23 hard shell crab recipes

Charcoal-grilled hard-shell crabs brushed with Thai chili paste, tomato, and garlic olive oil, served with corn grilled in the husk. A summer cookout feast with an East-meets-West kick.

Grilled Maryland Soft Crabs & Seafood Marinade - Part 1 of 2 recipe

Live blue crabs steamed in beer, vinegar, and Old Bay-style seafood seasoning until bright red. A classic Chesapeake Bay crab feast recipe that's simple, messy, and absolutely worth it.

Mahalia Jackson's okra gumbo, a soulful Louisiana feast of crab, shrimp, beef, ham, sausage, and chicken in a tomato-okra base, built on a from-scratch shrimp-shell broth. Big-batch comfort, ladled over rice.

Seafood gumbo loaded with shrimp, crab, and five pounds of okra smothered with tomatoes, garlic, and hot sauce. An authentic okra-thickened Cajun gumbo, no roux needed.

A savory and hearty dish made with succulent shrimp, juicy tomatoes and okra.

Indonesian curried crab simmers cracked whole crab in a rich coconut curry built on a fresh-ground paste of galangal, lemongrass, chili and candlenuts, balanced with sour tamarind. Fragrant, fiery, gloriously messy.

Maryland crab soup with live blue crabs, beef stew meat, bacon, corn, tomatoes, and Old Bay. Slow-simmered Chesapeake Bay classic, sweet corn version.

Devilled crabs with fresh-picked crab meat in a creamy mace-seasoned sauce with hard-boiled eggs, stuffed back into the shells and baked or deep-fried golden.

Liz and Tom's crab boil: hard-shell crabs steamed over a citrus-and-spice broth with potatoes, corn on the cob, bay, and galangal. A summer seafood feast built for a crowd.

Louisiana-style shrimp and crab spaghetti with hard-shell crabs simmered in a chili-spiked tomato sauce. Pasta cooks straight in the sauce, soaking up every drop of seafood flavor.

Cheesy fisherman's grill: canned salmon and fresh crab folded into a parsley-tomato béchamel, topped with parmesan, and broiled bubbling gold. A quick seafood gratin for two.

Whole hard-shell crabs simmered in a garlicky tomato sauce with red pepper flakes, cracked and tossed over spaghetti. Messy, hands-on, and worth every napkin.

Gulf-style shrimp and crab spaghetti simmered in a rich tomato sauce with chili powder, basil, butter, and garlic. Whole crabs in the sauce make this a messy, hands-on feast.

Kakuluwo is a Sri Lankan crab curry simmered in two rounds of coconut milk with fenugreek, grated coconut, and curry leaves. Messy to eat, absolutely worth every bite.

Chinese whole crab wok-fried with fresh ginger, scallions, and red pepper in a glossy sherry-soy sauce thickened with cornstarch. Messy, hands-on, and absolutely worth it.