Looking for a delicious Cajun Seafood Boil Recipe? This recipe is made with a variety of seafood, some sausage, red potatoes, and sweet corn. Mix up a deliciously spicy and garlicky seasoned broth and buttery dipping sauce to take it to the next level.
Grab a large pot and your favorite seafood, and make this delicious meal for the entire family! It's easier than you think to make a fantastic seafood boil. Whether it's a special occasion or you just want to skip the takeout, this recipe is foolproof!
Looking for more crowd-pleasing seafood recipes? Try this butter poached lobster, these baked crab legs, this chicken and shrimp carbonara, these scallops with bacon and white wine sauce, or this cajun shrimp and sausage pasta!
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❤️Why we love this recipe
- Bursting with fresh seafood. Love seafood and New Orleans flavor? This recipe is for you! You can literally make all of your favorite seafood until your heart's content. The flavorful broth and dipping sauce will complement all of it.
- Customizable. You can add whatever your favorites are, and skip the things you don't love or don't have. It's really up to you, and there's no right or wrong way!
- Made with simple ingredients. Once you have the seafood and sausage, you just need a few simple staple ingredients that can be found at any grocery store. We'll show you that this recipe is actually totally unintimidating, and very easy to throw together.
- Perfect for special occasions. We love making this recipe during the holidays, like Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, for Mardi Gras, and our birthdays. It's the perfect meal, and a great way to celebrate since you can include everyone's favorite types of seafood. Place it in the center of the table so everyone can grab some and enjoy!
🦀Ingredients
Here are the ingredients we used for this seafood boil recipe. You can find more information for substitutions below.
- Fresh shrimp - We like using jumbo gulf shrimp with the shell on for more flavor.
- Crab leg clusters - We used snow crab legs, but King crab legs also work.
- Mussels
- Kielbasa or andouille sausage - A nice smoky sausage compliments the meal really well, and also adds more protein.
- Sweet corn
- Red potatoes
- Lemons - We use lemon slices in the boiling liquid, but also lemon juice and lemon zest in the dipping sauce. Don't forget some extra lemon for serving.
- Water
- Onions
- Garlic
- Unsalted butter
- Seasonings - We use a mixture of black pepper, red pepper flakes, smoked paprika, cayenne pepper, homemade salt-free cajun seasoning*, Old Bay seasoning, onion powder, garlic powder, celery seed, coriander, mustard powder, and dried thyme in the seafood boil seasoning and for the dipping sauce.
- Kosher salt. Use more or less as needed. Depending on the cajun seasoning you use, you may not need to add as much salt to this.
- Hot sauce. We recommend Louisiana hot sauce, Tobasco, or Crystal hot sauce.
- Bay leaves
- Fresh parsley. For the dipping sauce and to garnish.
Visit the recipe card for the full quantities and nutritional information.
*Visit the FAQs section below for our homemade cajun seasoning recipe.
✨Substitutions & variations
Here are a few suggestions on additional flavors to try, or simple variations to this seafood boil recipe.
- Add more seafood. Feel free to add your favorite seafood! A few items we'd recommend include scallops, squid, lobster, or clams!
- Less or spicy. Omit some of the cayenne pepper, cajun seasoning, and red pepper flakes for less spicy, and add more if you like it hotter!
- Swap the potatoes. Small new potatoes also work well in place of red potatoes.
- Add beer or wine. You add some beer or white wine to the seafood boiling liquid to complement the seafood and add extra flavor.
- Use spicy Italian sausage. If you like, you can add whole links of spicy Italian sausage to the pot, then cut them up after everything is completely cooked through.
- Lemony. Lemon and seafood just go together really well, if you love lemon, feel free to add more lemon juice and zest to the dipping sauce.
🔪Prep work
🌟Pro tip: Start bringing water to a boil on the stovetop roughly 1.5 hours in advance of cooking. Since we use tons of water to boil the seafood in, it takes a long time to heat up! While your water is heating up, prep the ingredients!
- Wash and prep all seafood. Devein shrimp, scrub mussels, and wash crab legs if desired.
- Wash potatoes.
- Slice lemons into thin rounds.
- Quarter onions.
- Cut corn on the cob into 2 or 3 pieces.
- Peel and smash 12 garlic cloves, and mince 8-10 garlic cloves for the butter sauce and set aside.
- Chop parsley.
- Cut sausage into roughly 2-inch pieces.
- Measure out all remaining ingredients.
📋Instructions
In a large mixing bowl, combine Old Bay, cajun seasoning, smoked paprika, cayenne, red pepper flakes, garlic powder, onion powder, mustard powder, celery seed, coriander, thyme, and black pepper. Don't add salt at this point. (Image 1)
✨Pro tip: Taste and add salt as needed. We recommend using a homemade cajun seasoning blend if possible so that you're able to control the salt level completely. Most store bought versions have salt in them already.
Add water to a large stock pot (or separate between 2 stock pots). Bring to a boil and then add salt, bay leaves, onions, smashed garlic cloves, lemon slices, most seasonings (save some for later), and hot sauce. (Image 2)
Add potatoes to the pot and boil for about 10 minutes along with the aromatics and seasonings. You don't want the potatoes to be cooked all the way through yet as they will continue to cook when we add the seafood. (Image 3)
Add the seafood and sausage to the pot, cover, and gently boil for about 10 minutes. (Image 4)
After 10 minutes, add in the corn, and gently boil it for 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, add the butter to a large saucepan to melt. Once melted, add in the garlic and cook over low heat to infuse the flavor, stirring often. (Image 5)
Add the remaining seasoning blend and stir to combine, followed by lemon zest and lemon juice. (Image 6)
Add 2-3 cups of the liquid from the seafood boil to thin. Adjust seasonings to taste. (Image 7)
Add the seafood to a newspaper-lined large baking sheet. Drizzle with some of the cajun garlic butter sauce, garnish with parsley, and lemon wedges, and enjoy!
Make sure to serve it with the remaining sauce on the side. This also tastes great with a cold beer and hot sauce too!
✨Tips & tricks
- Salt. The salt level can be greatly impacted by the cajun seasoning blend you use. Many store-bought versions have salt in them already, so you may not need to add as much salt to the boiling liquid or garlic butter sauce. We recommend using a homemade (salt-free) cajun seasoning if possible so you can control the salt level!
- Season to taste. This recipe is a bit spicy. It may seem like a lot of seasoning in the seafood boil liquid, but it helps to infuse the potatoes and other than that, doesn't impact the final heat level much. With that being said, when making the garlic butter sauce, taste as you go. If you find the mixture to be too spicy, add more melted butter!
- Don't overcook the seafood or the corn. Both of these items cook quite quickly and overcooking leads to an unpleasant texture.
- Keep the raw seafood cold before cooking it. Seafood and shellfish can spoil quickly in a hot kitchen, and no one wants to be sick from bad shellfish! Keep all items refrigerated or on ice after prepping them until it's time to cook.
- Consider wearing gloves and bibs. This a pro tip to keep you from getting your hands and clothes dirty! This recipe is a bit messy to enjoy.
💭Frequently Asked Questions
Store any leftovers on a baking sheet tightly wrapped with foil or plastic wrap, or an airtight container in the fridge for 1-2 days. To reheat, add to a 350°F oven, and cook for 15-20 minutes.
You can also reheat the leftovers by steaming them on the stovetop in a large stockpot with a lid, or in a cast iron skillet with a little water.
Do not freeze leftovers.
Different seafood will cook at different times. Here's a helpful guide to ensure your seafood is cooked through.
Snow crab: Boil for about 5 minutes, just to reheat. Most crab is already cooked when you buy it, so you're just reheating it!
Mussels: If mussels are fully cooked (like ours were) just boil until they open up completely. This should only take about 3-5 minutes. If a shell doesn't open, discard it, as it means the mussels have gone bad.
Shrimp: Boil for at least 2-3 minutes, until the shrimp is no longer translucent.
Believe it or not, there are no special tools needed to crack crab legs, and you can simply use your hands by cracking the legs at the joints and pulling out the tendons.
Then, you can run your fork inside the shell to break it open or use your hands to crack the shell in half. Make sure to wrap the crab legs with a towel or wear gloves so you don't hurt yourself.
You should plan for about ¾ of a pound to 1.5 pounds of seafood per adult, and about ½ pound per child. Don't forget to add plenty of potatoes, sausage, and corn as an easy way to fill everyone up.
We always prefer to make our own cajun seasoning, so that we can control the salt level completely. Here's our recipe, feel free to adjust the seasonings to taste!
- 2 tablespoons oregano
- 2 tablespoons smoked paprika (or regular paprika)
- 2 tablespoons garlic powder
- 2 tablespoons onion powder
- 1 tablespoon thyme
- 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
- 1 tablespoon black pepper
- ½ tablespoon red pepper flakes (optional, and not a traditional ingredient!)
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More Seafood Recipes To Consider
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📖 Recipe
Cajun Seafood Boil Recipe
Equipment
- 40-quart stock pot (or two smaller stockpots to divide everything)
- large skimmer (if you don't have a stockpot with a built in strainer)
Ingredients
Seasoning blend
- 1 cup Old Bay seasoning
- ½ cup smoked paprika
- 6 tablespoons cajun seasoning (opt for a salt free version if possible, if using a blend with salt, you may not need to add as much salt later on)
- 4 tablespoons onion powder
- 4 tablespoons garlic powder
- 3 tablespoons cayenne
- 3 tablespoons red pepper flakes
- 3 tablespoons dried thyme
- 3 tablespoons coarse ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons ground mustard
- 2 tablespoons celery seed
- 1 tablespoon ground coriander
Seafood boil
- 20 quarts water (or enough water to fill up your pot a little over halfway. Leave enough room for the seafood, corn, and potatoes)
- 6.5 tablespoons kosher salt (to taste, you may not need to add as much depending on the amount of salt in your seasoning mixture)
- 12 cloves garlic, smashed
- 3 medium onions, quartered
- 3 whole lemons, cut into rounds
- ¼ cup Louisiana hot sauce
- 6 whole bay leaves
- 3 pounds red potatoes
- 3 pounds whole shrimp
- 3 pounds mussels
- 2 pounds snow crab clusters
- 2 pounds andouille sausage
- 6 ears sweet corn, halved
Cajun garlic butter sauce
- 4 sticks unsalted butter
- 10 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 medium lemon, juice and zest
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt (to taste, you may not need to add any salt depending on the amount of salt in your seasoning mixture)
- water from the boil to thin the sauce
- remaining spice blend from above (To taste! There should be about 11 tablespoons of seasonings leftover)
Instructions
- Bring a large stock pot of water to a boil. If your stock pot isn't big enough, separate it between two smaller ones. This could take an hour or longer, so be sure to start early.
- Add water to a large stock pot (or separate between 2 stock pots). Bring to a boil and then add 6.5 tablespoons salt, bay leaves, onions, hot sauce, smashed garlic, lemon slices, and 2 and ¾ cups of the seasoning mix (most of it, reserve the rest for the garlic butter sauce).
- Add potatoes to the pot and boil for about 12 minutes. The potatoes should be mostly tender, but not entirely cooked through as they will finish cooking as other ingredients are added.
- Add the seafood and sausage to the pot, cover, and gently boil for about 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, add in the corn, and gently boil it for 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, add the butter to a large saucepan to melt. Once melted, add in the garlic and cook over low heat to infuse the flavor, stirring often. Add the remaining blend slowly and to taste. Stir to combine, then add lemon zest and lemon juice. Add 2-3 cups of the liquid from the seafood boil to thin. Adjust seasonings to taste.
- Remove ingredients from the pot and put on a newspaper-lined large baking sheet. Drizzle with some of the cajun garlic butter sauce, garnish with parsley, and lemon wedges, and enjoy! Make sure to serve it with the remaining sauce on the side. This also tastes great with a cold beer and hot sauce too!
- Store any leftovers on a baking sheet tightly wrapped with foil or plastic wrap, or an airtight container in the fridge for 1-2 days. To reheat, add to a 350°F oven, and cook for 15-20 minutes. You can also reheat the leftovers by steaming them on the stovetop in a large stockpot with a lid, or in a cast iron skillet with a little water. Do not freeze leftovers.
Notes
- Salt. As noted above, the salt level can be greatly impacted by the cajun seasoning blend you use. Many store bought versions have salt in them already, so you may not need to add as much salt to the boiling liquid or garlic butter sauce. We recommend using a homemade (salt free) cajun seasoning if possible so you can control the salt level!
- Adjust heat level & season to taste. This recipe is a bit spicy. It may seem like a lot of seasoning in the seafood boil liquid, but it helps to infuse the potatoes and other than that, doesn't impact the final heat level much. With that being said, when making the garlic butter sauce, taste as you go. If you find the mixture to be too spicy, add more melted butter!
- Don't overcook the seafood or the corn. Both of these items cook quite quickly and overcooking leads to an unpleasant texture.
- Keep the raw seafood cold before cooking it. Seafood and shellfish can spoil quickly in a hot kitchen, and no one wants to be sick from bad shellfish! Keep all items refrigerated or on ice after prepping them until it's time to cook.
- You should plan for about ¾ of a pound to 1.5 pounds of seafood per adult, and about ½ pound per child. Don't forget to add plenty of potatoes, sausage, and corn as an easy way to fill everyone up.
LINDA OLVERA says
This was OUTSTANDING! When we make it again we'll go a little lighter on the "hot" spices so the littles in the family can enjoy, too. This recipe is a keeper. For those making it a first time you can count on the prep time taking longer than 20 minutes. How would I rate this, you ask. Like I say to my grands when something is wonderful, "This is two thumbs and a toe up."
Thanks for sharing this recipe.
Briana says
Hi Linda!! Wow, this comment totally made our day! We're so honored you trusted our recipe for a family get together. I'm going to update the prep time as well. Thanks for your awesome review!!
Susan says
Perfect meal for Father's Day. The recipe is easy to follow but does require more time for prep. Delicious, flavorful, and yes, spicy one-pot seafood dish. Thank you.
Briana says
We're so thrilled that our recipe made it to your table for Father's Day, what an honor! Thank you for the awesome comment! 🙂
Charles L Jackson says
I don't see how any recipe with Alaskan snow crab can be called "cajun."
Briana says
It refers to the seasoning. We put all types of seafood in there. Feel free to leave it out.
Candice Brown says
Made this last night and it was FABULOUS! It's definitely spicy. To make a non spicy version leave out the red pepper, sub cayenne pepper for dried basil with the amount cut in half, and sub the hot sauce with Jalisco sauce.
You can get a non spicy Cajun seasoning as well
Briana says
Thanks Candice! We're so glad you enjoyed, and glad you're able to modify it to suit your tastes!