What to Eat with Crawfish – Boil Sides, Dips and Breads

How it works

What to eat with crawfish? At a boil, some of the sides cook in the same pot. These 41 ideas add dips, bread, cold sides, food for guests who will not peel, and ways to use leftover tails.

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What goes in the pot

In Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and southeast Texas, crawfish are generally served at a crawfish boil, cooked in a large pot with heavy seasoning. Ears of corn, new potatoes, onions and heads of garlic usually go in too, and some people add smoked sausage or mushrooms. The pot is drained and tipped onto a table covered with newspaper. Hot sauce, lemons and melted butter are usually set out.

Leftover tails

In most other crawfish dishes, such as étouffée and bisque, only the tail is served, and étouffée goes over rice. So peeled tails left from a boil become the next day's meal.

Add one bread and one cold side. The pot supplies the rest.
Set the butter and dips out in several small bowls, so nobody reaches across the pile.

Questions and answers

What sides go with a crawfish boil?

Beyond what boils in the pot: French bread, creamy coleslaw, potato salad and skillet cornbread. Saltine crackers and boiled peanuts are there to pick at.

What do you dip crawfish in?

Melted butter or garlic butter, with lemon wedges close by. Cocktail sauce, ranch dressing and a mayonnaise and ketchup dip are the cold choices.

What to serve at a crawfish boil besides crawfish?

Boudin links, hot dogs or fried catfish strips, with a pot of jambalaya kept warm on the side. The corn, potatoes and sausage from the boil feed those guests too.

What can you make with leftover crawfish tails?

Spoon them over steamed white rice or buttered grits, toss them with fettuccine in cream sauce, or fry them for a po'boy roll with lettuce and tomato. They also go into dirty rice and gumbo.

What dessert goes with a crawfish boil?

Shaved ice with syrup or ice pops, eaten outside. Strawberry shortcake and pecan pie are the bigger finish.

All 41 ideas

From the same pot 7

Boiled onions Halved, soft and sweet after a spell in the pot.
Corn on the cob Short ears boiled with the crawfish, so they take on the spice.
Small red potatoes They soak up the seasoning. Split one and add butter.
Smoked sausage Cut it in thick coins and drop them in near the end.
Whole carrots Peeled and left long, so they are easy to fish out.
Whole heads of garlic Squeeze the soft cloves onto bread or a potato.
Whole mushrooms They hold the hot liquid, so let them cool before biting.

Dips and sauces 9

Cocktail sauce Cold, sharp with horseradish, for dipping the tails.
Extra boil seasoning A shaker on the table for the corn and potatoes.
Garlic butter Melt the butter with crushed garlic and keep it warm.
Hot sauce Leave the bottle on the table for anyone who wants more heat.
Italian salad dressing A small bowl for dipping potatoes and tails.
Lemon wedges A squeeze over a pile of peeled tails.
Mayonnaise and ketchup dip Stir the two together with a shake of hot sauce.
Melted butter A warm bowl of it for the tail meat and the potatoes.
Ranch dressing Cool and creamy between spicy handfuls.

Breads and cold sides 7

Boiled peanuts Soft and salty, a bowl to pick at while the pot heats.
Creamy coleslaw Cold and crunchy, a rest from the pepper.
French bread Tear it and mop up the butter and the soft garlic.
Olive salad Chopped olives and pickled vegetables in oil, spooned onto bread.
Potato salad Cold and creamy. Some stir peeled tails right into it.
Saltine crackers Plain and dry, to settle a burning mouth.
Skillet cornbread A little sweet beside a spicy pile. Serve it warm.

For guests who will not peel 4

A pot of jambalaya Made ahead and kept warm for anyone who wants a full plate.
Boudin links Warm, with crackers and mustard, while the pot comes to a boil.
Fried catfish strips Hot and crisp, with the same dips as the crawfish.
Hot dogs Grill a few for the children.

With leftover tail meat 7

Buttered grits Spoon the tails and their sauce over a soft bowl of grits.
Dirty rice Fold the tails through the rice just before serving.
Fettuccine in cream sauce Toss the peeled tails in at the end, just to warm them.
Gumbo Stir the tails in at the very end so they stay tender.
Pie crust Bake the tails in a thick gravy under a crust.
Po'boy roll with lettuce and tomato Fry the tails and pile them into a split roll.
Steamed white rice Under tails smothered in a buttery gravy.

Something sweet after 4

Ice pops Keep a cooler of them for the children.
Pecan pie A thin slice is plenty after a long afternoon of peeling.
Shaved ice with syrup Cold and sweet, for a mouth still hot from the spice.
Strawberry shortcake Split biscuits, cut berries and cream, put together at the table.

Drinks 3

Half iced tea, half lemonade Mix it by the glass, over plenty of ice.
Ice water with lemon slices Put a jug at each end of the table.
Sweet iced tea Keep the pitcher in the shade, well away from the pot.