Look, we’re not afraid to say it: you haven’t truly lived until you’ve gotten your hands dirty with a crawfish boil.
There’s something endlessly enjoyable about calling friends and family around a newspaper-covered table to share food and stories (and a lot of beer). Nothing brings people closer together than a well-planned crawfish boil.
Of course, we’re also firm believers that—while crawfish are king—the success of a crawfish boil also depends largely on the lagniappe (the extra add-ins and sides). So we’ve gone ahead and put together a list of some of our favorite additions to turn an average crawfish boil into one the whole family can enjoy.
Allons!
Potatoes
Potatoes are a no-brainer when it comes to a crawfish boil. If you find yourself at a crawfish boil without potatoes, you should look for the exit—you’re at an imposter boil. There’s a few reasons you’ll find them at almost every table: they’re easy to cook, they absorb the tasty seasoning and they’re incredibly filling!
We recommend adding potatoes after you bring the seasoned water to a boil, but before you add in your crawfish. Because of the length of time it takes for them to boil, many people boil potatoes and other sides first and place them in a cooler to stay warm.
Depending on the size of the potatoes, you should boil them for anywhere from 10-20 minutes or until the potato is soft enough that you can pierce it with a knife or fork.
Corn on the Cob
The partner in crime to the boiled potato, corn on the cob is another popular add-in that we can’t recommend enough. It’s a great finger food and an easy ingredient to find, so there’s no excuse for skipping over this one—people with braces need not apply.
Frozen corn on the cob is the easiest to use as a crawfish boil add-in, but if it happens to be in season, you can easily peel and drop in fresh cob as well. Corn is easy to boil, just grab the corn cobs and drop them into the boil for about five to 10 minutes.
If you have a penchant for spicy food, then consider leaving it for an extra few minutes to absorb the extra seasoning.
Onions
Let’s be honest, is there anything onions don’t make better? The best part about adding onions to your boil is that there’s so many ways you can prepare them. You can toss them in, whole and uncut, at the beginning of the boil with your potatoes, or you can toss them in halved, chopped or diced right before you add the crawfish.
Either way, the perfect boiled onion should easily fall apart with very little pressure and have a soft, almost mushy texture.
Garlic
Like onions, you’d be out of your mind to suggest that garlic shouldn’t be included in absolutely every dish imaginable. When you’re already adding potatoes, corn and onion, adding garlic to the mix just makes sense.
There are a few ways you can add garlic to your boil. The most popular method is to drop entire heads of garlic into the pot and give it about 15 minutes to boil. You’ll know they’re done when they easily pop out of the skin.
Otherwise, you can drop individual cloves into the water for a shorter period of time—which will also add more flavor to the water! Depending on the size of the cloves you should only need about five to 10 minutes.
Citrus Fruits
This one may raise some eyebrows with the old-timers, but we’re big fans of experimenting with our crawfish boils.
Adding sweet citrus to the bold spices of a crawfish boil can result in some really exciting flavor combinations! Some of our favorite fruits to add in a crawfish boil include oranges, pineapples and lemons.
The best way to cook these fruits typically involves halving smaller fruits, like oranges and lemons, and chunking bigger fruits, like pineapples. We wouldn’t recommend boiling them for as long as some of the other items on this list, as you don’t want them to completely break apart in the boil—just long enough to absorb some of the delicious seasoning!
Can’t Have a Crawfish Boil without… Crawfish!
If you’re at all like us, just looking over this list is making your mouth water—but before you run to the store and start buying up produce, you need to get the most important ingredients: live crawfish and seasoning!
Fortunately, Acadia Crawfish has both over at our shop and we ship around the United States—so that even our friends up north can get a taste of this southern delicacy! Our commitment to quality crawfish and customer service means that our crawfish are guaranteed to arrive big and fresh, while also delivered on time and without hassle. You can bet on that, cher!
