pot of water.
More seafood recipes
If you are looking for more seafood recipes, we've got plenty of crab, shrimp, lobster, and fish recipes!
And now that you've cooked and cleaned Dungeness crab, here are some delicious crab recipes to make!
Did you make this recipe? Don't forget to leave a 5-Star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 rating in the recipe card, and if you really loved it, please leave a comment further down on the page. Thank you!
How to Cook and Clean Dungeness Crab
Equipment
- large pot
Ingredients
- 1 medium to large live Dungeness crab
- 6-8 quarts water
- salt (enough to adequately salt the water)
Instructions
How to Boil Dungeness Crab
- Fill a large pot with cold water -- enough water to fully cover the size of your crab -- over high heat. Salt the water with a heavy hand. It should be salty like the ocean. Note: some people like to season the water with Old Bay seasoning and/or bay leaf; this is really only helpful if you are going to be serving the crab meat as is after cooking and cleaning the crab and not using the meat in another Dungeness crab recipe.
- Using tongs, very carefully pick up the fresh crab in the center of its body and place crab into the pot. Bring the water to a boil. Boil for about 10 to 20 minutes. The color of the crab shell will change to a bright orange when it's fully cooked.
- Use tongs to take the crab out of the pot and transfer to a plate or wire rack to cool down.
How to clean Dungeness crab
- Once the cooked crab is cool enough to handle, start by removing the "apron" of the crab. This is the triangle part of the crab shell. You're simply going to grab hold of the top of the triangle and pull it toward you and off the shell.
- Next, you're going to separate the top shell of the crab. The easiest way is to find the small hole between the body of the shell and the top shell of the crab. Hold the top shell of the crab so that it faces down and hold it with one hand while you pull open the body of the shell up and open and removing it with the other hand.
- Now you'll be holding the top shell with the crab butter or crab juices in the top shell. You can either reserve this to make crab butter, or discard it. You can also either discard the top shell or you can rinse it out and clean it to use as a serving dish for your crab recipe.
- With the crab open, you'll now see the mandibles and the gills. The gills are in two rows at the top of the crab body. They're feathery and don't taste good, so go ahead and remove those and discard them. The mandibles are two pointy parts at the top of the crab that you can snap and break off of the crab; discard those as well.
- Now you can rinse off the crab guts that are hanging out in the crab with cool running water. You should only have crab meat left in the crab. Pat the crab dry with paper towels.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is a general estimate. Actual nutrition details may vary depending on the exact foods & brands you use to make this recipe. It does not take into account any substitutions, toppings, or optional ingredients.
Fallon says
Thanks so much for this post! So thorough and informative. I feel so confident about tackling this fresh crab right now!
Cliffordcrowl46@gmail.com Clifford Crowl says
What about crab Louis. Any recommendations?