Indulging in an extraordinarily luxe Valentine’s Day dinner is easy when you’re lucky enough to have a package of wild-caught Alaskan king crab. Its naturally sweet, buttery flavor and lobster-like texture make this catch fit for the royalty in your life.
Each of these two-course menus is designed to use up an entire pack of our Alaskan red king crab selection portions. More importantly, these suggestions highlight the best qualities of this special catch using a complementary variety of textures, flavors, and temperatures, plus a perfect wine pairing. That being said, feel free to mix and match as you see fit!
Option #1
Starter: King Crab Salad with Grapefruit and Avocado
Sweet king crab, tart grapefruit, and creamy avocado: It’s a classic combination of ingredients for a crab salad, but this recipe from Food & Wine is executed with a bit of imagination. For one thing, the flavor profile is tweaked a bit with a dash of umami-rich soy sauce and the bright herbaceousness of cilantro. Another twist? The king crab pieces are lightly glazed in a sweet-salty-tart grapefruit dressing.
Recipe notes: Quarter the recipe to make it a starter for two. Use between ¼ and ½ a pack of king crab legs.
Main: King Crab Legs with Champagne Beurre Blanc
Beurre blanc is already a ridiculously decadent dip for king crab. Velvety, creamy, and buttery, it perfectly matches the elegance of king crab legs. But this recipe from Cuisine at Home elevates this combination beyond your expectations by using a cup of champagne as the base of the butter emulsion, making a rather simple main dish the epitome of luxury.
Recipe notes: Halve the recipe to make it a main for two. Use about a ½ pack of king crab legs. You may use champagne in this beurre blanc if you like, but honestly, you don’t need to sacrifice such pricey bubbly as a cooking ingredient: Use a dry, good-quality sparkling white alternative instead that you can enjoy as a beverage without breaking the bank.
Wine Pairing Suggestion: Crémant de Bourgogne "Extra Brut", Clotilde Davenne
This dry sparkling white wine from Burgundy has citrusy notes to complement the grapefruit and crab salad, but is affordable enough to use in cooking.
Option #2
Starter: Chilled King Crab Legs with Meyer Lemon Miso Butter
Warm, drawn butter is always a good counterpart to chilled king crab legs, but this recipe from Martha Stewart Living for a Meyer Lemon Miso Butter elevates this combo with subtle citrusy notes and mouth-watering umami. To save yourself some effort on this special day, you can make the miso butter ahead of time and simply reheat when you’re ready to serve; the crab legs just need to be thawed in the fridge overnight.
Recipe notes: Quarter the recipe to make it a starter for two. Use ½ pack of king crab legs. If you prefer, you can steam the crab legs and serve this dish hot — but serving it as a chilled starter is a good way to appreciate everything that this crustacean has to offer in a two-course meal.
Main: King Crab Tagliatelle with Chiles
Curtis Stone goes all out for a Valentine’s Day pasta dish with this recipe for tagliatelle with king crab.
By no means do you need to make your own pasta from scratch, but do try to get your hands on fresh pasta to use in this dish for the best combination of textures: The delicate pieces of king crab meat twirled into just-tender ribbons of fresh pasta make for an unforgettable main course. Enriched with a pad of butter and spiced up with fresh chiles, it’s got a nice balance of flavors to complement the sweetness of the crab, too.
Recipe Notes: Make sure you double the “to serve” segment of the recipe, as it’s written to produce only a single serving of pasta. Use between a ¼ and ½ pack of king crab legs.
Wine Pairing Suggestion: Riesling Kabinett "CAI", Immich-Batterieberg
This low-alcohol German riesling is a natural pairing for chilled shellfish, quaffable without being too intense. Rieslings typically are nice matches for spiced foods, too, so make sure you save some to drink with the pasta.
Option #3
Starter: Cold Potato Salad with King Crab and Green Beans
This cold potato salad from Eating Well integrates chilled morsels of king crab with the crunchy freshness of crisp-tender green beans, celery, and radishes. Tossed in a lemony dressing, it’s a bright way to begin a dinner.
Recipe notes: Halve the recipe to make it a starter for two. Use between ¼ and ½ pack of king crab.
Main: Deviled Crab with Sherry Sauce
Epicurious’s recipe for deviled crab is for those of you who like an elaborate flourish for memorable meals. King crab meat is coated in a rich, sherry-infused bechamel, then baked beneath a crunchy topping of breadcrumbs until bubbling hot.
Recipe notes: Halve the recipe to make it main for two. Use ½ pack of crab legs. The recipe is a bit labor-intensive, but can be partially made a few hours ahead of time without affecting the quality of the dish.
Wine Pairing Suggestion: Rkatsiteli, Pheasant’s Tears
This skin-contact white wine made from a grape indigenous to the Kakheti region of Georgia (the country, not the state!) has nutty, apple-cidery notes that echo some of the flavors in the sherry sauce. And it has enough acidity and citrusy notes to be a decent pair for the starter. P.S., if you were cooking with a good bottle of sherry, pour you and your beloved a glass of that, too, to finish off the meal.
