Southern Seafood Boil
This Southern seafood boil more than a meal, it's a tradition. Grab your favorite seafood, potatoes, sausage, corn, and onions for this easy & fun one-pot meal.
It's officially spring season which usually means the start of outdoor eating. A seafood boil is the ultimate outdoor feast.
Why You Should Make A Seafood Boil
- Boils are meant for sharing! They're a great social food. Serve a seafood boil the next time you're having a small family or friends gathering.
- They're easy to make & fun to eat! The best part...clean-up is minimal!
- You can tailor them to your liking. Use your preferred seafood!
Check out our post on What is a Seafood Boil for additional commentary and tips.
Ingredients For This Seafood Boil
- Seafood: 2 pounds of your favorite seafood.
- Old Bay Seasoning: ⅓ cup of Old bay seasoning plus more to sprinkle on top before serving.
- Smoked Sausage: Your preferred smoked or cooked sausage. Use an andouille sausage for more flavor.
- Potatoes: 2 pounds of waxy potato like red potatoes. Leave them or cut them in half.
- Corn: 3-4 Ears of frozen corn, cut in half. I use frozen corn.
- Onion: One large onion, chopped.
- Lemon: One large lemon, cut in half.
- Garlic: 2-3 garlic cloves (leave whole).
What Is A Seafood Boil?
A seafood boil is a one-pot recipe consisting of seafood, potatoes, sausage, and corn. You will find seafood boils throughout the South, with different regions having their own unique spin. Out of the Carolinas we have low-country boils. Louisiana brings us crawfish boils. This recipe is for a generic seafood boil that you can tailor to fit your personal preferences.
Common ingredients for a seafood boil include seafood (usually shell fish), corn, potatoes, sausage, and Old Bay seasoning. Having said that, one thing I love about seafood boils is that you can really make it your own. It's one of those recipes where everyone has their own version. The same concept applies for the flavor profile. Different regions and recipes use different seasonings in their seafood boils. A common seasoning is Old Bay which is what I used here.
Traditionally seafood boils are cooked in a large pot that's heated by propane. I understand that most people will not have this appliance (including me) so this version is done on the stove-top.
How To Make Seafood Boil
In order to cook a seafood boil, you will need a large to extra-large pot. I use a 16-quart stock pot. Once all the food and water is added, the pot will be very full. The seafood is added last because seafood cooks quickly in boiling water. After everything finishes cooking, drain the liquid and serve.
- Fill a large stockpot with the water. If you don't have a pot large enough, or use 2 pots and divide the ingredients in half.
- Add the Old Bay seasoning, garlic, lemon, and bay leaves. Bring to a boil.
- Add the red potatoes, sausage, and onion to the pot. Return to a boil. Cook 10-15 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.
- Add the seafood & corn. Cook 5-10 minutes or until the seafood is cooked through.
- Drain the food through a colander & discard all the liquid. Serve on newspaper or a platter.
What Type Of Seafood To Use
Technically you can use your preferred seafood for this recipe but some work better than others. I suggest you stick to shellfish. Shell-on shrimp, crab, crawfish, lobster, clams, and mussels all work well in seafood boils. You can use frozen and pre-cooked seafood without making any modifications to the recipe.
How To Serve This
Traditionally a seafood boil is served by pouring the food out on a table lined with newspaper. It's fun plus it makes clean-up a heck of a lot easier. I understand some people do not like to eat off of a dirty newspaper. You can also serve this seafood dish on a platter!
Tips For This Recipe
- In place of water use broth or even beer.
- Yes, you can use frozen seafood, stir them in at the end of cook time same as you would raw.
- If you don't want to use store-bought Old Bay seasoning, use the homemade blend in the recipe box.
- Store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Other Seafood Recipes You May Enjoy
Best Gumbo Recipes
Fried Catfish
Shrimp & Grits
Seafood Paella
Herbed Salmon
Baked Cod in Foil
Grilled Cod in Foil
Southern Seafood Boil
Equipment
- 1 Large 16-quart stock pot
Ingredients
- 2 pounds Seafood (2 pounds total of your preferred seafood)
- ⅓ cup Old Bay seasoning
- 16 ounces smoked sausage, cut into 1-inch rounds
- 2 pounds red potatoes
- 4 ears corn, cut in half
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 large lemon, cut into quarters
Instructions
- Fill a large stockpot with the water. If you don't have a pot large enough, or use 2 pots and divide the ingredients in half. Add the Old Bay seasoning, garlic, lemon, and bay leaves. Bring to a boil.
- Add the red potatoes, sausage, and onion to the pot. Return to a boil. Cook 10-15 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.
- Add the seafood & corn. Cook 5-10 minutes or until the seafood is cooked through.
- Drain the food through a colander & discard all the liquid. Serve on newspaper or a platter.
Notes
- 1 teaspoon celery salt
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon mustard powder
- ½ teaspoon allspice
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon cardamom
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon cloves
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ginger
Since I'm a recent widower and my deceased wife of 27 years was from Louisiana, she was the main cook in our household. I loved it when she made her Cajun meals, which I never learned how to prepare or cook. I'm now attempting to replicate those meals for myself. So far, my other attempts at preparing tasteful, wholesome, and nourishing cuisine for a diabetic individual have been both haphazard and successful. This site and information simplify my efforts toward creating a meal that will complement my beloved wife's heritage and will not endanger my health.
I'm so sorry for your loss! This comment really made my day. I love Southern food but also have to watch what I eat for health reason. I'm so glad we can be of assistance to you. If you ever have any questions with a recipe, feel free to reach out!
@Shannon Epstein, what is the green herbs they sprinkle on afterwards
Parsley
Quick question, is that 2# TOTAL of seafood or 2# of EACH type of seafood you're using?
Total of seafood. I'll update the recipe so that's more clear. Enjoy!
This is the best meal I’ve had in as long as I can remember. Easy to make, easy to clean up and SO GOOD!! I made it for my husband’s birthday dinner and everyone in our family loved it! My sons (6 and 13) comments were:
“Can we have this every night??” and…
“Mom’s finally done it!! She found a dinner we ALL loved and ate.”
Thank you for this recipe!! This one will be a favorite for holidays or any weekend dinner!
So, viewing through the list of ingredients needed, I do not see the lemon. I do not see that until the cooking instructions. Is it one lemon cut into quarters? Do you squeeze the lemon juice into the stock or just cut the lemons and place in the pot?
You cut the lemon into quarters. It's up to you if you want to squeeze the juice into the stock. It definitely won't hurt! Thanks for catching this, I updated the recipe accordingly.
I tried the seafood boil today and everybody like it. I almost didn't get any. I'm going to try it again soon.
Excellent taste and easy.
I made this for my husband’s birthday last night & and we loved it. I will try more recipes from this site!
Nice! I'm so glad you enjoyed it. There are lots of other recipes that I'm sure you'll like. I hope you try them all:)
How much shell fish, corn, potatoes, etc to feed a group of 12?
I would simply double all the ingredients in the recipe. So 4 pounds of seafood, 4 pounds of potatoes, 8 ears of corn, 2 large onions, etc. Enjoy!
this is the best, the only thing I do different is separate the Potatoes adn Corn for my vegan friends.
Other than that, it's perfect.
Excellent and easy to follow!
I'm so glad you enjoyed it!
I tried this recipe and it's really good.
I cut the recipe in half for my test run. We loved it! I am making this for Christmas Eve.
That's such a great idea!
How much water should I put in the stock pot? Thanks!
However large your pot is, fill it halfway with water. I'll update the recipe so that's more clear. I hope you enjoy the recipe!
Do you have a seafood boil sauce recipe to pour over once boil is done?
Not yet!
@Brandi Crawford, I used Boiling Crab a seafood restaurant sauce recipe, its the bomb,but I don't do it too spicy,u can Google it
I am from the coastal low country of North/South Carolina. I went back for a family reunion this past Novemeber and my cousin made this exact dish. My question is he referred to it as 'Mulligan's stew' even though it's anything but a stew. I'm just curious if others familiar with this recipe have heard it called something different than a boil?
I made this receipt and added my own twist, needless to say is was delish
Glad to hear it!
Can you peal and devein the shrimp before boiling? I don’t like
Leaving the vein in
Yes.
It sounds delicious.....this will be my Husband's and Son-in-laws Father's Day meal. It also sounds like a simple recipe and really easy to prepare. Thank you!
You're welcome!
Questions. How long should I boil little baby potatoes? Would Yukon Gold work?
Thanks!
Yukon baby potatoes absolutely will work. Since they're smaller than red potatoes, I would cut the time in half to 5 minutes.
Thank you, thank you, THANK you, Shannon, for this well-thought-out easy to understand recipe. I have had a "boil" in a restaurant, Gonna have to do this at home with some shrimp and sausage once corn season comes around again... and then "sauce it up" with maybe some garlic butter after draining... do you have any other ideas for post-draining sauces? Or is that just not right?
You are very welcome! Adding a post draining sauce is a fantastic idea. Hopefully we'll have a proper seasfood boil sauce recipe on this website soon but in the meantime here are 2 links to recipes from co-founder Davinah:
https://drdavinahseats.com/cajun-garlic-butter-sauce-recipe
https://simpleseafoodrecipes.com/seafood-boil-sauce/
Enjoy!
I was wondering what side dishes would be good to serve with this.
Grilled vegetables, pasta salads, etc work great. Since the boil includes corn and potatoes most people deem those the side dishes.
These seemed really good recipes so, I can’t wait to try one(seafood) today.
Thanks, Brenda R! I hope you like it as much as we do.
I plan on using crab legs and large shrimp. Both are frozen. Do I need to thaw first?
Nope, no need to thaw first. You can cook the seafood from frozen!
Can you substitute onion powder instead of sliced onions? My daughter won't eat anything with onions but will with onion powder... She is picky that way.
Absolutely. I would use 1 tablespoon of onion powder. Enjoy!
I love a seafood boil and they've gotten so expensive at restaurants. This was my opportunity to try this recipe at home. First time, I doubled the recipe and hit the ball out of the park. I used Crab legs, and shrimp, and I read that using 2tbps of white vinegar in the broth would make cracking the Crab easier. The Crab meat came right out of the shell. Next time, I will take the suggestion to use 2 pots to make it easier. Thank you for simplifying one of my favorite dishes to eat.
I love Cajun Food. This recipe sounds good. I am going to make it for my Birthday.
I loved this so much that I bought a boil pot, a large stainless steel pot only used for boils.