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Katie's Cucina » Recipes » Seafood

Shrimp and Crab Boil

Published: May 27, 2016 · Modified: Oct 4, 2022 by Katie · This post may contain affiliate links

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How To Host A Crab Leg & Shrimp Boil
Photo collage and title text of Crab Leg & Shrimp Boil for Pinterest.

Wow your friends and family by treating them to a one pot Shrimp and Crab Boil. Super simple to make, feeds 8 hungry adults, and is done in under an hour!

How To Host A Crab Leg & Shrimp Boil

If you love seafood and love getting together with friends and family I highly suggest hosting a Shrimp and Crab Boil at your home! With just a few ingredients you can truly have a memorable dinner with the people you love.

If you find yourself intimidated to cook fish this might be the first recipe I encourage you to try and make. I can honestly tell you it’s probably one of the easiest seafood recipes to cook. With a few ingredients your dinner will be made, and you’ll have wowed your guest.

In this post you will learn everything you need to make a seafood boil at home.

  • Ingredients
  • Directions
  • How do you host a seafood boil?
  • FAQs

Ingredients

  • Chesapeake Bay Seafood Spice
  • Lemons – for cooking and garnish!
  • Garlic
  • Fingerling potatoes
  • Corn on the cob – cut these into pieces!
  • Kielbasa
  • Shrimp
  • Crab legs
  • Salted butter- for dipping your shrimp and crab into!

Directions

How To Host A Crab Leg & Shrimp Boil
  • First, you will want to use a large 5 gallon pot, and fill the pot halfway with water. Bring to a rolling boil then add in the seafood spice. Mix with a large spoon then add in the lemons, garlic bulb, fingerling potatoes, corn, and kielbasa. Cook for 20 minutes with the lid on. Stir occasionally.
  • Add in the shrimp and crab legs. Cook for an additional 5 minutes. Once shrimp turn pink and crab legs are red turn the heat off. Carefully drain as much liquid out of the pot. Place food on trays and in bowls or line a table with newspaper and spread the cooked (drained) food on newspaper.
  • Enjoy immediately. Serve with melted butter ramekins, fresh lemon, and crusty bread.

You will notice from the photos above that we opted for our 20 gallon turkey fryer to cook the boil in. All the ingredients just about filled up almost the entire pot! I wasn’t sure if the 8 of us would be able to eat this much seafood but clearly we had no problem.

How To Host A Crab Leg & Shrimp Boil

How do you host a seafood boil?

There are multiple ways to host a seafood boil at home.

  • You can go the traditional route and line a table with newspaper and dump the drained boil directly in the middle of the table. Have a few empty bowls out to discard shrimp shells and cracked crab legs.
  • A little less mess — use large bowls to hold all the seafood. Once again, make sure you have a few empty bowls to discard the shells!
  • Provide your family and friends with plastic disposable bibs, crab claw crackers, crab picks, and some mini ramekins to hold melted butter.
How To Host A Crab Leg & Shrimp Boil

FAQs

What do you drink with seafood boil?

I love to serve pitchers of sangria with a seafood boil. It’s my summertime entertaining drink of choice. It’s quick to mix up and best of all your guest can fill up their own cups when they need it. Of course, most light beers also compliment this meal as well as summertime cocktails!

What goes with shrimp boil?

A few of my favorite things to serve with a shrimp boil are: Coleslaw, macaroni & cheese, pasta salad, even baked beans! Of course, don’t forget the crusty bread!

How many minutes do you boil shrimp?

Once you have water to a rolling boil it should only take 2-3 minutes to cook shrimp. That is if it’s on it’s own. If you have other seafood in the pot like this recipe calls for it will take about 5 minutes.

Seafood Recipes

Still craving Seafood? Try these other seafood recipes.

  • Swordfish Steak Recipe
  • Mini Crab Cakes w/ Cilantro Lime Sauce
  • Crabby Cheese with Mac and Peas
  • Ahi Tuna Steaks
  • Calamari Fritti
  • Air Fryer Salmon

If you make this recipe, I would be honored and love for you to take the time to leave a ⭐ star rating and comment! I spend hours developing and testing these recipes, and always love to hear feedback and user experience!

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Female and man hand grabbing crab legs and corn in a seafood bowl.

Shrimp and Crab Boil

Wow your friends and family by treating them to a one pot Shrimp and Crab Boil. This seafood boil recipe is simple to make, feeds 8 hungry adults, and is done in under an hour!
5 from 1 vote
Print Pin Rate
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Diet: Gluten Free
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes
Servings: 8
Calories: 501kcal
Author: Katie

Equipment

  • Large 20 Gallon Pot

Ingredients

  • 2 2.62 oz Containers of Old Bay Seasoning
  • 2 lemons cut in half plus additional for serving
  • 1 bulb of garlic
  • 3 lb fingerling potatoes
  • 8 ears of corn cut in half
  • 2 kielbasa rings cut in 2-inch pieces
  • 3½ lb large shrimp
  • 7 lb crab legs
  • 1 stick salted butter divided

Instructions

  • In a large 5 gallon pot, fill the pot halfway with water. Bring to a rolling boil then add in the two containers of seafood seasonings such as Old Bay.
  • Mix with a large spoon then add in the lemons, garlic bulb, fingerling potatoes, corn, and kielbasa. Cook for 20 minutes with lid on. Stir occasionally.
  • Add in the shrimp and crab legs. Cook for an additional 5 minutes. Once shrimp turn pink and crab legs are red turn the heat off.
  • Carefully drain as much liquid out of the pot. Place food on trays and in bowls or line a table with newspaper and spread the cooked food on newspaper. Enjoy immediately. Serve with melted butter ramekins, fresh lemon, and crusty bread.

Notes

  • Stock Pot – A 20 gallon turkey fryer pot worked best for cooking for 8 hungry adults. It gave ample space for all the food to cook evenly.
  • Seafood Seasoning – This recipe calls for two, 2.62 oz. of Old Bay Seasoning. Any seafood seasoning will work for this recipe.
  • Serve – Serve with melted butter ramekins, fresh lemon, and crusty bread.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 501kcal | Carbohydrates: 49g | Protein: 65g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 542mg | Sodium: 2399mg | Potassium: 1358mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 192IU | Vitamin C: 69mg | Calcium: 364mg | Iron: 7mg
Tried this Recipe? Tag me Today!Mention @KatieJasiewicz or tag #katiescucina!
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Disclosure: There are affiliate links present in this post. That means if you click on a link and purchase something. I will receive a small percentage of the sale at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your continuous support of Katie’s Cucina!

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About Katie

Katie is a busy mom of 2 children who loves to feed her family delicious meals that don't take hours to cook! She started her blog 10 years ago as a way to help others get cooking in the kitchen.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Victoria church

    May 29, 2022 at 8:20 am

    Can I cut this recipe in half since it will only be about 4 of us

    Reply
    • Katie

      July 08, 2022 at 2:06 pm

      Hi Victoria, absolutely! Just reduce all the ingredients by half!

  2. Don

    August 24, 2021 at 9:10 pm

    Going to try to use this recipe for 20 people, can I just adjust all ingredients by 1 1/2?

    Reply
    • Katie

      August 24, 2021 at 11:34 pm

      Hi Don, thank you for reaching out. You can most definitely can. I would suggest cooking this in two 20 gallon stock pots and/or even 3! I would suggest planning on a half to a full pound of shrimp per person (better to have too much then not enough) and a little less then a half pound of potatoes per person. I would say about 10 lbs of potatoes and 10-20 pounds of shrimp! I hope your dinner is a success!

  3. John Rutherford

    June 18, 2021 at 12:29 pm

    Can you elaborate as to the quantity of the seafood spice? Recipe call for 2. Does that mean 2 full containers?

    Reply
    • Katie

      June 21, 2021 at 9:07 am

      Hi John, great question. Yes, 2 full containers! I’ll update the notes section now to clarify for future cooks who try this recipe.

  4. Trucia

    May 30, 2021 at 10:42 am

    Can you translate the word “Vanns” what is it equivalent to? I’ve googled with no luck other than it being a brand name. How much seafood spice do we use? Thanks!!

    Reply
    • Katie

      June 02, 2021 at 11:13 am

      Hi Trucia– Vann’s is a type of seasoning. It’s just like Old Bay Seasoning. I’m going to update the recipe card to clarify for others.

  5. Michael

    April 15, 2021 at 9:25 am

    Hi Katie, Planning on following this recipe this weekend. Do you add the entire garlic bulb, unpeeled?

    Reply
    • Katie

      April 15, 2021 at 1:50 pm

      Hi Michael, Yes, I place the full garlic bulb unpeeled in the pot of water with all the other ingredients. If you want to use the garlic to smear on bread after it’s cooked, simply squeeze the bulb and the cooked garlic will come out soft and full of flavor!

  6. Yumvilla

    October 05, 2017 at 5:51 am

    thanks for this recipe. Ít’s fun!

    Reply
  7. MEAL5

    June 20, 2017 at 10:19 pm

    Healthy dinner ideas! thanks KATIE!

    Reply
  8. Tania // Run to Radiance

    June 03, 2016 at 11:44 am

    Wow, that looks SO good! I love that tablecloth and that serving ware – World Market has the cutest stuff !

    Reply
    • Katie

      June 03, 2016 at 2:21 pm

      Thank you! Yes–love the tablecloth too! So thick and durable for many meals outdoors this summer!

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