all things food
In Absolute Best Tests, our writer Ella Quittner destroys the sanctity of her home kitchen in the name of the truth. She’s mashed dozens of potatoes, seared more Porterhouse steaks than she cares to recall, and tasted enough types of bacon to concern a…
In Absolute Best Tests, our writer Ella Quittner destroys the sanctity of her home kitchen in the name of the truth. She's mashed dozens of potatoes, seared more Porterhouse steaks than she cares to recall, and tasted enough types of bacon to concern a cardiologist. Today, she tackles hard-boiled eggs.
Humans have been boiling eggs for a very long time.
Here’s how to make the best shrimp boil! This easy meal of corn, potatoes and shrimp is perfect for a crowd. No plates required! Here’s a meal that’s special every time you serve it: a Shrimp Boil! This classic American seafood boil is one of our favorite meals to serve to a crowd because everyone always loves it. Boil up potatoes, corn, onions and shrimp in a flavorful broth, then dump them out onto a table lined with parchment paper. No plates, no silverware: just you, your hands and a can of Old Bay seasoning. There’s something magical about the experience: and it’s a hit every time. We make it at the lake house in the summer, and camping in the fall. It’s perfect for eating outdoors as the light gets low and the fire is crackling. But you can make it in your kitchen too! Here’s everything you need to know about making a shrimp boil. First of all: what’s a shrimp boil? A shrimp boil also known as a seafood boil: an American tradition that comes from the South and Northeast. Seafood boils can have all sorts of seafood: crab, crawfish, clams, etc. Usually corn and red potatoes […]
Here’s how to make the best shrimp boil! This easy meal of corn, potatoes and shrimp is perfect for a crowd. No plates required!
Here’s a meal that’s special every time you serve it: a Shrimp Boil! This classic American seafood boil is one of our favorite meals to serve to a crowd because everyone always loves it. Boil up potatoes, corn, onions and shrimp in a flavorful broth, then dump them out onto a table lined with parchment paper. No plates, no silverware: just you, your hands and a can of Old Bay seasoning. There’s something magical about the experience: and it’s a hit every time. We make it at the lake house in the summer, and camping in the fall. It’s perfect for eating outdoors as the light gets low and the fire is crackling. But you can make it in your kitchen too! Here’s everything you need to know about making a shrimp boil.
A shrimp boil also known as a seafood boil: an American tradition that comes from the South and Northeast. Seafood boils can have all sorts of seafood: crab, crawfish, clams, etc. Usually corn and red potatoes are boiled along with the seafood in a broth flavored with lemon and bay leaves. The best part? There are no plates or silverware for a shrimp boil. It’s traditionally served on a table lined with paper, often with Old Bay seasoning (more on that, below!).
It’s easy to make a shrimp boil at home! If you’ve never done it, we’ll break down the method for you. You can make a shrimp boil on your stovetop as the main method, but we’ve got a campfire variation too. Here’s what you need to make a shrimp boil:
The method for a shrimp boil is this: you’ll make a flavorful broth with water and spices, then boil each of the components separately. Why separately? Here’s the important thing to note. The largest pot most cooks have is an 8 quart pot. You have to cook each component on its own because you can’t fit the volume of all the food and broth in the pot at once. This makes enough for 4 to 6 servings. (Now if you have a very large 5 gallon pot, you can cook everything at once: go to the section below!) Here are the basic steps for a shrimp boil in an 8 quart pot:
Got a huge 5 gallon pot? You can use it to make the basic recipe for 4 and boil everything at one time. Or, you can use it to make a shrimp boil for a crowd! Double this recipe to serve 8 to 12 people. This method works on the stovetop or even on a campfire. This is how we do a shrimp boil on the open fire! Here are the alterative instructions for a shrimp boil in a large 5 gallon pot:
The best part of a shrimp boil is the Old Bay seasoning (in our humble opinion, at least!). This tasty seasoning is famous for its use in seafood boils. Don’t even think about leaving it out when making this shrimp boil! It brings the classic flavor that’s traditional for this special dish. Here’s what to know:
The best part about making a shrimp boil is serving it! Here’s what to know:
A shrimp boil is such a unique meal, it can be hard to figure out what to serve with it. You’re not eating on plates, so it doesn’t quite make sense to eat a salad or coleslaw. But you can pull out small side plates if you’d like to serve traditional side dishes! Here’s what we suggest serving with a shrimp boil:
Pescatarian, dairy free and gluten-free.
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(5 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
Prep Time: 15 minutes Cook Time: 45 minutes Total Time: 1 hour 
Yield: 4 to 6 Here’s the best shrimp boil recipe! This easy meal of corn, potatoes and shrimp is perfect for a crowd. No plates required!
*If desired, replace 1 pound shrimp with 1 pound kielbasa sausage. Boil the sliced sausage for 12 minutes with the potatoes and onions.
**Large pot method (works for open fire or stovetop): This method cooks everything separately because the largest pot most cooks have is 8 quart. If you have a very large pot that’s 4 to 5 gallons, you can double the recipe and cook it all in one pot. Cook the potatoes and onions for 8 minutes, add the sausage and cook for 6 minutes (if using), add the corn and cook for 4 minutes, then add the shrimp and cook for 2 minutes.
Category: Main Dish
Method: Boiled
Cuisine: AmericanKeywords: Shrimp boil
A Couple Cooks - Healthy, Whole Food, & Vegetarian Recipes
It all started the first time I was lured by a tri-color bag of string beans at a farmers market—the purple, green, and yellow electric against each other.
I brought them home so pumped to make a salad. I cleaned each one, getting more and more excite…
It all started the first time I was lured by a tri-color bag of string beans at a farmers market—the purple, green, and yellow electric against each other.
I brought them home so pumped to make a salad. I cleaned each one, getting more and more excited as each color passed through my fingers. Then I blanched them and what had been neon purple turned to grey-green. I was pissed off in a way that is, admittedly, unreasonable.
I admit that, despite being a fairly accomplished cook, I have found myself on multiple occasions googling “how to boil potatoes.” I know there are only so many moving parts here, but still I find myself staring down the pile of misshapen tubers on my …
I admit that, despite being a fairly accomplished cook, I have found myself on multiple occasions googling “how to boil potatoes.” I know there are only so many moving parts here, but still I find myself staring down the pile of misshapen tubers on my counter, totally paralyzed. Should I peel? Should I slice? Did I pick the right potatoes? To add to my growing panic, my wife, who is Irish, has opinions. One does not, for example, mash potatoes with cream, or with chives. One certainly does not purée potatoes. There is a right sort of potato to mash, but when I text her to ask what the right sort are called, she responds, “I think we call them potatoes.”
If you are facing a similar crisis: It doesn’t have to be like this. Together, we can figure it out.
Want a shrimp boil recipe that’s easy enough for a weeknight? Bake it! This sheet pan shrimp boil in oven is simple to make and has serious flavor. I still remember my first shrimp boil. Raised in the heart of the Midwest, it wasn’t until adulthood that I got to experience it. The paper on the table, the jumble of Old Bay-spiced shrimp and potatoes, all the guests eating with their fingers as the sky began to darken: it was magic. Ever since, the shrimp boil has held my heart. We’ve made it for festive occasions, birthdays and weddings and family vacations at the lake. So why not harness the magic of the shrimp boil for an every day meal? This sheet pan shrimp boil in oven is an easy way to make it on a weeknight: no large pot or fire required! Keep reading for how to do it. How to make a shrimp boil in oven The concept of a shrimp boil in the oven is just that! Instead of boiling the veggies and shrimp, you’ll bake them on a sheet pan with olive oil and some tasty seasonings. Like many sheet pan dinners, this requires starting the […]
Want a shrimp boil recipe that’s easy enough for a weeknight? Bake it! This sheet pan shrimp boil in oven is simple to make and has serious flavor.
I still remember my first shrimp boil. Raised in the heart of the Midwest, it wasn’t until adulthood that I got to experience it. The paper on the table, the jumble of Old Bay-spiced shrimp and potatoes, all the guests eating with their fingers as the sky began to darken: it was magic. Ever since, the shrimp boil has held my heart. We’ve made it for festive occasions, birthdays and weddings and family vacations at the lake. So why not harness the magic of the shrimp boil for an every day meal? This sheet pan shrimp boil in oven is an easy way to make it on a weeknight: no large pot or fire required! Keep reading for how to do it.
The concept of a shrimp boil in the oven is just that! Instead of boiling the veggies and shrimp, you’ll bake them on a sheet pan with olive oil and some tasty seasonings. Like many sheet pan dinners, this requires starting the longest cooking vegetable in the oven first: in this case, the potatoes. You’ll bake, then add the corn to the same sheet, bake some more, and then add the shrimp.
To make this sheet pan shrimp boil as easy as possible, you’ll mix the potatoes in a bowl with the seasonings, then use the same seasonings and same bowl to mix the corn. Then you’ll use the same bowl and seasonings to mix up the shrimp! So you’ll only dirty one bowl in the process: and you can start to memorize the seasoning mix too.
Here’s how to make a sheet pan shrimp boil in oven (see the full recipe below):
And that’s it! What results is a shrimp boil full of oven-roasted goodness. The veggies have browned and caramelized goodness, salty and seasoned with the nuance of cozy Old Bay seasoning. And the shrimp are perfectly tender.
Once you’ve made a shrimp boil in the oven: how to serve it? Do not even think about using plates and silverware! They’re strictly forbidden here! If you’d like to serve it like a traditional low country shrimp boil, you can spread butcher paper of newspaper over your table. Then pour the shrimp boil goodness right onto the paper. Enjoy by eating with your hands! And of course have lots of napkins handy nearby.
You also can allow the baking sheets to cool off, and serve directly from the cooled baking sheets. Or serve on a large platter.
When we made this shrimp boil in the oven, we served it as a special meal for my teen refugee mentee from Congo. It was perfect for a late summer meal on the patio, and a fun way to build our relationship! We researched side dishes to serve with a shrimp boil and came up pretty short. Most side dishes require a plate, which ruins the vibe.
Since we were feeling creatively uninpsired, we decided to just skip side dishes and go with dessert instead! So we served this shrimp boil followed by our Classic Strawberry Shortcake. It was the perfect carefree ending to a festive meal.
Serving this sheet pan shrimp boil with cornbread or bread seem like good options: do you have ideas on side dishes that would work? (Let us know in the comments below.)
For this shrimp boil in oven recipe, we recommend using large shrimp with the tail on for the best presentation. We used the size 16 to 20 count, which are quite large. We’d suggest buying shrimp with the shell on that is already deveined. Then you can remove the shell after cooking the shrimp, but leave the tail on. (If your shrimp are not deveined, here’s How to Devein Shrimp.)
What about fresh or frozen shrimp? Either fresh or frozen works for this recipe! A myth about fish is that “fresh is best.” However, frozen shrimp can be higher quality than raw fish because freezing suspends the decomposing process. Also, the shelf-life of fresh shrimp is only a few days, but frozen shrimp lasts for several weeks.
If you use frozen shrimp for this recipe, here’s how to thaw frozen shrimp:
Are you looking at buying sustainable shrimp for this shrimp boil in the oven? (If so, kudos!) Here are a few pointers for buying sustainable seafood:
This sheet pan shrimp boil in the oven is pescatarian, gluten-free, and dairy-free.
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(3 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 35 minutes Total Time: 45 minutes 
Yield: 4 Want a shrimp boil recipe that’s easy enough for a weeknight? Bake it! This sheet pan shrimp boil in oven is simple to make and has serious flavor.
Category: Main Dish
Method: Baked
Cuisine: AmericanKeywords: Shrimp Boil in Oven, Sheet Pan Shrimp Boil
Here are a few more healthy seafood recipes:
A Couple Cooks - Healthy, Whole Food, Vegetarian Recipes
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