Making a shrimp and sausage boil couldn’t be easier! Shrimp, sausage, corn, and potatoes with a flavorful Old Bay, lemon & garlic butter sauce. All in under 30 minutes!
It’s not quite summer here – in fact, it’s about 30 degrees outside – but we’ve been craving summer flavors so we decided to buck the trend and make a shrimp and sausage boil for dinner. Usually we enjoy this dish outdoors with newspaper laid out over the table, but today we’ll be enjoying it by the fire. Anything to fool us into believing that summer isn’t too far away!
The only out-of-season ingredient is the corn. Supermarket corn is nowhere near the same as fresh summer corn, but it’s still darn good. (Incidentally, did you know that if you add a little sugar to the water when you’re boiling corn that it helps to make it sweeter? It’s true, try it!)
How do you make a shrimp boil from scratch?
Making a shrimp boil at home is so simple and easy! You basically “boil” just four ingredients: corn, potatoes, sausage (I used homemade Andouille sausage), and shrimp with some Old Bay seasoning. Then you make a quick sauce with butter, Old Bay, fresh lemon juice, and garlic to drizzle over everything. Add a little chopped parsley and you’re good to go!
This recipe is scaled down so it feeds 4 people (that could easily stretch to 6 with a few sides). If you’re feeding more than that, double or triple it but make sure you have a big stockpot for it. This is one of those recipes that can be scaled up to feed as many people as you want – you just need a vessel that will hold it all!
We’ve even made this while camping since it’s so quick and easy. Just put a big cast iron pot over the fire and you’ll have a delicious meal in no time at all. You can also make an Instant Pot Shrimp Boil if you’re an Instant Pot fanatic like me!
How long should shrimp boil?
I normally sauté or roast my shrimp since it’s just as easy to do that as boiling it. But when I already have a pot of hot, flavorful liquid then it just makes sense to boil it. It only takes a minute or two to cook your shrimp completely when boiling, and you’ll want to watch it carefully to make sure it doesn’t overcook. The time it takes depends on how big your shrimp are.
Can you boil frozen shrimp?
Yes, you absolutely can boil frozen shrimp! I do this often if I don’t have the time to thaw them first. It will take a small amount of extra time but be sure to watch them carefully – just as you would if they were thawed – since even frozen shrimp cook quickly in a hot liquid.
Is this Shrimp and Sausage Boil low-carb?
Sadly, any shrimp and sausage boil recipes you find likely won’t be low carb due to the potatoes and corn. The good news is that I’ve substituted cauliflower for the potatoes with great success. You can also add cauliflower and keep the potatoes in there, too, if you have both keto and non-keto followers at the table.
You might have to add extra liquid when boiling everything to make sure it’s all submerged, but I usually just top it off with enough water to cover.
What goes with shrimp boil?
Since seafood boils are typically a Southern thing, I like to serve Southern sides whenever possible. So many dishes go with a shrimp boil, though! Here are some favorites:
- Cornbread
- Sweet Corn Cake
- Stuffed Garlic Bread
- Garlic Snap Peas
- Fall Fruit Salad
- Coleslaw
- Honey Chipotle Baked Beans
Shrimp and Sausage Boil
Shrimp, sausage, corn, and potatoes with a flavorful Old Bay and lemon butter sauce. All in under 30 minutes!
Ingredients
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 4 ears corn, cut into 12 pieces total
- 1 lb baby red potatoes, about 1-inch (cut in half or quarters if large)
- 1 tbsp Old Bay seasoning
- 1 lb smoked sausage, cut into bite-sized pieces
- 1 lb easy-peel shrimp
- FOR THE SAUCE:
- ½ cup butter
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tsp Old Bay seasoning
- ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
- ¼ cup chopped parsley
- Coarse salt & freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
Put the chicken broth into a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil and add the corn, potatoes, and Old Bay seasoning. Give it a gentle stir.
Cover and reduce the heat to medium-low so it stays at a strong simmer. Cook for about 8-10 minutes or until the potatoes are soft.
Add the sausage and shrimp and cook for approximately 1-2 minutes or until the shrimp are just cooked through (time will depend on the size of your shrimp).
Remove the sausage, corn, potatoes and shrimp from the pot with a slotted spoon and place it in a large serving bowl, discarding the liquid from the pot.
Add the butter to the pot. Once it's melted, add the garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes. Add the Old Bay seasoning, lemon juice, and parsley. Season with salt and pepper.
Pour the sauce over the shrimp boil in the bowl. Serve immediately.
Notes
When I serve this I put newspaper or parchment paper down since it's a bit messy. It's a fun way to eat it though, especially if you put it all in the center of the table and let everyone grab it a little at a time. A serving bowl works really well, too.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 1300Total Fat: 62gSaturated Fat: 27gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 27gCholesterol: 374mgSodium: 4647mgCarbohydrates: 140gFiber: 16gSugar: 29gProtein: 58g
These amounts include the liquid that's discarded after cooking so they're not entirely accurate. Calculated by Nutrionix.
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