This crab pasta with tomatoes and garlic is a delicious easy seafood linguine dish you can make in under 30 minutes.
Crab Pasta with Tomatoes and Garlic
This crab pasta with tomatoes and garlic is simple to make and absolutely delicious. The lemon, butter, garlic, tomato, and herbs are a sure thing combined with the sweet delicate crab meat. The result is a light and tasty seafood pasta dish that is sure to satisfy. And even better, this crab linguine is simple to make and can be completed in under 30 minutes with only a handful of ingredients.
Buying Canned Crab for Crab Linguine
Buying canned crab meat can be a bit pricey. The lump crab meat which comes from inside the crab is more expensive than the claw crab meat. Mixing the two types of crab meat results in different crab textures and flavors. Using claw meat will also keep the price down. This recipe calls for 1 lb. of crab meat. You can use whichever type of crab meat you prefer, but I suggest using roughly half lump crab meat and half claw crab meat.

Crab Pasta Ingredients
This crab pasta doesn’t have many ingredients, which is one reason it is so simple to prepare. The main ingredients are:
- linguine
- tomatoes
- garlic
- butter
- lemon
- parsley
Making Crab Linguine with Tomatoes, Garlic, Parsley, and Butter
Cook the linguine in boiling salted water until it is roughly 80% cooked. Meanwhile heat butter in a saute pan large enough to hold all the pasta.
Add thinly sliced garlic butter and cook gently for a minute or two (do not let the garlic brown). Add tomatoes and simmer gently for about five minutes.
Next add crab meat and freshly squeezed lemon juice, and simmer for another two to three minutes.
Finally add the linguine with some pasta water and cook for another two minutes. Toss in freshly chopped parsley and season with salt to taste.




Serving the Crab Pasta
Serve the crab linguine immediately. Garnish with freshly chopped parsley (or chervil if you have it). Serve with additional lemon.


Crab Pasta With Tomatoes and Garlic
Equipment
- stove top
Ingredients
- 1 lb dry linguine
- 8 oz lump crab meat
- 8 oz claw crab meat
- 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes
- 4 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced thinly
- 2 each lemons, juice
- 8 oz butter, unsalted
- 0.5 cup parsley, freshly chopped
- salt, to taste
Instructions
- Cook pasta in boiling salted water for two minutes less than package directions
- In large saute pan, melt butter. Add garlic and cook gently for one to two minutes but do not get any color on garlic. Add tomatoes and bring to simmer for five minutes. Add crab meat and freshly squeezed lemon juice. Cook for another three minutes. You can add the squeezed lemon to the pan as well to get extra flavor, but remove before adding next ingredient.
- Add the partially cooked pasta to the pan along with some of the pasta water. Cook for another two minutes. Toss in freshly chopped parsley and season to taste with salt.
- Serve immediately. Garnish with some freshly chopped parsley and serve with lemon.
Pasta Recipes
- Baked Ziti with Chicken and Spinach
- Ricotta Cream Pasta with Chicken
- Zucchini Pasta with Tomato
- Rigatoni with Chicken in Rose Sauce
Crab and Seafood Recipes
- Broiled Shrimp with Maitre d’Hotel Butter
- Baked Pasta with Lobster
- Air Fryer Crab Cakes with Old Bay Aioli
- Seafood Stuffed Shells
This was great – the husband loved it. I might try with shrimp next time
that sounds delicious
My family loves crab so we decided to give this recipe a try. It did not disappoint. Everyone scarfed it down. We bout lump crab meat from the seafood department at the local grocery store. It was a bit pricy, but SO worth it!
What a treat this was for dinner. We all enjoyed this delicious crab pasta!
This was such an easy, summery pasta recipe to make for dinner tonight! I served it with some garlic bread and a side salad and it was the perfect meal!
The perfect midweek meal. Absolutely loved it.