WHAT YOU’LL NEED:
SEAFOOD, Of course, along with potatoes, corn, and andouille sausage. You can use any selection of seafood for your boil, but here are our favorite choices with tips on preparing & cooking:
Pro tip: The seafood used in this recipe cook at different times. Put the longest cooking items in the boil first. The order is crab legs – lobster tails – clams and mussels – then shrimp!
Snow Crab clusters: If you can’t find snow crab, try king crab legs or even dungeness crab legs!
Cook-time Tip: Make sure that they’re pre-cooked! Precooked crab heats up in 5-7 minutes, making it the best option when cooking with other seafood that requires less cook-time. Raw crab legs take 15-10 min to cook.
Lobster tails: you’ll want to Maine Lobsters or North Atlantic Lobsters, also known as cold water lobsters. They have the best flavor and don’t taste fishy like other breeds.
Cook-time Tip: 5 – 7 minutes
Clams and Mussels: Add one of both of these to your boil!
Cook-time Tip: 5-6 minutes, or when the shells pop open. Before serving, discard any shells that didn’t open up. Mussels take slightly longer than clams, so choose a pre-cooked option to save time, or add them in a minute or two before the clams.
Jumbo shrimp: Use the biggest shrimp you can find! Colossal or jumbo shrimp are the best. Get them deveined to cut down on prep time. You can use peeled or shell-on shrimp, depending on your preference.
Cook-time Tip: 3-5 minutes.
Red Potatoes: If you don’t have access to red potatoes, Yukon potatoes, baby potatoes, or small new potatoes work too.
Sweet Corn: Use whatever variety of corn you’d like as long as it’s fresh. Cutting the corn into thirds for roughly 2-inch pieces will ensure they cook faster
Andouille sausage: Andouille is a slightly spicy sausage. In my opinion, it’s the best sausage for a seafood boil but if you prefer something milder, use kielbasa.
INGREDIENTS: Serves 6-8 (double for 12-14)
FOR THE CAJUN BOIL:
3 quart water
1 (12-ounce) can of beer- optional but highly recommended, or sub with stock of choice.
3 tablespoon Creole Cajun Seasoning
1 tablespoon Old Bay seasoning
1 medium yellow onion, roughly sliced into half-moons
4 large lemon, divided (3 halved for stock/1 cut into wedges for serving)
12 ounce andouille sausage, sliced into rounds
1 lb baby potatoes, red or gold (or a mix of both)
4–6 ears sweet corn on the cob, cut into thirds
1 lb pre-cooked snow crab leg clusters, fresh or frozen
1 ½ lbs jumbo shrimp, deveined, shell-on or peeled
6-8 lobster tails (one per person, or more)
1/2 lb pre-cooked mussels
1/2 lb clams
FOR THE GARLIC BUTTER SAUCE:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
10 cloves of garlic, finely minced or pressed
2 tablespoon lemon juice, freshly squeezed
1 tablespoon Old Bay seasoning
1 tablespoon fresh chopped parsley
1 teaspoon Creole Cajun Seasoning
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
DIRECTIONS:
1. Prepare the boil. In an extra large stockpot or dutch oven (about 10 quarts or larger) over medium-high heat, combine the water and beer or stock. Bring the liquid to a boil.
2. Season the boil with the Creole Cajun seasoning and Old Bay seasoning. Add onion slices and 3 lemons, halved. (Reserve one lemon to cut into wedges for serving). Stir all the ingredients well to thoroughly combine. Let the mixture boil for 15 minutes.
3. Add the corn, potatoes & sausage. Carefully add the corn and potatoes into the pot, stirring well to fully combine with the boil. Let cook for 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are fork-tender. Then, add the sliced andouille sausage and boil for additional 5 minutes.
4. Add the seafood. Next, gently add each seafood element according to cook-time. (Put the items with the longest cook-time in first, and so-on.) Be sure that everything is fully submerged under the boil and carefully stir to ensure all ingredients are well combined. Continue boiling until all seafood is cooked through. Meanwhile, prepare the garlic butter sauce.
5. Make the garlic butter sauce. On a separate burner, in a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the butter, garlic, lemon juice, Old Bay seasoning, parsley, Creole Cajun seasoning, and smoked paprika. Stir all ingredients and simmer the sauce until the butter melts and the sauce is well combined, stirring often, about 5-7 minutes. Then remove from heat.
6. Assemble cajun seafood boil with sauce. Line an extra large baking sheet with foil/parchment paper. Use a spider strainer to remove the seafood boil contents from the pot and place onto the prepared baking sheet. Note: If you’d like your garlic butter sauce to be thinner, you can add some of the seafood boil broth to adjust to desired consistency. Now, this is the fun part! Pour the garlic butter sauce over the seafood boil ingredients. Toss to combine, smothering every nook and cranny in sauce!
7. Serve seafood boil. For the most fun, cover a large surface (like counter top or dining table) with parchment paper or newspaper and pour the seafood boil across the surface, allowing everyone to grab from the food as desired. (You can also serve as-is from the baking sheet for less cleanup, or divide as desired onto individual plates). Be sure to sop up any runaway garlic butter sauce!
8. ENJOY!