How Many Pounds of Crab Legs Per Person?

How Many Pounds of Crab Legs Per Person?

If you’re serving crab for supper, you might be wondering how many pounds of crab legs you need for each person you’re serving.

After all, you don’t want any of your guests to go home hungry, or to find that you have far too much crab leg to manage. Finding a balance is crucial.

How many pounds of crab legs per person? You will need to think about the other food that you’re serving to your guests, such as sides, but you will probably want 1 to 2 pounds per person in most cases.

If crab legs are only a small element of the meal, half a pound per person should be sufficient. Don’t go for less than this, or you won’t have enough.

Here is a crab legs per person calculator:



How Much Crab Leg Do You Need Per Person?

Make sure you find out whether your guests are keen seafood eaters before you prepare the meal. If some people are not enthusiastic but you still wish to serve crab legs, provide plenty of other dishes, and decrease the amount of crab legs accordingly. If they are crab leg lovers, play it safe and purchase about two pounds per person.

People Pounds of Crab Leg
1 0.5-2
2 1-4
5 2.5-10
10 5-20
15 7.5-30
20 10-40

Don’t serve vastly more crab legs than you think you will need at a meal. Because seafood needs to be kept cool and eaten quickly and crab legs can be expensive, you don’t want to have lots left over after dinner. A little extra should be fine, however.

That’s why you need to ask your guests about their preferences and take into account the other foods you are providing. If you are serving lots of vegetables or another kind of meat as well, you will need considerably less crab than if it is going to be the star of the show.

What are Crab Legs and Why are They Popular?

crab legs

Crab legs are a popular kind of meat to serve, and carry a certain level of prestige only afforded to fancy restaurants in many cases. Serving crab legs is a great way to impress your guests and make them feel spoiled, especially if you accompany it with some delicious sides.

You can cook crab legs in quite a few different ways and pair them with all sorts of different sides, so no matter what your guests like, you should be able to find some dishes to tempt them with.

Usually, crab legs are broiled, steamed, or boiled, and then served with melted butter and lemon wedges. The legs are removed from their shells, given a dash of squeezed lemon, and dipped in the butter before they are consumed.

You are probably aware of king crab legs and snow crab legs. Snow crab legs are often cheaper and much smaller, so you need to calculate per pound, rather than per leg. Snow crab legs are often sold in clusters, while king crab legs are sold individually.

How Much Do Crab Legs Cost?

You need to consider your meal budget when deciding how much crab leg to buy. The cost of crab legs can vary a lot – if you live near the sea, crab legs are likely to be cheaper to buy than if you live far inland.

You will also pay a different amount if you buy a different kind of crab. As mentioned, snow crabs tend to be the cheaper option. If you buy crab legs online, you will usually pay more than if you purchase them in a store, because the company will also be covering their delivery costs.

As a rough rule of thumb, expect to spend anywhere between $10-$40 for a pound of crab meat. This can add up fast, especially if you have a lot of diners.

Many sites charge about $400 for 10 lb. of colossal king crab, and a similar price for wild Alaska giant king crab legs. Some stores charge around $110 for 10 lb. of snow crab legs, which is significantly cheaper than the online king crab options.

Crab legs are graded by size, so this tells you how many legs you will get in a pound. If, for example, you see 10/13 on the packaging, you’ll get between ten and thirteen legs per pound. You may also see written sizes such as “jumbo” on the packets to give an indication of leg size.

Remember that if you buy very large king crab legs, you will end up with fewer legs. This could be a problem if you have lots of diners, so don’t forget to check this before purchasing.

Where Can You Buy Crab Legs?

You can buy crab legs from many online retailers and from most stores. Crab legs are usually cooked and then frozen at sea, so you will be purchasing frozen crab legs in most instances.

However, if you live close to the sea, you may be able to purchase fresh crab legs by going to a local market or to the docks. These will have considerably more flavor than ones that have been cooked and frozen, so you should certainly do this if it’s an option for you. Refrigerate the legs as soon as possible and then cook and enjoy.

They will keep for just two days in the fridge, so make sure that you are going to use them within this time, or that you put them in the freezer yourself before they go off.

Are Crab Legs Easy to Cook?

Yes, crab legs are easy to cook. They are usually broiled, boiled, or steamed, and then served with butter. They can be cooked in a very short amount of time, especially if you choose ones that have already been cooked and frozen, as these really just need reheating.

Indeed, breaking open the shells is often the challenging part. You may wish to provide your guests with a crab shell cracker if they are not experienced in opening crab legs, as this process can be a little tricky and if done wrong, can crush the meat.

Crab legs need to be split open with scissors (king crab legs) or by cracking the joints (snow crab legs) and then the meat inside can be extracted and enjoyed.

Final Thoughts

Crab meat is a very rich meat that your guests are bound to love, and while it isn’t the cheapest meat, a little goes a long way. Allow about 2 pounds per person at the most, and you should have satisfied guests and a delicious meal!