Shrimp Boil – A Quick Summer Meal
Is this even a recipe? I don’t know, but it is quick and tasty. And it is about all I could muster in these near triple-digit temperatures we’ve been having. Besides a little rough chopping, everything is dumped in the pressure cooker pot and cooked under pressure for 4 minutes. Even in my 90 degree apartment, the pressure cooker and the 4 minute cooking time didn’t even make it feel any hotter. The traditional Seafood Boil is usually cooked outdoors in a large pot, but if you are only feeding four or so and don’t have access to a giant pot, or you don’t have access to cooking outdoors as applies to many of us urban apartment dwellers, the pressure cooker can be a suitable stand-in.
Basically, you just take all the ingredients and add them to the pressure cooker. I used my 7 litre Kuhn Rikon, but I am pretty sure it would fit in a 6 quart as many of the electric cookers are. Anything smaller than that would definitely be too small.
Here are the ingredients, listed in the order in which to dump them in the cooker:
16 ounces of beer (Use a lager or something similar. I haven’t tried an IPA, but I am guessing that would work fairly well. Just don’t use anything dark, that would not lend itself to this recipe).
1 heaping tablespoon of Old Bay Seasoning. Most grocery stores should have this. It is a must for recipes such as this one, or for crab cakes. I always have some on hand.
1 teaspoon of crushed red peppers, the same kind that you sprinkle on pizza (at least that’s what I do, don’t you?).
About 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
A few grinds of black pepper
2 medium onions, cut into chunks. I cut each one into 8 pieces.
8 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed slightly with the side of the knife
About a pound of tiny potatoes. I used “pee wee” potatoes. If you cannot find any that small, just use the smallest you can find and cut in halves or quarters. They will need to be small enough to cook in the allotted time.
4 ears of sweet corn, cut into thirds. I used white, because it looked better than the yellow at my grocery store, but yellow is fine as well.
A 12-ounce package of smoked sausage. I used Andouille, but Kielbasa will work as well. Make sure it is the fully cooked kind, which almost all Andouille and Kielbasa is.
1-1/2 pounds of large shrimp. I bought ones with shells still on, but heads removed. I recommend using shell-on because it adds a lot of flavor. I admit they can be a bit of a pain to peel while you are eating them, but the yumminess more than makes up for it.
So, you just add all of this to your pressure cooker, lock on the top, turn the heat to high and bring to high pressure.
When you hit high pressure, adjust the heat to maintain high pressure and set the timer for 4 minutes.
When time is up, remove from heat and do a quick release.
Serve in bowls or on plates and pour a little of the liquid on top.
I accompany with some melted butter and some Tabasco Sauce, along with French or Sourdough baguette.
| Pressure Cooker Shrimp | Print |
- 1 16 ounce can beer
- 1 heaping tablespoon Old Bay seasoning
- 1 teaspoon crushed red peppers
- ½ teaspoon salt
- A few grinds of black pepper
- 2 sweet onions, cut in chunks
- 8 cloves garlic, peeled and slightly crushed
- About a pound of tiny potatoes, or larger potatoes cut into chunks
- 4 ears of corn, cut into thirds
- 12 ounces (fully cooked) smoked sausage such as Andouille or Kielbasa
- 1-1/2 pounds fresh shrimp (in shells, heads removed)
- Add all ingredients to pressure cooker pot (in order listed)
- Turn heat to high and bring to high pressure
- When high pressure is reached, adjust heat to maintain pressure
- Set timer for four minutes
- When time is up, remove pot from heat and do a quick release
- Serve on plates with french or sourdough baguettes
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Made this tonight. It was seriously AWESOME!! No joke probably one of my most fave things I’ve ever made, and I cook a LOT. Thanks for this!!!!
Thank you so much for the kind remarks. Great to hear that the recipe was a success!
I made this last night…I poured in some of my Corona before I drank the rest and then added some water…I think I had too much liquid, so it took a long time to come to pressure, and I released pressure after 2 minutes. I also had 2 pounds of shrimp and no potatoes. It was sooooooooo good. The shrimp were perfectly done, not even a touch overcooked. And I used my Instant Pot.
I’m glad to hear it turned out well.
This looks delicious – could you please tell me what I could use to supplement the beer? Thanks
I haven’t tried it, but I would think seafood or chicken broth would work.
This was just OK, not terrible, but not something I’d make again. First, in one place in the recipe it says 4 minutes in the pressure cooker, and another place it says 5. I did 4, but it was still overcooked. 5 would have been murder. Overall, the dish was bland. Melted butter mixed with hot sauce at service time saved it. Without that, it would have been epically bland. Not a keeper.
I’m sorry that the recipe didn’t work out for you. Sorry that you found it bland. On one of the forums someone commented that it was far too spicy. I usually try to find a happy medium to please most people. I usually prefer things on the spicy side myself. Thanks for pointing out the time discrepancy. I will be sure to fix that.
The discrepancy is still in the recipe.
My shrimp was pure rubber at 4 minutes (fresh, in shell, no head). $30 worth of shrimp down the drain. I will just cook them separately next time. They will miss the flavor meld, but it’s not worth the risk to wing it in the IP.
I have a bag of frozen shrimp and a bag of scallops. Should I thaw them first or just add time for frozen?
I’m sorry it took so long to reply. If you use frozen, I would probably cook for less time because it will take longer to get to pressure. I would probably try 2-3 minutes at pressure. If it doesn’t seem done, put on saute mode for a couple minutes.
Did it exactly as the recipe had it but added crawfish. Absolutely yummy. Would absolutely recommend!
Sounds good! I like crawfish, but not very easy to find around here.
Just seeing your reply. I did thaw and cooked 5 minutes and it was great, but less time would’ve been better. In the second batch we threw in veggies from our party tray: cauliflower, broccoli, etc. thank you for the recipe and advice!
can i also add mussels?
Sorry it took so long to reply. I have never tried it so I can’t say for sure, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work with mussels.
We just made this in an old style pressure cooker at 4 minutes it was FANTASTIC and we will be making this again! Spices were perfect! Thanks for such a great easy recipie
Sorry to reply so late. Thanks for trying the recipe. I’m happy to hear it turned out well and you enjoyed it!
Loved it. I was afraid of the spice so I didn’t use much. The only thing I would do different next time is to use more. That’s so much.
Yumm! Just made this tonight and am thrilled with how perfect it was!!!! I feel like this Pressure Cooker is the best thing I ever bought myself!
Super easy and yummy. Only my second time using the instantpot. I followed the recipe to a T and all was cooked perfectly and delicious-except the shrimp. It was way over cooked at only 4 minutes cook time. It was still a delicious meal though.
Hi. This sounds yummy. Do you use a trivet or put everything’s right in the pot. I’m using an instant pot.
Sorry for the late response, but yes everything goes right in the pot.
I made this last night in my Instant Pot and it was perfection.
We added about a pound and a half of cod filets on top of a pound of shrimp (and the andouille of course) and included wine in addition to the beer to increase the liquid, as well as a few pats of butter.
It was absolutely perfect cooked at 4 minutes under pressure.
We loved it, thank you for sharing this recipe, and making it easy to follow for us new pressure cooker users!
Sorry for the late response, but thanks for trying the recipe. I’m happy to hear it turned out well for you. Some have reported overdone shrimp at 4 minutes, but that timing has worked for me.
The differing results could be from different size shrimp. What size are you using? Thanks!!! I am making this on Saturday. Can’t wait!
I don’t remember the count last time I made it, but they were large shrimp.
I used your recipe, only change I made was I used Zatarains shrimp an crab boil concentrated, I also used about 1tsp of fresh lemon juice-I used 8ozs of chicken broth an 8 ozs of white cooking wine instead of beer. This was my first time to make it an it was great-the shrimp were super tender. Thanks for the great recipe. I’m thinking that a sweet bell pepper added to recipe would be good as well.
Thanks for trying the recipe. Good to hear it turned out well!
I Made this with 1 lb frozen shrimp at 2 min and it was amazing! Great recipe!
Made this with frozen: corn, clams, mussels, & shrimp. Instant Pot 6qt model. Set time to 3 minutes on high pressure. Came out absolutely perfect! Thanks for posting it up for us to benefit from.
I would like to know frozen or fresh shrimp
Sorry for the late reply. I used fresh, but frozen should work. Also, there are so many different types of shrimp that some people say it came out overcooked, so I would probably try 3 minutes first (fresh or frozen) and check. You can always add another minute later.
I was wondering what size shrimp you used? I would naturally buy larger ones (lower count per pound) – and am wondering if this is why some folks report their shrimp overcooked? But if you could clarify, I would appreciate it. This looks amazing and really want to try it soon!
I don’t know what count I have used, but I usually get pretty large shrimp. I hope you enjoy the recipe.