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Plan a Summer Shrimp Boil they will never forget. Kansas-Style! Dump this scrumptious meal on a table lined with newspaper or freezer wrap and eat it with your fingers.
I enjoyed my first Shrimp Boil at my mother-in-law’s house one summer at a family gathering, when she dumped pots of scrumptious seafood right out onto a patio table lined with newspapers. It was awe-inspiring! A dinner I will never forget! And so delicious!
Everyone just stood by the table and ate right there without a plate or silverware. Of course, this kind of meal is meant to be eaten with your fingers, and maybe a great big bib!
Host a Shrimp Boil Inside or Outside
I’ve hosted a Shrimp Boil for my family a few times now, and we always LOVE it. The first time we held it inside because of the Kansas heat. We decorated the table in colors of summer, and I served all of it from a big bowl.
The next time I wanted my grandchildren to experience the awe of eating outside from the table, with no plates or utensils. Don’t you know, the horrid flies chose that very moment in the summer to come out and visit us. Not the day before or even an hour before. And they swarmed the tables. I guess they thought they were part of the invitation list! Ah, the joys of living in the country. Even still, it was delicious and so much fun!
For all of these boils, I concentrated the seafood on shrimp alone, rather than with scallops, prawns, and crab legs. Oh, and I like to buy Wild Caught Argentina Red Shrimp from Sea Best. They come in 2 pound packages and are jumbo size. My grocer has them on sale for $16 at least four times a year, so I like to stock up when they are on sale. And they taste great. My entire family gives them 5 stars!
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(See the full recipe at the bottom of this post.)
Instructions for Making this Recipe
Gather your ingredients so that you have everything close at hand on the counter or table.
Prepare the Ingredients
Clean and remove any imperfections from the red potatoes. If some potatoes are overly large, go ahead and cut them in half. Slice the kielbasa into 1″ pieces. If you are using fresh corn, husk, silk, and halve the cobs. Wash them off and place in a bowl.
If cooking on an outside burner, I like to have my ingredients ready to go in bowls. This is also nice for cooking inside to save time.
Make the Seafood Seasoning Mix
To make the Seafood Seasoning Mix, in a small bowl combine the celery seed, kosher salt, freshly ground peppercorn melange, paprika, lemon pepper, ground allspice, crushed red pepper flakes, and dried oregano.
Whisk together and place in an airtight jar. Shake to mix thoroughly. Keep sealed until ready to use. This will make 5 tablespoons.
Start the Shrimp Boil
In large stockpot, bring 6-10 quarts of water to a roiling boil. Add potatoes, kielbasa, and seafood seasoning. Cover and bring to a boil. Once boiling, cook for five minutes.
Depending on the size of your stockpot, you will want to heat enough water to cover the ingredients.
As an alternative to heating your house in the summer, I’ve also cooked this shrimp boil on an outdoor patio burner that uses propane. This saved a lot of extra cooling for our house and was well worth doing as it takes quite a while to bring the stockpot water to a boil.
Add corn and green olives. Return to a boil and cook for another 10 minutes. Stir in shrimp and parsley and once the pot returns to a boil, cook for an additional 2 minutes until shrimp turns pink.
Always allow your water to return to a boil before you start timing. This may take 1-2 extra minutes.
Remove insert or transfer vegetables and meat with a strainer to a large serving bowl or platter.
Or dump out on a table lined with newspaper, freezer paper, or heavy brown paper roll. Sprinkle with additional seasoning and fresh parsley if desired.
If serving indoors, you may want to serve the food in a large bowl, or maybe even separate the meat from the vegetables for easier serving.
This recipe will serve 6-8 people. You may serve this meal fingerstyle by simply providing napkins, or serve with plates and silverware for a more refined dinner. (Silverware is optional in my opinion.) I also like to provide a shrimp sauce and melted butter to go with the meal, usually in individual or group servers.
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Shrimp Boil
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Ingredients
- 3 pounds small red potatoes
- 1 1/2 pounds beef kielbasa (sliced)
- 4 whole ears of corn (husked, silked, and halved)
- 1 cup large green olives (optional)
- 5 tablespoons seafood seasoning (recipe below)
- 6 pounds extra-large shrimp
- 1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh parsley
Seafood Seasoning Mix
- 1 tablespoon celery seed
- 1 tablespoon sea salt
- 2 teaspoons freshly ground peppercorn melange (a blend of black, white, green, and pink peppercorns)
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 2 teaspoons lemon pepper
- 1 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1/2 teaspoon oregano
Instructions
- Gather your ingredients so that you have everything close at hand on the counter or table.
Prepare the Ingredients
- Clean and remove any imperfections from the red potatoes. If some potatoes are overly large, go ahead and cut them in half.
- Slice the kielbasa into 1″ pieces.
- If you are using fresh corn, husk, silk, and halve the cobs. Wash them off and place in a bowl.
Make the Seafood Seasoning Mix
- To make Seafood Seasoning Mix, in a small bowl combine the celery seed, kosher salt, freshly ground peppercorn melange, paprika, lemon pepper, ground allspice, crushed red pepper flakes, and dried oregano.
- Whisk together and place in an airtight jar. Shake to mix thoroughly. Keep sealed until ready to use. This will make 5 tablespoons.
Start the Shrimp Boil
- In large stockpot, bring 6-10 quarts of water to a roiling boil. Add potatoes, kielbasa, and seafood seasoning. Cover and bring to a boil. Once boiling, cook for five minutes.(Depending on the size of your stockpot, you will want to heat enough water to cover the ingredients.)
- Add corn and green olives. Return to a boil and cook for another 10 minutes. Stir in shrimp and parsley and once the pot returns to a boil, cook for an additional 2 minutes until shrimp turns pink.(Always allow your water to return to a boil before you start timing. This may take 1-2 extra minutes.)
- Remove insert or transfer vegetables and meat with a strainer to a large serving bowl or platter. Or dump out on a table lined with newspaper, freezer paper, or heavy brown paper roll. Sprinkle with additional seasoning and fresh parsley if desired. Serves 6-8.
