Low Country Shrimp Boil
Shell-on shrimp, smoked sausage, red potatoes and corn boiled in one big seasoned pot, then dumped straight onto a paper-covered table.
- Full Meals
- Cast iron / Dutch oven
- Seafood
- Dinner
- 60 min total
- Serves 8
Ingredients
Ingredients for servings
Enter a number of at least ½, in steps of ½.
Original recipe serves 8. Ingredient amounts adjust automatically. Cooking times and pan size may need adjusting separately.
Boil
- 6 quarts water
- 1/2 cup Old Bay seasoning
- 1/4 cup kosher salt
- 2 lemons, halved
- 1 head garlic, halved crosswise
- 1 yellow onion, quartered
- 2 bay leaves
Pot
- 3 lb small red potatoes
- 2 lb smoked sausage or kielbasa, cut in 2-inch pieces
- 8 ears corn on the cob, husked, halved
- 3 lb large shell-on shrimp, 16 to 20 count, deveined
To serve
- 1/2 cup butter, melted
- 2 tsp Old Bay seasoning
- 1 cup cocktail sauce
- 2 lemons, cut in wedges
Gear
- 16- to 20-quart stockpot with strainer basket (or outdoor turkey fryer pot)
- Outdoor propane burner (optional)
- Newspaper or kraft paper
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Steps
Step 1: Fill a very large stockpot (16 quart or bigger) with the water. Add the Old Bay, salt, squeezed lemon halves, garlic, onion and bay leaves. Bring to a boil over high heat and boil 5 minutes.
Step 2: Add the potatoes. Once the water returns to a boil, cook 10 minutes.
Step 3: Add the sausage. Cook 5 minutes.
Step 4: Add the corn. Cook 5 minutes.
Step 5: Turn off the heat and stir in the shrimp. Cover and let sit 3 to 5 minutes, until the shrimp are pink and curled into a loose C shape. Don't let them sit longer.
Step 6: Drain everything (save a cup of the liquid if you want to make the butter more flavorful). Pick out the onion, lemon and bay leaves.
Step 7: Dump it all onto a table covered with newspaper or a big sheet pan. Drizzle with melted butter and sprinkle with Old Bay. Serve with cocktail sauce and lemon wedges.
Game plan
Backyard dinner at 6:30 PM:
- Morning: Chill drinks. Make cocktail sauce (1 cup ketchup, 2 tablespoons prepared horseradish, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, a dash of hot sauce) and coleslaw if you’re serving it.
- 5:15 PM: Cover the table. Fill the pot and start heating (a big pot takes 20 to 30 minutes to boil).
- 5:45 PM: Potatoes in.
- 5:55 PM: Sausage in.
- 6:00 PM: Corn in.
- 6:05 PM: Heat off, shrimp in. Melt the butter.
- 6:10 PM: Drain and dump. Dinner’s on the table.
Swaps
- Seafood: Add 2 lb clams or mussels with the shrimp, or crab legs with the corn.
- Sausage: Andouille for a spicier pot.
- Seasoning: Zatarain’s crab boil or your favorite Cajun boil instead of Old Bay.
Tips
- Plan about 1/3 to 1/2 lb shrimp per person.
- Shell-on shrimp stay juicier and soak up more flavor than peeled.
- If the corn’s fresh in summer, it only needs a few minutes. Older corn takes the full time.
The story
HAM Cooking. Let’s fire it up.
The low country boil is the only dinner where the table is the plate, the newspaper is the tablecloth and nobody minds if you eat with your hands. It’s basically a party with a pot.
The trick is timing. Everything goes in the same pot, but not at the same time. Potatoes take the longest, so they go first. The sausage needs a few minutes to heat through and season the water with smoky fat. Corn needs a short dunk. Shrimp cook fastest, in just a few minutes, so they go in last, after the heat is off. The hot water finishes them gently and you avoid that rubbery bite.
Leaving the shells on helps the shrimp hold onto their moisture and soak up the spicy broth. Yes, it’s messy. Yes, you’ll need a roll of paper towels. But a pile of steaming food in the middle of a table gets people talking in a way a plated dinner never does.
HAM out.
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