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I’ve eaten my share of shrimp boils. But honestly, there’s no such thing as having had too many shrimp boil. My favorite was at a hole-in-the-wall shack in Virginia. You’d place your order, grab a few beers (ok, maybe a bucket of them) and sit down at a picnic table covered in newspaper. Minutes later out comes a large pot of everything good. Dumped out onto the table, I would instantly start to devour shrimp, corn, potatoes and sausages. And sometimes, take a sip of cold beer. This here isn’t quite the same, but here in Indiana on cold winters day slow cooker shrimp boil did just fine as a substitute.

A Few Notes And Changes

Do not be shy with the Old Bay seasoning. You can also substitute beer for the beef stock, or go half beer, half stock. I used smoked sausage in my slow cooker shrimp boil, but andouille would be fantastic and a little more spiciness. Just enjoy! Oh, and although I didn’t state it in the recipe, you can certainly brown your sausage first before adding it. It adds a bit of color (duh!) and texture and flavor. So go for it if you want!

Don’t go all fru-fru with this recipe, though. This isn’t meant to be a fancy dish. It’s not coat-and-tie stuff. You’re supposed to get messy eating it. Heck, you can get messy making it too if you want. People expect that from a shrimp boil. No one goes into it thinking they’ll come out as clean as they went in.

To Peel Or Not To Peel

I used unpeeled gulf shrimp in my boil. I think there’s just no better shrimp to be found. But, not everyone has access to them. So use what you can find. I prefer ones with the shells still on. Those shells add flavor as the shrimp cook. And peeling them is half the experience of eating the boil. But you can use peeled shrimp if you want. I recommend using tail-on shrimp at least, as those tails give you a little handle to hold on to!

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