Crawfish Boil

When the season is right, there's nothing like boiling crawfish to get a party rolling. Here's the traditional Louisiana crawfish boil recipe you need.

Yield:
15 pounds

Just as there's no wrong way to eat crawfish, there's no wrong time to enjoy them either. That said, our favorite time to throw a crawfish boil is early spring, when we can boil up some crawfish, corn cobs, and potatoes, and enjoy them outdoors with our friends and family.

That's why it's the perfect time to brush up on our favorite crawfish recipes, the ones we go back to every year for crowd-pleasing results. Once you've got your crawfish ready to go, you'll be surprised at how few additional ingredients are required for maximum flavor on your plate. In fact, most of them you'll already have on hand.

So follow along with our recipe, and get ready for a spring seafood feast. Don't you think it's time you tried your hand at throwing a crawfish boil? Whether you're in Louisiana, Texas, Georgia, or somewhere in between, you're bound to find an opportunity for a boil this season—and all the fun that goes along with it.

Crawfish Boil
Southern Living

Ingredients

  • 9 gallons water

  • 4 (4-oz.) packages seafood boil, such as Zatarain's Crawfish, Shrimp, and Crab Boil

  • 4 cups kosher salt

  • 1/2 cup Creole seasoning

  • 8 bay leaves

  • 10 lemons, halved

  • 4 garlic heads, halved crosswise

  • 8 small yellow onions, halved

  • 4 pounds small red potatoes, halved

  • 15 pounds live fresh crawfish, purged (ask your vendor)

  • 8 ears corn, husks removed

  • 3 pounds Andouille sausage

Directions

  1. Boil water, add ingredients:

    Bring 4 1/2 gallons water to a rolling boil in a 14- to 16-gallon stockpot over high. (Start early! This could take 45 minutes-1 hour.) Add seafood boil, salt, Creole seasoning, bay leaves, lemons, garlic, and onions. Stir until spices are dissolved. Add potatoes; return to a boil. Boil 20 minutes. Add sausage; simmer 5 minutes.

  2. Add corn and crawfish:

    Cut each ear of corn into 4 pieces, and add to pot. Simmer 10 minutes. (If you lose your boil at any point, cover with a lid to return it to a simmer.) Add crawfish, and simmer 5-10 minutes.

  3. Pour out the crawfish boil on a large pan or table:

    Line a large sheet pan with newspaper or parchment paper. Pour mixture through a large colander, or remove crawfish and vegetables from water, using a slotted spoon. Place crawfish and vegetables on pan. Serve with Creole Mayo for dipping.

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