How We Hosted a Low Country Boil for Father’s Day

A couple of years ago, for Father’s Day, we hosted a massive Low Country Boil (also known as a seafood boil or shrimp boil!) for our family—all 24 of us! It all started when I spontaneously decided on a Friday afternoon that we had to throw a big Sunday bash. It was a total whirlwind and completely chaotic, but honestly? I think I secretly thrive on that kind of last-minute hosting energy, especially when it means bringing the people I love together. Celebrating all the incredible dads in our lives was such a gift, and it remains one of my absolute favorite memories.

Our Low Country Boil Menu

When you are hosting a crowd this big, the menu needs to be high-impact but low-stress. A seafood boil is perfect because the main event is the recipe. The key is to get the biggest stockpot you have (we used an 84-quart stockpot). If you’d rather not wrangle one giant pot, two 40-quart pots running side by side is a popular setup. It speeds things up and gives you a backup burner.

Seafood Boil Pot with Strainer

Here is what we served:

• The Main Event: A massive boil packed with shrimp, crab legs, lobster tails, corn, sausage, lemons, and onions. (You can jump straight to my full Low Country Boil recipe card!)
• The Sides: Friends brought spinach artichoke dip, chips, and fried zucchini. My go-to fruit salad would be a big hit.
• The Drinks: Ice-cold bottles of Dad’s Root Beer (of course!).

Casual Picnic Styling (With an Easy Cleanup)

For the setup, I rented long folding tables and chairs and dug through my hosting closet for anything I thought would work.

The Design Secret: To keep things feeling elevated but entirely practical, I layered striped vinyl-coated tablecloths with a brown butcher paper runner down the center. It looked beautiful, but more importantly, it was perfect for catching all the seafood toss down the middle of the table.

Diving in with your hands is truly the best part of a boil—and the kids absolutely loved it.

Get the Look

How We Kept It Comfortable (And Bug-Free)

Outdoor hosting in the summer heat can bring some unwanted guests. To keep the flies away, we put up little portable fans around the chips and dip station on the outdoor kitchen bar and down the long dining table.

We also used mesh food covers to protect the food before everyone sat down, and kept a basket of bug spray handy for anyone sensitive to summer bites. If you want a deep dive into our full summer setup, you can check out my exact routine in our Hosting with No Bugs post.

My favorite way to feed a crowd – boiled seafood, vegetables and sausage, poured out on a table and eaten, without utensils, but with family and friends. The greatest social meal there is.

• ▢ 1/2-1 cup salt
• ▢ 2-3 Zatarain’s Crawfish, Shrimp & Crab Boil in a Bag
• ▢ 1-2 bottles Zatarain’s Concentrated Shrimp & Crab Boil (optional) – This will really up the spiciness
• ▢ 2 onions peeled, washed, ends trimmed, cut halfway through at the quarters
• ▢ 10-15 cloves garlic peeled, stems trimmed
• ▢ 4 lemons halved
• ▢ 3 lbs potatoes, small red or yukon
• ▢ 10 ears corn on the cob, shucked, cut into 3-4 pieces each cob
• ▢ 2 lbs smoked sausage
• ▢ 10-15 button mushrooms
• ▢ 3 lbs frozen shrimp, 16-20 count
• ▢ 4 lbs frozen crab legs snow and king varieties are my favorite
• ▢ 4 lbs clams, cleaned
• ▢ 1 7lb bag ice

• Fill your pot, with the basket in it, to the fill line with clean water. Add salt until the water tastes like the ocean, then add the Zatarain’s packets (and liquid if using), garlic, onion, and lemons. Squeeze the lemons into the pot first, then drop them in the water. Stir, and turn the heat to high on the burner. Cover and bring to a boil.

• Once the water is boiling, drop the potatoes and cook for 5 minutes. Add the corn, cook for another 5 minutes. Then add the sausage and mushrooms, cook another 5 minutes before adding the seafood. Make sure the water is back to boiling each time you add ingredients – should be a rapid boil.

• The frozen seafood will drop the temperature, but as soon as it comes back to a boil, turn off the heat and drop in as much ice as you can fit. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes, let drain another 5-10 minutes, then pour onto your tables lined with butcher paper (If using wood tables, best to add a layer of garbage bags or plastic of some kind to prevent water from leaking through and damaging the varnish).

• Eat by hand, no utensils or plates. Serve with hot sauce, ketchup and Cajun seasoning around the table – condiments can be poured directly on the paper. Ramekins of melted butter are good as well.

Related Posts