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A newspaper-topped table strewn with crawfish, corn, peppers, and potatoes - a classic crawfish boil.
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5 / 2 votes

Crawfish Boil

While it’s typical to measure five pounds of crawfish per guest, it’s also easy to assume that, with so many other ingredients, this recipe will easily satisfy eight people.
Prep Time25 minutes
Cook Time45 minutes
Total Time1 hour 10 minutes
Course: Mains
Cuisine: Southern
Servings: 8 servings
Calories: 1088

Equipment

  • A very large pot

Ingredients

  • 2 cups kosher salt
  • One packet Zatarain's Crab Boil spices or 2 1/2 tablespoons Old Bay Seasoning, homemade or store-bought
  • 5 lemons, halved crosswise
  • 3 tablespoons cayenne pepper
  • 5 whole heads garlic, halved crosswise
  • 5 small onions, halved
  • 3 stalks celery, cut into large pieces (optional)
  • 3 green bell peppers, seeded and diced (optional)
  • 1/4 cup canola oil
  • 3 pounds smoked sausage, cut into 4-inch (10-cm) pieces
  • 20 small red bliss potatoes, scrubbed
  • 8 ears corn, shucked and halved
  • 8 whole artichokes, untrimmed (optional)
  • 20 pounds whole shell-on crawfish, (fresh or frozen or already boiled), rinsed with fresh water or frozen if defrosted
  • 1 pound button mushrooms, stems removed, caps halved if large (optional)
US - Metric

Instructions

  • Fill a very, very large pot with 10 gallons water, leaving plenty of room for all the other ingredients. (Or you can use 2 or even 3 large pots, divvying all the ingredients evenly among them.) Bring the water to a boil with the kosher salt, boiling spices, lemons, cayenne, garlic, onions, celery, and bell peppers if using, and the oil. Reduce the heat and gently simmer for 10 minutes.
  • Add the smoked sausage, potatoes, corn, and artichokes, if using, and continue to simmer for 15 minutes.
  • If using fresh crawfish, add the crawfish now along with the mushrooms, if using. Cover and simmer for another 10 minutes. Turn off the heat.
    If using frozen or already boiled crawfish, add the crawfish now along with the mushrooms, if using. Cover and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes.
  • Strain everything from the boiling liquid, preferably using a large colander, which will make it easier to fish out all the good parts (that is, the crawfish and vegetables) from the rest. Dump the good parts that you strained onto a picnic table covered with newspaper (preferably the Times-Picayune). Then feast while drinking an Abita Amber beer.

Nutrition

Serving: 1portion | Calories: 1088kcal | Carbohydrates: 94g | Protein: 57g | Fat: 56g | Saturated Fat: 17g | Monounsaturated Fat: 26g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 307mg | Sodium: 1815mg | Fiber: 13g | Sugar: 12g