Crawfish Boil – The perfect recipe to get your loved ones to gather around a table and enjoy a delicious meal and each other’s company. I love a good crawfish boil because it’s much more than a tasty meal. The crawfish, corn, and potatoes make it the ultimate dining experience. 🤩
Nothing says summer like a giant crawfish boil dumped out over newspaper on a picnic table. Am I right? Bright red crawdads, complemented by yellow corn, potatoes, and smoked sausage, and you’ve got a meal that will delight all your senses.
This spicy crawfish boil recipe is the best way to take advantage of crawfish season, and believe you me, it always draws a crowd. My family, extended family, friends, and neighbors are always ready to drop by when they know this iconic Louisiana delicacy is on my menu. Did somebody say block party? 😜
What is a Crawfish Boil?
Traditionally, a crawfish boil is a one-pot meal with crawdads and other fixings boiled in heavily spiced water. Afterward, you drain the cooking and serve the boil on newspaper in the middle of a large table. Outdoor eating is totally acceptable for this recipe, too, y’all!
Recipe Ingredients
- Live Crawfish – The star of this boil, live crawfish taste amazing and turn a beautiful bright red when cooked. Substitute frozen crawfish if you prefer but reduce the cooking time down to just 1-2 minutes.
- Corn – A hand-held veggie that goes great with the flavors of this dish and the hands-on approach crawfish boils call for.
- Potatoes – Small red potatoes work best for this recipe, but you can substitute other kinds if necessary.
- Smoked Sausage – When paired with seafood, you’ve got a real classic Louisiana flavor combination.
- Crawfish Seasoning – Louisiana crawfish boil seasoning is all about the spice. You’ll be using Louisiana crawfish, shrimp, and crab boil seasoning, Creole seasoning, bouillon powder, and, of course, salt and pepper.
- Butter Sauce – Butter, parsley, garlic, and lemon are the key players in the sauce a crawfish boil can’t do without.
How to Make Crawfish Boil
Prepare the Boil
- Make the Boil – Fill a large pot with water. Add your Louisiana crawfish shrimp and crab boil, Creole seasoning, bouillon, and salt. Stir well and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
- Add Veggies – Add the garlic, onion, bay leaves, potatoes, and lemon slices. Then put the lid on the pot and cook till the potatoes are just tender, about 15 minutes. (Photo 1)
- Taste the crawfish boil water, and adjust the seasoning to preference.
- The Main Stars – Add the crawfish, corn, and sausage into the pot and cook for 5-8 minutes until the crawfish are bright red. (Photos 2-3)
- Rest – Turn off the heat and let your crawfish steep for 10 minutes.
- Serve – Remove everything from the pot using a strainer and discard the lemon, bay leaves, garlic, and onion. Place the crawfish, potatoes, corn, and sausage in a serving tray. (Photos 5-6)
Make the Butter Sauce
- Combine – Add all ingredients (except the lemon juice) to a medium microwave-safe bowl. Place in the microwave and microwave for about 40 seconds, or until butter is completely melted. (Photo 4)
- Ready – Take the bowl out of the microwave and add in the lemon juice, mixing to fully combine. Toss half the butter sauce in the crawfish mix and put the other half in small condiment dishes around the table as a dipping sauce.
Recipe Variations
- Add other seafood to the mix if you want to! Lobster, shrimp, crab, clams, and even mussels can be added to this boil and will taste delicious. Adjust cook time depending on the seafood you add.
- Give this boil some extra color (and spice) by adding bell peppers or chili peppers of your favorite variety to this boil. 🌶
- Andouille sausage is a classic player in Cajun recipes, but you could go with any kind of smoked sausage you like. Kielbasa, Chinese sausage, or smoked beef sausage would all taste wonderful in this boil.
Tips and Tricks
- Clean crawfish before adding them to the pot by placing them in a large strainer or a bucket with holes in the bottom if you’re feeding a crowd and rinsing them until the water runs clear.
- Once cooked, the longer the crawfish soaks in the boil water, the spicier they will be. Adjust the spiciness level by adjusting the soak time.
- Make sure your seasoned water is at a rolling boil when you add the crawfish to ensure proper cook times.
Make-Ahead Instructions
A crawfish boil is one of those meals that can’t be made ahead of time. In fact, the cooking of this dish is all part of the crawfish boil experience. Fortunately, it doesn’t take long to whip up, and you can do some prep work ahead of time. Clean and cut the corn, potatoes, and sausage the day before, so it’s ready to go straight in the pot the day of your boil.
Serving and Storage Instructions
Serve crawfish boil straight out of the pot after the ingredients have soaked up all that spicy flavor. Dump the boil on newspaper on a big table and enjoy with your bare hands if you are so inclined.
If you store leftovers within two hours of cooking, they’ll stay good for 3-4 days. Just make sure you store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge.
You can reheat crawfish boil in the microwave, but it tastes pretty good straight out of the fridge, too, if you ask me!
FAQs
A crawfish is a freshwater crustacean that lives in muddy swamps or places with pools of fresh water. They look like miniature lobsters. 🦞
Pull off the head first, then peel the shell off the tail to expose the meat. Pull out the tail and enjoy. You can suck the contents of the head out; it’s delicious! If the claws are big, you can eat them too; just crack them gently with your teeth. Practice makes perfect!
That yellow stuff that squeezes out of the head is an organ called the hepatopancreas. It’s kind of like a liver. But don’t let that hold you back, it’s creamy and delicious! Many people say it’s the best part. 😅
What Goes With Crawfish Boil
There are a lot of side dishes that go well with a crawfish boil. My favorites are coleslaw, Mexican cornbread, and baked mac and cheese.
As for drinks, I always serve crawfish boil with plenty of sorrel drink, water, and ice-cold beer. You’ll want something fresh to drink with this spicy boil!
More Incredible Cajun Recipes to Try
Conclusion
If you’ve been looking for a fun recipe for your next family get-together, this is it! Drop a comment below to let me know if your crawfish boil was a hit. 😊
Watch How to Make It
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Crawfish Boil
Ingredients
- 8 cups (1.8 liters) water, or more
- 1 tablespoon Louisiana crawfish, shrimp, and crab boil seasoning
- 2 tablespoon Creole seasoning
- 1 tablespoon bouillon powder
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoons black pepper
- 1 garlic, unpeeled
- 1 large onion, halved
- 4 bay leaves
- 1 pound (450g) potatoes halved small red
- 1 lemon, sliced
- 3 pounds (1.3kg) crawfish
- 3 ears corn, cut into 2-inch pieces
- 1 pound (450g) smoked sausage, cut into chunky pieces
- 8 ounces (225g) unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon parsley, very finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon garlic, chopped
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon Creole seasoning
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
Instructions
The Boil
- Fill a large pot with water. Add the Louisiana crawfish, shrimp, and crab boil, Creole seasoning, bouillon, and salt. Stir well and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
- Add the garlic, onion, bay leaves, potatoes, and lemon slices. Cover the pot with the lid and cook until the potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes. Taste the crawfish boil water, and adjust the seasoning to preference.
- Add the crawfish, corn, and sausage into the pot and cook for 5-8 minutes until the crawfish are bright red.
- Turn off the heat and let the crawfish soak for 10 minutes. The longer the crawfish soaks, the spicier they will be.
- Remove everything using a strainer. Discard lemon, bay leaves, garlic, and onion. Place the crawfish, potatoes, corn, and sausage in a serving tray.
- Prepare butter sauce and toss half in the crawfish mix. Serve with the remaining butter sauce.
The Butter Sauce
- Add all butter sauce ingredients except lemon juice to a medium microwave-safe bowl. Place in the microwave and microwave for about 40 seconds until butter is completely melted. Take the bowl out of the microwave, add lemon juice, and mix to fully combine.
Tips & Notes:
- Clean crawfish before adding them to the pot by placing them in a large strainer or a bucket with holes in the bottom if you’re feeding a crowd and rinsing them until the water runs clear.
- Once cooked, the longer the crawfish soaks in the boil water, the spicier they will be. Adjust the spiciness level by adjusting the soak time.
- Make sure your seasoned water is at a rolling boil when you add the crawfish to ensure proper cook times.
- Please keep in mind that the nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary significantly based on the products used in the recipe.
Crystal says
Thank you for staying true to our Cajun crawfish boil. Many people try to make it complicated but you left it just right!! One thing, when you wash the crawfish, you have to purge them, which means to sprinkle them with salt, let it sit for a bit, then rinse with water. By doing this it gets the grit (dirt,sand) from the inside of the crawfish. Again, Thank you for staying true to our cultural food.
Imma says
Thank you so much for taking the time to write this comment. I felt wonderful to see such loyal visitors 🙂 Stay tuned and have a wide range of amazing go-to recipes.