We’ve steamed crabs on Chesapeake Bay, but if you head to the Gulf Coast, they cook their crabs in a spicy blend of herbs and seasonings
Louisiana-Style Blue Crab and Shrimp Boil
30 Min
Prep Time
20 Min
Cook Time
5-9
Servings
Medium
Difficulty
I’m a big blue crab fan. Along the East Coast, particularly around Virginia and Maryland, the blue crabs get steamed with Old Bay or JO’s seasoning blends. Along the Gulf Coast, from western Florida around to Louisiana, those same blue crabs get boiled in a spicy broth, usually with corn, potatoes, and smoked sausage. I like to add some fresh Gulf shrimp to the pot as well.
Catch your own blue crabs for a Louisiana-style seafood boil.
Blue crabs are usually pretty easy to catch along any saltwater shoreline. You can use small nets baited with chicken or fish to lift the crabs from the water, or you can tie a piece of chicken to a string and slowly pull the crabs in as they feed on the bait, and then dip them with a net before they let go at the water’s surface.
Use a net trap, wire trap or string with bait to catch the crabs.
Although both of those methods will get you a mess of crabs, the easiest way is to use a trap just like the commercial crabbers use. The wire box has a compartment for bait and slots to allow the crabs to swim in. Funnel-shaped backs on the slots make it hard for the crabs to find their way back out.
A wire trap and a cooler full of ice is all you need to gather enough crabs for a boil.
With the traps, you can set them in the morning and just check them a couple of times a day. Move the eating-size crabs to a cooler full of ice with the plug opened so that any melted water drains away.
Keep your crabs on ice in a cooler with the drain open.
When you have enough crabs (I like two to three per person when I also have shrimp; there isn’t a ton of meat on a blue crab), do up your boil. A large pot and a propane burner makes it easy to cook this meal outside, keeping kitchen mess at a minimum.
Add in fresh-caught shrimp, sausage, potatoes, corn and flavoring items such as garlic, lemon and onions.
My favorite seasoning for a crab boil comes from our friends at Southern Boyz Outdoors in Louisiana. Their Crawfish, Shrimp and Crab Boil is the perfect blend of flavor and spice. If you want your boil on the milder side, you can cut the recommended amount, but even with the full recipe recommendations, the finished product isn’t overly spicy.
Crawfish, Shrimp and Crab Boil seasoning blend from Southern Boyz Outdoors is the perfect addition to a boil.
Start your boil with 4 to 5 gallons of clean water. Start the burner and bring the water to a boil. Add your desired amount of seasoning blend. When the mixture comes back to a boil, add the potatoes, garlic, onion and lemon. Cook the potatoes for 10 to 12 minutes.
Add the corn, sausage, and crabs.
Add the crabs to the boiling liquid.
Boil for 5 minutes. Add the shrimp, bring the liquid back to a boil, and then turn off the burner. Cover the pot, and let the boil soak for 10 to 15 minutes to allow the spice to permeate the crabs and shrimp.
Add the crabs, boil a few minutes, and then add the shrimp. Cover and cut the heat for the soak.
To serve, drain the liquid from the pot and dump the boil into large disposable aluminum pans or onto a newspaper-lined table. Enjoy with a cold brew and some garlic bread. Cole slaw makes a nice side dish. Serves five to nine.
Ingredients
10-15 fresh caught blue crabs
2-3 pounds shell on shrimp
2 pounds smoked sausage, cut into sections
Bag of Crawfish, Shrimp and Crab boil from Southern Boyz
3 pounds small red potatoes (if you don’t have small potatoes, just cut regular red potatoes in half)
3 pounds frozen corn on the cob
2 large onions, skin on, cut in half
4 heads of garlic with the tops cut off to expose the cloves
3-5 lemons, halved