Seafood Boil Recipe (with cajun garlic butter sauce)
Jun 17, 2025, Updated Mar 21, 2026
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This easy seafood boil recipe with cajun garlic butter sauce brings serious flavor in the best way. I throw everything in that pot like I’ve got something to prove, shrimp, lobster, crab legs, smoked sausage, corn and potatoes. The cajun garlic butter sauce gets poured all over for a real treat. Every time I bring this out everyone is grabbing, dipping, licking their fingers, and asking me for the recipe.
If you love seafood like me check out my Easy Seafood Bake, it’s almost like this recipe but made in the oven for ease. My Steamed Snow Crab Legs and Spicy Lobster Rolls are some of my favorite seafood recipes.
Key ingredients for this recipe
- Beer & water – Acts as a flavorful base that infuses the seafood with depth. I love using a pale ale or an IPA to really bring out the flavors of the boil.
- Old Bay & Cajun seasoning – The classic combo for a bold, Southern-style boil. I like to opt for hot old bay for extra heat.
- Yellow onion & garlic – Adds aroma and layers of flavor to the broth.
- Lemon – Brightens everything and balances the richness of the butter.
- Red potatoes – Hearty and soak up all the spicy broth.
- Smoked andouille sausage – Adds a smoky, meaty bite to the mix.
- Crab legs, lobster tails, shrimp – The stars of the show, sweet, briny, and meaty. I like to use frozen crab legs in my at home seafood boil.
- Corn on the cob – Sweet and juicy, the perfect boil sidekick. Using frozen mini corn on the cob in a cajun seafood boil is perfectly fine.
- Butter – The base for our sauce, don’t skimp! I recommend using unsalted butter for our seafood boil sauce.
- Onion, garlic, seasonings – Layered into the butter for maximum flavor.
Tips for making a seafood boil
- Using frozen, previously cooked crab legs is totally fine. If the crab legs are orange, then they have been previously cooked, there’s no need to defrost.
- I like to use red potatoes but you can use Yukon gold potatoes as well. The red potatoes are more traditional and stay a bit firmer when boiling.
- Stick to the seafood cooking times. In this recipe I specifically add the seafood at different times so nothing overcooks. The last thing we want is a seafood boil with rubbery seafood. I have a list of seafood cooking times below the recipe card as well.
- When using lobster, make sure it’s thawed before adding to the cajun boil. Unlike crab, the lobster isn’t pre-cooked.
- If your pot isn’t large enough, add less liquid or cook the seafood in batches. I’ve overstuffed the pot plenty of times while make seafood boils on the stove, but it can get messy and just annoying to deal with.
- Feel free to add other seafood like clams or mussels even, but look up the cook time beforehand.
Seafood Boil Recipe (with cajun garlic butter sauce)
Ingredients
Seafood boil:
- 1 19oz beer, large can
- 4 quarts water
- 3 tbsp old bay seasoning
- 2 tbsp cajun seasoning, use one where salt isn't the first ingredient or with lower sodium
- 1 yellow onion , peeled and cut into quarters
- 8 cloves garlic , peeled and smashed
- 2 lemons , divided, cut into wedges
- 1 lb Red potatoes , quartered
- 12 oz smoked andouille sausage
- 2 lbs crab legs
- 3 lobster tails
- 1 lb shrimp
- 4 corn on the cob , cut into smaller pieces or use mini ones, frozen works too
Cajun garlic butter sauce:
- 4 sticks butter, unsalted
- 8 cloves garlic , minced
- ¼ c red onion, diced, white onion works too
- 1/2 lemon, juiced
- 1 tbsp cajun seasoning
- 1 tsp hot old bay
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- Pinch sugar
- ½ c seafood boil broth, optional
- Fresh chopped parsley
Instructions
- To a large pot over medium high heat, add the beer, water, old bay & cajun seasonings, onion, garlic and half of the lemon. Give this a good stir and bring to a boil. Let boil for about 10 minutes. While boiling have a large baking sheet or pan out to pour the seafood onto when finished.
- Add the potatoes to the pot and let boil for 5 minutes. Then add in the sausage and let it cook for about 5 minutes.
- Next, add in the crab legs (add the corn here if using frozen!) and after 5 minutes add in the lobster, shrimp and corn. Let this boil for another 5 minutes.
- Once you put the lobster, shrimp and corn in, start on the cajun butter sauce. To a skillet or sauce pan add the butter over medium heat and begin melting. Once melted, skim off a bit of the top layer of white that you see form on the butter with a spoon. Trust me this will make sort of a clarified butter aka ghee that is delicious. It's ok if you don't skim all off.
- Reserve 1/2 cup of the seafood broth. Then remove the seafood boil from the heat and drain the remaining broth here because we don't want to overcook the seafood.
- Once the top layer is skimmed off, add all the rest of the ingredients for the cajun butter sauce into the butter. Stir occasionally for about 5 minutes. During the last minute add in the seafood boil broth and stir constantly then remove from the heat. I like to pour a little into a ramekin for dipping.
- Take a large baking sheet or dish and place everything from the seafood boil pot onto it. Stir the parsley into the cajun butter sauce and pour this over everything.
- Serve with the remaining lemon wedges on the side, dig in and enjoy!
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Seafood Cooking Times
Seafood in general cooks pretty fast, but it can overcook easily. These cooking times are recommended so you get the best seafood boil possible. Seafood is pricey and in this economy we aren’t wasting a dime!
- Crab legs – 6-10 minutes. While crab legs can overcook, they can withstand a few more minutes before becoming overcooked, unlike some of the other seafood on this list.
- Lobster tails- Smaller lobster tails, about 4-6 ounces will cook in about 5 minutes, while larger tails 8 ounces or more may take 8-10 minutes. The shell should turn a bring reddish orange and the meat be an opaque white. You do not want to overcook these or they will be chewy.
- Shrimp- In this recipe I suggest to use jumbo shrimp which will take about 5 minutes to cook. Smaller shrimp will cook faster. For any size shrimp that you cook, look for it to turn pink and curl into a slight C shape.
- Clams and mussels- If you decided to add clams or mussels they will take about 5-10 minutes total. Once they pop open they are finished. Clams tend to get tougher than mussels when over cooked. If you love mussels, I highly recommend my Mussels in White Wine Sauce.
Commonly asked questions for this seafood boil recipe
Yes! Just use all water or sub in chicken broth if you want more flavor.
Sticking with a mix crab legs, lobster, and shrimp works great. Add mussels or clams if you’re feeling fancy.
No, but skimming the foam gives a smoother, richer sauce. Totally worth it.
It’s got heat but nothing overwhelming. Dial it up or down with the Cajun seasoning and hot Old Bay. Or just use regular old bay instead.
Yes! Make the butter sauce ahead and reheat gently. You can also chop the aromatics and portion your seafood the night before.
This might be my favorite recipe on the entire site! I’m a huge fan of seafood boils, and this one makes it so easy to recreate at home. I also appreciate that it’s not overly salty like some can be. Love making this for my family!
5 starssssss
It’s one of my faves too!
Such a wonderful and easy recipe to follow!! 10/10
Thanks!
I followed this seafood boil recipe and was blown away by the results! The instructions were super easy to follow, and everything came out perfectly seasoned and full of flavor. The shrimp, crab legs, potatoes, and corn soaked up the buttery garlic sauce so well—it tasted just like something you’d get at a top seafood spot. So good ! 😋
Thank you! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
This seafood boil recipe was phenomenal! The flavors were perfectly balanced. The mix of Old Bay, Cajun, garlic, butter, and lemon made every bite delicious. I substituted the lobster for mussels came out great!
Seafood boils are my absolute fave, especially during the summer. This recipe was delicious and the mix of seasonings with a zing of freshness from the citrus squeeze over it all at the end, was perfect. Great balance of garlic and flavor without being over powering.
I love corn so I usually sub the potato for more corn with this recipe. Obsessed!