Shrimp Boil Recipe

Here's a great Shrimp Boil Recipe, also known as a Low Country Boil Recipe to feed from 6 to 200 people along with tips and tricks to help. While shrimp boil is common on the Gulf coast, you can also make it at home, wherever you are in the world. 

When we moved to Texas to start our vineyard, it took another 5 years for our house in Alabama to sell! When it did, it was paaaarrrty time!

And, what better way to party than with the perfect shrimp boil recipe!

Shrimp Boils or Low Country Boils are very common on the Gulf coast. But for some reason, there are just not that many of them in West Texas! But our location and lack of coastline didn't stop us.

Our oldest daughter and her husband vacationed on the Texas coast and brought back shrimp. A lot of frozen shrimp! As a result, they have had quite a few shrimp boils.

Her husband worked out the proportions of the ingredients for the following recipe. It was great - I didn't even have to worry about researching to create the perfect recipe!

All I had to do was tell him how many people I wanted to feed and viola. He provided the recipe!

Seasoning Instructions

It was recently brought to my attention that my international readers may not have access to the Zatarain's spice mix that I use. So, I came up with a Shrimp Boil Seasoning that works great!

The following mix is equal to 1 bag of the Zatarain's spice mix. Be sure to increase the amounts for the quantity you are making.

Shrimp Boil Seasoning:

• 4 tablespoons dill seeds
• 4 tablespoons coriander seeds
• 4 tablespoons mustard seeds
• 4 teaspoons cayenne (this has a nice kick to it but is not super hot)
• 8 bay leaves

Instructions

In this recipe, I'm providing proportions to feed from 6 to 200 people.

For our celebration, we expected around 110 people and 100 ended up attending. 

This is an easy recipe that just requires a bit of time. Be sure to have everything washed, cut, and kept separately - this can be done the day before.

1. Bring water to a boil. Add potatoes and seasoning bags. Wait 10 minutes. 
2. Add carrots, corn, and sausage. Wait 10 minutes. 
3. Add bell peppers, celery, jalapenos, and habaneros. Let cook for 5 - 10 minutes. 
4. Add the frozen shrimp. Wait for 5 - 8 minutes. The shrimp should be pink and tender. 
5. Drain the water and dump the shrimp boil onto a table with a festive plastic tablecloth or place it in a serving dish - allow everyone to help themselves!

Serving Suggestions

While this Shrimp Boil or Low Country Boil is a meal to itself, you can certainly serve side dishes if you want. Here are my top suggestions:

• Creamy Coleslaw Recipe - a delicious and healthy side that's perfect for BBQs.
• Bread - Sourdough Bread or Whole Wheat Bread are both delicious and you can even make the dough into rolls if you choose.
• Instant Pot Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes - a quick recipe that is a delicious alternative to mashed potatoes.

Tips

Not only is this shrimp boil recipe delicious, but it's also deceptively easy to make. Whether you are serving a large crowd or a small gathering, this meal lends itself to minimal work the day of your event.

• Be sure to purchase shrimp that is in the shell and de-veined. Why? When you are boiling the shrimp in a pot of water, it will dry out and not taste as good if you use pre-shelled ones.
• If you are cooking in large quantities, make sure you plan ahead with your supplies and time. We used 10-gallon stockpots over propane burners. Obviously, that is a lot more water than people normally boil, so be sure to allow plenty of time. It took us about 30 minutes to get the water to boil.
• To save time on the day of your event, chop the meat and vegetables the day before. You can definitely delegate that work to a trusted child or teenager if you need extra help getting everything done.
• If you do not want to serve the shrimp boil on a plastic tablecloth put all the cooked food into serving containers, which is what I did.

That's it! While we had a bunch of fun making and eating our shrimp boil, the sweetest part was celebrating and enjoying the company of our friends and family.

📋 Recipe

Shrimp Boil

Cultured Palate

Southern cooking that feeds an army!

5 from 6 votes

Print Recipe
Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr

Total Time 1 hour hr 10 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Servings 25 servings

Calories 1123 kcal

Ingredients

  

To Serve 6

• 2 bags seasoning I use Zatarain's - See Notes for options.
• 3 pounds red potatoes
• 1 bags baby carrots
• 1 large bags of small corn on the cob frozen
• 1 bell pepper
• ½ bunch celery
• 1 jalapeños
• 1/10 habanero pepper
• 3 pounds shrimp
• 3 pounds sausage

To serve 25:

• 7 bags seasoning I use Zatarain's - See Notes for options.
• 13 pounds red potatoes
• 3 bags baby carrots
• 3 large bags of small corn on the cob frozen
• 3 bell peppers
• 1 bunches celery
• 2 - 3 jalapeños
• ½ habanero pepper
• 13 pounds shrimp frozen
• 13 pounds sausage

To Serve 50:

• 15 bags seasoning I use Zatarain's - See Notes for options.
• 25 pounds red potatoes
• 5 bags baby carrots
• 6 large bags of small corn on the cob frozen
• 6 bell peppers
• 3 bunches celery
• 4 - 6 jalapeños
• 1 - 1 ½ habanero pepper
• 25 pounds shrimp frozen
• 25 pounds sausage

To Serve 100:

• 30 bags seasoning I use Zatarain's - See Notes for options.
• 50 pounds red potatoes
• 10 bags baby carrots
• 12 large bags of small corn on the cob frozen
• 10 bell peppers
• 5 bunches celery
• 8 - 12 jalapeños
• 2 - 3 habanero pepper
• 50 pounds shrimp frozen
• 50 pounds sausage

Instructions

 

Keeping everything separate:

• Wash and cut potatoes into large chunks
• Wash and cut celery and bell peppers into large slices
• Slice jalapenos
• Cut sausage into ¾" - 1" slices

Cooking:

• We cook in batches using the amounts for 25 people. Total cooking time is 60 minutes after the water boils and you begin adding the ingredients.
• Bring water to a boil.
• Place seasoning bags in a mesh bag or cheesecloth.
• Add potatoes and seasoning bags.
• Wait 10 minutes.
• Add carrots, corn, and sausage.
• Wait 10 minutes.
• Add bell peppers, celery, jalapenos and habaneros.
• Let cook 5 - 10 minutes.
• Add the frozen shrimp.
• Wait for 5 - 8 minutes. The shrimp should be pink and tender.

To Serve:

• Drain the water and dump the shrimp boil onto a table with a plastic tablecloth or place in serving dish - allow everyone to help themselves!
• Enjoy!

Notes

I use a 10 gallon pot to cook the shrimp boil recipe in and it holds the ingredients for 25 people if you only add about 2 gallons of water.

Helpful Tips For Making A Shrimp Boil

• First, be sure to purchase shrimp that is in the shell and de-veined. ]
• Second, if you are cooking in large quantities we use 10-gallon stockpots over propane burners. Obviously, that is a lot more water than people normally boil, so be sure to allow plenty of time. It took us about 30 minutes to get the water to boil.

If you do not have access to Zatarain's spice mix: Use the following tied in a muslin cloth to equal 1 bag of the Zatarain's mix.

• 4 tablespoons dill seeds
• 4 tablespoons coriander seeds
• 4 tablespoons mustard seeds
• 4 teaspoons cayenne (this had a nice kick to it but wasn’t super hot)
• 8 bay leaves

Keyword entertaining, low country boil recipe, shrimp boil recipe