Crawfish boils are a messy, fun, hands-on, social experience and not as intimidating as one would think. Add as little or as much heat as you like—these little guys get more flavorful the longer they sit. Bring the spicy bold flavors of this Louisiana shellfish to your next backyard gathering. Don’t forget the paper towels!
| Level: | Intermediate |
| Total: | 1 hr |
| Active: | 30 min |
| Yield: | 6 to 8 servings |
Ingredients
- 10 pounds live crawfish (18/22 pp size)
- 2 cups kosher salt
- 1 1/2 pounds crab and crawfish boil seasoning, such as Zatarain’s
- 1 1/2 pounds smoked sausage, such as andouille or kielbasa, sliced into 2-inch pieces
- 4 ears corn, broken into 3-inch pieces
- 2 large onions, peeled and quartered
- 3 lemons, juiced, rinds reserved
- 2 heads garlic, cut in half crosswise
- 1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter
- 1 bunch fresh thyme
- 4 fresh bay leaves
- 3 pounds small red potatoes
- 6 to 8 pounds ice cubes
- Seafood boil seasoning, such as Old Bay, for serving
Instructions
- Place the crawfish in a large cooler, cover with cold water and add 1 cup of the salt. Allow the crawfish to purge in the salted water for 5 to 10 minutes. (This Southern tradition is said to remove mud and impurities before cooking.) Strain the crawfish and set aside.
- Fill a 42-quart stockpot fitted with a boil basket halfway with water. Add the crab and crawfish boil seasoning and remaining cup kosher salt. Then add the sausage, corn, onions, lemon juice and rinds, garlic, butter, thyme and bay leaves. Bring to a boil. Add the potatoes and boil until just cooked through, 8 to 10 minutes.
- Carefully add the crawfish to the stockpot and cook until they’re bright red, about 8 minutes. Immediately remove from the heat and add the ice to the stockpot to halt the cooking. Allow the crawfish and other ingredients to sit in the iced water for 25 to 30 minutes (the longer the crawfish sit, the more flavorful they become).
- Pull the crawfish, sausage and vegetables from the water using the boil basket. Serve over newspaper spread out on a table and sprinkle with seafood boil seasoning.
Reviews
No… just no definitely not invited to the boil. Where did you get ice from… old bay? Absolutely not. The timing… Mai’s la, this is all wrong… pls don’t use this recipe unless you wanna eat over cooked crawfish
From a network the backs science based cooking you should be aware that crawfish absorb spice at 150 degrees and adding ice dilutes the spice and 3-5 minutes is plenty of boil time.
Consult a southerner on crawfish please
Consult a southerner on crawfish please
Nearly everything about this recipe will yield horrible, overcooked crawfish. The timing is beyond incorrect. And Old Bay? Nope nope nope nope nope! This seems like something someone in Idaho working behind a desk for food network imagined a crawfish boil would be, googled “Louisiana crawfish” and then tried to add their own take meanwhile getting not only the timing of cooking wrong (this would be far over cooked crawfish) but the seasonings as well. Look, it’s a boil and anything goes… anything but old bay. Also where are people finding 10lbs of crawfish? They are sold live by the sack. 30-40lbs.
This should be titled…. How NOT to prepare boiled crawfish. EVERYTHING is wrong! Horrible recipe. I have lived in Louisiana all my life and have eaten boiled crawfish since the day I could peel them. NEVER would I use those seasonings or those directions! Anyone that would say Old Bay in the same sentence as crawfish, obviously has NO idea of what they are talking about when it comes to boiled crawfish!!
First off, it’s very difficult to buy just 22# off live crawfish. It’s usually sold by the sack, which will run between low 30-low 40#. Secondly purging with salt can be done but the theory that it “cleans the crawfish” has been scientifically disproved by LSU scientists. It’s better to just rinse several times in an ice chest. Third, if you cut the onions you will have a mess. Fourth, there is absolutely no need to add butter, thyme, or bay leaves. Fifth, save the corn (frozen) for the end, add with the ice. Sixth, if you boil the crawfish for 8 min they will be overcooked and very difficult to peel. Start checking the crawfish after 3-4 minutes by seeing if they will peel easily. Once the tail pops out of the shell easily they are cooked. Usually no more than 4 min st a boil. And last…it is sacrilegious to use OldBay seasoning on crawfish! And it’s ok to put on newspaper…it’s not like you are eating the newspaper too!
Not the best advice use a different recipe!!!!
As someone who lives in Louisiana and knows a crawfish boil this is sooooo wrong. You never cool them off with ice and you don’t sprinkle spice on them. They are messy enough and if done correctly already have the flavor from the boil. I have never seen anyone use butter, thyme or bay leaves. Don’t talk about something you obviously know nothing about!
You don’t peel the onion or quarter it, just cut it in half so the ends stay intact. You don’t use thyme or bay leaf. Don’t use salt to purge the crawfish… just rinse them several times with water to clean off any mud. And DO NOT sprinkle the outside with Old Bay!!!
I’m a life-long Southern Louisiana girl and no way do we sprinkle Old Bay over the top of our crawfish. That’s sacrilege down here. Please stay in your lane!
I’d prefer shrimp