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Instant Pot Low Country Shrimp Boil is a fun and super easy meal to make! Potatoes, sausage, corn and shrimp cooked together with seafood seasoning and Cajun spices. Pressure cooker low country shrimp boil is ready in a little over an hour total! Dump it on the table and dig in!
Originally Published 6/28/18
Instant Pot Low Country Shrimp Boil
We love going to those restaurants that dump the shrimp boil right on the table. Then they hand you a bib and a mallet and leave you to just dive in!
You can have the same experience in your own home. This pressure cooker shrimp boil is an Instant Pot dump and start recipe, so it’s easy to make.
Which potatoes are the best to use?
Baby red potatoes and small new potatoes are the best as they cook to the perfect tenderness!
If you use larger potatoes, it would be good to cut them in half or quarters for faster cooking, and to help the rest of the ingredients fit in the pot.
What size of shrimp work best in Instant Pot Low Country Shrimp Boil?
I like to use Extra Large 26/30 shrimp, or Large 31/35. The number refers to how many shrimp per pound. Small number = larger shrimp.
I have the best results using frozen shrimp. The pot is very full, so it takes a long time to come to pressure. The shrimp thaws in that warmup time.
If you are interested in learning more about shrimp sizes and such, my friend Jessica Gavin, a Culinary Scientist, has a very good article you may like to read: Types and Sizes of Shrimp.
Here’s how easy it is to make Instant Pot Low Country Shrimp Boil:
If you are using small, unfrozen shrimp, you may only need to cook for 1 minute. I do recommend smaller potatoes in that instance.
A Family Friendly Meal
This Instant Pot Low Country Shrimp Boil is a fun meal that will get the family around the dinner table. There’s something for everyone!
Kids really like this Instant Pot Shrimp Boil. They get to eat with their hands, and you can include sausage that is not spicy for them. I like using kielbasa.
If you do like a spicy sausage, Andouille is very good in this recipe! Or use both kinds.
Cajun Spice Blend
Instant Pot Cajun Pasta
Instant Pot Red Beans and Rice with Sausage
Instant Pot Pulled Pork
Instant Pot Low Country Shrimp Boil
Ingredients
- 2 cups Water
- 1 ½ Tbsp Old Bay Seasoning, divided (or use a good splash of Zatarain's® Concentrated Shrimp & Crab Boil liquid)
- 1 tsp Coarse Salt (or 1/2 tsp table salt)
- 1 lb New Potatoes, small, 4 oz size, or cut larger ones in quarters
- 1 Onion, cut in thick slices
- 6 cloves Garlic, roughly chopped
- 2 Bay Leaves
- 1 Lemon, quartered
- 2 tsp Cajun Seasoning, divided (optional)
- 2 ears Corn on the Cob, cut in thirds
- 1 lb Smoked Sausage, (cooked) cut in 2" pieces
- 2 lbs Shrimp, raw, large to jumbo size (easy peel, or split & deveined) partially frozen is best
Serve With
- Butter, for dipping
- Crusty Bread
Instructions
- Have all of your potatoes, corn, sausage, onion, garlic & lemon chopped or cut before you start cooking. Also have the spices there with you as it will make this go faster/easier, and everything will cook at the proper times.
- Add 2 cups of water to the pressure cooker and turn on the Sauté setting to get the water warming up.
- Add the Old Bay seasoning (or shrimp boil seasoning), and salt.
- Add Potatoes, onion, garlic, bay leaves, and lemon. Then sprinkle with some of the Cajun seasoning.
- Add the Corn and sprinkle it with a little more of the Cajun seasoning.
- Add the sausage.
- Add the shrimp and sprinkle with more Cajun Seasoning and some of the Old Bay seasoning.
- Close the lid and set the steam release knob to the Sealing position, Then cancel the Sauté setting.
- Press the Pressure Cook/Manual button or dial and then the + or - button or dial to select 2 minutes for frozen shrimp (1 minute for fresh shrimp). It will take several minutes to come up to pressure. Use High Pressure.
- When the cook cycle is finished, turn the steam release knob to the Venting position and do a Quick Release of the steam/pressure. This will take a few minutes as the pot is full.
- Open the lid once the pin has dropped down. Turn off the pot.
- Use a spider skimmer or large slotted spoon to scoop the shrimp boil contents to a large bowl.
- At this point you can dump it onto a table lined with newspaper or butcher paper, or put it on a baking sheet pan and serve it from there.
- Melt some butter for dipping, and serve with some crusty bread.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Resources to make This Recipe and More
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This was delicious and easy! I have the Ninja Speedi, which is not a pressure cooker, but rather, a steam cooker, and this recipe turned out fabulous! I followed the directions as listed, but on step 9 I just set the pot to steam for 2 minutes and it turned out beautifully, like magic! Highly recommend!
We substituted beer for the water and it came out really tasty. We may add more garlic and spread some butter over everything before we serve as well.
This recipe looks amazing! Can you please tell me what brand/kind of Cajun Seasoning you used? Many thanks, Amy
Hi, thank you! I like Tony Chachere’s.
This was so good! I didn’t have a lemon so used a splash of lemon juice concentrate. Didn’t have a whole onion so used some frozen diced I had on hand and used frozen corn on the cob! Only 1lb of the shrimp fit in my IP, though…oh well! More for later! Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Made this for lunch and my wife just loved it! Very easy to make. Thanks!
I am assuming this is frozen RAW shrimp, deveined with shells on, correct? Excited to try this!
Yes it is!
Question: If I were to double the potatoes to 2 pounds and added 2 more ears of corn, would I need to increase the cook time?
Hi Kelly! As long as it fits in the pot, and they are the same size, you can keep the cook time the same.
I did use frozen, peeled, deveined tail-off raw shrimp (61-70 per lb., used the entire 16oz. bag) followed all your instructions but cut the pressure cooker off after 1 minute on high and transferred to a sheet pan in the oven on 200° to keep warm. I also don’t have that saute function, so I used 2 cups of hot water and hoped for the best! It turned out perfectly, my family isn’t even big on seafood- but they loved it with a pot of rice. The only things that were like mush were the lemons, so I’d say it’s a win ?
That’s awesome! That was so clever of you to do a shorter cook time so you could keep it warm in the oven! Thank you for your review!
I’m wandering if I could a peeled and deveined shrimp for this. Or do you have to use a shelled shrimp.
It’s all about the cook time. The size of the shrimp, and having the shell on, as well as being partially frozen, helps slow down the cook time so they don’t overcook. I would say if they are large, and frozen, you stand a better chance when they are already peeled.
This recipe was an instant success in our house. Delicious. I have shared it with my friends and family. Thank you.
That’s awesome, Windy! Thank you for your review!