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Watch Me Make It!
If you’re looking for the best crawfish boil recipe that brings the heat, the flavor, and all the backyard fun this is it. This is the exact seafood boil I’ve been doing for years, and it’s always a hit. It’s spicy, messy, and packed with enough seasoned broth to make your neighbors jealous.
Looking for “Crayfish Boil Recipe” ? You’re in the right place – crawfish and crayfish are names used interchangably with each other!
Nothing screams outdoor cooking season like a massive pot of fresh live crawfish, potatoes, sausage, corn, and shrimp steaming away over high heat. If you’ve never done a full boil before, don’t worry – I’ve laid everything out step by step in this crawfish boil recipe for you. Whether it’s your first time or your 50th, this crawfish boil recipe is foolproof.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
This crawfish boil recipe is made for big gatherings and full-on flavor. It uses simple ingredients found in most grocery stores during crawfish season, and scales easily for a crowd. The soaking process locks in the spice so every bite is loaded with extra flavor in this crawfish boil recipe.
Ingredients / Tools You’ll Need
- 30 lbs fresh live crawfish
- Fresh water (for purging) NO SALT!
- 6 lemons, halved
- 1 package garlic, peeled
- 24 oz mushrooms, rinsed
- 5 full links andouille sausage, cut into chunks
- 18 ears frozen corn
- 2 packages boiler onions
- 5 lbs frozen shrimp
- 4.5 lbs crawfish boil seasoning (your favorite dry crab boil or seasoning mixes)
- 1.5 lbs small red potatoes
- Salted butter for dipping
- A large pot (60qt)
- A large ice chest or large container for purging
- Plenty of paper towels, a large bowl, and a picnic table for serving
Instructions
Preparation
First thing to start the crawfish boil recipe, grab yourself a large cooler or a large ice chest and fill it with fresh water. Toss in your pound sack of crawfish and purge them for 20–30 minutes. Drain the crawfish, refill, and purge again until the water runs clear and you don’t see any dirty water.
While they soak, sort through and drain crawfish that didn’t make it. Any dead crawfish should be tossed if it ain’t moving, don’t risk it. They can make you sick and they’re easy to spot after cooking (the end of the tail stays straight).
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Halve your lemons, peel the garlic, rinse your mushrooms. Cut the sausage into chunks- this is your sausage drop later in the cook. Get your corn, shrimp, and all your gear portioned and ready.
Cooking
Fill your large pot halfway with gallons of water- roughly 35–40 quarts. Bring it to a rolling boil over high heat. This’ll take 30–45 minutes depending on your burner. Once boiling, pour in your crawfish boil seasoning- dry crab boil, liquid boil, bay leaves, whatever mix you love.
Let the seasoning packet infuse into the pot of water to your taste for 10 minutes for that bold, southern states-style heat. Now start layering in the ingredients / vegetables for this crawfish boil recipe:
- Add red potatoes and halved lemons and boil for 5 minutes
- Add garlic and boil for 10 minutes
- Drop in andouille, smoked or Italian sausage and boil for 5 minutes
- Add mushrooms and boil for 5 minutes
- Toss in frozen corn and boil for 5 minutes
- Carefully add your fresh crawfish and bring it back to a boil- cook for 3–5 minutes max
- Kill the heat and immediately drop in frozen shrimp
- Let everything soak in the seasoned broth for 30–40 minutes
This is the crawfish soak where all the magic happens. As the pot of water cools, the flavors pull deep into the little crustaceans and shrimp. It’s how you go from a good shrimp boil to a great seafood boil.
Serving Suggestions
When the soaking process is done, grab your large bowl or head straight to the picnic table. We like to line the table with newspaper or butcher paper and just dump it all out. Make sure to have plenty of paper towels on hand this is messy business in the best way.
Set out bowls of melted butter, Cajun seasoning, and your favorite hot sauce. I also like throwing in some green beans or extra lemons for that bonus bite. For drinks? Ice-cold beer or sweet tea fits the vibe perfectly.
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Recipe Notes & Pro Tips
Don’t skip the purge – it removes the grit and helps you spot any dead crawfish. You can use any combo of crab boil seasoning, old bay, or liquid boil depending on your spice tolerance. Don’t overcook the crawfish. If they float fast and the tails curl, they’re done right. If they’re straight, they were dead crawfish and should be tossed.
You can absolutely swap out the sausage for other proteins too. Just make sure it’s a sturdy link like andouille sausage that can stand up to a full boil. And if you’ve got leftovers (unlikely), they reheat great in a skillet or added into pasta.
Variations + Other Tips
There are different ways to make a good crawfish boil – this is just how we do it here. Some folks add oranges, seasoning mixes, or throw in extras like artichokes and Brussels sprouts. The beauty of a crawfish boil recipe is that you can riff on it and still get much flavor.
It’s best done in the spring during crawfish season, but some parts of the United States can get fresh live crawfish at other times. Look for them in grocery stores with seafood counters, or buy in bulk and ship overnight.
Storing Crawfish Before Cooking:
Just keep them cool, moist, and cook them same day if possible. If you need to store them overnight in a cooler with a bag of ice. Make sure the drain plug is open so the water can run out and they don’t drown. I like to keep a damp towel of them (keep them in the sack) so that the ice doesn’t kill them either. Make sure you keep the top of the cooler cracked to enable airflow so they don’t suffocate also.
The best time to eat crawfish? When you’ve got the whole crew together outside, music going, and a pot of water steaming away. A large container for discards, a large cooler for drinks, and some folding chairs – and that’s all you need.
Once you try this best crawfish boil recipe, you’ll want to run it back next time with an even bigger crowd.
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BEST Louisiana Shrimp and Crawfish Boil Recipe
Ingredients
- 30 lbs Crawfish
- Fresh water for purging
- 6 Lemons washed and halved
- 1 Package Garlic peeled
- 24 oz Mushrooms rinsed
- 5 full links Sausage cut into chunks
- 18 Frozen corn
- 5 lbs Frozen shrimp
- 4.5 lbs Boil Seasoning
- 1.5 lbs Small Potatoes
- Salted butter melted for dipping
Instructions
- Fill cooler or tub with fresh water. Remove crawfish from sack and add to water. Stir crawfish gently, purge 20–30 minutes. Drain, refill, and repeat until water runs clean. Sort out any dead crawfish. Keep the live crawfish cool and moist by placing a wet towel on top of them before cooking. Do not add salt—it kills the crawfish.
- Prep the Fixins: Halve lemons, peel garlic, rinse mushrooms. Cut sausage into chunks.Portion frozen corn and shrimp.
- Fill 60qt pot a little over halfway with water (~35-40 quarts). Bring to a rolling boil (about 30–45 minutes). Add seasoning to boiling water – let seasoning infuse for about 10 minutes
- Add potatoes and halved lemons and boil for 5 minutes
- Add garlic and boil for 10 minutes
- Add sausage and boil for 5 minutes
- Add mushrooms and boil for 5 minutes
- Add frozen corn and boil for 5 minutes
- Add crawfish, bring back to a boil, and cook for 3–5 minutes max
- Cut the heat and add frozen shrimp immediately
- Let everything soak for 30–40 minutes
- Drain for about 30 minutes, and dump onto a large table/tray lined with newspaper or butcher paper. Serve hot with extra seasoning on top to your preference.
