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Blue Crab - Maryland steamed blue crab is the best way of cooking Chesapeake Bay crabs. This easy recipe with Old Bay Seasoning takes 30 mins to make and so delicious!
Maryland Blue Crab
Blue crab is one of my favorite crustacean; the others are snow crab, king crab, Dungeness crab, lobster tail, and fresh water prawn.
I also love crab legs and crawfish boil. My appreciation for seafood isn’t limited to crustaceans; I also enjoy clams.
The crab is native to the waters of the western Atlantic Ocean and through the Gulf of Mexico.
They are sometimes called Maryland crab and best served steamed, or can be added to New Orleans seafood boil.
The meat has a sweet and briny flavor and tastes absolutely delicious.
When Is Blue Crab Season
The most popular blue crabs come from The Chesapeake Bay in Maryland and Virginia. The peak season is from April to mid December in 2020.
Blue crabs are also found and harvested in Nova Scotia, Canada, Florida and the Gulf coasts.
How To Cook Blue Crab
I have the best blue crab recipe for you: steamed blue crab with Old Bay Seasoning. It’s so easy to make at home.
First, I cleaned the crabs by rinsing with cold water. Next, I killed them by sticking a knife or chopstick at the back of the crab.
To cook the crab, I heated up a steamer with water and seasoned the crabs with Old Bay Seasoning. Steam for 20 minutes to 30 minutes, or until the crab shells turn completely orange.
How To Eat Blue Crab
It’s very easy to enjoy the crab meat. Below is the step-by-step eating guide:
- On a flat surface lined with papers (for example: parchment paper), hold the bottom part of the crab firmly with one hand and then flip open the top shell with the other hand.
- Remove the gills on the crab.
- Snap and break the crab into halves. Remove the crab claws and crab legs from the body. Pick out the meat with a shellfish or seafood fork.
Due to its size, there are not much meat inside the crab legs.
Frequently Asked Questions
Blue crab is cooked when the shell turns bright orange in color, with no traces of blue or green on the shell, crab claws and legs.
The yellow stuff are called mustard or tomalley. They are hepatopancreas, a main component of the crab’s digestive system.
The mustard has great flavors and edible. If you have a female crab, you will also find orange roe inside the shell. They are edible and prized for its delicacy.
This recipe is only 183 calories per serving.
What To Serve With This Recipe
Serve this dish with side dishes or other seafood dishes. For a New England style seafood fest, I recommend the following recipes.
I hope you enjoy this post as much as I do. If you try my recipe, please leave a comment and consider giving it a 5-star rating. For more easy and delicious recipes, explore my Recipe Index, and stay updated by subscribing to my newsletter and following me on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram for new updates.
Other Crab Recipes You Might Like
Blue Crab
Ingredients
- 4 blue crabs
- Water
- Vinegar
- 1 tbsp Old Bay Seasoning
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- Lemon wedges
Instructions
- Rinse the blue crab under cold running water. If the surface is dirty, use a brush to scrub the body and rinse well.
- To kill the crab before steaming, insert a chopstick or a chef's knife into the middle of the crab's back.
- In a pot with a raised rack (at least 2 inches/5 cm high), add equal parts water and vinegar until just below the level of the rack. Bring to a boil.
- Carefully layer the crabs on the rack, sprinkling each layer with Old Bay Seasoning. Cover the pot and steam for 20 to 30 minutes, depending on the size of the crabs, until the shells turn orange.
- Remove the blue crabs from the steamer and serve immediately with melted butter and lemon wedges.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I haven’t seen or caught a blue crab in eons! Live around New Orleans!
Female blue crabs only reproduce once in their life. So killing the female before that happens is detrimental to the population. That’s why I report ANYBODY throwing a crab under 5″ (size limit in fla) into their buckets. And release ANY female bearing eggs beneath it.
Thats the problem in fla. Immigrants come and keep every and anything they catch. I…Capt. Crab… will turn them in and make sure they get a citation(fine).
You’re welcome.
Nick, I have watched for the last several years all of the oriental markets in Louisville and South into Tennessee sell live crabs and they are all females. I have learned they come from Texas. This is disgusting, short sighted and should be against the law. Something should be done to change this practice. After all, there is an end to everything when not properly managed. Beautiful Swimmers.
If it were a problem it would be illegal. In SC 5″ or longer, and only females with eggs need to be returned to the water.
Surely you jest. The spanish mackeral, king mackeral, redfish and other species were netted to near extinction in Florida back in the seventies by a handful of greedy commercial fisherman. Most of their catch went to catfood factories in Puerto Rico. A few boats were so overloaded with fish, they sank. The allowance for this to happen was corruption in Tallahassee. Once it was uncovered, the recovery began. Sadly today it is more of a police state as far as fishery is concerned. They went from the ridiculous to the sublime. I was there and I fought with the Florida League of Anglers for change.
Oriental is an offensive term for this century, Chucky. If you are so concerned about the well-being of crabs, why are you hanging out on a recipe blog?
Why isnt the crab industry monitored like lobster. The lobster men/women in the NE and Canada are very conscience of the value of tossing females and smaller Lobsters.
It makes total sense for the viability of the industry.
i bet u wonder bread folk eat as many female crabs as immigrants do. u sound dumb and racist. go f*** off <3. LUV THE RECIPE BEE
And you sound like a moron. I grew up on the water, crabbing (by hand) since I was 12). The fact that ‘immigrants’ hoard the female crabs is a fact and race has nothing to do with it.
Nick, why do you spend your time spoiling Bee’s wonderful recipe in the comments by posting racism and hatred? Seems like you did this on purpose. This is just a recipe, so pull up your big boy pants and take your hate elsewhere. This is no place for your kind of people.
I have been trying to learn how to clean and cook blue crabs. My family are always trying to get new recipes for seafood. We travel a lot and we love how to clean and cook. We live near Jackson, M S and the Gulf of Mexico. Fresh seafood is great, and we love to watch the boats hauling in their nets. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Sandy. Thanks for checking out my blue crab recipe.
You should be aware that blue crabs are shipped in great quantity from Texas to Baltimore where they are served as local blue crab after being soaked in Chesapeake Bay water for less than a week. The Gulf of Mexico is cleaner and much healthier for raising crabs than the Chesapeake.
Hi James, thanks for your information. I guess that’s a great news to have better crabs from Texas.
James,
I am so glad that when I was crabbing in Maryland (Pax River) it was clean and pristine. I treasure those memories of catching ‘doubles’ and enjoying not only the hard shells but soft shell crab sandwiches. The water was unspoiled then and it breaks my heart that it has been so polluted.
Sorry, Bea, but this is not the recipe we use I Md. to cook/steam crabs. First of all, the mix we pour on them is a mixture of large grain/kosher salt and Old Bay. Second, the crab is NEVER killed before steaming; to do so totally ruins the taste and texture of the meat. It also makes it more difficult to get the meat out of the shell. To buy female crabs is to make a market for them, and a reason for fishermen to keep and sell them. You can ask for all males. Sorry.
Joyce, thanks for your comment, this recipe is from the Old Bay’s website. I just followed the recipe. Adding kosher salt on top of Old Bay would be too salty as Old Bay is loaded with salt! I killed the crab before steaming because I just don’t like steaming or cooking live crabs. Killing them right before steaming doesn’t affect the texture, unless they are killed and then left at room temperature without cooking. I grew up eating crabs so I know a lot about crabs. My mother was from a crab village. As for female crabs, I went to Asian markets and it seems like they sell only female crabs? Not intentionally, I didn’t even pay attention, I was just choosing live ones.
Please, please please avoid killing female crabs with roe. Blue Crab is becoming more and more scarce and it’s because people are killing the females with eggs. If you enjoy blue crab please try and make them sustainable. In addition in some states it is even illegal to take female crabs with roe.
Hi Jane, I didn’t choose female crabs, they are all female blue crabs sold at my market.
Jane K is right about the female crabs. I was catching and eating blue crabs in Maryland and Florida (as a Navy brat then) since back in the mid-fifties. I have a particular fondness for blue crabs and noticed several years ago that only female blue crabs, no males, were appearing at the oriental markets in not only my area but other metropolitan areas I would travel as a salesman. Since they are appearing in winter months they are coming from southern states. I did confirm from one store owner that his crabs were coming from Louisiana. I contacted the appropriate authorities to complain and was told there is no law against catching and keeping females. This position is very short-sighted and wrong. In my opinion, this is typical of a bloated, inefficient government where the employees are more concerned about their pension, salary and benefits than they are about proactively doing what is right. Female crabs should be returned to the water, period. There is not an endless supply of anything on our planet and common sense management is necessary.
Chuck, as I mentioned, I wasn’t aware that I was getting only female crabs but I did buy from Asian market.
Jane,
I left a comment in serious support of your comment but it has been deleted. Keep up your comments on this critical subject.
Chuck Kimberl
c.kimber69@gmail.com
I didn’t delete your comment, I just approved the comment.
Sorry for my impatience.
Very good!