While you may enjoy digging into a pile of fresh, seasoned crab, corn, sausage, and potatoes, you may not like the price that comes with it. At a Cajun seafood-style restaurant, you may be spending an arm and a (crab) leg, but if you make your own crab boil at home, you’ll save money and be able to customize your dish.
All you need is a pressure cooker, your favorite ingredients, and spices for a delicious and affordable crab boil.
If you don’t have a pressure cooker, we’ve got you covered! Check out our sheet pan instructions at the bottom of the page.
This recipe serves two to four people. You can add more (or fewer) potatoes, corn, sausage, and crab to suit your eaters’ appetites!
Ingredients
- Potatoes, whole (enough to feed each person)
- 1 medium onion, sliced
- 2 ears of corn, halved
- 2 Tbsp. Old Bay seasoning, divided
- 2 Tbsp. Cajun or creole seasoning, divided
- 2 cups water or chicken broth
- 2 snow crabs (or any crab or seafood you prefer)
- 2 packages sausage, sliced (we used kielbasa)
- Salt and pepper to taste
Other seafood add-ins or substitutions include clams, lobster, mussels, scallops, and shrimp.
Garlic butter sauce
- 1 stick butter
- 4 cloves of garlic, minced
- 2 Tbsp. lemon juice
- 2 Tbsp. parsley, chopped
- 2 Tbsp. Old Bay seasoning
- 2 Tbsp. Cajun or creole seasoning
Instructions
If you have a trivet, place in pressure cooker inner pot. Scrub potatoes and place on trivet. Add onions and corn. Pour in chicken broth. Sprinkle half the Old Bay and Cajun or creole seasoning. Secure pressure cooker lid and set to high pressure for four minutes. It may take some time to come to pressure depending on your pressure cooker and ingredients.
In the meantime, make the garlic butter sauce by melting butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add minced garlic and cook for one minute. Remove from heat. Add lemon juice, parsley, and seasonings. Stir and keep warm until ready to use.
After the four minutes are up, release the pressure right away (also called quick pressure release). When the pressure is fully released, the float valve will drop. That’s when it’s safe to open the lid. Add crab and sausage and sprinkle the rest of the Old Bay and Cajun or creole seasoning. Secure lid and set to high pressure for for two minutes.
Note: Since it’s relatively small, snow crab only needs two minutes in the pressure cooker. However, if you use a bigger crab like Dungeness or king crab, it probably needs to cook longer, for about four to six minutes.
Once the two minutes are up, turn off the pressure cooker and release the pressure right away. Open the lid and remove crab boil contents. Arrange in a casserole dish or baking pan. Pour garlic butter sauce into small bowls for dipping. Pour the rest (or as much as you want) of the sauce over the top of the crab boil ingredients. Finish with salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!
Thrifty tips
We like to save the excess liquid and use it in different ways:
- To cook rice.
- As a stock for soups, stews, and chowders.
- As a base for a seafood pasta.
You can even freeze the liquid in ice cube molds and store in a plastic bag in the freezer for small portions.
Also, waiting for high-priced items to go on sale can save you a lot of money!
No pressure cooker? No problem!
You can forget the boil in crab boil because you can get the same flavors using the sheet pan method in the oven.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Make garlic butter sauce first. Then, add all ingredients except for the chicken broth to a sheet pan (you don’t need chicken broth for this method). Pour garlic butter over ingredients until everything is coated, saving enough sauce for dipping. Bake in oven until corn is tender and sausage is browned, about 25 minutes. All that’s left to do is crack open the crab and enjoy!
Under pressure?
If you love your electric pressure cooker, but aren’t sure what to make, check out these easy and delicious recipes:
