Crawfish Boil Recipe

crawfish boil on a tray next to a glass of beer.

5 from 2 votes

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 and cajun 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!

Prep Time25

Cook Time25

Soaking Time20

Total Time1 10

Course: Dinner, Holidays, Lunch

Cuisine: Cajun, Southern

Servings:

Calories: 508kcal

Author: Britney

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

Instructions

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.

Nutrition