This easy seafood boil combines store-bought frozen seafood bases with fresh snow crab legs and mussels, finished with a rich homemade garlic butter sauce for restaurant-quality results in minimal time.
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Pour one carton of chicken broth into a large stock pot. Season with Old Bay and the juice of half a lemon. Bring to a boil.
While the broth heats up, prepare the mussels. In a separate small pot, add the frozen mussels and their sauce. Add a splash of chicken broth to the empty mussel bag, swirl to collect remaining sauce, and add to the pot. Cover and cook on medium heat until they open.
In another small pot, boil the eggs until hard-boiled.
Once the main broth is boiling, add the contents of the two frozen seafood boil bags.
Add the seasoning packet that came with the bags and stir.
Add the cleaned snow crab legs to the pot, pushing them down into the broth. Cover and cook until the seafood is cooked through and crab is heated, about 5-7 minutes.
To make the garlic butter sauce, melt two sticks of butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
Add the diced onion, pickled ginger (if using), 1 cup of chicken broth, vinegar, and minced garlic to the melted butter.
Stir in the seafood boil sauce mix packet. Bring to a simmer and cook for a few minutes until the flavors meld and onions are translucent.
Squeeze the remaining half lemon over the finished seafood boil.
Serve the seafood boil in large bowls with the cooked mussels, hard-boiled eggs, and the garlic butter sauce on the side for dipping.
Store leftover seafood and broth separately in airtight containers for up to 2 days; reheat seafood gently in a pot over medium heat with a splash of broth to avoid drying out.
large pot (6+ quarts) · wooden spoon
Cook the seafood just before serving for best texture. Prepare the garlic butter sauce up to 2 days ahead and reheat gently before serving.
Mussels are done when shells open (discard any that don't); crab legs are heated through when steaming hot, about 4–5 minutes in the boiling broth.
King crab, Dungeness crab, or large shrimp work well. Adjust cooking time if using shrimp (2–3 minutes instead of 4–5).
No, it's optional and adds a bright, tangy note. Omit if you prefer a purely buttery, savory boil.
This recipe serves 4 as a main course. Portions can be adjusted by scaling the frozen seafood bags and crab proportionally.
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