Top 16 Dipping Sauces for Crab Legs

Seafood comes in many shapes and forms, and there’s no better way to celebrate the ocean’s bounty than by indulging in a plate (or two) of crab legs. Whether you’re steaming crab legs or eating them cold, they’re a dish that’s always better shared (not to mention, it seems a little silly to only make enough for one person). Once you’ve decided what kinds of crab you’re going to buy, stocked up on tools to easily crack open your crab legs, and bought your usual party supplies, it’s time to start thinking about what dipping sauces you’re going to serve them with. 

Crab legs are pretty flavorful on their own, but cracking them open and dunking them in a dipping sauce is what makes the experience truly worth it. Plus, a dipping sauce can bring out unique flavor nuances and make for a more satisfying mouthfeel. We’ve rounded up a list of some of the tastiest sauces, dips, and accoutrements you should serve with your crab legs. Some are store-bought, while others can be easily made at home and served with different types of crab. What they all have in common, though, is that they’re absolutely worth serving at your next crab extravaganza. 

If you’ve ordered crab legs at a restaurant, chances are that they’ve been served with drawn butter. There is some contention over what actually constitutes drawn butter; some chefs claim that all melted butter is drawn butter, while others believe that it can only be called drawn butter if it has been clarified. The first one is easy to prepare; just melt butter in a ramekin until it’s liquid, then dip your hot crab legs into it. 

Clarified butter, on the other hand, requires a little more work. It’s made by heating the butter until it foams on the top and the milk solids settle on the bottom. The butter foam is then skimmed off and can be saved for other uses, while the milk solids are strained out. The remaining butter can then be used for dipping your crab legs into. Clarified butter has a more pronounced intensity than regular butter and delivers a cleaner mouthfeel than regular melted butter, making it the optimal choice for dipping your crab meat. Both preparations yield a delectable, classic bite that will make the flavors of your crab pop. 

Butter is great all on its own, but something truly transformational happens when that fat is mixed with spicy and punchy garlic. The butter adds the perfect degree of indulgence to your crab legs, while the garlic will provide a sharp, biting contrast that elevates the flavor of the crab meat. Those spicy flavors will also contrast the crab’s sweetness, making for the perfect, harmonious bite. 

The easiest way to make garlic butter in bulk is to make a compound butter by whipping regular butter in a stand mixer and adding in your minced garlic. When you’re ready to dip, just melt the fat in your microwave and dip your crab legs in. It’s best to use fresh garlic for your recipe, rather than pre-minced garlic that’s sold in a jar or squeeze bottle, because it has a fresher and more pronounced flavor. You can also get creative and swap out fresh garlic for black garlic. These fermented cloves have a far sweeter and more umami-rich flavor, which is a great complement to the natural sweetness of the shellfish. 

Cocktail sauce may be an ingredient that you’re used to eating with shrimp, but it turns out that you can use it for more than just this popular appetizer. It’s comprised of several simple yet flavorful ingredients, including ketchup (or some sort of tomato-y base), lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, horseradish, and Tabasco sauce. The latter two ingredients give the sauce its signature spicy, sinus-clearing kick, while the Worcestershire sauce offers the perfect umami complement. 

Cocktail sauce and crab legs are a great pairing because the sauce has a solid blend of tanginess and sweetness, which makes for a cohesive bite when paired with the crab legs. It’s best served with cold crab legs and is an especially tasty complement to snow crab. There are also many store-bought cocktail sauces options to choose from, making it a convenient option for serving at your crab leg feast. You can also make your own and add a playful twist to it, like citrus zest, wasabi paste, or harissa for a warm kick. 

While mayo might not be the first ingredient you think of when it comes to eating crab legs, this common complement offers the perfect creamy foil to your chilled crab legs. But you shouldn’t just settle for a jar of Hellmann’s when you can spruce it up with an array of condiments and seasonings. If you like things hot, consider mixing your mayo with a warm ingredient to turn it into a spicy aioli. You can certainly find an array of spicy aiolis in the condiment aisle at the grocery store, but whipping one up yourself will allow for greater control over your ingredients and spice level. 

Sriracha is a good place to start. It has an approachable yet piquant flavor that will draw attention to the sweetness of the crab but not totally distract from it. If you like your heat to be a little more complex, consider adding smoky ancho chili powder or opt for a Korean-inspired aioli by adding a spoonful of gochujang. Although you can stick to just combining mayonnaise and your spicy element of choice, playing with other aromatics, like garlic, along with acids, like lemon juice, can give your crab a more well-rounded flavor.

You might like to use herb butter on garlic bread or as a topping for steak, but it turns out it makes an equally delicious dipping sauce for crab. Butter is naturally quite rich, which is why adding some herbs can help balance out the flavor and highlight the light flavor notes of the crab. Plus, the specks of green are the perfect contrast to the otherwise pink crab legs. 

There are several different herbs worth adding to your herb butter. If you’re after a subtle allium flavor, consider adding chopped chives, or opt for parsley for a bright punch of color. On the more flavorful end of things is dill, which has the perfect balance of citrusy and grassy flavor to highlight the sweetness of the crab meat. To prepare your herb butter, chop up your greens before whipping them into the fat. When it comes time to serve, melt the butter down and dip your crab in to soak up all of that herby goodness.

If you’ve traveled to the Big Easy or call it home, you are probably no stranger to remoulade. The flavor-packed sauce has it all going on, from its creamy mayonnaise base to its mustardy pop and salty caper twist. It’s a beloved sauce that often accompanies seafood po’ boys, fried fish, or seafood dishes as a whole — including crab legs.

Remoulade is the perfect sauce for your crab legs, because while it’s made with very, very flavorful ingredients, it still has an innate balance to it. The vinegar, lemon juice, and mustard cut through the heaviness of the mayo, while the hint of spice from the seasonings works in tandem with the saltiness of the capers (or any other pickled ingredients you add to it). You won’t have to worry about the remoulade overriding the flavor of your chilled crab legs, either. Though, if you wanted it to, you could always tweak your recipe to add more of any one ingredient. 

Chimichurri … on crab legs? This South American fusion may be unexpected, but that doesn’t make it any less delicious. Chimichurri is a flavorful spice blend often constructed from chopped cilantro or parsley, garlic, lemon juice, red chili, oil, and vinegar. The distinctly fresh condiment is commonly used to top grilled steak because it can cut through the fatty richness. Similarly, crab legs dunked in butter can be overwhelmingly rich, which is why serving them with an herby accompaniment like chimichurri can be beneficial. 

Another benefit of chimichurri is that it lacks the same relentless heat as some of the other sauces on this list, meaning you won’t have to worry about having your palate overwhelmed by spice. If you prefer an even less spicy sauce, you can opt for a milder pepper, like a jalapeño, or just use less chile in your chimichurri recipe. Serve it with hot crab legs — either baked or grilled. 

It pays to get creative with your sauces. Instead of opting for the traditional ones like drawn butter and remoulade, try an Asian-inspired condiment: sweet chili sauce. The sweetness of the sauce will help amplify the natural sweetness of the crab legs, while the heat will add the perfect amount of tongue-tingly flavor and round out the entire bite. However, the spice level in this condiment is approachable — at least, more approachable than straight hot sauce — making it an excellent choice for someone who doesn’t want their palate to be set aflame. 

Another perk of this sauce is its thickness and how easily it clings to things — as anyone who has dipped their McNuggets into it would know. You won’t have to worry about losing a ton of it as you draw the crab meat from the dipping vessel to your mouth. Try combining the sweet chili sauce with mayonnaise to give it a creamier mouthfeel, perfect for cold crab legs, or stir it into butter to give it a richer flavor — perfect for a batch of crab legs straight out of the oven or off the grill. 

Our next dip takes us across the Mediterranean to Greece — which may not have been a destination you had in mind on our Tour de Crab Legs. But once you try dipping your crab legs in tzatziki, you may never want to go back to boring butter or mayo ever again. This popular Greek dip is made with a Greek yogurt base, olive oil, chopped cucumbers, lemon juice, garlic, and dill. It’s creamy and savory yet still lighter than mayonnaise. The addition of dill also helps perk its flavor up and cut through its innate richness. 

While it might seem a bit odd to have the occasional cucumber crunch, it undoubtedly diversifies the mouthfeel and makes for a more satisfying bite, specifically when paired with cold crab legs. If you make it at home, you can also diversify the ingredients by adding more or less dill, garlic, or lemon juice based on your preferences.

It’s easy to see why Old Bay seasoning is commonly associated with seafood. While the exact recipe has been kept under wraps, we do know there is a blend of more than 10 different herbs and spices, including salt, paprika, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and black pepper. It might seem a bit odd to pair these individual components with seafood, like crab legs, but it’s certainly a seasoning that’s more than the sum of its parts. The spice blend is complex, yet the heat level is restrained, meaning it would elevate the natural flavors of your crab meat. 

The key is to add Old Bay seasoning to some other condiment to better distribute it. Not only can you melt it into butter for hot crab legs, but you can also add it to mayo or aioli for a cold preparation, too. The aromatics in this spice blend are unmatched, and it will make any crab leg lover swoon. 

Curry and crab is probably not a combination you’re used to — but it’s about time you should be. Curry powder encompasses a wide range of components and seasonings, including everything from turmeric and cinnamon to coriander and cardamom. Like Old Bay seasoning, it’s more than the sum of its parts — though, there is greater regional variation in curry powders than in Old Bay seasoning. For example, you can find curry powders that are sweet and others that have more unadulterated, raw heat. This allows you to easily customize the spice blend that works for your crab leg dip. 

Mayo is an excellent conduit for the curry powder because it will easily stick to the cold crab legs. The creamy egg yolks will help prevent a dry bite and temper the flavor of the curry powder as well. If you want to bring out the sweetness of the crab, try a curry powder that goes heavy on the cinnamon, cardamom, and cloves. Or consider adding some acid with lemongrass and garlic, giving your dip a more Thai-inspired feel. 

While Tartar sauce is commonly paired with fried fish, it’s a must-have for seafood in general, crab legs included. But the combination of mayonnaise, chopped pickles, mustard, and lemon juice is the perfect acidic, bright bite that your cold crab legs are craving. While many of the dips on this list are decadent and heavy, the zesty and sinus-clearing profile of tartar sauce makes it a welcome touch. 

There are so many different store-bought tartar sauces to choose from, but you may want to try whipping up your own so that you can tweak your recipe and add your own flavorful touches. A sprinkle of dill or fresh tarragon, for example, can elevate the bite and impart a contrasting freshness to it. You can also add a sprinkle of Old Bay to complement the subtle sweet notes of the crab or opt for a piquant flavor with a spoonful of hot sauce. 

Mango salsa may be more at home with tortilla chips or spooned onto fish tacos, but there’s no reason why you can’t try it with crab legs, too. Ripe mango is super sweet and flavorful, and it will really draw your taste buds’ attention to the meaty, sweet crab. That said, as long as the salsa is properly constructed, its flavor will encompass more than just sweetness. The addition of lemon or lime juice can curb its cloyingness, as can a fistful of jalapeños, cilantro, or chopped chiles. 

The most challenging part of serving mango salsa with crab legs is deciding exactly how to prepare your dip. We would recommend pureeing it down, rather than leaving it chunky, so that it’s easy to scoop with the hot or cold crab legs. Cold crab legs are a great match for this refreshing accoutrement, while hot crab legs would benefit from the cooling sensation that the salsa offers.

While it might seem a bit weird to serve your crab legs with an ingredient more commonly associated with Asian-inspired food than seafood, it’s still a worthy pairing. Most people know wasabi as powdered horseradish, seeing as how the real wasabi root can be very expensive and difficult to source. That said, both regular and faux wasabi offer a unique, sinus-clearing bite that will round out the flavor of your crab. 

On its own, mayo is creamy, rich, and quite heavy. This makes it an excellent match for wasabi, as it can temper its bite. If you’re whipping up this simple dipping sauce at home, try adding in some extra acid, such as lemon juice or vinegar. You can even add extra sweetness with a splash of mirin, or lighten the mouthfeel by adding a greater ratio of creamy ingredients, like mayo, sour cream, or plain Greek yogurt. 

Buerre blanc may be a familiar ingredient to you if you cook French food often. This butter sauce is typically paired with fish, so matching it with hot crab legs isn’t too far off. The base of beurre blanc is, of course, butter, though it’s mixed with dry white wine, lemon, heavy cream, and shallots to round out its mouthfeel and elevate it beyond just melted butter. The addition of acidic ingredients, like lemon juice and wine, adds the perfect pop of flavor to an otherwise heavy sauce. The wine is also an essential part of its flavor; its delectable sharpness is the perfect sophisticated touch that your crab needs. 

Sure, making your own beurre blanc from scratch requires a little more effort than buying a store-bought tartar sauce or tzatziki, but it will change the way you think of hot crab legs forever. You can even add extra herbs, like tarragon or chives, to intensify the shallots’ aromatic notes. 

What’s creamy, green, and tasty with crab legs? Avocado mayo, of course! This creamy spread is perfect for pairing with cold crab legs. Unlike butter-based sauces, which are quite rich, the avocado offers a clean mouthfeel and a blank canvas for experimenting with flavors, including herbs, citrus, and more. The fatty texture still complements the firm crab legs and makes for a delectable bite.

This dairy- and egg-free dipping sauce can be made with simple ingredients, including ripe avocados, oil, and an acid like lemon juice or vinegar. We recommend sprinkling in some cilantro for a bright bite or adding a bit of lemon zest to balance the fruit’s fattiness. The perk of whipping up avocado mayo at home is that you can save the extra spread and use it on sandwiches or drizzle it on your batch of homemade California rolls — bonus points if they’re made with leftover crab.