Cajun Seafood Boil Recipe (2024)

Looking for a delicious Cajun Seafood Boil Recipe? This recipe is made with a variety of seafood, some sausage, red potatoes, and sweet corn. Mix up a deliciously spicy and garlicky seasoned broth and buttery dipping sauce to take it to the next level.

Grab a large pot and your favorite seafood, and make this delicious meal for the entire family! It's easier than you think to make a fantastic seafood boil. Whether it's a special occasion or you just want to skip the takeout, this recipe is foolproof!

Looking for more crowd-pleasing seafood recipes? Try this butter poached lobster, these baked crab legs, this chicken and shrimp carbonara, these scallops with bacon and white wine sauce, or this cajun shrimp and sausage pasta!

❤️Why we love this recipe

• Bursting with fresh seafood. Love seafood and New Orleans flavor? This recipe is for you! You can literally make all of your favorite seafood until your heart's content. The flavorful broth and dipping sauce will complement all of it.
• Customizable. You can add whatever your favorites are, and skip the things you don't love or don't have. It's really up to you, and there's no right or wrong way!
• Made with simple ingredients. Once you have the seafood and sausage, you just need a few simple staple ingredients that can be found at any grocery store. We'll show you that this recipe is actually totally unintimidating, and very easy to throw together.
• Perfect for special occasions. We love making this recipe during the holidays, like Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, for Mardi Gras, and our birthdays. It's the perfect meal, and a great way to celebrate since you can include everyone's favorite types of seafood. Place it in the center of the table so everyone can grab some and enjoy!

🦀Ingredients

Here are the ingredients we used for this seafood boil recipe. You can find more information for substitutions below.

• Fresh shrimp - We like using jumbo gulf shrimp with the shell on for more flavor.
• Crab leg clusters - We used snow crab legs, but King crab legs also work.
• Mussels
• Kielbasa or andouille sausage - A nice smoky sausage compliments the meal really well, and also adds more protein.
• Sweet corn
• Red potatoes
• Lemons - We use lemon slices in the boiling liquid, but also lemon juice and lemon zest in the dipping sauce. Don't forget some extra lemon for serving.
• Water
• Onions
• Garlic
• Unsalted butter
• Seasonings - We use a mixture of black pepper, red pepper flakes, smoked paprika, cayenne pepper, homemade salt-free cajun seasoning*, Old Bay seasoning, onion powder, garlic powder, celery seed, coriander, mustard powder, and dried thyme in the seafood boil seasoning and for the dipping sauce.
• Kosher salt. Use more or less as needed. Depending on the cajun seasoning you use, you may not need to add as much salt to this.
• Hot sauce. We recommend Louisiana hot sauce, Tobasco, or Crystal hot sauce.
• Bay leaves
• Fresh parsley. For the dipping sauce and to garnish.

Visit the recipe card for the full quantities and nutritional information.

*Visit the FAQs section below for our homemade cajun seasoning recipe.

✨Substitutions & variations

Here are a few suggestions on additional flavors to try, or simple variations to this seafood boil recipe.

• Add more seafood. Feel free to add your favorite seafood! A few items we'd recommend include scallops, squid, lobster, or clams!
• Less or spicy. Omit some of the cayenne pepper, cajun seasoning, and red pepper flakes for less spicy, and add more if you like it hotter!
• Swap the potatoes. Small new potatoes also work well in place of red potatoes.
• Add beer or wine. You add some beer or white wine to the seafood boiling liquid to complement the seafood and add extra flavor.
• Use spicy Italian sausage. If you like, you can add whole links of spicy Italian sausage to the pot, then cut them up after everything is completely cooked through.
• Lemony. Lemon and seafood just go together really well, if you love lemon, feel free to add more lemon juice and zest to the dipping sauce.

🔪Prep work

🌟Pro tip: Start bringing water to a boil on the stovetop roughly 1.5 hours in advance of cooking. Since we use tons of water to boil the seafood in, it takes a long time to heat up! While your water is heating up, prep the ingredients!

• Wash and prep all seafood. Devein shrimp, scrub mussels, and wash crab legs if desired.
• Wash potatoes.
• Slice lemons into thin rounds.
• Quarter onions.
• Cut corn on the cob into 2 or 3 pieces.
• Peel and smash 12 garlic cloves, and mince 8-10 garlic cloves for the butter sauce and set aside.
• Chop parsley.
• Cut sausage into roughly 2-inch pieces.
• Measure out all remaining ingredients.

📋Instructions

In a large mixing bowl, combine Old Bay, cajun seasoning, smoked paprika, cayenne, red pepper flakes, garlic powder, onion powder, mustard powder, celery seed, coriander, thyme, and black pepper. Don't add salt at this point. (Image 1)

✨Pro tip: Taste and add salt as needed. We recommend using a homemade cajun seasoning blend if possible so that you're able to control the salt level completely. Most store bought versions have salt in them already.

Add water to a large stock pot (or separate between 2 stock pots). Bring to a boil and then add salt, bay leaves, onions, smashed garlic cloves, lemon slices, most seasonings (save some for later), and hot sauce. (Image 2)

Add potatoes to the pot and boil for about 10 minutes along with the aromatics and seasonings. You don't want the potatoes to be cooked all the way through yet as they will continue to cook when we add the seafood. (Image 3)

Add the seafood and sausage to the pot, cover, and gently boil for about 10 minutes. (Image 4)

After 10 minutes, add in the corn, and gently boil it for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, add the butter to a large saucepan to melt. Once melted, add in the garlic and cook over low heat to infuse the flavor, stirring often. (Image 5)

Add the remaining seasoning blend and stir to combine, followed by lemon zest and lemon juice. (Image 6)

Add 2-3 cups of the liquid from the seafood boil to thin. Adjust seasonings to taste. (Image 7)

Add the seafood to a newspaper-lined large baking sheet. Drizzle with some of the cajun garlic butter sauce, garnish with parsley, and lemon wedges, and enjoy!

Make sure to serve it with the remaining sauce on the side. This also tastes great with a cold beer and hot sauce too!

💭Frequently Asked Questions

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More Seafood Recipes To Consider

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📖 Recipe