Seafood Boil
This seafood boil is loaded with shrimp, crab, mussels, potatoes, corn, and sausage. All boiled together in one pot with some of the best flavors and spooned over with a delicious, buttery Old Bay sauce. (Jump to Recipe)
To Make A Seafood Boil:
Start with a seafood selection.
Here, I have a pound of each: large, raw shrimp, Dungeness crab legs, and mussels. This makes a total of 3 pounds of seafood and this amount is great to feed a crowd of about 6 people. Add an additional pound of seafood for every additional 2 people.
A few other types of seafood to consider to incorporate are lobster tails, whole crab, king crab, snow crab, crawfish, scallops and clams.
Once you have your seafood selection, pick up some small baby potatoes, corn on the cob, and kielbasa or your favorite kind of sausage. Cut the ears of corn into 2-3 inch pieces and kielbasa into 1-2 inch pieces.
Grab your Large Stock Pot and heat up 16 cups of water. Add a stick of butter, slices of lemon, minced garlic, and Old Bay seasoning.
Once the water is boiling, turn the heat down to medium and add the potatoes and corn. Cook for about 8-10 minutes. Then, add crab legs, cook for an additional 5 minutes. Add mussels and sausage. Cook for 5 more minutes. Last, add shrimp to the pot. Turn off the heat and place a lid on. Let it sit for 10-15 minutes, the shrimp will cook during this time in the hot broth.
While the seafood boil is sitting, make the buttery Old Bay sauce by combining melted butter, lemon juice, paprika, chopped parsley, and Old Bay seasoning. Whisk all of the ingredients until they are well combined.
Drain the seafood mixture from the pot and serve it on a butcher paper covered table or on a large baking sheet. Spoon the buttery Old Bay sauce over the seafood boil and serve with additional lemon wedges.
Don’t Forget The Essentials!
Crab Cracker Tool Set – It’s nearly impossible to open up the crack legs and get the meat out without the right tools. I found out the hard way. This tool easily pulls off crab legs and lobster shells without crushing the seafood and these curved scissors devein shrimp easily.
Large Stock Pot – For a large seafood boil, you need a large pot. A really large one! This stock pot comes with a stainer and this makes it easy to remove the seafood boil without having to carry the large pot over the sink to spill out the excess water.
Butcher Paper – Covering the table with butcher paper is a traditional way to serve a seafood boil. Lay it across the table to cover the whole table. Bring the seafood boil over and spread it down the middle of the table. Let your guests get to work cracking and shelling away. Simply, wrap the butcher paper to clean up the mess and you’re done. Easiest clean up ever!
Be sure to check out a few of my seafood favorites:
Cajun Shrimp Fettuccine Alfredo
Parmesan-Herb Crusted Salmon With Creamy Dill Sauce
If you make this Seafood Boil, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! I’d love to hear what you think about it, or better yet, see what you’re cooking! Tag me on Instagram, @fettysfoodblog with your creation.
Seafood Boil
Ingredients
- 16 cups water
- ½ cup salted butter (1 stick)
- 3 lemons, 1 cut into slices and 2 cut into wedges for serving
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 tablespoons Old Bay seasoning
- 1½ pounds small baby potatoes
- 4 ears of corn on the cob, husked and cut into 2-3 inch pieces
- 1 pound crab legs
- 1 pound mussels
- 1 pound kielbasa sausage, cut into 1-2 inch pieces
- 1 pound large, shell-on shrimp
Buttery Old Bay Sauce
- ½ cup melted salted butter (1 stick)
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
- 2 tablespoons Old Bay seasoning
Instructions
- In a large pot, add 16 cups of water, butter, lemon slices, minced garlic and Old Bay seasoning. Bring to a boil over high heat.
- Reduce heat to medium, add potatoes and corn. Cook for 8-10 minutes.
- Add crab legs to the pot, cook for 5 minutes.
- Add mussels and sausage to the pot, cook for 5 more minutes.
- Add shrimp to the pot. Turn off heat and place a lid on. Let it sit for 10-15 minutes, the shrimp will cook during this time in the hot broth.
- While seafood boil is sitting, make the buttery Old Bay sauce by combining melted butter, lemon juice, paprika, chopped parsley, and Old Bay seasoning. Whisk all ingredients until well combined.
- Drain the seafood mixture from the pot and serve it on a butcher paper covered table or on a large baking sheet. Spoon the buttery Old Bay sauce over seafood boil and serve with additional lemon wedges.
100% My family of 6 approved! Plates and platters were clean. Made this in an instant pot on the sauté setting. Added scallops with the mussels which cooked perfectly. The seasonings were on point. Thank you very much!
Thank you for the instant pot recommendation, so glad to hear it turned out perfect! -Feta
Can I add frozen imitation crab and shrimp or does it need to be thawed first? TIA 😊
Hi Elizabeth, I’m not too sure how it would turn out with imitation crab. I’m not sure if I ever came across a seafood boil with imitation crab in it. But shrimp, yes. It’s always recommended to defrost shrimp before using.. Report back if you end up trying imitation crab 🙂
I’ve heard of people adding eggs to their boils. How would you go about incorporating this into the recipe?
What!? That’s a first, I’ve never heard of this! I’m guessing you’d want the egg to be almost completely set? I’d carefully add the eggs in at 9-10 minutes before the boil is finished.
Add 6 hard boiled, peeled eggs to boil! This is a very common variation!
I did the seafood boil for a group of friends at my house I doubled all of the ingredients and it turned out amazing!! The flavor was perfect. I printed this one off for the future use.
I’m so happy to hear it turned out great and y’all enjoyed it. Thank you for sharing. 🙂
If I want to add lobster tails, when I should put them in? I’m planning to do this on Christmas 2022
Hi Jessica! So sorry for this late reply. 7-10 minutes before it’s done.
Thank you so much for this recipe! I’m going to use this for my Thanksgiving seafood boil. I also want to add scallops. At what point should I add them so that they cook thoroughly but don’t over cook?
Scallops should be added about 2-3 minutes before the boil is finished. Scallops cook rather quickly compared to most seafood, overcooked scallops will taste rubbery.
My wife and I need a great meal, and it was simply marvelous! The witness name Miss T she was awesome!
So glad you and your wife enjoyed it! Thank you for sharing. 🙂