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What better way to celebrate the final days of summer than with a family-style seafood boil or feast? Whether you have access to crawfish, lobster, wild shrimp, or littleneck clams, we have the recipes to make the most of these delicacies. Boil them with flavorful broths, bake them with seaweed, and dip them in irresistible seasoned butters and sauces to start your own seasonal tradition. With inspiration from the Carolinas, Maine, and Cajun cuisine, here are surefire recipes for hosting an epic seafood boil or bake with family and friends.
Lobster and Littleneck Clam Bake
William Hereford
Cooking beachside is a ritual in Maine, where hot stones are covered with a blanket of wet seaweed, a layer of lobsters, more seaweed, and steamer clams on top of that. It’s all covered with wet burlap to steam, filling the air with a heady, briny aroma that’s unlike anything else. This recipe includes instructions for the beach and at home on the stove.
A Proper Shrimp Boil
Food & Wine editor in chief Hunter Lewis says the real flavor from a boil comes from a potent cooking liquor, loaded with alliums, lemon, spices, and a bottle each of white wine and clam juice. Influenced by the cooking in North and South Carolina, his recipe calls for wild shrimp, fresh or smoked sausages, fresh shucked corn, and yellow, red, or gold potatoes.
Crawfish Boil
Food & Wine / Photo by Jen Causey / Food Styling by Emily Nabor Hall / Prop Styling by Tucker Vines
Infuse flavor into sweet crawfish, tender potatoes, sweet corn, and sausage with a super-flavorful broth of clam juice, Cajun seasoning, Old Bay, lemons, garlic, and onions in this recipe from the Food & Wine Test Kitchen.
Cajun Seafood Boil
Diana Chistruga
The secret for making a Cajun seafood boil packed with perfectly cooked shrimp, king crab legs, and clams? Take it one step at a time. This recipe yields a family-style meal with a Cajun-spiced butter sauce for dipping.
Shrimp Boil with Spicy Butter Sauce
Add a kick with cayenne-spiced sauce to dunk the shrimp in, with this 20-minute recipe for a classic shrimp boil.