Boiled Louisiana Blue Crabs
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Recipe by:
Serves: 4 to 6
Ingredients
  • 1 cup liquid crab boil seasoning
  • 3 (3-ounce) bags dry crab boil seasoning spice or 3 cups dried Cajun seasoning spice
  • 6 lemons, halved
  • 2 pounds small red potatoes (about a dozen)
  • 12 ears frozen corn on the cob, shucked and cut into thirds
  • 6 medium yellow onions, halved
  • 2 dozen live blue crabs
Instructions
  1. In a large, tall stockpot with basket insert, fill halfway with water, 2 to 3 gallons, and bring to a boil. Add the crab boil seasoning along with the lemons, potatoes, corn, and onions, and continue boiling until the potatoes become tender, about 20 minutes.
  2. Add the crabs and cook on a rolling boil for 5 minutes; turn off the heat. Let everything soak in the seasoned water for another 20 minutes or so, and then remove and serve family-style on a newspaper-covered table.
Notes
Here in Louisiana, crab boil spice bags, bulk dried boiling spice, or liquid crab boil are readily available; feel free to mix up your own spice combination by using your favorite Cajun seasoning or order the commercial seasoning options online here. Rather than fresh, I like the taste and texture of frozen corn on the cob when boiled; I believe it soaks up the flavor better. Go figure. Feel free to add whatever you like to the pot (sausage links, etc.), but don’t crowd the pot before you add the crabs. Some like to dunk their crabmeat into drawn butter (a bit highbrow for me), cocktail sauce (too overwhelming for me), or without any sauce whatsoever (oh yeah, the natural sweetness shines through). Some folks add a bag of crushed ice to the boiling water, but I don’t; I save my ice for chilling a glass of bourbon to celebrate the occasion.
Recipe by Acadiana Table at https://acadianatable.com/?p=10398