Click photo to shop all shrimp boil supplies!
Last week was all about celebrating my main squeeze – the man, they myth, the legend, Dave Miller. He had a birthday (cue the fire-extinguishers because there were a lot of candles involved in this year’s number – ahem – I love you, Dave!) and we celebrated in the most low-key but perfect way we knew how – with a shrimp boil at the lake.
Who knew when I invested in a boil kit last year that it would become such a usable staple in our lives. We did at least 3 different seafood boils last Summer and are already 1 done and in the books for this year. We have used the boil kit for other things too – like cooking a big pot of jambalaya and also for boiling up a bunch of crab legs one night. This kit can be used to fry turkey or chicken and I’m sure there are ump-teen other things to do with this piece of equipment too!
While it seems fairly simple, a shrimp boil does have a few rules to follow. My picture received so many messages on instagram that I thought I better turn this into a full-fledged blog post and recipe.
| Prep Time | 30 Minutes |
| Cook Time | 30 Minutes |
| Servings |
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- 4 Pounds Tail-on raw shrimp We always buy deveined.
- 2 Pounds Smoked Sausage
- 4 Whole Lemons Cut 2 in half, then slice the other two into wedges
- 4 Pounds Little Potatoes Any variety will work (red, white, etc)
- 4 Ears Fresh Sweet Corn
- 1 Bulb garlic
- 1 2.3 Ounce Can Old Bay Seasoning
Ingredients
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- *This can all be done well in advance (day before). *Wash your potatoes and cut into chunks if using large potatoes. If using baby potatoes, no need to cut, just wash. *Prepare sweetcorn by shucking, de-silking and washing. Cut into 2-3 inch chunky pieces. *Cut sausage into large chunks. *Cut a whole bulb of garlic in half -no need to peel. *Slice 2 lemons in half.
- Prepare your shrimp boil by putting the boil basket into the large pot and filling with water to right below the basket line. Add in your lemon halves, garlic and the entire can of Old Bay Seasoning. Light your fire, place the pot over the fire with the lid on it and wait for it to come to a boil. Depending on the size of your pot and how much water you used, this can take 30+ minutes. I've also added in a can of beer a few times and that adds great flavor too, but isn't necessary!
- When the water is boiling, carefully add in your potatoes. (If you're a glutton for punishment like me you can dump them in, but if you're concerned about getting splashed with boiling water I'm sure it would be safer to remove the basket with the basket hook, add food to basket, then lower it back into the boiling water.) Cook for 8 minutes.
- Next, add sausage and cook for 5 minutes.
- Add corn and cook for 7 minutes
- Add peeled, raw shrimp and cook for 2 minutes. If you used shrimp in the shell, cook for 4 minutes.
- Turn-off the fire and use a basket hook to remove the basket from the water. Best to also have a straining spoon to scoop out any food that escaped the basket so you don't waste anything.
- Dump out onto newspaper or parchment. Serve with melted butter, cocktail sauce and salt & pepper. We like to have ranch dressing hanging around for the potatoes and sour cream - not sure how Southern or Cajun that is, but it sure is tasty! I also use Koops spicy mustard for the sausage.
Click the main photo above to shop all the supplies for your own shrimp boil on Amazon! I've linked up the pot, old bay seasoning, my favorite cajun cookbook and the BEST mustard and cocktail sauce.
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