Seafood Boil
From succulent shrimp to sweet corn and spicy sausages, there are endless possibilities when creating your own seafood boil feast. In this article, we'll share some helpful tips and mouth-watering recipes to help you create a memorable seafood boil that will have everyone coming back for more.
Pick A Theme
A traditional seafood boil consists of sausage, potatoes, corn on the cob and two different kinds of shellfish. However, yours can include as few or as many ingredients as you prefer. Create your own recipe using these simple guidelines.
Midwest
Clams, mussels, shrimp, bratwurst, red skin potatoes, corn on the cob, green beans, Greek seasoning
East Coast
Lobster, clams, cod, Italian sausage, baby yellow potatoes, corn on the cob, asparagus, Old Bay seasoning
Low Country
Crab, shrimp, crawfish, andouille sausage, cubed sweet potato, corn on the cob, bell pepper, Louisiana-style crawfish, shrimp, crab boil seasoning (like Zatarain’s)
Choose Your Ingredients
Start by choosing your potatoes, four proteins and two veggies. With just a little prep, dinner will be ready in 20 minutes or less!
Potatoes
Whole small potatoes or cubed large potatoes: 15–20 minutes; ½ lb. per person
Seafood
Whole Lobster: 10–15 minutes; ½–1 per person
Clams (Scrubbed): 8–12 minutes; 4–6 per person
Blue Crab: 8–10 minutes;2–3 per person
Crawfish: 8–10 minutes; 4–6 per person
Cod Fillet: 8–10 minutes; ½–1 per person
Lobster Tail: 5–10 minutes; 1–2 per person
Mussels (Scrubbed): 4–5 minutes; 4–6 per person
Crab Legs: 3–5 minutes; 2–4 per person
Jumbo Shrimp: 3–4 minutes; 4–6 per person
Pre-Cooked Sausage
Andouille, Bratwurst, Chorizo, Italian, Kielbasa: 8–12 minutes;1 link or ¼ lb. per person
Vegetables
Corn on the Cob (Shucked): 7–10 minutes; ½–1 per person
Asparagus: 5–7 minutes; ¼ lb. per person
Bell Pepper Slices: 5–7 minutes; ½–1 pepper per person
Broccoli Florets: 5–7 minutes; ¼ lb. per person
Green Beans: 5–7 minutes; ¼ lb. per person
Whole White Mushrooms: 5–7 minutes; ¼ lb. per person
Build A Broth
Add water to a large pot (lined with a perforated insert if available) until it’s three-quarters full then bring to a boil. Next, add a good amount of salt and seafood seasoning (like Old Bay)—about 2 tablespoons of each per quart of water.
You can stop there or keep building for even more flavor! Try adding a bottle of beer or white wine. Squeeze some citrus then toss the remaining fruit into the pot. Onions, garlic, chili peppers, carrots and/or celery help to balance the citrus—just be sure to give them a couple chops first. Bay leaves, sprigs of fresh herbs and extra spices can also be used. Once you’ve added all of your broth ingredients, let the mixture boil for about 10 minutes.
Cook & Serve
Set a timer for 20 minutes and add your potatoes to the pot. Using the timing guidelines above, continue to add ingredients as the timer reaches their cook times, covering the pot between each addition.
When finished cooking, potatoes and vegetables should be tender, fish and meat should be cooked through, crustaceans (lobster, crabs, shrimp, etc.) should be red/pink and clams and mussels should have opened up.
Drain mixture and serve on a newspaper-lined table (or a sheet pan for smaller boils) with lemon wedges, cold beer and plenty of dipping sauces—like melted butter or hot sauce.