Rich Roasted Red Pepper Crab Soup

This rich fall soup is bright red with roasted red peppers and buttery with king crab. Serve piping hot over your favorite grain and enjoy. 

I really love this crab soup recipe. Besides the sweet and buttery flavor of the king crab, it’s also the perfect combination of high-quality protein and wintery flavors. It might look a little fancy, but it’s actually really easy to pull off. Plus if you’ve got a well-stocked kitchen, you probably already have half of the ingredients.

Before you attempt this recipe, there are a few things you should keep in mind when buying and prepping your ingredients.

See Also

Jerusalem Artichoke Soup with Bacon and Chives

JUST A FEW THINGS

• A Less Pricey Alternative – I used king crab legs for this recipe but they can be pretty pricey. If you’re working with a more conservative budget, then snow crab legs will make a great alternative.
• The Thawing Technique – When thawing your crab legs, be sure to thaw them overnight in the fridge and never at room temperature. Thawing at room temperature could compromise the flavor. But if you’re really in a hurry (like most of us are) it’s fine to thaw them under cold running water.
• Cooking to Perfection – Unless you’re hanging out at a fisherman’s dock, the crab legs you buy from the store are most likely fully cooked and flash frozen. This means there’s no need to cook the crap out of them! When cooking the crab legs, you really only need to reheat them for 3-4 minutes; any longer than that and you might start to ruin the texture.

Enjoy!

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• Author: Christine Arel
• Yield: 8 servings 1x
• Category: Soup

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 2 lbs frozen king or snow crab legs (washed and cut into 3” pieces)
• 2 tbsp avocado oil
• 6 cloves garlic (minced)
• 2 large shallots (chopped)
• 2 stalks celery (trimmed & chopped)
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• 1 cup dry sherry
• 6 cups chicken stock
• 2 jarred roasted red peppers (drained)
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• ¾ tsp smoked paprika
• ¼ tsp + ? tsp ground nutmeg
• ¼ tsp + ? tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 bay leaves
• Cracked black pepper (I used ½ tsp, but you should adjust to your liking)
• Sea salt (to taste)
• 1 tbsp fresh thyme (finely chopped)

Instructions

1. Heat oil in a dutch oven (or large pot) over medium heat. Add garlic, shallots, celery, and oregano; cook, stirring frequently for about 2 minutes until shallots are translucent.
2. Add the crab and 1 cup of stock; cook for about 3-4 minutes until the shells become bright red. Transfer crab to a dish and remove the pot from heat.
3. Add peppers and tomato paste to a blender, along with ¼ cup of cooking liquid from the pot; puree until smooth.
4. In the same pot, add the remaining broth (5 cups), pepper puree, paprika, nutmeg, cinnamon and bay leaves; combine well.
5. Add the black pepper to taste a little at a time; the soup should be peppery but not overwhelming. Cover and lower heat to simmer for 20 minutes.
6. Discard bay leaves; stir in fresh thyme right before serving. Serve crab on a separate dish to allow each person to choose the amount of crab added to their soup.
7. Notes
8. This soup is very brothy, so you can make it a complete meal by adding a whole grain like brown rice, barley, etc to the bottom of each bowl before adding the soup. Alternatively, you can stir in a leafy green (spinach, kale, etc.) at the end of the cooking process to up the nutritional value.