Seafood Boil Recipe (with cajun garlic butter sauce)

A loaded seafood boil platter topped with Cajun garlic butter, featuring crab legs, shrimp, corn, and lemon wedges.

5 from 5 votes

Seafood Boil Recipe (with cajun garlic butter sauce)

This seafood boil with cajun butter sauce is packed with crab, lobster, shrimp and more, all tossed in buttery, spicy, lemony flavor.

Prep Time15

Cook Time40

Course: Dinner, Lunch

Cuisine: American

Keyword: cajun, Seafood, soul food, southern

Servings:

Author: August DeWindt

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