Recipe Summary
Enjoy this southern favorite that's perfect for summer, a spicy and rich flavored Crawfish Boil recipe.
This Southern crawfish boil is a 20-serving feast made with 35 to 40 pounds of live crawfish, red potatoes, corn, aromatics, and Creole seasoning. Everything cooks in one deeply seasoned pot, then the crawfish rest in the hot liquid so the flavor reaches every part of the boil.
This Creole crawfish boil recipe is sponsored by Idaho Potatoes. All opinions are our own.
❤️ Why You’ll Love This Crawfish Boil
- Made for a crowd: The full recipe serves about 20 people, so it works well for a backyard gathering or warm-weather celebration.
- One-pot feast: Crawfish, potatoes, corn, optional sausage, and artichokes all share the same seasoned cooking liquid.
- Easy to serve: Drain the boil and spread it over a newspaper- or parchment-lined table for a relaxed, help-yourself meal.
What Are Crawfish?
Crawfish are small freshwater crustaceans that are especially popular in Louisiana and across the South. You may also hear them called crayfish, crawdads, or mudbugs.
How to Clean Live Crawfish
Keep live crawfish cool and follow your supplier’s handling directions. Before cooking, remove any dead crawfish, then rinse the live crawfish in batches with cool, clean water until the draining water is clear. A salt-water purge is not necessary.
What Goes in a Crawfish Boil?
- Live crawfish
- Seafood boil seasoning and Creole seasoning
- Lemons, garlic, onions, and bay leaves
- Small red potatoes
- Corn on the cob
- Andouille sausage, optional
- Artichokes, optional
Red potatoes hold their shape well in the seasoned water. We use red Idaho potatoes here and add them before the quicker-cooking ingredients so they have time to become fork-tender.
The Cooking Order Matters
Start with the aromatics and seasoned water, then add the potatoes. Sausage, corn, and optional artichokes follow before the live crawfish go into the pot. The recipe card below gives the exact order, timing, and doneness cues for this large batch.
How to Serve a Crawfish Boil
Line a table or sheet pans with newspaper or parchment before draining the pot. Serve the crawfish and vegetables with extra Creole seasoning, hot sauce, or remoulade, and add a basket of Southern biscuits for soaking up the seasoned butter and juices.
For more one-pot seafood inspiration, browse our Ultimate Boil-Up Recipe Collection. You may also enjoy Southern Shrimp and Grits or Jambalaya.
Crawfish Boil Recipe
Ingredients
Method
- In a very large (60 – 80 quart) pot, half-filled with water, place pot on a jet-style propane burner set on high heat. Add onions, garlic and lemon halves. Bring to a rolling boil over high heat (this can take a while to come to a boil, give yourself about an hour for this step).
- Add in the seafood boil seasoning, salt, creole seasoning, bay leaves, and potatoes, bring back to a boil, then reduce heat to medium heat, cooking for about 20 minutes or until potatoes are fork-tender.
- Add in the sausage, simmer for 5 minutes.
- Add in the mini corn and artichokes (optional) and simmer an additional 10 minutes.
- Add the crawfish, return to high heat, and cook for 5 to 10 minutes. When small gaps appear between the head and tail of the largest crawfish, they’re ready. Turn off the heat and let the crawfish rest in the hot liquid for 20 to 30 minutes before serving.
- Line a large sheet pan with newspaper or parchment paper. Pour mixture through a large colander basket, or you can use a large spider strainer (slotted spoon) to remove crawfish and vegetables from water. Place crawfish and vegetables on a pan or newspaper lined table. Serve with extra creole seasoning, hot sauce, or remoulade if desired.
Notes
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