This low country boil recipe is about as authentic as it comes. In South Carolina in a small Gullah-Geechee place called Frogmore, they call it a stew. It’s basically a one pot seafood free for all with shrimp, crab, sausage, corn and so much spicy flavor. When you wanna impress folks and entertain them right, make this crowdpleaser.
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How to Make Low Country Boil
- Bring 6 quarts of water and 4 ½ cans of beer to a simmer in a 12-quart pot.
- Add crab boil bags, ¼ cup Old Bay, bay leaves, garlic, potatoes, sausage, and half the lemons or limes. Simmer 15 minutes until potatoes are nearly tender.
- Add corn and cook for about 10 minutes. Add shrimp and cook until pink, then stir in cooked crabs. Let everything sit in the broth 10–15 minutes.
- Strain (reserve ½ cup liquid). Spread seafood on a platter or paper-covered table. For dipping sauce, whisk melted butter with Old Bay, hot sauce, juice from remaining lemons/limes, and reserved liquid.
Low Country Boil Recipe
This authentic low country boil recipe is a wonderful one-pot seafood crowdpleaser packed with shrimp, crab, sausage, corn, beer, and spices galore!
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Servings: 10 people
Ingredients
- 5 (25 ounce) beer cans divided
- 1 (3 ounce) Zatarain’s Crab Boil box
- 1 (3 ounce) Louisiana Crab Boil box
- 1 Old Bay Seasoning container plus more if needed
- 2 fresh bay leaves can go up to 3
- 3 garlic bulbs cut in half
- 2 lbs Petite Yukon Gold Potatoes washed and set aside
- 1 (32 ounce box) of smoked sausage cut into 1 inch diagonal slices.
- 3 lemons cut in quarters and divided
- 3 limes cut in quarters and divided
- 6 ears of fresh corn broken into quarters or you can use frozen cobblers
- 2 lbs medium to large shrimp
- 12 cooked Blue Crabs
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 bottle of hot sauce
Instructions
- Bring a large stockpot (at least 12 quart) of water (6 quarts), 4 ½ cans of beer to a simmer.
- Add the Zatarain’s crab boil bag, and open the Louisiana crab boil bag and empty the contents into the pot.
- Add ¼ cup of Old Bay seasoning.
- Add the bay leaves, garlic, potatoes, sausage and half of the lemons and limes.
- *Season Check Time- Is the broth smoky, salty and spicy? If not add a little more Old Bay.
- Simmer for 15 minutes until the potatoes are almost soft.
- Now add the corn, cooking for 10 minutes.
- We clear the table off and put either newspaper or brown contractor’s paper down, have the crab claw crackers ready, paper towels and small bowls for dipping.
- Add the shrimp, allowing them to turn pink before turning the stove off. Add your cooked crabs and allow to sit in the liquid for 10-15 minutes.
- Strain the liquid out of the pot, but keep ½ cup aside for the dipping sauce. You can either put everything on a platter or just spread it out on the table.
- Melt the stick of butter, Old Bay seasoning to taste, a few dashes of hot sauce, the juice from the other lemons and limes you put aside and the reserved liquid from the pot. Whisk together and pour into the condiment bowls and serve.
Notes
Note: For Shrimp, Wash them off really good in cool water if they are fresh. I like mine with the heads on because the flavor is richer, but frozen is also fine.
Note: For Sausage, I like Georgia Boy but you can use chicken, turkey or beef sausage.
Note: For Blue Crabs, you can also substitute king crab legs. I would get estimate about 1 ½ per person.
Nutrition
Calories: 310kcal | Carbohydrates: 27g | Protein: 24g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 258mg | Sodium: 873mg | Potassium: 674mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 402IU | Vitamin C: 41mg | Calcium: 179mg | Iron: 6mg
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Ingredient Notes
- Beer (Lots of it. It’s 85% of my stock. Budweiser or Esslinger is great.
- Two different kinds of “Boil in the bag” spice mix. The best brands to use are Zatarain’s and Louisiana.
- For the Shrimp: Wash them off really good in cool water if they are fresh. If you leave the heads on, the flavor is richer, but frozen is also fine.
- For the Smoked Sausage: The brand Georgia Boy is great but you can also use chicken, turkey or beef sausage.
- For the Blue Crabs: you can also substitute king crab legs. I would get estimate about 1 ½ per person.
- Hot Sauce: The brand Texas Pete is great but use your fave.
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Serving Suggestions
Once your low country boil is ready, clear the table off and put either newspaper or brown contractor’s paper down, have the crab claw crackers ready, paper towels and small bowls for dipping.
More seafood recipes
A HUGE THANK YOU to What’s Gina Cooking for guest posting and providing this wonderful recipe!
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Wow! Great recipe! I thought I knew how to prepare a good low country boil but this recipe proved me wrong! Being in Arizona, I had no access to blue crabs so substituted with Snow and Dungeness crab with the shrimp. Delicious! Also, I used a bottle of Old Bay hot sauce. Wish I could post a picture of the spread!
BEAUTIFUL
This was delicious. I put the crab legs in a few minutes before the shrimp and then turned it off. I did use the Zada Rands and Louisiana shrimp boil, so it had a lot of kick. Great recipe!
Mmmmmm hummmmm, This sounds so good I’ve got a drat. I’ll be cooking up a big pot for my grandchildren later this week. With that awesome recipe how can I go wrong? thanks for sharing it with us. What a great way to send Papa on to the next great adventure !!!
Delicious
Oh my, this looks so incredibly seasoned to perfection!!! This will be my next try out recipe!!! Thank You!!!
Wow the blue crab is the only way my family eats it!!! I am a combo of Savannah, GA and Frogmore, SC St. Helena Island. My sisters are coming to visit me this month and this is on our menu for sure!!!
Thanks for the great recipe that’s just how I like it! Perfect for this Father’s Day weekend…