Cajun Crawfish Boil Corn (Printable)

Spicy crawfish, sweet corn, and tender potatoes cooked together with bold Cajun seasonings.

# What You'll Need:

→ Seafood

01 - 4 lbs live crawfish, thoroughly rinsed

→ Vegetables

02 - 6 ears corn, husked and cut into halves or thirds
03 - 2 lbs small red potatoes, scrubbed
04 - 2 yellow onions, quartered
05 - 1 head garlic, halved horizontally
06 - 1 lemon, sliced

→ Sausage

07 - 1 lb smoked Andouille sausage, cut into 2-inch pieces

→ Seasonings and Aromatics

08 - 1/2 cup Cajun seasoning blend
09 - 2 tbsp kosher salt
10 - 1 tbsp whole black peppercorns
11 - 4 bay leaves
12 - 1 tsp cayenne pepper, adjust to taste
13 - 4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
14 - 1 bunch fresh parsley, chopped for garnish

→ For Serving

15 - Lemon wedges
16 - Hot sauce

# Directions:

01 - Fill a large stockpot with 5 gallons of water. Add Cajun seasoning, salt, peppercorns, bay leaves, cayenne, onions, garlic, and lemon slices. Bring to a rolling boil over high heat.
02 - Add potatoes to the boiling liquid and cook for 10 minutes.
03 - Add corn and sausage pieces to the pot and continue boiling for another 8 minutes.
04 - Add crawfish to the pot. Stir gently, cover, and let boil for 3 to 5 minutes, just until the crawfish turn bright red.
05 - Turn off the heat and let the pot sit covered for 10 minutes to allow the flavors to meld.
06 - Drain the boil using a large strainer or by pouring out the liquid carefully.
07 - Transfer crawfish, potatoes, corn, sausage, and vegetables onto a large lined table or serving platter. Drizzle with melted butter and garnish with parsley.
08 - Serve hot with lemon wedges and hot sauce on the side.

# Expert Tips:

01 -
  • It's the kind of meal where everyone gathers around the same platter and somehow the food tastes better when you're elbow-to-elbow with people you like.
  • The spice builds slowly and beautifully—not a shock, but a warm, creeping heat that makes you reach for more lemon.
  • Once the pot's boiling, you're mostly just watching and waiting, which means you can actually enjoy the people around you instead of being stuck at the stove.
02 -
  • Live crawfish need to stay alive until they hit the boiling water—if they're sluggish or smell off, don't use them; the quality of your crawfish makes or breaks this dish.
  • The broth temperature matters more than the clock; if your crawfish aren't turning bright red at 5 minutes, let them go a minute or two longer, but watch them like a hawk because the line between perfect and rubbery is narrow.
03 -
  • Buy your crawfish the morning of the boil and keep them cool in a cooler with damp newspaper—they'll stay livelier and the meat will be sweeter when they cook.
  • The smell of the broth the moment you add the crawfish is the most reliable indicator of readiness; when it smells like pure Cajun spice and seafood, everything's working right.
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