Juicy and succulent large shrimp along with corn and potatoes, all drenched in the most heavenly horseradish butter!! There’s the option to make your own homemade and ultra flavorful stock for the boil or use store bought stock as a shortcut! Either way, this is a finger lickin’ amazing meal!!
Prep Time20 minutesmins
Cook Time1 hourhr
Total Time1 hourhr20 minutesmins
Course: Seafood
Cuisine: American
Keyword: butter garlic shrimp and potatoes recipe, can you boil frozen shrimp, cooking shrimp boil, how long does it take to boil shrimp, how long to boil shrimp, shrimp boil, shrimp boil recipe
Servings: 8
Calories: 1044kcal
Author: Averie Sunshine
Ingredients
Homemade Stock
3quartswater
24ouncesbeeruse your favorite lighter/paler beer
2large carrotscut into large chunks
1head garliccut in half so all the cloves are exposed
4celery stalkscut into large chunks
2tablespoonsprepared yellow or Dijon mustard
1tablespoonkosher saltor to taste
OR use 3 to 4 quarts store bought chicken or vegetable stockI recommend reduced sodium
Shrimp Boil
2poundslarge fresh shrimpcleaned and deveined; I use U15-18 shrimp and prefer to leave the tails on* (See Notes below about frozen shrimp)
1 to 1 ½poundsbaby red potatoeskept whole
2 to 3ears of fresh sweet corncleaned; each ear cut into thirds (frozen and thawed corn on the cob may be substituted)
Horseradish Butter
12tablespoonsunsalted butter1 1/2 sticks
½cupstockhomemade, chicken, or vegetable
2clovesgarlicfinely minced or pressed
2 to 3teaspoonsprepared horseradishor to taste (use fresh refrigerated horseradish if you can find it; shelf-stable prepared horseradish may be used although try to not use one that's overly creamy/mayonnaisey-looking)
2teaspoonsOld Bay Seasoning
1teaspoonkosher saltor to taste
1teaspoonfreshly ground black pepper or red chili flakesto taste
fresh parsleyoptional for garnishing
fresh lemon wedgesfor serving
Instructions
Homemade Stock:
To a very large stock pot, add the water, beer, carrots, garlic, celery, kosher salt, mustard, and stir to combine. Bring to a rapid boil over high heat. Let the mixture boil uncovered for at least 30 minutes, up to 1 hour; stir occasionally.
After 30 to 60 minutes, strain the stock into another large pot, discard the vegetables. Tip - Be very careful, the stock is extremely hot!
Place the pot with the stock back on the stove over high heat, and bring it to a boil.
If you are using 3 to 4 quarts store bought stock, bring it to a boil in a large stock pot over high heat.
Shrimp Boil:
Add the baby potatoes and boil for 15 minutes or until fork tender, stirring occasionally.
After the potatoes have cooked for about 15 minutes and are fork-tender, to that stockpot, add the corn, stir to submerge, and boil for an additional 3 minutes.
Add the shrimp, stir to combine, and cook just until the shrimp are cooked. You know they are cooked when they are opaque white, they will curve in on themselves, and they will be firm to the touch; do not overcook. I recommend 3 to 4 minutes unless you are using very large U10-12 shrimp, and they may need 5 minutes but for most shrimp 3 or 4 minutes is plenty since there will also be some carryover cooking after you strain everything.
Strain the potatoes, corn, and shrimp from the stock, and place them into a large serving dish, or individual dishes.
Horseradish Butter:
While the potatoes are cooking in the stock, to a medium saucepan add the butter, stock, garlic, horseradish, Old Bay, salt, pepper or red pepper flakes, heat over medium-high heat until the butter has melted; stirring nearly continuously to encourage it; set aside until Step 10.
Pour the butter sauce over everything and toss to combine, optionally garnish with parsley, and serve with lemon wedges.
Notes
Shrimp: I recommend using fresh, large shrimp that have been previously cleaned and deveined, with the tails still on. My preference are U15-18 shrimp. If you absolutely don’t want to splurge on fresh shrimp, you could possibly get away with previously frozen, cooked shrimp.If you are going this route, I would drop them in your pot of boiling stock for about 60 to 90 seconds, just enough to warm them through. You don’t want to actually cook them since they’ve already been cooked, and you don’t want them tough, so just think of it as warming them.Storage: Shrimp boil is best warm and fresh but will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 4 days.