Slow Cooker Shrimp Boil
This post may contain affiliate links. Please see our privacy policy for details.
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?
Tag @damn_delicious on Instagram and hashtag it #damndelicious!
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.