Crock-Pot Shrimp Boil with Corn, Potatoes & Sausage

The first time I made a Crock-Pot shrimp boil with corn, potatoes & sausage, I dumped everything in at once and walked away for six hours. Dinner was a pot of potato mush with shrimp that bounced like pencil erasers. Bad. Fixable, though.

This version fixes it with three timed stages. Potatoes and broth go in first. Sausage and corn join them later. The shrimp wait until the last twenty minutes, and I’ll show you exactly how to tell when they’re done, because that’s the part most slow cooker shrimp boil recipes leave fuzzy.

What you get: snappy shrimp, creamy potatoes, sweet corn, smoky sausage, and a garlicky Old Bay broth you’ll want to dunk bread in. Hands-on time is about twenty minutes. A garlic butter drizzle at the end does the rest.

Why This Crock-Pot Shrimp Boil with Corn, Potatoes & Sausage Works

Shrimp cook in minutes. Baby potatoes need hours. That mismatch is the whole problem with any Crock-Pot shrimp boil, and it’s why my first batch failed. Put them in together and one of them loses. Split the cook into stages and both win.

Here’s what else is doing the work.

Less liquid than most recipes. Many versions call for six to eight cups of water. I use four cups, mostly low-sodium chicken broth. The potatoes sit in it, and the corn and sausage on top steam in the rising heat and drip their flavor back down. More water just dilutes the Old Bay until you’re drinking seasoned bathwater.

Sausage goes in mid-cook, not at the start. Andouille releases red, paprika-heavy fat. Added at hour two, it flavors the potatoes without turning the whole pot greasy and flat.

Lemon gets used twice. Halves simmer in the broth for background citrus. Fresh juice goes into the butter at the end, because lemon cooked for hours goes dull and a little bitter.

HIGH for the shrimp. Lifting the lid cools the pot. HIGH brings the broth back to a simmer fast, so the shrimp cook in minutes instead of drifting through lukewarm liquid.

The Timeline at a Glance

Ingredients for This Crock-Pot Shrimp Boil

For the pot

• 1½ pounds baby Yukon Gold or small red potatoes, about 1½ inches wide (halve anything bigger)
• 1 large yellow onion, cut into thick wedges
• 6 garlic cloves, smashed
• 2 bay leaves
• 3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 cup water
• 3 tablespoons Old Bay seasoning
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 lemon, halved
• 14 ounces fully cooked smoked andouille sausage, sliced into ½-inch rounds
• 4 ears fresh corn, shucked and cut in half (frozen corn on the cob works too)
• 1½ pounds large raw shrimp (21 to 25 per pound), shell-on, deveined, thawed

For the garlic butter drizzle

• ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (about 1 lemon)
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

To serve

• 1 lemon, cut into wedges
• Crusty bread
• Hot sauce

How to Make Crock-Pot Shrimp Boil

1. Build the broth. In a 7-quart slow cooker (6-quart works, see the tips), whisk together the chicken broth, water, Old Bay, smoked paprika, and cayenne. Add the potatoes, onion, garlic, and bay leaves. Squeeze the lemon halves over everything, then drop the halves in. Stir.
2. Stage one: potatoes. Cover and cook on HIGH for 2 hours, or LOW for 4 hours. The potatoes should be about halfway there. A knife goes in, but you have to push.
3. Stage two: sausage and corn. Lay the sausage rounds and corn pieces on top. Don’t stir them in. Cover and cook on HIGH for 1½ hours, or LOW for 2 hours. Test the biggest potato. When a knife slides in with zero resistance, move on. If you cooked on LOW, switch the cooker to HIGH now.
4. Thaw the shrimp. While stage two runs, put the shrimp in a colander and run cold water over them for about 5 minutes. Drain well.
5. Stage three: shrimp. Fish out the bay leaves and lemon halves. Tuck the shrimp down into the broth between the potatoes so they touch liquid. Cover and set a timer for 12 minutes. At 12, pull one shrimp and cut it open. Opaque all the way through means done. Still glassy in the center means 3 more minutes, then check again. Most batches finish between 12 and 20 minutes.
6. Make the garlic butter. While the shrimp cook, melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the minced garlic and cook for about 60 seconds, just until it smells good. No browning. Take it off the heat and stir in the Old Bay, lemon juice, and parsley.
7. Serve. Lift everything out with a slotted spoon or a spider and pile it on a big platter. Drizzle with the garlic butter. Set out the lemon wedges, bread, and hot sauce. Ladle some of the leftover broth into mugs for dunking.

Dinner • American

Crock-Pot Shrimp Boil with Corn, Potatoes & Sausage

A Crock-Pot shrimp boil with smoked sausage, corn and baby potatoes, cooked in three timed stages so the shrimp stay snappy. Finished with a garlic butter drizzle. Makes 6 servings.

By Kima

Prep Time 20 mins

Cook Time 225 mins

Total Time 245 mins

Yield 6 servings

Cook Mode Print Recipe

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Servings: − 6 +

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Ingredients 21 items

• The Base
• 1 ½ lb Baby Yukon Gold or small red potatoes — about 1 1/2 inches wide, halve anything bigger
• 1 Yellow onion — large, cut into thick wedges
• 6 Garlic cloves — smashed
• 2 Bay leaves
• 3 cups Low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 cup Water
• The Seasoning
• 3 tbsp Old Bay seasoning
• 1 tsp Smoked paprika
• ¼ tsp Cayenne pepper
• 1 Lemon — halved
• The Boil
• 14 oz Fully cooked smoked andouille sausage — sliced into 1/2-inch rounds
• 4 ears Fresh corn — shucked and cut in half, frozen corn on the cob works too
• 1 ½ lb Large raw shrimp — 21 to 25 per pound, shell-on, deveined, thawed
• The Garlic Butter Drizzle
• ½ cup Unsalted butter — 1 stick
• 4 Garlic cloves — minced
• 1 tsp Old Bay seasoning
• 2 tbsp Fresh lemon juice — about 1 lemon
• 2 tbsp Fresh parsley — chopped
• To Serve
• 1 Lemon — cut into wedges
• Crusty bread — for dunking
• Hot sauce — to taste

Instructions 7 steps

1. 1

   Build the broth

   In a 7-quart slow cooker, whisk together the chicken broth, water, Old Bay, smoked paprika and cayenne. Add the potatoes, onion, garlic and bay leaves. Squeeze the lemon halves over everything, then drop the halves in and stir.

2. 2

   Cook the potatoes

   Cover and cook on HIGH for 2 hours, or LOW for 4 hours. The potatoes should be about halfway there. A knife goes in, but you have to push.

   Start 120 min timer
3. 3

   Add the sausage and corn

   Lay the sausage rounds and corn pieces on top and do not stir them in. Cover and cook on HIGH for 1 1/2 hours, or LOW for 2 hours. When a knife slides into the biggest potato with no resistance, move on. If you cooked on LOW, switch the cooker to HIGH now.

   Start 90 min timer
4. 4

   Thaw the shrimp

   While the sausage and corn cook, put the shrimp in a colander and run cold water over them for about 5 minutes. Drain well.

   Start 5 min timer
5. 5

   Cook the shrimp

   Fish out the bay leaves and lemon halves. Tuck the shrimp down into the broth between the potatoes so they touch liquid. Cover and cook on HIGH. At 12 minutes, pull one shrimp and cut it open. Opaque all the way through means done. Still glassy in the center means 3 more minutes, then check again. Most batches finish between 12 and 20 minutes.

   Start 12 min timer
6. 6

   Make the garlic butter

   While the shrimp cook, melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the minced garlic and cook for about 60 seconds, just until fragrant, with no browning. Take it off the heat and stir in the Old Bay, lemon juice and parsley.

   Start 1 min timer
7. 7

   Serve

   Lift everything out with a slotted spoon and pile it on a big platter. Drizzle with the garlic butter. Set out the lemon wedges, bread and hot sauce. Ladle some of the leftover broth into mugs for dunking.

Tips & Substitutions

A 7-quart oval slow cooker holds everything with room to stir. In a 6-quart, lift the corn onto a plate when the shrimp go in, then lay it back on top.
Cut the potatoes to about 1 1/2 inches. Larger pieces come out with a hard center.
Use fully cooked smoked sausage only, like andouille or kielbasa. Brown raw sausage in a skillet first.
Read the shrimp, not the clock. Opaque and curled in a loose C is done. A tight O is overcooked. Do not hold the shrimp on WARM.
Skip the extra salt. Old Bay and the sausage carry plenty. Squeeze in more lemon if the broth runs salty.
Leftovers keep in the fridge for 2 days, with the shrimp stored separately. Do not freeze.

Nutrition Facts 550 kcal / serving

Protein32g

Carbs38g

Fat30g

Fiber4g

#crock pot shrimp boil #slow cooker shrimp boil #slow cooker seafood boil #shrimp boil with sausage #easy slow cooker dinner

Crock-Pot Shrimp Boil with Corn, Potatoes & Sausage

Recipe Source: https://kimarecipes.com/crock-pot-shrimp-boil-corn-potatoes-sausage/ • Kima Recipes • Recipe by Kima

Tips for a Better Crock-Pot Shrimp Boil

Cooker size matters. My 7-quart oval Crock-Pot holds this whole Crock-Pot shrimp boil with room to stir. In a 6-quart, the corn crowds the shrimp. Lift the corn out onto a plate when the shrimp go in, then lay it back on top.

Cut the potatoes small. Anything bigger than a golf ball comes out with a hard center. Yukon Golds turn creamy and soak up the broth. Red potatoes hold their shape better. I pick Yukon every time.

Fully cooked sausage only. Packaged andouille or kielbasa is already cooked, so it just needs to heat through and flavor the pot. Raw sausage belongs in a skillet first. In the slow cooker it turns grey and leaves a greasy layer.

Leave the shells on. They protect the shrimp from the heat. A shell-on shrimp forgives you a minute or two of overcooking. A peeled one doesn’t.

Read the shrimp, not the clock. Opaque and curled into a loose C is done. Tight little O is overcooked, and you can’t undo it. That’s why I pull one at 12 minutes.

Thaw, don’t toss in frozen. I tried frozen shrimp straight from the bag once. The broth cooled off, the shrimp took about 35 minutes, and they came out soft and a bit mealy. Five minutes under cold water prevents all of that.

Skip the extra salt. Old Bay and andouille carry plenty. Taste the broth before serving. If it runs salty, squeeze in another lemon wedge.

Scoop, don’t dump. Tipping the whole pot into a colander breaks the potatoes and loses the broth. A slotted spoon is the move.

Crock-Pot Shrimp Boil Variations

• Milder: Skip the cayenne and swap the andouille for kielbasa. This is the version I make when kids are at the table.
• Hotter: Add another ¼ teaspoon of cayenne and finish with hot sauce on the platter.
• Clams: Scrub 1 pound of littleneck clams and nestle them in with the shrimp. They need 15 to 20 minutes. Throw out any that stay shut.
• Crab legs: Pre-cooked snow crab clusters go in for the last 10 minutes, just to warm through.
• Skip the beer. Plenty of boil recipes add a cup of lager. I tried it in the slow cooker and the broth turned bitter after hours of simmering. Chicken broth is the better base here.

Make-Ahead, Storage, and Leftovers

You can prep the first half of this Crock-Pot shrimp boil the night before. Cut the potatoes, onion, and sausage and bag them. Whisk the broth and seasonings and refrigerate in a jar. In the morning, dump and start.

Don’t prep the shrimp ahead. Don’t cook them early either, and don’t park them on WARM. The WARM setting keeps cooking them, and they turn rubbery within about 15 minutes. If dinner is delayed, lift the shrimp out onto the platter and tent with foil.

Leftover Crock-Pot shrimp boil keeps in the fridge for 2 days. Store the shrimp separately from the potatoes, corn, and sausage. I don’t freeze this one. The potatoes go grainy and the corn goes soft.

For day two, fry the leftover potatoes and sausage in a hot skillet with a splash of broth until the edges crisp. Peel the cold shrimp and either eat them over a salad or toss them into the skillet for the last 30 seconds. Any longer and they toughen.

Crock-Pot Shrimp Boil FAQ

One Last Thing Before You Eat

Serve this Crock-Pot shrimp boil table-style. Cover the table with butcher paper and pour the platter down the middle. Put a big bowl out for shells and a stack of napkins at every seat. Add a cold vinegar slaw and warm buttered rolls on the side, because the slaw cuts through the butter and the rolls mop up the broth. A cold lager or sparkling lemonade goes with all of it.