Shrimp and Clam Boil Recipe with Sausage
Published September 14, 2018. This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
Get your football gameday on and take a trip to bayou country and make this amazingly delicious Shrimp and Clam Boil Recipe with Sausage.
It’s here, FINALLY!! I’ve been waiting since January for college football to come back around and I could not be more ecstatic because that means I get to whip this up. There is nothing like watching football on a Saturday all day with good friends and a whole lot of food to graze on!
This is one of those comforting recipes that is so hearty and so filling but I’m not kidding when I say you could literally eat it all day long. It’s kind of like soup, to be honest. Shrimp and clam boils are usually a bit spicy as well which I think makes it that much better!
What is a Seafood Boil
Seafood boils have been around for quite a long time and originated in Louisiana. Folks would make seafood boils almost as an excuse to get together as a community. Seafood boils are delicious, easy to make, and usually can feed a ton of people!
If you aren’t familiar with a seafood boil then maybe you’ve heard of Frogmore stew which is more of a Carolina, Georgia, Florida name for it, but honestly, it’s just about the same thing.
There are many different things you can cook in a seafood boil, but just as long as some sort of seafood is the staple ingredient. Most typical seafood boils consist of shrimp, crawfish, lobster, or crab.
I mean can you even imagine how expensive a lobster boil would be?! For all intents and purposes of being able to feed my friends while not going broke, we’ll stick with shrimp, but don’t worry because it is still absolutely delicious!
Boil Seasoning
When it comes to the seasoning for this, there are definitely a few things you can do. You can make your own or use a store-bought one, but you need to use something. Nothing worse than boiled vegetables and seafood with zero flavors, I mean NOTHING!
I, of course, made my own seasoning blend and it was actually pretty easy to do. I think most of you guys will find that you have just about all of the spices and herbs right in your very own cabinets as we speak. You can make the seasoning I made, do a variation of it, or save a few minutes and buy some at the store.
This is totally up to you but make sure to do it!
How to Make a Shrimp and Clam Boil
One of the most important things when making this recipe is to be able to time when the ingredients go into the pot, so things cook while not overcooking. For example, you would never put shrimp in at the beginning of the cooking process because they’d be mush by the time they’re done.
When boiling shrimp in general I usually bring the water to a very low boil and add them in and they take around 5 to 7 minutes to cook through.
You also have to remember that when you remove shrimp from the seasoned water they don’t automatically stop cooking, they will continue to cook.
In this recipe, I used some pretty big shrimp, which were about 16 to 20 per pound. With this being said, it may take you longer or shorter to boil the shrimp dependent upon the size. One of my favorite things in my kitchen is my pot filler from Franke.
I’ve always wanted a pot filler and man oh man to I absolutely love it especially for things like this. Your eyes are just drawn to it because it’s just something different in a kitchen.
The Franke gooseneck pot filler I have is stunning and so incredibly functional. This recipe uses 3 gallons of water and it gets really heavy so to be able to leave the pot right there on the burner and fill it up is amazing! If you’re an all-day grazer and football watcher then this shrimp and clam boil recipe is absolutely for you!!
My Favorite Seafood Recipes
If you love this, then check out these seafood recipes
- Smoked Salmon Dip Recipe
- Lobster Bisque
- Homemade Gravlax Recipe
- Oysters Rockefeller Recipe
- Classic Salad Nicoise Recipe
Video
Shrimp and Clam Boil Recipe with Sausage
Ingredients
For the Spices:
- 1 tablespoon of coriander seeds
- 1 teaspoon of celery seeds
- 1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
- 2 teaspoons of dill
- ½ teaspoon of ginger
- 1 tablespoon of paprika
- 1 teaspoon of pepper
- 2 teaspoons of ground mustard
- ½ teaspoon of all-spice
- 2 tablespoons of sea salt
For the Shrimp Boil:
- 3 sliced lemons
- 3 bay leaves
- 20 sprigs of fresh thyme leaves
- 2 peeled and roughly chopped yellow onions
- 5 pounds of red potatoes
- 6 ears of shucked corn cut into thirds
- 2 pounds of Polish sausage cut into 1” pieces
- 18 fresh clams
- 3 pounds of jumbo deveined shrimp
Instructions
- Spices: Combine all ingredients together in a small bowl and set aside.
- Bring 3 gallons of water to a soft boil along with the spice blend, lemons, bay leaves, thyme, and onions. Note: the water should be as salty tasting like the ocean so you may need to add more in there.
- Next, add in the potatoes and cook for 4 minutes before adding in the corn. Cook for another 4 minutes.
- Add in the sausage and cook for 4 minutes and then add in the clams and cook for 4 minutes.
- Finally, turn the heat off completely and add in the shrimp and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until the shrimp is cooked and the clams have opened.
- Drain the shrimp and clam boil and serve on a newspaper or a large serving platter.
Notes
Nutrition
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So I made this yesterday. My son was tasting lemon in the potatoes? He didn’t like the flavor. Maybe next time I’d only add 1 1/2 lemons. Also most of the clams fell out of their shell. I think I’ll leave them in their net next time. I had two bags of 18 small clams. I did have to add a lot of salt to get it to be salty. All and all it was pretty good. He took all the leftovers except the potatoes. I had them today, didn’t taste the lemon today.
When do you add spices? Cook for 10 mins with heat off?
At the beginning.
Looks delicious. How large of a pot did you use in the video? Not many clams for 12 people!
Definitely heavier on the shrimp because clams are expensive. It is a 10 gallon pot
So much deliciousness here. What a great way to prepare a big meal!
OMG! Pass me the paper towels. It’s about to get gloriously messy!
This is such a great idea! My family will love this!
Looks so yummy! I’ve never made one before – need to try it out!
I’ve never made shrimp boil! This looks so good!
How many servings would you estimate for your shrimp boil recipe?
Oh man, it’s a recipe I definitely need to redo but it serves probably 6 to 8