Serve this seafood boil with potluck-style side dishes like classic Italian pasta salad, baked mac and cheese with breadcrumbs, and/or cheesy jalapeño grits.
Skim by Section
★ Why You’ll Love this Recipe ★
When you think of a seafood boil, you might think of the traditional low country boil that's cooked in a huge pot, maybe over an open fire and then spread out over a newspaper-covered tabled and served to a crowd.
A seafood boil is such a fun dinner that's easy to pull off. Essentially it's a layering of potatoes, corn, sausage and seafood with seasonings.
A Medley of Foods and Flavors
This dish is know by many different names fun. You may have heard it called Frogmore Stew, Low Country Boil, clambake or simply a seafood boil depending on where you grew up or what your family might call it.
The idea is the same though. Lots of yummy food boiled together in southern spices, served hot with a side of Old Bay and melted butter.
Feeds a Crowd
A traditional low country boil is no doubt, a great way to feed a group of people something really special. Without the hassle of making a bunch of individual dishes. Everything cooks together yet there's a variety of food and you don't even need a plate! Even the kids love it.
Hosting a Seafood Boil
A seafood boil is truly a feast as everyone grabs their choice picks from a variety of yummy foods — shrimp, corn, Cajun sausage and potatoes are typical.
We've hosted a number seafood boils that look exactly like this. We have hosted in our own backyard and have even cooked a boil over a fire while camping with a group of friends!
We actually host a neighborhood seafood boil every year and we serve the boil with a potluck of side dishes. It's always a fun time. We make the main dish — the boil — and guests bring a side, dessert or a special drink to share. This ensures there is plenty of food for everyone, no matter who shows up!
For side dish ideas, browse all my easy potluck side dish recipes.
Add Other Seafood
You can upgrade this base recipe with additional specialty seafood like crawfish, clams, oysters, muscles or even a lobster! If you're in the Maryland area, maybe you'd even sneak in some blue crabs.
The Weeknight Shrimp Boil
This delicious dinner is so easy to make, it just makes sense to try this dinner idea on a smaller scale and enjoy it any time, even as a weekend or weeknight dinner.
Serve it for Family Dinner
Because, why not? For all the same reasons why it's an excellent way to feed a group of people, it's also a great dinner option. You've got protein, veggies and a starch so it's a balanced meal. And it's easy to prep and cooks quickly.
Great for Special Occasions
A shrimp boil is a great way to celebrate special occasions!
If you want to feed your family something special to celebrate a birthday, anniversary, or maybe a job well done this is a great dinner option! This recipe feeds 4-6 people but can easily be doubled or tripled depending on the size of your family or group.
For larger gatherings, think holidays, weddings, bachelor parties... just double, triple or scale up the recipe to feed the number of guests you are inviting.
You'll need to just increase the size of your pot the bigger you go but luckily they make some very big pots should you want to go big!
★ Ingredients You'll Need ★
What will you find in this easy shrimp boil?
- Corn on the Cob. Just toss half ears of corn, use frozen or fresh raw shrimp.
- Cajun sausage. In this case we love the Smith's mini bites since there's no cutting required, but you can also slice rope sausage into coins.
- Red potatoes. Small or cut-up potatoes of your choice. Red potatoes taste great and are small enough so they cook quickly. Since red potatoes have thin skin, you can leave the skin on which makes things even easier (and adds flavor!) However, any potato works, just cut large potatoes small enough that they can cook within 15 minutes. So no larger than 2" cubes.
- Red onion. Red onions have a nice flavor and a pretty color but you can use white or yellow onions too.
- Garlic. A whole cluster of garlic cloves. No need to peel the garlic, just slice it and plop it in the pot! Easy!
- Lemons. Fresh lemons added to the pot will enhance the shrimp flavor and give it a fresh and bright flavor.
- Zatarain's Seasoning. All the food cooks in one pot along with a package of Zatarain's Crawfish, Shrimp & Crab Boil seasoning.
- Old Bay seasoning. Sprinkle on after you've drained away the water and are ready to serve. This classic seafood seasoning finishes off this tasty meal and brings all the flavors together into one delicious dish. Offer melted butter and additional Old Bay seasoning for dipping as well.
Optional: Add additional varieties of seafood! Try crawfish, scallops, clams, oysters and/or muscles. Note: Oysters, clams and muscles are done cooking when they open. If they do not open when cooked, discard them.
★ How to Prepare a Seafood Boil ★
First, you'll need a large pot.
A 6 quart pot would be the minimum size I'd recommend. If you have a larger pot, use that so you can give things a good stir without making a mess.
Need a large stockpot? They actually make pots specifically for seafood boils that come with a strainer. So if you're into this idea you may want to invest in this handy tool. Browse seafood stock pots on Amazon.
If making a small batch, I use my 8-quart dutch oven.
Once you have a pot, here's what to do:
- Boil water and add Zatarain's seasoning.
- Add potatoes, onions and garlic, cover and boil.
- Add sausage, lemons, corn and shrimp; boil longer.
- Strain and serve.
- Drizzle with melted butter and Old Bay seasoning.
- Serve with cups of melted butter and Old Bay seasoning for dipping.
Easy! For the full recipe and how-to video, see below.
★ How to Serve a Shrimp Boil ★
Go ahead and serve it dumped onto the table (just lay down some newspaper or a disposable table cloth for easy clean up). No plates needed!
Set out a small dish of melted butter and some extra Old Bay seasoning for anyone who wants to dip and you're good!
You may want to have paper towels or wet wipes available to clean off sticky hands when done.
★ More Shrimp Recipes ★
Are you a seafood lover?
Check out all my delicious and easy seafood recipes.
This easy Seafood Boil recipe was developed using Smith’s mini bite sausages and was featured on South Your Mouth!
Simple Seafood Boil
Equipment
Ingredients
- 12 oz Smith's Cajun Sausage Mini Bites (or use rope cajun sausage and slice into coins)
- 12 oz raw shrimp or 1.5lbs fresh shrimp
- 4 ears corn cut in half
- 12 red potatoes*
- 1 red onion sliced
- 1 head garlic halved
- 2 lemons halved
- 3 oz Zatarain's Crawfish, Shrimp & Crab Boil seasoning
- 8 cups water
Optional Dips
- ½ cup butter (one stick) melted
- Old Bay seasoning to taste
Mighty Mrs. is a #WalmartPartner.
Instructions
- Add water and Zatarain's Crawfish, Shrimp & Crab Boil seasoning to a large stockpot. Bring to boil on high heat. Stir in potatoes, onions and garlic. Cover and boil 15 minutes or until potatoes are soft all the way through.*
- Add sausage, lemons, corn and raw shrimp to the pot. Cover and boil an additional 3-5 minutes or just until shrimp is pink in color all the way through.
- Strain to remove water then serve immediately. To serve, dump everything once strained onto a table lined with newspaper.
- Drizzle with melted butter and sprinkle with Old Bay seasoning. Reserve some melted butter as a dip for shrimp (and other seafood if available). Offer additional Old Bay for dipping as well.
Video
Notes
- Using smaller red potatoes is ideal as this will shorten cook time. Or, cut larger potatoes into bite-sized pieces to reduce cook time.
- Offer melted butter and Old Bay in ramekins for dipping.
Rachel says
Great! Really enjoyed this, will make again!
Tresa A Baker says
Can you use frozen shrimp for the weeknight shrimp boil?
Angela G. says
Hi Tresa, yes you can! Make sure to use raw frozen shrimp. You may need to add a minute or two to the cook time if you’re adding the shrimp frozen. You’ll know the shrimp is done when they are completely pinky orange. If they have any gray or are somewhat translucent then they still need to cook. Thanks for asking!