Description
If you’re looking for the best homemade Crawfish Boil recipe look no further than this stunner right here! Full of Cajun-style goodness and whipped up easily on the stovetop, this seafood boil decadence is an entertaining masterpiece. It’s full of smoked sausage, potatoes, corn, and chock-full of rich and deeply bold flavor galore!
Ingredients
For the crawfish boil:
- 6 lbs live or frozen crawfish, rinsed well
- 10-ounces Louisiana Crawfish Shrimp & Crab Boil Seasoning
- 4 cups seafood stock (or chicken broth)
- 1 large yellow onion, cut into quarters
- 4 celery stalks, cut into rough chunks
- 8 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 oranges, cut into quarters
- 2 lemons, cut into quarters
- ¼ cup distilled white vinegar
- 1 tablespoon Louisiana concentrated Crawfish Crab & Shrimp Boil liquid
- 1 lb andouille sausage, cut into 3-inch pieces
- 1-2 lbs baby red potatoes
- 6-8 fresh or frozen corn on the cob nibblers
For the garlic butter sauce:
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
- 10 cloves of garlic, finely minced
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon Old Bay seasoning
- 1 tablespoon Creole Cajun Seasoning– homemade or store-bought
- 1 tablespoon fresh chopped parsley- optional
Instructions
- Prep the crawfish. For live crawfish, you must clean/purge them first. If your live crawfish has been rinsed already, you’re good to go. If not, rinse your crawfish until the water runs clear and the crawfish are fully clean. For frozen crawfish (I recommend this step even if your frozen bag says the crawfish is “ready-to-eat”); working in your kitchen sink, fill a large bowl/container with cool water. Add the frozen crawfish into the bowl and let sit until thawed. Once the crawfish has been thawed, use your hands to swish the crawfish around, picking out any debris/random crawfish particles, and also remove any dirt you may find- it might help to use a bristle brush. Drain the water and repeat as needed. Afterward, drain the water and let the crawfish sit until we’re ready to add them to the boil.
- Build the boil. In an extra large stockpot or dutch oven (about 10 quarts or larger or you can use 2 different pots if needed) over medium-high heat, combine 1 ½ gallons of water, dried boil seasoning, seafood stock (or chicken broth), onion, celery, garlic, bay leaves, oranges, lemons, vinegar, and liquid boil. Stir all the ingredients well to thoroughly combine. Bring the liquid mixture to a boil. Then reduce the heat to medium and let the mixture continue simmering for 25-30 minutes for the flavors to meld.
- Add the andouille & potatoes. Carefully add the andouille sausage pieces and baby potatoes into the pot and stir well to fully combine with the boil. Let the andouille and potatoes cook for 15-20 minutes- or until the potatoes are just about fork-tender.
- Add the crawfish & corn. Gently drop the crawfish into the boil along with the corn nibblers. Make sure that everything is fully submerged under the boil and carefully stir to ensure all ingredients are well combined. Continue boiling for 5-6 minutes or until the crawfish shells are bright red. Meanwhile, prepare the garlic butter sauce.
- Make the garlic butter sauce. On a separate burner, in a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the butter, garlic, lemon juice, Old Bay seasoning, Creole Cajun seasoning, and chopped parsley. Stir all ingredients and simmer the sauce until the butter melts and the sauce is well combined, stirring often, about 5-6 minutes. Then remove the sauce from heat.
- Assemble the crawfish boil with sauce. Line an extra large baking sheet or large platter with foil/parchment paper (or newspaper if you’d like!). Use a spider strainer to remove the crawfish boil contents from the pot and place them onto the prepared vessel- remove and discard the onion, celery, bay leaves, and orange/lemon bits. Now, this is the fun part! Pour the garlic butter sauce over the seafood boil ingredients. Then use your hands (fitted with disposable gloves if desired) to toss the sauce with everything, smothering every nook and cranny in sauce.
- Serve. Feel free to serve this crawfish boil as-is with everyone just grabbing what they’d like from the baking sheet/platter directly (it’s the chaos and messiness of seafood boils that are so fun!) or divide the boil onto individual plates to serve if you prefer. Serve immediately with lemon wedges, if desired. Be sure to sop up any runaway garlic butter sauce with some crusty bread if you’d like. Enjoy!
Notes
- Please read blog post in its entirety for more tips + tricks.
- Want your boil extra saucy?: If you like your boil ingredients well-coated and sopped up, I recommend making a double batch of the garlic butter sauce for more indulgent decadence!