Summer is the best time for fresh corn, new potatoes, and delicious seafood. Combine it all in this easy, crowd-pleasing recipe.

Fresh is best, with a few exceptions. If you find that frozen shrimp or crab legs are on sale, that's fine! Even frozen corn on the cob would work in this, but fresh would be even better. Don't worry if you don't have a big stockpot. A wok-type pan will do nicely as long as it is relatively big.

I organized this recipe into three stages so you can drop in additional items if you'd like. Take a look at the notes at the bottom for ideas.

corn, potatoes

Ingredients (serves 4 with leftovers)

4 tsp. Old Bay seasoning plus more for sprinkling
1 tsp. garlic powder
12 cups of water

Stage 1:

1 lb. new potatoes (any variety – I used a mix of baby red, Yukon gold, and purple potatoes)
1 lb. raw shrimp (fresh or frozen)

Stage 2:

6 raw clams (small or medium-sized clams would work best)
1 lb. snow crab legs
1 kielbasa or smoked sausage, cut into 2" chunks

Stage 3:

3 ears of fresh corn, shucked and snapped in half
1 head of broccoli, cut into large pieces

Method

Bring the water to a boil over medium-high heat, and season with Old Bay and garlic powder.

Stage 1: Add the potatoes and cook for 10 minutes. Without removing the potatoes, add the shrimp. For frozen shrimp, boil for 5 minutes; for fresh, boil for 2 minutes. Remove the shrimp with a slotted spoon and set them aside on a platter.

Stage 2: Add the clams, snow crab legs, and kielbasa to the pot and boil for 5 minutes. Remove everything (potatoes included), and set aside on the platter.

Stage 3: Add the corn and boil it for 3 minutes (covered), then add the broccoli and let it cook for just one minute. All done! Now you can strain off all of the water and arrange everything nicely on the platter.

Sprinkle the whole thing with more Old Bay, and garnish with fresh lemon halves.

seafood platter

Notes: The fun thing about a seafood boil is that you can add pretty much anything you'd like, and it will still turn out great. Here are some ideas to make this basic recipe even better:

  • Asparagus: Add fresh asparagus spears (with the woody stems snapped off) at the same time as the broccoli in Stage 3.
  • Lobster Tails: Add fresh lobster tails at Stage 2 (cooking for 5 minutes before removing).
  • Green Mussels: Add these large, frozen green mussels after Stage 2 and just heat them through for 2 minutes.
  • Crawfish: Add frozen crawfish at Stage 2 (cooking for 5 minutes before removing).
  • Scallops: Pan-fry scallops in a bit of butter for about 2 minutes on each side. Sprinkle with Old Bay and add them to the finished platter. You can use that same pan to make your garlic butter dipping sauce.

Serve it all up with some butter melted with a crushed clove of garlic, some aioli, or some of BLovesLife's famous seafood sauce if you're feeling adventurous!

The possibilities are really endless with this basic summer recipe. Get out to your local fish market and just see what's good!

**All of the photos in this article are by Sarina Petrocelly.

Do you have a favorite seafood boil recipe or technique? What do you do differently? Let us know in the comments!