The Complete Guide to Dungeness Crab
Here's when and where to source Dungeness crab, how to break it down, and what utensils you'll need.
Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Christine Keely
Dungeness are cold-water crabs, 7 to 9 inches in width, and 1 1/2 to 2 pounds in weight, found off the coasts of Northern California, Oregon, Washington, and Alaska, with the San Francisco Bay Area being a singular hotbed for Dungeness lovers, writes F&W assistant food editor Andee Gosnell. They’re prized for their flaky, sweet, juicy meat.
When is Dungeness crab season?
Historically, Dungeness crab season started at the beginning of November and lasted through June. In recent years, environmental stressors and the conservation policies to address them have led to a delayed start and early end to the season. The 2023 season is expected to start in mid-December. If you can’t find Dungeness crab, substitute lump crabmeat.
Where to buy Dungeness crab
The quality of fresh Dungeness crabs is unparalleled. If you’re on the West Coast, you’ll be able to find the fresh crabs as well as picked crabmeat during the winter and early spring at your local grocery store or seafood market. If you live elsewhere, many seafood purveyors provide nationwide shipping. For a fast turnaround, Fathom Seafood offers fresh, sustainably caught crabs that arrive within a day of shipping four days a week. Giovanni’s Fish Market sells fresh crabs, crab sections, and crabmeat.
How to break down a whole crab
Lucy Engelman
Once cooked crab is cool enough to handle, begin to break it down. Place crab, smooth shell side down, on a work surface.
Pull off the triangular “apron” from crab’s underside; discard. Wiggle thumbs beneath top shell; pull to remove from body.
Scrape out and discard yellow tomalley (crab fat) from top shell. Remove gills, intestines, and jaw from body; discard.
Crack body to split into two halves. Peel away shell pieces. Use a seafood fork to coax out and reserve crabmeat.
Twist off legs and claws from body; twist apart at joints, and crack sections using a seafood cracker to remove meat.
Check crabmeat for any remaining shells and discard. Refrigerate crabmeat in an airtight container.
How to eat Dungeness crab
Don’t let the idea of diving into a whole crab intimidate you. These tips and tools make it easy to get to the goods. (These work on smaller crabs and lobsters, too.) Tomalley, also known as crab fat, is yellow in color and considered a delicacy by many. While it is technically edible, it is the part of the crab where any environmental toxins accumulate. Unless you're confident that your crab is from a pristine environment, it's best not to eat it.
Once cooked crab is cool enough to handle, begin to break it down. Place crab, smooth shell side down, on a work surface.
Pull off the triangular “apron” from crab’s underside; discard. Wiggle thumbs beneath top shell; pull to remove from body.
Scrape out and discard yellow tomalley (crab fat) from top shell. Remove gills, intestines, and jaw from body; discard.
Crack body to split into two halves. Peel away shell pieces. Use a seafood fork to coax out and reserve crabmeat.
Twist off legs and claws from body; twist apart at joints, and crack sections using a seafood cracker to remove meat.
Check crabmeat for any remaining shells and discard. Refrigerate crabmeat in an airtight container.
What utensils do you need to eat Dungeness crab?
Lucy Engelman
Seafood cracker
This is an essential tool to crack open hard claws and spare your hands from a shell-related injury. Look for crackers that have graduated ridges sized to crack both small and large shells. As a bonus, these also double as a nutcracker. Williams Sonoma Stainless-Steel Seafood Crackers, $32 at williams-sonoma.com
Seafood forks
Also called seafood picks, these forks have small prongs to help extract the crabmeat and tomalley from the cooked shells. They’re great for guiding out delicate meat and can work their way into hard-to-reach places like inside crab claws, so nothing goes to waste. In a pinch, a wooden skewer or a chopstick can also work to push out the meat. $30 for a set of 4, crateandbarrel.com
Crab knife
A crab knife is a handy tool to break open any shells around the crab body and to dig out large pieces of lump crabmeat. It can also aid in removing the crab’s apron. $13 at themarylandstore.com
Dungeness crab recipes
Steamed Dungeness Crab with Lemon-Garlic Butter
Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Christine Keely
The secret to flawless steamed Dungeness crab starts with the quality. Fresh Dungeness crab is an ingredient that needs little more than a silky butter sauce to make a simple, indulgent, memorable meal.
Dungeness Crab Winter Salad
Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Christine Keely
This abundant winter salad with crisp greens, winter fruits, crunchy croutons, and fresh crabmeat is as delicious as it is beautiful. A savory, garlicky, and almost Caesar-like dressing (thanks to the inclusion of anchovy fillets) hugs a mix of tender, slightly bitter salad greens, delicately spicy raw red onion, fresh herbs, and sweet crabmeat.
Crab Salad Sandwich
Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Christine Keely
The crab salad sandwich at the iconic restaurant Sabella & La Torre is by itself a compelling reason to visit Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco. Owner Thomas La Torre uses pristine Dungeness crab in a simple salad that’s piled on toasted sourdough rolls to create a tall and dramatic sandwich with a generous amount of crab in each bite.
Garlic Crab Pasta
Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Christine Keely
Garlic crab pasta is a Vietnamese dish that’s beloved in California’s Bay area. In her version, chef and cookbook author Diep Tran adds fish sauce to amp up the umami factor in the garlicky, buttery sauce for bucatini. The result is a wonderfully rich and flavorful sauce that coats the al dente pasta and sweet, tender crabmeat.
Crab Fried Rice
Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Christine Keely
This fried rice boasts a wonderful mix of flavors and textures and leans mostly savory with soy sauce, seasoning sauce, garlic, and a hint of fish sauce coming through. The popular spicy, salty, and sweet condiment prik nam pla (Thai dipping sauce) reinforces the fried rice’s umami flavors.
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