As soon as the warmer weather finally rolls around, I start to crave easier recipes. There’s one restriction, though: They still have to be positively jam-packed with flavor. Growing up, we didn’t do “shrimp boils.” I was, sort of, raised in the South, but not exactly by true Southern parents. It wasn’t until I moved to Alabama for college that I was introduced to the cultural event, the shrimp or crawfish or crab boil, made into a thing to do, not just a dish.
And that was that. Done, alright, boom boom over. The shrimp boil will forever be in our rotation of spring and summer dishes, tossing tender Old Bay-spiked shrimp, smoky sausage, and creamy potatoes with a garlic ghee or clarified butter and eating everything over newspaper. There’s something so casual about it but so dang easy, I knew I had to make a Whole30 version. Because, uh, what’s better than an easy, quick, casual, delicious, and comforting dish on a Whole30? Nothing. Literally nothing. This Whole30 shrimp boil is just that: easy, quick, and simple. The ingredients are pretty clear: what you see is what you get. Boil a pot of water with a couple lemons and lots of Old Bay then drop in potatoes, onions, kielbasa, and shrimp. Drain it all and toss with a garlic ghee, which, OK, is admittedly a fancy little twist on standard clarified butter but so worth it. Sprinkle with more Old Bay and throw it all on newspaper. Invite your friends and show ’em what it’s like to eat healthy. You martyr you!
We love this Whole30 shrimp boil for a couple little extras that make it stand out from a back-of-the-box shrimp boil: of course, we leave out the beer and the corn to make it Whole30-compliant, upgrading the flavor with plenty of fresh lemons to add a bit of tangy perfection. After that, we infused the ghee with fresh garlic to add even more flavor to the shrimp, potatoes, and sausage. If you’re strictly paleo and don’t eat potatoes, you could substitute large cauliflower florets, though you’ll want to add those in around the same time as the kielbasa. Or try celery root chunks, but those will need to boil for a total of 25-30 minutes. The great thing about the Whole30 shrimp boil is that, so long as you only cook the shrimp for the last couple minutes, the dish is super versatile and forgiving. You can use pre-made garlic ghee, too! I am a massive fan of 4th and Heart products, and their California Garlic Grass-Fed Ghee would be positively amazing here, cutting down the already minimal steps, too. Try it!
