Hosting a seafood boil is the best way to enjoy the salty goodness of lobsters, crabs, and shrimp while putting summer vegetables to good use. In the South, it is somewhat of a tradition in the summer months to prepare a large pot of seafood boil and invite family and friends to devour a scrumptious meal.

A seafood boil is one of the easiest party meals you can make—just boil, season, drain, and dump! Whether you are serving peel-and-eat shrimp or super tender lobsters, a seafood boil in every form provides a luxury food experience and a great activity for your party.

In this blog, you will find everything you need to pull off a perfect backyard seafood boil, including serving tips and an equipment list. You’ll also discover seafood boil serving tips that will elevate your gathering!

There are many cuisines you can serve at a backyard party, from barbecues to Italian. So, why you should go for a seafood boil?

Serving a seafood boil is not a complicated deal, as you will need only a few things to get started. In this section, we will discuss what equipment you will need to perfectly stir up and serve your seafood boil. Here are some essential seafood boil serving tips to ensure a great experience for your guests.

Make it at home or buy ready-made bags from the Crabby Bags, the benefits of a seafood boil are endless either way:

• As a seafood boil is dumped on a newspaper-lined table for everyone to eat, there are only a few dirty dishes. Even while cooking, only a pot, a strainer, and a few stirring spoons will be used.
• Ready-to-cook boil bags are even easier to prepare. Crabby Bags has the most delicious pre-cooked boil bags, brimming with exciting flavors and succulent seafood.
• Seafood boils can be messy, but this mess is usually contained only on the dining table or in your backyard.
• This traditional southern cuisine is not only mouth-watering but also low-maintenance. You boil, strain, and dump the contents on a table–where everyone enjoys the classical flavors using their hands. So, no cutlery, extra plates, or bowls!

Before you call everyone to give invitations, make sure you are well equipped to make your seafood boil a big hit!

Serving a seafood boil is not a complicated deal, as you will need only a few things to get started. In this section, we will discuss what equipment you will need to perfectly stir up and serve your seafood boil. Here are some essential seafood boil serving tips to ensure a great experience for your guests.

A seafood boil is a one-pot meal where everything including the seafood, vegetables, corn, and sausages are cooked together in a seasoned broth. If you are stirring up a seafood boil for a large party, you will need an adequately sized pot to simmer all your ingredients. 

Once everything is cooked to tenderness in a broth, the contents need to be strained. For this, you will need a large strainer to drain the broth and rescue the cooked ingredients. 

A seafood boil is usually dumped on a paper-lined table, and that is pretty much all you need to do to serve it. It can be messy to eat it this way, but what do they say? The messier the better! 

For the table covering, you can go for either newspaper or a baking sheet ( this will prevent the sauce from soaking into the table).

You are serving boiled shellfish, so you will need equipment at the table that will help extract the meat from the shell. Lobster crackers, kitchen shears, and picks will all work here.

You may not need plates and bowls for serving the boil, but keep a few on the table for the discarded shells. 

Eating a seafood boil is a messy affair, you will need bibs, napkins, and tissues at the table to minimize the mess as much as possible.

Extra Large Serving Utensils

To make serving easier, consider using extra-large serving utensils like ladles and tongs. These will help you portion out the seafood and veggies onto the table quickly, ensuring everyone gets a good mix of ingredients.

A Beverage Station

Set up a beverage station nearby with plenty of drinks to keep your guests refreshed. Pairing your seafood boil with chilled beers, lemonade, or iced tea will enhance the experience and keep the party vibe lively.

Whether you are preparing a low country boil with shrimp and sausages or a traditional snow crab boil with Cajun seasoning, you will need the right ingredients to get started. Here are a few tips to help you make a finger-licking good seafood boil: 

• Snow crab tastes excellent in a seafood boil and it is much cheaper than the king crab. If you are planning to feed a large gathering, go for frozen snow crab legs and stir up a perfect boil. 
• Buy pre-made seasoning and sauces. You can check out Crabby Bags as their Cajun Seasoning and creamy Garlic Butter Sauce are just top of the game. Prepped with fresh herbs and a plethora of southern spices, the cajun seasoning is everything you need to whip up a delicious and aromatic seafood boil. The garlic butter sauce from the Crabby Bags is also a perfect partner for the tender goodness of your seafood. 
• For a shrimp boil, you need wild-caught and shell-on shrimp. You can either buy frozen or fresh as it does not affect the taste. 
• To stretch the quantity of your boil, you can buy mussels and clams to go in the broth alongside lobster, crab, and shrimp. 
• When you are buying whole lobsters, go for the ones that are kicking their tails. We suggest buying lobster tails over claws as they have more meat and come cheaper than the claws.
• You can buy your lobster pre-cooked. Many stores offer to steam them for their customers. 

Instead of cooking the seafood boil yourself, you can go for pre-made boil bags and focus on how to serve a seafood boil. These seafood boil bags from the Crabby Bags are very easy to cook and will save a ton of your time. Check out their website and discover some exciting and delicious flavors of the traditional, southern seafood boils. From cajun snow crab boil to an all-time favorite low country boil, Crabby bags offer a stellar variety of seafood boils packed with goodness and true flavors of the south!