So you want to host a crawfish boil and your first question is: how many crawfish per person for a boil?
The crown jewel of Louisiana's complex and multi-cultural cuisine can feel daunting to make at home. But it's easier than you think and tastier than your wildest dreams.

But before we light the fireworks, let's make sure you're buying enough crawfish to host the best crawfish boil at home, including making the very best cajun butter sauce for seafood!
How Many Pounds of Crawfish Per Person?
As a general rule, if you're serving the crawfish as an appetizer or with other hearty meats, 2 pounds per person will suffice.
If crawfish is the main course and star of the event, 3 pounds of crawfish per person is your best bet.
For big eaters, 4-6 pounds of crawfish is best.
Because the tail is generally the only part of the crawfish eaten at a crawfish boil, it takes about 3 pounds of shell-on crawfish to get ½ pound of crawfish tail meat, which is the amount of crawfish needed to fill up each of your guests.
In Louisiana, these live crustaceans are sold in a 30-35 pound sack. That many pounds of live crawfish would be enough for you to host your own neighborhood Mardi Gras festival!
In Portugal where I live, whole crawfish are sold by the kilo. I bout 3 kilos to feed two people – about 6 ½ pounds of crawfish. And we had leftovers (keep reading to discover my favorite dishes to make with leftover seafood boil ingredients!)
How Much Crawfish Per Person?
You will need about ½ pound of crawfish tail meat to feed each person. It takes about 3 pounds of whole crawfish to get ½ pound of tail meet. So plan on 3 pounds per person for average eaters and 4-6 pounds of crawfish for big eaters.
I like adding large shrimp to my crawfish boil to add variety to my seafood boil, and bump up the pescatarian protein options.
Buying Crawfish
If you're looking for live crawfish for a full crawfish boil, grab a sack of live crawfish at your local seafood market or order them online.
In some parts of the world (Portugal, among them) the most widely available type of crawfish is cooked crawfish, in the shell. To heat, add the cooked and chilled crawfish to the seasoned crawfish boil liquid and cooked veggies and potatoes, heat through for about 3 minutes, then drain, toss in butter sauce, and serve.
If you're making a crawfish dish that doesn't require the crawfish shells (Crawfish Hand Pie, crawfish étouffée, Crawfish Bisque Recipe or a crawfish pasta or risotto), you can find packages of frozen tail meat at Trader Joe's, Costco, and other large retailers in the United States.
How Much Does a Bag of Crawfish Weigh?
In Louisiana, these live crustaceans are sold in a 30-35 pound sack of crawfish. If you buy them from a local fishmonger, you can likely buy them by the pound (or kilo).
How to Boil Crawfish
Bring a large pot of water to a hard rolling boil. Season the water with Old Bay or cajun seasoning, bay leaves and lemon juice. Cook small potatoes, corn on the cob, onions and garlic cloves until just short of tender.
Next, add in cleaned crawfish. Once the pot returns to a boil, cook the crawfish in the seasoned boil water for 5 minutes.
Drain the crawfish, toss in Cajun Butter Sauce, and serve.
For a full blog on the cooking process for crawfish, see the step-by-step photos and instructions.
What Equipment do I Need for a Crawfish Boil?
My recipe for traditional Louisiana Crawfish Boil feeds 2-3, and the equipment needed includes a big pot such as a Dutch oven or stock pot, for boiling the crawfish, corn and potatoes. You'll also need a spider or strainer, and a second large pot or container with a lid for steaming the hot crawfish in cajun butter sauce, when finished.
For a 30-35 pound sack of crawfish, you will need an entirely different set of equipment – an outdoor propane burner, a very large size pot that holds 15-18 gallons of water, a giant strainer basket (or wire basket insert), and a large ice chest or large tub to steam the just-boiled crawfish in a Cajun Butter Sauce.
What is the Best Seasoning for Crawfish?
Old Bay Seasoning, liquid crab boil or ground crab boil seasoning, ground crawfish boil spices and even your own seasoning mix are all delicious in a crawfish boil. No matter what spice mixture you use, key ingredients will include bay leaves, cayenne pepper, black pepper, celery salt or celery seed, paprika and lemon juice.
But I must note that after making seafood boils for years, I heard a Louisiana chef say that seasoning the crawfish boil water didn’t do very much to season the crawfish – that was the job of the Cajun Butter Sauce.
Seasoning the water just makes it smell delicious as your guests arrive. Ever since, I don't add much seasoning to the boiling water. I want the water to be seasoned lightly, but I focus much more on adding flavor and spice to the cajun butter sauce. It’s been a winning philosophy for me!
What Else Can I Add to a Crawfish Boil?
For vegetables, I always add onions, garlic, corn and red potatoes. Other popular veggie add-ins include mushrooms, artichokes, celery and fresh green beans. Any vegetable that you think would be tasty dipped in the same cajun butter sauce would probably be a good addition!
In addition to the vegetables, I often add in large, shell-on shrimp to make a crawfish and shrimp boil. Crawfish bring a very particular flavor and shelling / eating experience to the party. But shrimp can do a lot of heavy lifting in filling up hungry bellies! There's just a lot more meat in a shrimp than a crawfish. Crab legs or mussels are two more great options.
If you're cooking for non-pescatarians, andouille sausage, smoked sausage or polish sausage are popular and flavorful ways to add volume and garlicky goodness to your crawfish boil.
What to serve with my crawfish boil recipe?
First, you'll need some delicious sauces for your crawfish and veggies. Cajun Butter Sauce for Seafood is my favorite all purpose butter sauce. Vietnamese Crawfish Sauce is a remarkable mash-up of Cajun and Vietnamese flavors popular in Houston. Blove's Seafood Boil Sauce is a remarkably tasty and complex butter sauce. And I love serving a Spicy Aioli Sauce for dipping crawfish and potatoes.
For a side dish, Napa Cabbage Slaw adds freshness and crunch to the party. If you want a side that's just as delicious in the cajun butter sauce and spicy aioli, how about a tray of truffle fries?
Looking for More Crawfish Recipes?
- Authentic Cajun Crawfish Boil
- Vietnamese Cajun Crawfish Boil
- Crawfish Bisque Recipe
- Crawfish Hand Pies
And check out my recommendations on How to Reheat Leftover Seafood Boil (in a bag, or not!)
Conclusion
There you have it - the crawfish, veggies and step-by-step process for hosting your own crawfish boil.
Whether you want half the town at your shindig or just a few close friends and family, gather your crawfish, a big cook pot and a bunch of napkins...you're in for a really good time.
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