This crawfish boil recipe is made with live crawfish, smoked sausage, corn, and potatoes. The crawfish (or crayfish) are boiled in a seasoned broth full of crawfish boil seasoning with onions, lemons, garlic, green bell peppers, and celery for tons of spicy flavor. To go the extra mile, I poured melted butter and a little creole seasoning on top for extra flavor. This is the best crawfish boil recipe you'll ever make!
If you love a good crawfish boil, you'll love my seafood boil and low country boil!
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It's no secret, I LOVE New Orleans and Cajun food is one of my favorite cuisines on the planet. This crawfish recipe is inspired by my many trips to NOLA where I've literally eaten my body weight in crawfish and beignets.
I'm talking crawfish scampi, crawfish etouffee, I even tried crawfish beignets during my time there. However, nothing burns into my memory like a crawfish boil. The spicy seasonings paired with as much crawfish as you can possibly eat with the smoked sausage, corn, and potatoes - it's the main course of my dreams.
With it being crawfish season in the southern states, I ordered a big sack of crawfish, added my favorite ingredients into a pot - about 30 minutes later, you'll have mouthwatering crawfish on your picnic table.
Also, don't worry if this is your first time making a seafood boil. This is a super easy crawfish boil - you can't mess it up. I'll show you - step by step, how to make the best crawfish boil ever. Grab those little crustaceans and let's make this delicious Louisiana-style boil!
Equipment
You will need a LARGE Stock pot for this crawfish boil recipe. Preferably, a large stock pot that's at least 30 quarts with a wire basket insert. If you don't have either of these, don't worry!
You can split everything between two pots. I also recommend getting a ton of paper towels or newspaper and a bucket to dump the shells into.
Ingredients
- 5 Pounds of Crawfish - I used fresh live crawfish, however, frozen whole crawfish works too. Keep in mind cook time - fresh crawfish takes about 5 minutes to boil while frozen crawfish takes only 1-2 minutes because it's already cooked.
- Crawfish boil seasoning - I used Louisiana Crawfish Shrimp and Crab Boil Seasoning, this is a complete seasoning that prevents you from needing to mix a bunch of spices together. It's tasty and saves a lot of time.
- Vinegar - the vinegar helps cut the fishy taste
- Chicken Bouillon and Chicken Broth - this is simply to enhance the flavor of the broth.
- Holy Trinity - onions, celery stalks, green bell peppers. What's a cajun meal without the holy trinity? These ingredients add tons of flavor to the crawfish boil water.
- Bay leaves - to add a little herby flavor to the broth.
- Garlic cloves - in addition to the holy trinity, garlic is the "pope" according to Cajun cooking. Garlic is a must in this recipe.
- Oranges and Lemons - citrus fruits add flavor and brightness to the boil.
- Butter - I haven't met not one recipe where butter didn't make it better. Add some butter to the broth and save a little for drizzling on top of the crawfish.
- Andouille Sausage - any smoked sausage works here, andouille is my favorite and pairs really well with the seasonings in the broth.
- Small red Potatoes - baby potatoes, red potatoes, new potatoes all work here. If you have big potatoes, cut them in half or quarters so that they boil faster.
- Sweet Corn - I used frozen corn on the cob. If you're using fresh corn on the cob, keep in mind it cooks in about 5 minutes.
- Fresh bread, optional - there's nothing like dunking fresh bread into all of the butter and seasonings. This is my recommendation but you certainly don't have to include it.
Pro Tips
- Clean your crawfish!!! They don't call crawfish mudbugs for no reason! I usually get a cooler or fill up my sink with water and rinse them until the dirty water runs clean. Drain crawfish. For me, it usually takes about 3 rinses to get all of the mud and dirt off. If your crawfish come in a mesh bag, I recommend dumping them into a large sink and rinsing that way or dumping into a cooler and opening the drain for the water to come out. Those crawfish shells are dirty so don't skip this step!
- Don't overcook the crawfish! After about 5 minutes, you'll see the crawfish shells turn bright red. As soon as this happens, turn off the heat and let them soak up all of the delicious flavors of the broth.
- Remove dead crawfish! Be sure to pick out any dead crawfish prior to adding them to the pot. While rinsing the crawfish, if you see any that are floating or just not moving, remove them and throw away. You don't want to eat dead crawfish, it's possible the meat has gone bad.
How to Boil Crawfish
- Wash crawfish. Rinse the crawfish with fresh water for 3-4 minutes, until all of the mud and sand is rinsed off and the water is clear.
- Make the crawfish boil water. Fill a large pot with water about halfway over high heat. Add chicken broth, chicken bouillon, Louisiana Crawfish boil seasoning, onions, celery, bell peppers, bay leaves, garlic, oranges, and lemons. Bring to a rolling boil. (Image #1)
- Add butter, potatoes, sausage, ears of corn, and let it boil for 5-10 minutes.
- Place crawfish in the wire basket insert and sink the crawfish into the water. (If you don't have a basket insert, simply add to the broth) Cook for 5 minutes. Turn the heat off and begin the soaking process. Let the crawfish soak in the broth for at least 20 minutes so that the flavors really soak into the cooked crawfish meat. (Image #2)
- Serve with hot sauce and drawn butter for extra flavor!
What to serve with a Crawfish Boil
There are tons of side dishes that go well with a seafood boil. For starters, make this seafood boil sauce to dip those juicy crawfish into! Then try some of my favorites below:
Recipe FAQs
Crawfish cooks quickly, 3-5 minutes depending on the size of the crawfish. When the shell turns red and the tail begins to curl, the crawfish are finished cooking.
Reheat leftover crawfish by steaming the crawfish over a pot of boiling water in the wire basket until it's warm throughout. This prevent overcooking the crawfish.
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Crawfish Boil Recipe
Equipment
- Large Pot with Wire Basket Insert
Ingredients
- 5 lbs Live Crawfish
- 1 lb Louisiana Crawfish Shrimp and Crab Boil Complete Seasoning
- ½ cup Vinegar
- 2 tbsps Chicken Bouillon
- 64 oz Chicken Broth (8 cups)
- 2 Yellow Onions (cut into quarters)
- 3 Celery Stalks (cut into chunks)
- 2 Green Bell Peppers (cut into chunks)
- 3 Bay leaves
- 6 Garlic Cloves
- 2 Oranges (cut in half)
- 3 Lemons (cut in half)
- 1 cup Butter
- 1 lb Andouille Sausage
- 1 lb Red Potatoes
- 8 pieces Corn on the Cob
Directions
- Wash crawfish. Rinse the crawfish with fresh water for 3-4 minutes, until all of the mud and sand is rinsed off and the water is clear.
- Make the crawfish boil water. Fill a large pot with water about halfway over high heat. Add chicken broth, chicken bouillon, Louisiana Crawfish boil seasoning, onions, celery, bell peppers, bay leaves, garlic, oranges, and lemons. Bring to a rolling boil.
- Add butter, potatoes, sausage, ears of corn, and let it boil for 5-10 minutes.
- Place crawfish in the wire basket insert and sink the crawfish into the water. (If you don't have a basket insert, simply add to the broth) Cook for 5 minutes.
- Turn the heat off and begin the soaking process. Let the crawfish soak in the broth for at least 20 minutes so that the flavors really soak into the cooked crawfish meat.
- Serve with hot sauce and drawn butter for extra flavor!
Notes
- Clean your crawfish!!! They don't call crawfish mudbugs for no reason! I usually get a cooler or fill up my sink with water and rinse them until the dirty water runs clean. Drain crawfish. For me, it usually takes about 3 rinses to get all of the mud and dirt off. If your crawfish come in a mesh bag, I recommend dumping them into a large sink and rinsing that way or dumping into a cooler and opening the drain for the water to come out. Those crawfish shells are dirty so don't skip this step!
- Don't overcook the crawfish! After about 5 minutes, you'll see the crawfish shells turn bright red. As soon as this happens, turn off the heat and let them soak up all of the delicious flavors of the broth.
- Remove dead crawfish! Be sure to pick out any dead crawfish prior to adding them to the pot. While rinsing the crawfish, if you see any that are floating or just not moving, remove them and throw away. You don't want to eat dead crawfish, it's possible the meat has gone bad.
This is the most flavorful and delicious seafood boil I have ever tried! The sauce is amazing! My family and I will be making this again and again.
Thank you so much!