A shrimp boil party is one of my favorite kinds of parties – feed a crowd with no dirty dishes! This is also a completely portable party. My easy shrimp boil recipe makes for an instant success no matter where you are! Read on to pull off the ultimate shrimp boil.
Looking for a great party beverage that can be made in a picture? How about my margaritas. So easy and delicious. You will be all set for a fun and memorable party.
Shrimp Boil
My favorite spot is on the beach, but a classic shrimp boil is a meal that’s perfect for outdoors anywhere. Between the fresh shrimp, lemon wedges, the ears of corn and sausage, this meal is a sure summertime hit.
The following recipe uses 1 large 34 quart turkey fryer with a strainer basket that goes almost to the top of the pot. One pot serves about 10-12 people. When we have a large crowd, we borrow an extra turkey fryer or two.
Ready to get started? First, cover your entire table with freezer paper, shiny side up. Now let the cooking begin!
Shrimp Boil Shopping List
Here is everything you need to host a shrimp boil:
- 2 Zatarain’s Crab “n” Shrimp Boil in Bags
- 1/2 bottle Zatarain’s Crab “n” Shrimp Boil oil
- 1 Cup salt
- 3-4 large onions (peeled and quartered)
- 2 lemons cut in half
- 6-10 whole ears of corn, cut in half, or 12-24 frozen small corn on the cob
- 3 lbs Kielbasa cut into 2 inch pieces
- 3 pounds large raw shrimp in shells (about 25 per lb)
- 2 whole bulbs garlic, unpeeled with top sliced off
- 18-24 small red potatoes
- Freezer paper
- Squeezable butter, spicy mustard and cocktail sauce
- 2 baguettes sliced into 1 inch slices
- 1 34 quart turkey fryer with strainer basket that goes almost to the top of the pot
Download this handy Printable Shopping List and Instructions to help you gather all your supplies!
How to Host a Shrimp Boil
First, fill the turkey fryer about 2/3 full of water. Bring to a boil and add your shrimp boil seasoning. My recipe calls for 2 packages of Zatarain’s Crawfish, Shrimp and Crab Boil in a Bag
, 1/4 – 1/2 bottle Zatarain’s Shrimp and Crab oil, and 1 cup of salt and garlic. Boil for 15 minutes.
Next, add your potatoes, and boil for 7-8 minutes.
Corn goes in next for 5 minutes. If your corn is frozen, you might need to turn up the heat for a minute to get your water boiling again.
Now add kielbasa, cut into two-inch pieces. Cook for 8 minutes.
Add onions. Squeeze lemon juice into pot, and then toss the lemons into the water, boil 3- 4 minutes (oops picture is wrong – add the garlic at the beginning!)
Now add shrimp, and cook 5 minutes or just until shrimp turns pink. Remember not to overcook the shrimp!
Turn off the heat, and immediately pull basket from the water and let drain.
Shrimp Boil Recipe
Download the recipe card below or print the shopping list above.
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Shrimp Boil
Equipment
- 1 34 quart turkey fryer with strainer basket that goes almost to the top of the pot
Ingredients
- 2 Zatarain’s Crab “n” Shrimp Boil in Bags
- 1/2 bottle Zatarain’s Crab “n” Shrimp Boil oil
- 1 Cup salt
- 3-4 large onions peeled and quartered
- 2 lemons cut in half
- 6-10 whole ears of corn cut in half or 12-24 frozen small corn n the cob
- 3 lbs Kielbasa cut into 2-inch pieces
- 3 pounds large raw shrimp in shells about 25 per lb
- 2 whole bulbs garlic unpeeled with top sliced o
- 18-24 small red potatoes
- Freezer paper
- Squeezable butter
- spicy mustard
- cocktail sauce
- 2 baguettes sliced into 1-inch slices
Instructions
- Bring water to a boil in a covered pot with large strainer basket (ll pot 2/3 full)
- Add garlic, Zatarain’s spice bags, Zatarain’s oil and salt – boil for 15 minutes
- Add potatoes – boil for 7 – 8 minutes
- Add corn – boil for 5 minutes (if corn is frozen you may need to turn up the heat to get the water boiling again)
- Add kielbasa – boil 8 minutes
- Squeeze lemons into pot and then throw them in along with the onions – boil 3 – 4 minutes
- Add Shrimp – boil for about 5 minutes or just until shrimp turns pink –don’t overcook.
- If you don’t want to eat right away, turn off heat, pour a bag of ice into the pot and let sit 15 minutes,
- drain and pour onto table covered in freezer paper.
- OR
- Turn off heat lift basket out of pot, allow to drain and then immediately pour onto your table covered with freezer paper (shiny side up).
- Sprinkle sliced baguette down the table. Serve with squeezable butter, mustard and cocktail sauce–squeezed directly on the table. Encourage guests to squeeze cloves of garlic onto corn and potatoes.
Nutrition
Ready to serve your shrimp boil? Pour contents of basket onto your freezer paper-covered table.
Serve with sliced baguette sprinkled down the table and bottles of squeeze butter, cocktail sauce, and spicy mustard.
Remember NO knives, forks, spoons or plates allowed! This is all finger food and condiments are squeezed directly onto the table! When finished just roll up the paper and give everyone a finger wipe!
Put on some Cajun Zydeco (zi-dee-coe) music and have a great time!
A big thanks to our dear friends Jeff and Cathy for showing us how to have the best party ever!
Shrimp Boil Tips
- I use shell-on shrimp and prefer the larger sizes. If you use shelled shrimp, cook for only 3 minutes!
- Shrimp cook very fast. If they start to curl into a circle, you’re overcooking them.
- If you don’t want to eat right away, turn off the heat, pour a bag of ice into the pot and let sit 15 minutes, drain and pour onto the table.
- OR Turn off heat, lift the basket out of the pot, allow to drain and then immediately pour onto your table covered with freezer paper (shiny side up).
- Serve with extra lemon wedges and garlic at the table.
- Serve with hot sauce if you’ve got some spice fans at your party.
- If you’re having a bigger dinner, there’s plenty of food that goes great with a shrimp boil. Coleslaw, mac and cheese, and pasta salads are all easy cookout staples.
- Some recipes call for adding crab or crayfish into the shrimp boil. It’s all good!
How do you devein a shrimp?
Raw shrimp are sometimes deveined, but not always. The “mud vein,” the black line on the back of a shrimp, is its digestive tract. It won’t hurt you to eat, but many people find it kind of gross when it’s filled with grit.
If you want to devein your shrimp before your shrimp boil, just use a sharp paring knife to make a cut along the top of the back. Then take the tip of the knife and slip it under the mud vein. It comes out of big shrimp pretty easily.
Remember to wash your hands well after handling the shrimp!
How do you make a boil? Got any shrimp boil recipe variations or serving tips? Leave a comment!
Need to feed a crowd? Try this Ham Buns Recipe. For more fun ideas… try these summer hacks.
I would love to keep you fully stocked with creative ideas, yummy recipes, fun crafts, and loads of free printables. Subscribe to Skip to my Lou to get new ideas delivered to your inbox. Follow me on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and Instagram for all my latest updates.
You sure know how to have fun. I have relatives that are from the south like New Orleans and I am from Newport Beach Ca and i love making shirmp boil and i have learned to make other southern recipes please cont to share any thing southern how fun and so yummy I just love your blog its one of my all time favorties you are so creative and have the best and most fun ideas ever Keep it up Happy day you deserve it This would be so fun to do here in Henderson Nevada for out church ward I will have to show them your blog and share it with the Relief Society they will love it like i do . Amazing just awesome to say the least love and Blessings Cheyenne
I just stumbled upon this yummy treat and got inspired to do one for my hubby’s 40th birthday in May this year.
I once saw one on the tv show “Easy Entertaining” with Michael Ciarello except he covered the table with lots of newspaper. Your idea is better, ’cause you don’t get any ink in your food! ha ha
To the person wonering what to do about flies when you eat outdoors: here in Mexico we do two things: put half a lime studded with whole cloves, and hang transparent plastic bags filled with water. Nobody knows why it works, but it does, like a charm.
Congratulations on an amazing idea!!!
Greetings from sunny Mexico City!
Hello…I stumbled across your site searching for ideas on how to have a shrimp boil for my wedding on my property next summer. I have no idea how to plan something for 100-150 people. Any ideas? Are we taking on too much? Thank you for any advice!!!
We found your recipe and tried it for a group of 9 over the weekend. You’re portions and timing were right on! It was such a big hit I cant wait to do it again. Such a great way to entertain a big group of people! Thanks so much for posting the detailed instructions.
I just want to double check the total cooking time–would you say that it takes about 45 minutes?
Thanks
This is very cute! So how do you guys keep the flies off the food while people are eating? Anyone had a problem with this? Everytime we sit down for a picnic outside we FIGHT flies. It’s awful. 🙂
Thanks,
Julie
I really want to try this. I don’t have a turkey fryer and would be doing it in a big pot on the stove. What changes to your recipe would I need to make in order to still get yummy results? Thanks for any advice. Jen
Thanks for all your info. Our shrimp/crab boil was a great success and everyone just raved about the taste of the food. They said they didn’t know corn on the cob could taste soooo good. We had about 20 people here and we had it set up in the front yard. People were driving by and wondering what was going on. We live in eastern Oregon and the people over here are not used to eating seafood, but they got their fill that night.
Thanks again for all your help.
Patty
We made this on our last camping trip. It tasted awesome! We are now making it when we go to the beach next week.
I am planning on doing a shrimp boil tomorrow night. I have never done one or been to one, but I think they look like alot of fun. I want to add some crab legs, the crab is already cooked. Can I just add it with the shrimp to warm it up? Looking forward to this.
Patty
Great!! Made it for my family and they all loved it!!
We just did this for 75 people yesterday. We used your website as our bible. It is the most comprehensive easiest to follow – THANK YOU! Us inlanders (way inlanders from Minnesota) don’t know how to do this sort of thing! But thanks to your site our party was a hit and everyone left saying they too were going to host a seafood boil.
What a coincidence! I just had a shrimp boil last night too. 🙂
We did this for my cousin’s college graduation, only we boiled crawfish instead of shrimp. The cook also added a large bottle of McElhenny’s tobasco to each pot. It sure made the accompanying margaritas taste good too. What a BLAST!
What a great idea! Where’d you get the recipe? I kid, I kid…
Hope things are going well for you.
Jeff/Cathy