Slow Cooker Shrimp Boil
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Red potatoes, andouille sausage, shrimp, corn, Old Bay. A classic shrimp boil made without any of the fuss right in your crockpot!
This is truly one of my favorite summertime meals.
The ingredient list is super simple and you don’t need to do any kind of babysitting. Nope, the crockpot takes care of all the hard work for you, making it perfect for get-togethers and summer entertaining.
Simply throw everything right into your slow cooker for about 4 hours, adding in the sausage, corn and shrimp at the very end of cooking time to avoid any kind of overcooking. I mean, no one is a fan of overcooked rubbery shrimp, right?
Just be sure to use a large enough slow cooker (either 6 or 7 qt) to make sure everything fits.
When ready to serve, crank out some of those ice cold beers, melted butter, lemon wedges and hot sauce. This will truly be the best thing you serve all summer long.
Slow Cooker Shrimp Boil
Ingredients
- ¼ cup Old Bay seasoning
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon hot sauce, optional
- 1 ½ pounds small red potatoes
- 1 medium sweet onion, cut into wedges
- 1 head garlic, halved
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 12.8-ounce package smoked andouille sausage, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 3 ears corn, each cut crosswise into 3 pieces
- 2 pounds medium or large shrimp
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
For serving, optional
- Melted butter
- Hot sauce
- Cocktail sauce
- Lemon wedges
- Beer
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together Old Bay seasoning, lemon juice, hot sauce and 6 cups water; set aside.
- Place potatoes, onion, garlic and bay leaves into a 6-qt slow cooker; stir in Old Bay seasoning mixture.
- Cover and cook on low heat for 3-4 hours, or until potatoes are almost tender.
- Stir in sausage and corn; cover and cook on high heat for 30 minutes. Set corn aside; keep warm.
- Stir in shrimp. Cover and cook on high heat, stirring twice, until shrimp is opaque and pink, about 20-30 minutes; drain well.
- Serve immediately, garnished with parsley, if desired.
Did you make this recipe?
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Thinking about trying this and adding lobster tails
Did you try it with the lobster?
Can I use frozen corn on the cob? Can’t find fresh. If so-how long do I cook it?
I always come back to this recipe- such a classic, always turns out delicious and a total crowd pleaser for the whole family! It provides perfect timing for when to add ingredients- thanks!
Do you use cooked or raw shrimp?
Delicious and easy! Great summer recipe. Will make again!
Easy and really good.
I made a couple of changes to share:
Browned and charred the Andoulle smoked sausage. Added after 1st hour with drippings.
Crock pot on warm 2hrs, high on 2hrs. Yukon small potatoes cut in half were perfect.
Left the shells on the shrimp. No more than 4 or 5 min for shrimp.
Very taste but will try beer and or chicken stock next time
This is so delicious. My family loved it
Made this last night. It was super good. I added pineapple chunks at the end which was super delicious.
will definitely make again.
Well, THAT was delicious. I rarely use my slower cooker so for several days, I forgot to start the dinner early. Thank goodness for leftovers. Today, I finally got my act together, and boy, was it worth it. I used several suggestions posted by the reviewers. I replaced the water with beer, and I cooked on high not low. The potatoes needed more cooking, because I used bigger potatoes, but all in all, this is a wonderful dish. Thanks for sharing.
I am trying this recipe out tomorrow for a family dinner. Is the shrimp frozen or thawed? I have cooked shrimp that is peeled and deveined that I will be using. I read through all the comments and could not see where anyone asked this. Thanks in advance!
I have a question. Cut the head of garlic in half? What about the skin on the garlic?
We made this on a camping trip with friends. Everyone pitched in ingredients. We let it cook while we were out doing things and it was delicious that evening as we sat around the campfire
Turned out great. I made changes to the recipe as any kind of sausage bothers my stomach so I replaced the sausage with crabmeat. Both my husband and I cannot tolerate spicy dishes so I cut out the hot sauce and cut back in the Old Bay seasoning. Turned out just to our liking!
Turned out really good everyone enjoyed it
I do not own a slow cooker, but this sound delicious. Do you have stove top directions??
Simmer in a covered Dutch oven.
Awesome summertime recipe. I consider myself southern and this recipe is simple and tasty. I’ve made this recipe twice, and I’ll make it a third time for the 4th.
First time, I used water like the recipe called for. It lacked a little something, some subtle character. Second time, I used half Budweiser and half water. Much better, gave it a sweeter flavor. Third time, I’ll be using 100% Budweiser and adding crawfish.
Happy and safe 4th, everyone.
Do you know if this will work if I just throw everything in the pot at once? I get home late from work and usually have evening activities with kids, and use slow cooker meals so we can eat as soon as we get home.
Well, the recipe states that you do Not want rubbery shrimp, so with that said. I Would Not put your shrimp in at the beginning. This is still a very good recipe, maybe try making it on a weekend night when you have more time to add ingredients the way the recipe calls for. Hope that helps you.
I made the recipe exactly as described minus hot sauce only because our kids are young and wouldn’t like anything hot. Amazing! It was so good! The flavors are awesome. I squeezed lemon juice on at the end and it just made the flavors even better! It’s been added to our dinner routine for summer! Definitely worth waiting for! It made my house smell so good. My kids (all 4!) and my husband loved it too. Thank you for such an awesome recipe.
Great
2nd time using this recipe and it hasn’t failed me yet. So delicious!
Do you remove the tail and shell of the raw shrimp before putting it in the crockpot or keep them on?
I made it tonight and it was really good! My Significant Other loved it!! Very easy to make. With the hot weather it’s nice to make a good meal and not heat up the kitchen!! Thanks!!
Delicious! However, the shrimp finished cooking after about FOUR or FIVE minutes, definitely not 20-30.
Made this tonight for my parents and it was great. I took some of the advice from the comments and used 3 cups chicken broth and 3 cups water. For hot sauce i used franks red Buffalo sauce and it worked great (it was all i had). I also cooked it on high the whole time and potatoes came out great. The corn did not cook quick enough so I removed and microwaved for a few minutes.
Overall it was easy and super tasty!
Hi there! I’m one of the few people who does not care for red or white potatoes. Can anyone suggest another vegetable? Thanks!
I’m from Louisiana where we do these all the time ..you can throw what ever you want in it …squash , carrots..just remember some veg’s cook faster than the others .
How many does this serve?
6 servings.
Haven’t tried it yet but I have a question. Do you leave the tail and shell on the shrimp or do you remove the tail and shell before you put it in the slow-cooker?
Leave the shell and tail on. Remove them as you eat them, like peel and eat shrimp.
Delicious!!!!
This was great. I will say I was worried early on because I thought this would be bland. I was wrong. I did make 3 changes. Instead of 6 cups of water, I did 4 cups of unsalted veggie stock and 2 cups of water. I have always found adding a stock always helps the flavor. 2nd I could not get andouille so I just went with a smoked I could find. 3rd I also double the sausage. I also did not dump the juice created after the cook. Man, that was delicious. We added it to our bowls while eating. I also saved the rest to make gravy later. That is going to be good. I would also like to say we did not find the dish to be salty and we have cut the salt down considerably in our lives.
I would like to know if you have ever added crawfish or crab to this recipe?
Great job
Jim
I’m giving it a 5 star review, however my version was a 3.5 star. I have a small crockpot, so I cut the recipe in half. But… due to Lent, I substituted vegetable base vegan sausage over meat. Won’t be doing that again. We will definitely try it again with the real thing.
I cooked this for our New Years Eve Dinner.
I accidently cooked the potatoes on high instead of low. After reading the reviews I was glad I did they were soft and had a good flavor to them. I bought a different kind of sausage that was not pre cooked and cooked it than put it in the crock pot as directed. My son liked it so much he had three servings. His brother who is visiting with us who had never had a low country boil before before thought it was out of this world.
Between the three of us we managed to eat it all except two pieces of corn we will have tomorrow.
This recipe is a Keeper and I am sure we will have it again. It was super easy to make and really delicious.
I am cooking this now, it’s been on for about an
Hour. I followed instructions but I find it extremely salty, will the flavours even out as cooking and adding in the other ingredients? All I taste is salt?
I didn’t find it salty.
Cut down on the amount of Old Bay. Its very salty used in large quantities.
It was very good I don’t like shrimp but my husband loved it. The problem I had was the potatoes They simply would not get soft enough after 3 hours cooking. I just went ahead and turned the crock pot on high. At the rate they were cooking it wouldn’t have been done before he got home from work. I don’t guess that hurt anything. They were very small potatoes and my crock pot is brand new. I did put hot sauce in and he liked it. I fixed cornbread to go with it. I would highly recommend it, wish I liked shrimp!
I might have thrown the potatoes
in the microwave for a few minutes to soften them up.
Did you find it salty!
I agree about the potatoes. The second time we made this we actually cut them into quarters and that fixed the issue.
and where does the liquid come from? do you add water?
6 cups of water, it’s in the instructions. I think it was accidentally omitted from the ingredients list.
The water isn’t in the ingredients list, but it is in step 1 of the instructions.
can i use already cooked shrimp?? and if so when to add it i got tons of already frozen cooked shrimp in my deep freezer
Raw shrimp will add more flavour to the dish.
Can the shrimp be frozen?
Yes, but but the frozen raw shrimp
Huge hit with family and friends. Even did the newspaper set up etc. was very impressive! Struggled to get the potatoes soft enough..
So did I. They were very small so finally I just turned the crock pot up to high. I didn’t have time to wait on those potatoes. Otherwise my husband loved it!
Wondering if I can do this in a dutch oven since I don’t have a crockpot?
Sure but you”d have to watch it carefully. I didn’t have time.
I have done a similar boil in my duchie and it came out fantastic, dutch ovens tend to be good for distributing the heat throughout evenly but the only thing to keep in mind is to watch over it throughout the cooking period.
Delicious results!!!
Cheers/ Enjoy
That sounds delicious in the Dutch Oven! Did you do that over the stove or in the oven?
Amazing! A new family favorite! Not too spicy for the person in your family that is sensitive either! Will definitely make again! Also I made this with raw shrimp. No precooking needed! Wish I could post a picture because it comes out beautiful!
I made this was amazing! Thank you for the recipe!
My husband and I wanted to try something new. He’s more of a chef than I am. So I suggested this recipe. Oh my goodness! it was outstanding. I told him we could enjoy this again at a different time. Thanks for the delicious recipe… we will continue to try others that you have posted on your site.
When do you add in the beer, I didn’t see that in the instructions unless I skipped over it
I think she meant to drink.
I am serving this to a group at the lake next week, if I wanted to have a vegetable side dish, what would you recommend? Can’t wait to make it!
I made this my very time using my slow cooker. I am a beginner in cooking but by following this recipe it came out perfect! Loved it!
I’m making it but the sausage doesn’t look done within the time allotted
Jared, when using packaged andouille sausage, they should already be fully cooked. 🙂
Can other seafood be added to this??
So add the sausage and the shrimp in both raw? Don’t need to precook before adding to slow cooker correct?
Sausage should be precooked – shrimp should be added raw.
This was actually BUSSIN’! I thought it would be a flake, since it was a dry recipe. When I saw “drain” I’m like wait…..what.
But this was fire!
Question – what is one head of garlic, halved? Are you saying to use only half a head of garlic? It seems like it means to use a whole head, but half in one part of the recipe and half in another, which doesn’t seem to be the case. Do you mean to halve the individual cloves? Obviously, the cloves need to be individually cleaned… then use half or all of them? Thanks!
You’ll want to use an entire head of garlic, just cut in half. 🙂
So you don’t have to remove the “paper” around each garlic clove? Just simply cut it in half and throw it in? Maybe I’m making this harder than it needs to be…
Lauren, did you just cut the Garlic head in half and not peel each clove? I had the same question!
Thanks!
Silly question, but cooked or raw shrimp?
Not a silly question at all, Michele! You would want to start with raw shrimp as the shrimp will cook in the slow cooker. 🙂
Planning tonight…logistics of getting it out and looking good as your picture?
Newspaper, beers, and a garnish of parsley should do the trick, Joan! 🙂
If I’m concerned with too much spice (for little ones) do I reduce the Old Bay(Zatarins)?
Absolutely!
We loved it! The outdoor old fashioned shrimp probiotic might be a bit better but this is pretty good! Will do it again for sure. Made it exactly as instructed and wouldn’t do anything different.
Amazing! Thank you for sharing with us, Cheryl!
Hi
Would like to add scallops with the shrimp.
What would you suggestt??
This sounds delish!! 🙂
What a great idea! But unfortunately, without having tried this myself, I cannot answer with certainty. But if you get a chance to try it, please let me know how it turns out! 🙂
Made this and it turned out great! I used shrimp that had been shelled and deveinved – only took about 5-6 mins. Tried the Zat’s Crab Boil seasoning as recommended too – perfect!
Smart choice – having them already deveined saves you so much time! Thanks for sharing, Loretta!
If time is an issue, could I cook this for a shorter amount of time on the high setting?
What a great idea! But unfortunately, without having tried this myself, I cannot answer with certainty. But if you get a chance to try it, please let me know how it turns out! 🙂
Yummy. used old Bay and Zatarain’s Crab Boil. Shrimp got a little overcooked by leaving them in With the time suggested, next time will definitely be better but it was still AMAZING
If using frozen shrimp, can you add it at the same time as the sausage and corn? Thank you!
Amanda, I recommend thawing the shrimp prior to using.
Do I cook the sausage or add it in raw?
The sausage is cooked in the slow cooker, Sonya. 🙂
Fantastic recipe. I found that the potatoes needed about 3 hours or so on high. not low. Also if you’re not slicing the red potatoes they’ll need more time than that as well.
Is it super spicy? Never had a seafood boil but I would like to try this.
Do you cook shrimp with shell on or off?
Shell on. 🙂
Can you do shell off and how long?
How can we modify the recipe to use the instant pot?
Here is the Instant Pot version: https://damndelicious.net/2018/06/05/instant-pot-shrimp-boil/.
Step # 5-Drain well? What does this mean?
Drain and discard the cooking liquid. 🙂
How can you drain if it’s in the crockpot?
A strainer would be perfect for this.
A Low Country Boil would not be a very enjoyable meal if you had all that soggy newspaper in your lap.
Zatarain’s Crab Boil, please, not Old Bay.
A STRONG second on the Zat’s Crab Boil!!!
I also agree. I keep Old Bay Seasoning mix in the pantry but use only Zat’s Crab Boil when it’s called for. Both are great products.
Try this guys: Put some Zat’s Crab Boil in your water when boiling hot dogs. Also if your grilling sausages, split the sausages down the middle and very lightly apply Zat’s to the exposed meat and grill it open faced down.