Showcasing meaty and rich crawfish, this recipe is a step-by-step guide to perfecting the iconic Louisiana crawfish boil.
recipe 
yields
Serves 12
35- to 45-pounds of cleaned and purged live crawfish
63 to 72 ounces dry crawfish, shrimp, and crab boil seasoning, regular or extra-spicy
8 ounces shrimp and crab boil liquid concentrate seasoning
1 cup kosher salt
8 lemons, halved
3 oranges, halved
4 medium yellow onions, peeled and quartered
2 garlic bulbs, halved crosswise
1 bunch celery, ends discarded, stalks halved crosswise
2 pounds small red (new) potatoes, scrubbed (halve any larger than a golf ball)
2 pounds Andouille sausage, cut into 3-inch lengths
16 pieces frozen mini corn on the cob
yields 2 cups
1 pound butter, divided
¼ cup chopped garlic
Juice of 2 lemons (about ¼ cup)
3 tablespoons Cajun seasoning blend, or to taste
3 tablespoons chopped parsley
Pinch of sugar (optional)
yields 2 cups
1¼ cups mayonnaise
¾ cup ketchup
Finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning blend, or to taste
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper or several shakes of Louisiana or Crystal hot sauce
For the crawfish
For the garlic butter sauce
For the creamy sauce
Special equipment: 15+ gallon cooking pot with basket insert
steps
Make the crawfish:
- Pour crawfish into a large cooler with an open drainage hole and rinse them under cool running water until water runs clear. Discard any dead crawfish, which have straight tails instead of curved.
- Fill cooking pot with basket insert just over half full of water. Place over high heat and bring to a rolling boil. Stir in the dry seasoning, liquid seasoning, and salt. Return to a boil.
- Squeeze juice from lemons and oranges into pot and drop in rinds. Add onion, garlic, and celery. Return to a boil. Stir in potatoes, cover, and cook for 10 minutes.
- Stir in the sausage, cover, and cook until potatoes are fork- tender, about 10 minutes more.
- Stir in crawfish, cover, and cook until shells turn bright red, about 3 minutes. Turn off heat, uncover, and stir in frozen corn to help cool the liquid.
- Let crawfish soak until tail meat is tender and well-seasoned. The crawfish rise to the surface as they cook but will sink down into the liquid when they have absorbed all of the flavor that they can. Total soaking time is a matter of strong personal preference—from as little as 20 minutes to as much as 40 minutes. Do not let meat turn mushy.
- Slowly lift basket insert out of pot so liquid can drain out. Pour drained contents onto a covered table. (Some people prefer to pour the contents into a large, clean cooler or ice chest, left open.)
- Serve with dipping sauces, Cajun seasoning, and lemon wedges and dig in. The basic method to peel a crawfish is to hold it by each end and break it in half across the natural middle. Suck juices from the head. Peel the first shell segment from around the tail meat and gently pinch the end so that the meat pops out.
Make the garlic butter dipping sauce:
- In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, melt 4 tablespoons butter. Add garlic and cook until tender and fragrant, about 1 minute, stirring continuously; do not let garlic brown. Stir in lemon juice. Add remaining butter and stir until melted. Stir in Cajun seasoning and parsley. Taste and add a pinch of sugar for balance, if desired.
Make the creamy dipping sauce:
- In a small bowl, stir together all ingredients. Cover and refrigerate until needed.
Date Published: 05.19.25
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Recipe by
Sheri Castle
