Seafood Boil Recipe with Cajun Garlic Butter Sauce

Name: Seafood Boil Recipe with Cajun Garlic Butter
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 50 min
Ingredients: 3 pounds red potatoes, halved or quartered; 4 ears fresh corn, cut in half; 24 ounces beer ((or water)); 8 quarts water; 2 whole lemons, sliced in half; 6 whole bay leaves; 3 medium onions, quartered; 12 cloves garlic, smashed; 4 tablespoons kosher salt; 12 tablespoons Old Bay seasoning; 2 tablespoons garlic powder; 2 tablespoons onion powder; 2 tablespoons smoked paprika; 2 tablespoons cayenne pepper; 2 tablespoons red pepper flakes; 2 tablespoons dried thyme; 2 tablespoons black pepper; 1 pound smoked sausage ((like andouille or kielbasa) ); 3 pounds jumbo shrimp, deveined; 2 pounds mussels, fully cooked; 2 pounds snow crab clusters; 1 pound lobster tails, sliced lengthwise ((about 4 lobster tails)); 4 sticks unsalted butter; 8 cloves garlic, minced; 4 tablespoons cajun seasoning; 2 tablespoons Old Bay seasoning; 1 tablespoon smoked paprika; 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper; 2 teaspoons red pepper flakes; 2 teaspoons onion powder

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Looking for a delicious Cajun Seafood Boil Recipe? This Low Country Boil 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.

seafood boil recipe with cajun garlic butter sauce, beer, and fresh herbs around the scene.

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 steak and seafood skillet with garlic parmesan cream sauce, this hamachi crudo, or these scallops with bacon and white wine sauce!

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❤️Why we love this recipe
🦀Ingredients
✨Substitutions & variations
🔪Prep work
📋Instructions
✨Tips & tricks
💭Frequently Asked Questions
More Seafood Recipes To Consider
📖 Recipe

❤️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 recipe. You can find more information for substitutions below.

Fresh shrimp - Raw jumbo shrimp that have been deveined with the shell still on.
Crab leg clusters - We used snow crab legs, but King crab legs also work.
Lobster tails - Thawed, and cut in half lengthwise.
Mussels - We chose mussels that were already fully cooked, and then just add them in the last few minutes of cooking.
Kielbasa or andouille sausage - A nice smoky sausage compliments the meal really well, and also adds more protein.
Fresh corn & red potatoes - Cut in half widthwise.
Lemons - We use lemon halves in the boiling liquid, but also lemon juice and lemon zest in the dipping sauce. As well as lemon wedges for serving.
Beer - Optional, adds great flavor to the seafood boil liquid.
Water
Onions
Garlic
Unsalted butter
Seasonings - We use a mixture of kosher salt, black pepper, red pepper flakes, smoked paprika, cayenne pepper, cajun seasoning, Old Bay seasoning, onion powder, garlic powder, and dried thyme in the seafood boil seasoning. We use pretty much the same seasoning blend for the dipping sauce.
Bay leaves
Fresh parsley - For the dipping sauce and to garnish.

Visit the recipe card for the full quantities and nutritional information.

✨Substitutions & variations

Here are a few suggestions on additional flavors to try, or simple variations to this recipe.

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.
Swap beer for white wine - This will also complement the flavors of the seafood very well.
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

Wash and prep all seafood. Cut the lobster tails in half lengthwise, devein shrimp if necessary, and scrub mussels.
Halve potatoes, corn on the cob, and a couple of lemons.
Peel and smash 12 garlic cloves, and mince 8 garlic cloves for the butter sauce and set aside.
Chop parsley.
Cut sausage into roughly 2-inch pieces.
Measure out all remaining ingredients.

📋Instructions

Add beer, and water to a large stock pot (or separate between 2 stock pots). Bring to a boil and then add bay leaves, onions, garlic, lemon, and seasonings, Stir together and boil for 3-5 to allow flavors to come together. (Image 1)

stockpot with onions, bay leaves, lemons, and seasoning.

Add potatoes and corn to the pot and allow them to cook until the potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes. Then add sausages and allow them to cook for another 5 minutes. (Image 2)

stockpot with lemons, onions, bay leaves, corn, and potatoes with seasonings to make a seafood boil.

Add in crab legs, cover the pot, and boil together for 5 minutes. (Image 3) After 5 minutes, remove the lid, add the remaining seafood, and cover. Boil together for another 5 minutes. (Image 4) Remove cooked seafood from the pot and set aside while you make the sauce. Reserve 2-3 cups of the cooking liquid. Set aside.

stockpot with seafood boil liquid mixture with corn, onions, potatoes, sausage and crab legs.

lobster tails, mussels, and shrimp in a stockpot with seafood boil seasonings.

For the sauce, melt butter in a large saucepan or skillet over medium-low heat. Add garlic and cook stirring frequently for 2-3 minutes. Add in seasonings and stir to toast. (Image 5) Add reserved cooking liquid to thin the sauce. (Image 6) Add lemon zest and juice, then adjust seasonings to taste. (Image 7)

garlic butter sauce with tons of cajun seasoning in a skillet.

hand pouring seafood boil sauce into a skillet with garlic cajun butter.

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!

zoomed in shot of a delicious cajun garlic butter seafood boil with fresh lemon slices, parsley, crab legs, mussels, lobster, potatoes, corn, and shrimp.

✨Tips & tricks

Season to taste. This recipe is right on the edge of spicy. It's very well seasoned, with a little heat, but we didn't go overboard. 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. Cook times and reheating times of shellfish vary, to ensure nothing gets rubbery and overcooked, make sure to add different seafood items in stages. As soon as the seafood is done, remove it from the pot, while the other seafood cooks. Check out our guide below on how to know how long to cook each item in this recipe.
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

How to store reheat the seafood the next day?

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.

How to make sure the seafood is cooked through.

Different seafood will cook at different times. We take seafood out as it finishes cooking, to ensure we don't overcook anything.

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.

Lobster: Boil for roughly 4-5 minutes, until the shell is bright red and the meat is no longer translucent.

Shrimp: Boil for 2-3 minutes, until the shrimp is no longer translucent.

How to crack crab legs without tools:

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.

How many pounds of seafood do I need per person?

You should plan for about 1-1.5 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.

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More Seafood Recipes To Consider

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