Low Country Boil Recipe

This low country boil recipe features corn-on-the-cob, new potatoes, fresh shrimp, and smoked sausage cooked all in one pot! The full recipe is included below plus a garlic butter dipping sauce and plenty of tips for hosting a Low Country Boil party!

Now, this isn’t exactly something you throw together for a backyard BBQ. BUT, this Southern classic will feed a lot of people on a relatively affordable budget. From start to finish, this recipe takes about 30-45 minutes to cook completely. Then, turn everything out on a newspaper-covered table and dig in!

What is a Low Country Boil?

A Low Country Boil is basically a one-pot meal made with regional staples. Louisiana, South Carolina, and New England all have their own variations. Since I grew up close to the Gulf Coast, we generally do this Cajun Style and with fresh shrimp.

Why I love this recipe

This low country boil is perfect for hosting a crowd of people – it’s the ultimate one pot meal! The shrimp, potatoes, corn, and smoked sausage make this a super hearty meal. There’s no need for any additional side dishes. Just serve with melted garlic butter for dipping!

While this can be done on the stove top, I highly recommend doing this outside with a boiler. The experience is completely different…and so much fun! Once finished cooking, it’s poured out onto newspaper or butcher paper and eaten by hand.

If you need an inside alternative, consider my sheet pan shrimp boil.

Finish with a slather of butter and douse in McCormick OLD BAY® Seasoning. It is so delicious you will certainly forget to take decent pictures throughout the process. It really doesn’t get much better than this, y’all!

Ingredient Notes

• Shrimp: You’ll want fresh, peel-on shrimp for this recipe. Peeled or pre-cooked shrimp will overcook and become rubbery.
• Corn and Potatoes: Aside from the shrimp, the vegetables are the heart of this recipe. The corn and potatoes serve as the side dish and as “filler” ingredients to the shrimp.
• Smoked Sausage: I prefer using Conecuh sausage, but keilbasa or your favorite smoked sausage will work too.
• Seasoning: You can’t do a seafood boil without Old Bay seasoning! Instead of measuring out the seasoning, use the low country boil bags. Find these at your supermarket.

Equipment Notes

Here are a few items you will need to make this recipe a success:

• Boiler Pot: I recommend purchasing a complete kit with a basket, lifting rack, hook, and burners.
• Butcher Paper: Use this for serving the low country boil

How to Make a Low Country Boil

Preparation

Organization is key! There are a few different cook times for each ingredient, so having everything prepped ahead of time will save you a lot of hassle.

Figure out if you are cooking inside or outside. Then, prepare your ingredients and line them up in the order they are cooked. Corn cobs and sausage should be cut, shrimp should be rinsed, lemons and onion halved, and potatoes should be washed.

Cooking Times for Ingredients:

• Potatoes: About 20 minutes
• Corn: About 15 minutes
• Sausage: About 5 minutes
• Shrimp: About 3 minutes

Step 1: Cook the Potatoes, Corn, and Sausage

Bring your stockpot to a boil and add the seasoning bags, lemons, and onions. Return to a rolling boil. These first ingredients season the cooking water and infuse flavor to the remaining vegetables, sausage, and shrimp.

Then, add the potatoes and cook for 5-8 minutes, or until slightly tender. Then, add the corn and sausage to the pot and continue cooking until the potatoes are easily pierced with a fork.

Step 2: Cook the Shrimp

Next, turn the heat off and add the shrimp. The shrimp cooks very quickly, so be prepared for the next step before adding the shrimp.

Step 3: Serve

Next, carefully drain the boiler by lifting the basket out of the pot and allowing the water to drain away from the basket. Waterproof pot holders are great for this step!

*Please be extremely careful when transferring the food from the boiling water to the table. Drain your boiler basket well!

Turn the food out onto the butcher paper. Add several pats of butter to the seafood, and sprinkle with additional Old Bay seasoning as desired. Serve immediately with garlic butter for dipping!

Cooking Tips

Setting Up

You will definitely want a set up that can get a little dirty. I recommend using a plastic table or picnic table that can easily be hosed off. You can also layer the table with a tarp and newspaper for extra coverage.

Don’t forget plenty of paper towels!

Timing Ingredients

Since the ingredients all take different times to cook, you will want to time the cooking time for each. The corn, sausage, and potatoes are very forgiving, but the shrimp can easily overcook.

Storing and Reheating

Store leftovers in an air tight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

To reheat, microwave at one-minute increments until warmed through.

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