Make crawfish boil leftovers the star of the show with this soup recipe
It’s April in Louisiana, and by now you’ve either hosted or attended multiple crawfish boils. Personally, I eat boiled crawfish at least once a week during this season. The only thing better than eating boiled crawfish is boiling a sack at home and then eating boiled crawfish.
Sometimes when we boil, we go a little overboard and end up with a good amount leftover. I’m not a huge fan of eating leftover boiled crawfish because it’s never quite as good as it was fresh out of the pot. However, I’m also not OK with wasting any bit of the boil.
Boiled crawfish are packed with flavor and make an excellent addition to a number of classic dishes. One of my favorite things to make is After the Boil Soup. The beauty of this soup is that it can be completely customized based on whatever ingredients were in your boil. If yours was loaded with mushrooms, throw them in. Do you like smoked sausage in yours? Add that too! This soup is the perfect way to be resourceful and make something magical.
Start by peeling and deveining all of the leftover crawfish tails. I like to take some of the boiled corn from the boil, cut the kernels from the cob and blend about half a cup in a food processor along with any leftover garlic and onions from the pot. Set aside the remaining corn kernels. Next, cut the boiled potatoes into quarters. After making a simple butter roux, I sauté the trinity and add cream, seasonings and all the crawfish boil ingredients. Let everything simmer together and prepare for your home to smell amazing! After tasting this soup, you may never waste crawfish leftovers again.
In Louisiana, the boil doesn’t have to end when the pot is empty. Sometimes, the best dish comes the next day.
After the Boil Soup
1 garlic bulb*
1 whole onion*
2 lb. crawfish, peeled and deveined*
2 ½ lb. red potatoes (about 10-12), quartered*
8-10 ears of corn, removed from cob*
Approximately 25 crawfish claws* (these will be removed at the end)
1 lb. smoked sausage, sliced*
2 Tbsp. butter
¼ cup flour
1 white onion, finely diced
1 Tbsp. minced garlic
1 bell pepper, finely diced
1 celery stalk, finely diced
2 cups heavy whipping cream
6 cups chicken stock (crawfish stock can be used)
Garlic powder, to taste
Salt, to taste
Black pepper, to taste
Creole seasoning, to taste
Fresh thyme sprigs
4-5 green onions, sliced
*Ingredients from crawfish boil
In a 6-qt. pot, on medium-high heat, melt butter.
Add onions, bell pepper and celery and sauté until softened.
Stir in minced garlic and cook for an additional minute.
Add flour and stir well to form a roux. Cook until flour slightly darkens.
Add thyme and slowly stir in stock, blending well.
Bring to a light boil, then stir in heavy cream and blended corn, onion and garlic mix.
Add potatoes, corn, sausage and crawfish claws.
Reduce heat and allow soup to simmer for 20-30 minutes.
Remove thyme sprigs and crawfish claws.
Stir in crawfish tails and green onions.
Taste and adjust seasonings as needed with garlic powder, salt, black pepper and Creole seasoning.
Simmer for an additional 15 mins before serving.
Makes 10-12 servings.
