Low Country Boil

Southern American·Easy·30 min active + 15 min resting

Low Country Boil (also called Frogmore Stew) is a one-pot seafood boil from the South Carolina and Georgia coast — shrimp, sausage, corn, and potatoes boiled together with Old Bay seasoning, then dumped on a newspaper-covered table.

Low Country Boil comes from the Lowcountry of South Carolina, around Beaufort. It is often said that shrimper and National Guardsman Richard Gay of Gay Seafood Company gave it its old name 'Frogmore Stew' in the 1960s, after his home community of Frogmore, when he cooked a big pot for fellow guardsmen; local historians and families note that similar one-pot shrimp boils were already made by area shrimpers before then. The dish reflects the region's shrimp-fishing tradition and West African one-pot cooking.

A pile of bright orange shrimp, red sausage rounds, golden corn cobs, and floury potatoes on newspaper. Peel a shrimp — it's sweet and spicy from the boil. Bite a sausage round — smoky and savory. The corn bursts with sweetness. Everything is communal and messy.

The boiling liquid's seasoning (Old Bay, crab boil, or cayenne) infuses all ingredients simultaneously. The shrimp cook in 2-3 minutes (overcooking makes them rubbery). The potatoes and corn need longer (10-15 min), so they go in first. The sausage adds fat and flavor to the broth.

Variations

Some add crab or crawfish; the seasoning varies; served on newspaper communally.

On the Palate

Where Low Country Boil sits in the American flavor cloud

Ingredients

Serves 6

How it's made

6 steps · 30 min active + 15 min waiting

1
5 min
Bring a large pot of water to boil with Old Bay, cayenne, and salt.
2
10 min
Add potatoes and sausage; boil 10 min.
Watch out
Give the potatoes and sausage a real head start — a knife should meet only slight resistance before the shrimp ever go in, or you'll trade crunchy potatoes for rubbery shrimp.
3
5 min
Add corn cobs; boil 5 min more.
4
3 min
Add shrimp; cook 2-3 min until pink.
Watch out
Pull the shrimp the second they curl and turn opaque pink — two or three minutes, no more; they keep cooking in the residual heat.
5
2 min
Drain everything.
6
1 min
Dump onto a newspaper-covered table; eat with hands.

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Dutch Oven

A heavy enameled or bare cast-iron lidded pot, 4-7 liters, with thick walls and a snug lid. The mass evens out hotspots; the lid traps moisture for braising. Sears on the stovetop, then transfers to a 150°C oven for 3-4 hours of even, contained heat — the structural difference between a beef bourguignon that comes out luminous and one that turns to gray mush. Le Creuset and Staub are the celebrated versions; an old American Wagner is functionally identical.

Techniques

Boiling