Shrimp Boil Recipe

Article by Alice K. Thompson

Shrimp boils are festive and quintessentially summer, just like a beach vacation. They’re big on flavor and short on prep and cleanup. The experts at Food Network Kitchen developed a recipe that removes guesswork — with plenty of five-star reviews to prove it. It’s a classic combination of shrimp, corn and potatoes with an aromatic cooking broth of easy pantry staples that infuses everything in the pot. The key to juicy shrimp, flavorful potatoes and crunchy corn is all in the timing: Our step-by-step recipe tells you exactly when to add each ingredient, so everything comes out of the pot perfectly cooked. And that’s the simple magic of a boil.

How to Cook Shrimp Boil Like a Pro

Here’s your cheat sheet for a masterful shrimp boil every time.

Choose the right shrimp boil pot. You’ll want enough room for the ingredients to move around easily: A 10- to 12-quart pasta pot is ideal, and one with a built-in strainer will make lifting all the shrimp and veggies out super-easy.

Timing is everything. All the ingredients of a boil need to finish cooking at the same time so adding them to the pot in stages is key: Lemon and spices simmer for a tasty broth, dense potatoes go in next, sweet corn follows and tender shrimp go in last. Our kitchen pros give you the exact timing, plus visual cues for more confidence.

Simmer the broth first. Cook the water, lemons, aromatics and Old Bay Seasoning for a few minutes before adding other shrimp boil ingredients. Doing so ensures the broth has time to come together.

Impress with your presentation. Make a big impact: get out your biggest platter and pile everything on. Or go ultra-casual and cover your table with newspaper and mound the food in the middle. This is finger food — everyone will be peeling shrimp and digging into sweet corn — so think extra napkins, or place a roll of paper towels on the table.

Scale it up for bigger crowds. Our recipe feeds 4 generously, but one of its beauties is how easily it can feed a crowd. You can double or triple the ingredients; just remember you’ll need a very large pot and add more time for liquid to come to a boil initially and come back to a boil as you add ingredients.

How Long to Boil Shrimp

Once you’ve added shrimp to the boiling liquid, return it to a boil and cook the shrimp just until they’re bright pink and the flesh is opaque (white) all the way through. For large shell-on shrimp (21/30 count) it’ll be about 2 to 3 minutes, a minute or two longer for extra-large shrimp (16/20 count). Our test kitchen recommends shell-on shrimp for boiling since the shells add flavor and promote even cooking, but you can also use peeled shrimp; they’ll cook about 30 seconds to a minute more quickly.

Shrimp Boil Seasoning

The Food Network test kitchen loves the spice and depth of Old Bay Seasoning in this shrimp boil, but it’s not your only choice. Many regions have distinct seafood blends with different seasonings and spice levels. Taste the broth to make sure the salt level is good: you want water that’s generously salty but not quite as salty as the ocean.