This is the BEST Seafood Boil recipe you can whip up right at home, y'all. It's loaded with jumbo shrimp, crab, andouille sausage, potatoes, eggs, and corn on the cob that's simmered in a flavor-filled broth of Cajun spices and aromatics. All that hearty goodness gets drowned and smothered in an epic garlic butter sauce. This finger-licking-good seafood boil recipe is an easy meal that serves a crowd!
Recipe by Quin Liburd on June 24, 2023
Prep time: PT15M
Cook time: PT40M
Total time: PT55M
Rating
5 stars ( reviews)
Keywords
seafood boil, garlic butter sauce, cajun seafood boil, crab and shrimp, andouille, best seafood boil, easy seafood boil
Ingredients
3 quarts water
1 (12-ounce) can of beer- optional but highly recommended
3 tablespoons Creole Cajun Seasoning– homemade or store-bought
1 tablespoon Old Bay seasoning
Hot sauce, to taste
1 medium yellow onion, roughly sliced into half-moons
1 large lemon, cut into wedges- plus more for serving
12 ounces andouille sausage, sliced into rounds
1 lb baby potatoes, red or gold (or a mix of both)
1 lb pre-cooked snow crab leg clusters, fresh or frozen
1 – 1 ½ lbs jumbo shrimp, deveined, shell-on or peeled
4-6 ears sweet corn on the cob, I use the mini ones
4-6 hard boiled eggs- optional
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
10 cloves of garlic, finely minced or pressed
2 tablespoons lemon juice, freshly squeezed
1 tablespoon Old Bay seasoning
1 tablespoon fresh chopped parsley
1 teaspoon Creole Cajun Seasoning– homemade or store-bought
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
Hot sauce, to taste
Categories
Main Dishes
Cuisine
Southern
Steps
In an extra large stockpot or dutch oven (about 10 quarts or larger) over medium-high heat, combine the water and beer (if using). Bring the liquid to a boil. Then season the boil with the Creole Cajun seasoning, Old Bay seasoning, and a few dashes of hot sauce- to taste. Add the sliced onion and lemon wedges into the pot. Stir all the ingredients well to thoroughly combine. Let the mixture boil for 15 minutes.
Carefully add the andouille sausage rounds and baby potatoes into the pot, stirring 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.
Gently nestle the snow crab clusters into the pot along with the shrimp and corn on the cob. Be sure that everything is fully submerged under the boil and carefully stir to ensure all ingredients are well combined. Continue boiling for another 5-7 minutes, cooking until the shrimp is pink. Meanwhile, prepare the garlic butter sauce.
On a separate burner, in a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the butter, garlic, lemon juice, Old Bay seasoning, parsley, Creole Cajun seasoning, smoked paprika, and hot sauce- to taste. Stir all ingredients and simmer the sauce until the butter melts and the sauce is well combined, stirring often, about 5-7 minutes. Then remove from heat.
Line an extra large baking sheet with foil/parchment paper (or newspaper if you’d like!). Use a spider strainer to remove the seafood boil contents from the pot and place onto the prepared baking sheet along with the hard boiled eggs (if using)- remove and discard the onion/lemon bits. Note: If you’d like your garlic butter sauce to be thinner, you can add some of the seafood boil broth to adjust to desired consistency. 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.
Feel free to serve this Cajun seafood boil as-is with everyone just grabbing what they’d like from the baking sheet 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. Enjoy!
Reviews
Rob on 2026-05-16 (5 stars): Went to a local seafood recipe for a broil. Cost us about $170. Made this recipe at home for about $50 and we had way more food!! So easy to make and the wife and I had a blast in the kitchen doing it. Tasty, easy, and you can adjust to your liking. We added mussels to it. Never going back to a restaurant again!!! Thank you Quin!
Tina Mason Adkins on 2026-05-16 (5 stars): I fixed this recipe last year for my granddaughters birthday. Everyone loved it so much it was requested again this year. This year I'm integrating octopus, squid, and scallops. Should be exciting!
GQ on 2026-05-18 (5 stars): I had my second seafood boil at a friend's house, and I have no doubt she used this recipe! It was darn good and better than my first taste of seafood boil several years ago. I'm sure to try out this recipe myself soon.
Deborah Jones on 2026-05-19 (5 stars): I made this for a family dinner. It was absolutely amazing and so easy. I used all frozen seafood.
Dorothy Weber on 2026-05-25 (5 stars): Just made this for my family and it was amazing! The garlic butter was so flavorful and we could not get enough of it! Thanks for making my family happy happy!
K G on 2026-05-30 (5 stars): This was a bomb recipe. Make this. Double the garlic. DELICIOUS!
Darren on 2026-06-06 (5 stars): This was great, wouldn't change a thing!
Robin Ballard on 2026-06-08 (5 stars): This looks delicious and I would love to try this recipe.
Nic H on 2026-06-14 (5 stars): We've been making this recipe for a couple years now and it's delicious! No changes needed! We make it exactly how the recipe states, however, we have a large family that can be picky at times so I always chunk up some chicken breast, brussel sprouts, and zucchini to add to the recipe. Even the coastal restaurants can't make a seafood boil this delicious!
