Shrimp Boil Foil Packs

Easy, tasty shrimp boil foil packs baked or grilled with summer veggies, homemade seasoning, fresh lemon, and brown butter sauce. The BEST and easiest way to make shrimp boil at home! 

If foil packs are on your mind, you’ll have to try these other delicious foil packs like Garlic Steak and Potato Foil Packs, Herb Butter Salmon and Asparagus Foil Packs, and Lemon Herb Shrimp and Broccoli Foil Packs. And if you’re in the mood for shrimp, you’ll love my Sheet Pan Cajun Shrimp and Potatoes and super popular Cajun Shrimp and Rice Skillet

This spring has been something else.

Around here the weather is known for being totally bi-polar, changing all day long making it near impossible to be able to plan ahead and dress for a day out without having to pack extra options. A sweater for layering, flip flops in case it warms up. Drives me bonkers.

But this spring has been more crazy than ever and this past week we had a couple of days that ranged from sunny and sweltering, to rain, to snow, to hail, and back to sunshine in the course of an hour or two. Kinda hard to deal with these days. 

So to help me cope, I’m eating my way through  A L L the summer foods and I’m not ashamed to say I’ve already made my way through three boxes of popsicles. You gotta do what you gotta do right?

To me, few things say summertime better than grilled foil packet dinners. I grew up on these things, but lately I’ve been putting my own spin on them and now I just can’t stop myself.

I recently made shrimp boil foil packs and I can’t get over how good they turned out.

The key is just to boil the corn and potatoes for a few minutes, then you can combine everything with the seasonings, melted butter, and fresh lemon juice before wrapping it all up in foil and grilling (or baking!).

Top it off with some fresh parsley, more fresh lemon juice, and browned butter for the perfect shrimp boil dinner to take your spring blues away! 

WHAT INGREDIENTS DO YOU NEED TO MAKE SHRIMP BOIL FOIL PACKS?

• Shrimp
• Corn on the cob
• Andouille sausage
• Baby red potatoes or baby yellow potatoes
• Old Bay seasoning or homemade seasoning (see note)
• Salt and pepper
• Minced garlic
• Lemons
• Butter
• Fresh parsley

 

HOW DO YOU MAKE SHRIMP BOIL FOIL PACKS?

This seemingly difficult dish is super easy to make, and is aided by easy clean-up via the foil — just gather the foil together and toss it away when you’re done. 

First, you’ll need to cook the potatoes and corn for just a bit to give them a little head start before adding the shrimp, because the shrimp cooks so quickly. Once the corn is husked, cut it into thirds, then cut each third in half lengthwise. Chop potatoes into 2-inch pieces. Boil corn and potatoes for 10 minutes. Drain and set aside.

Next, in a large bowl combine shrimp, sausage, corn, and potatoes. In a small dish, stir together the melted 3 tablespoons butter, Old Bay seasoning, garlic, juice from half a lemon, and salt and pepper to taste and then pour the mixture over shrimp, sausage, and veggies. Stir to coat.

Put 4 12×12 inch sheets of aluminum foil on a baking sheet. Divide the shrimp mixture up evenly among the 4 pieces of foil, folding up the edges of foil around the food to create a closed packet.

Cook the packets on a preheated grill over medium-high heat for 8-10 minutes on one side, then flip and cook another 5-6 minutes on the second side. Or, if you don’t want to grill them, you can bake the packets in the oven at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes until corn is tender and shrimp are pink and fully cooked.

While the packets are cooking, go ahead and melt remaining butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Once it’s melted, keep stirring gently over medium heat for 3-4 minutes longer until color changes from pale yellow to a golden amber (but be careful to watch it cook slowly so that it doesn’t burn).

Pull the cooked packets off the grill or take them out of the oven and open them up. Serve the shrimp boil packs topped with chopped parsley, lemon wedges for squeezing, and browned butter for drizzling over the top or dipping. Dig in! 

 

HOW DO YOU MAKE A FOIL PACK?

Cut off a large piece of foil — about 12×12-inches will do. I like to use a thicker foil for grilling to ensure it doesn’t rip. 

Depending on what I’m grilling, I’ll also add a spritz of cooking spray or rub the bottom of the foil packet with a little butter or oil. These won’t stick as there is plenty of butter in them already.

I pull up the outside edges of the foil to make a bowl of sorts (don’t worry, it doesn’t have to look good, it’s just to keep the liquid from spilling out). Spoon your ingredients into the foil packet/bowl, being careful not to overstuff. You’ll still need to fold up all the edges from there. 

I take two sides of the foil and meet them in the middle, turning them down a bit to seal in the top, then I fold in the edges to seal the other sides. That’s it! It doesn’t have to be fancy or look perfect at all — you just want them to be able to cook/steam in the packet and also keep all the juices from running out. 

HOW DO YOU MAKE DIY OLD BAY SEASONING? 

I love to make my own seasonings, Italian, Cajun, you name it, because it cuts down on the amount of spices I have to get out of my spice drawer each time but also it’s more economical in the long run. Also, it’s really easy! (For more recipes with these seasonings check out my Lemon Herb Shrimp and Rice Skillet recipe and Sheet Pan Cajun Shrimp and Potatoes.)

In a small bowl, whisk together the following spices: 

1 tbsp celery salt

1 tsp paprika

½  tsp black pepper

½ tsp cayenne pepper

¼  tsp dry mustard

⅛ tsp allspice

⅛ tsp cloves, 

pinch of ground ginger

Store in a spice jar or another airtight container.