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Traditional Crawfish Boil

This crawfish boil recipe brings the backyard party tradition straight to your table with perfectly seasoned mudbugs, tender potatoes, and corn that soaks up every bit of that spicy, garlicky broth. A one-pot feast that feeds a crowd without complicated techniques or fussy prep work.
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes
Servings: 10 people
Course: Main Dish
Cuisine: Cajun, Louisiana
Calories: 420
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Main Ingredients
  • 10 pounds live crawfish purged
  • 6 quarts water
  • 1 cup sea salt
  • 3/4 cup crawfish boil seasoning such as Zatarain's or Louisiana Fish Fry
  • 1/2 cup cayenne pepper adjust to taste
  • 8 cloves garlic smashed
  • 4 bay leaves
  • 3 pounds small red potatoes halved if large
  • 6 ears corn husked and halved
  • 1 pound andouille sausage cut into 2-inch pieces
  • 3 lemons halved
  • 2 large onions quartered
  • 1 cup unsalted butter melted
  • 2 tablespoons hot sauce optional

Equipment

  • 60-quart stockpot with lid or outdoor propane burner setup
  • Large slotted spoon or spider strainer
  • Large cooler for purging crawfish
  • Heavy-duty strainer or colander
  • Long wooden spoon
  • Large serving trays or newspaper-covered table
  • Kitchen thermometer (optional)

Method
 

  1. Place the live crawfish in a large cooler and cover them with cold water. Add 1/4 cup of salt and let them soak for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Drain and rinse the crawfish thoroughly with fresh water until it runs clear.
  2. Fill your stockpot with 6 quarts of water and add the salt, crawfish boil seasoning, cayenne pepper, garlic, and bay leaves. Bring the mixture to a rolling boil over high heat.
  3. Add the potatoes and onions to the boiling liquid. Cook for 15 minutes until the potatoes are just starting to become tender when pierced with a fork.
  4. Drop the corn and sausage into the pot. Return the liquid to a boil and cook for 8 minutes.
  5. Carefully add the purged crawfish to the pot and squeeze in the lemon halves, then toss them into the pot too. Stir everything gently to ensure even distribution.
  6. Bring the pot back to a rolling boil and cook for 5 minutes. Turn off the heat, cover the pot, and let everything steep for 15 to 20 minutes.
  7. Pull out one crawfish and crack it open to check for doneness. The meat should be opaque white and pull easily from the shell. If needed, steep for another 5 minutes.
  8. Use your strainer or slotted spoon to remove everything from the pot, draining well. Toss the hot crawfish and vegetables with the melted butter. Dump onto a newspaper-covered table or into large serving trays and serve immediately while steaming hot.

Notes

Don't skip the steeping time after you kill the heat. Those 15 to 20 minutes transform bland crawfish into flavor-packed bites. Buy crawfish the day you plan to cook them. Salt the water more than you think you need to. Test one crawfish before draining the entire batch. Set up your serving area before draining. Save leftover cooking liquid for gumbo or jambalaya base.