Shrimp Boil Skewers

Bring a taste of the low country to your grill with these savory, succulent, and slightly spicy Shrimp Boil Skewers. Combining sweet charred corn, tender potatoes, and smoky sausage, these kabobs pack a ton of flavor and textures in the ultimate handheld bite.

Food on a stick is just so much more fun to eat. Whether it’s Grilled Shrimp and Sausage Skewers or these fully loaded kabobs, there’s just something festive about them. These shrimp boil kabobs deliver all of the flavors and ingredients of a classic low country shrimp boil with the added flavor of the fire kissed char. These are perfect to entertain with, yet easy enough for a colorful weeknight meal.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• Simple Process – Unlike a traditional shrimp boil that requires a huge pot and a lot of time, you don’t need any special equipment for these quick cooking shrimp skewers. Simply par cook the potatoes, assemble your kabobs, and fire up the grill. It’s that easy.
• Make Ahead – Not only can you cook your potatoes ahead of time, but you can also assemble your kabobs ahead of time. Because there’s no acid in the herbaceous marinade you can prepare the skewers several hours in advance.
• Classic Ingredients – This shrimp recipe truly delivers the familiar flavors of a shrimp boil. Besides the shrimp there’s also smoked sausage, potatoes cooked in your favorite seafood seasoning, and sweet corn.

Ingredient Notes

• Shrimp – You’ll want shrimp that is at least 20-25 count, often labeled as large. The shrimp should be large enough to wrap around the sausage rounds while being easy to skewer.
• Sausage – For this recipe you’ll want to use your favorite smoked sausage. Andouille is a classic choice but any smoked sausage will work. You can use fresh sausage if desired, however you will have to cook it prior to assembling the skewers.
• Potatoes – You’ll want to use the smallest baby potatoes for this recipe. Red potatoes are traditional, but purple or yellow baby potatoes will also work. You can even use a combination.
• Seafood Seasoning – Use your favorite seafood seasoning for this recipe. I used Old Bay but feel free to swap it out for your favorite. Depending on what variety you use you may need to add a pinch of salt.

How to Make Shrimp Boil Skewers

• Boil the potatoes. Bring 8 cups of water to a boil and add the seasoning. Stir and then add the potatoes. Allow the potatoes to boil until just fork tender, 10-12 minutes. Drain them and let them cool completely.
• Make the marinade. Add the olive oil, thyme, parsley, garlic, lemon zest, and remaining seafood seasoning to a bowl and stir to combine. Add the shrimp, cooled potatoes, corn, and sausage to the bowl and toss them until they’re all fully coated with the marinade.
• Assemble the low country boil kabobs. Wrap the shrimp around a slice of sausage, forming a “C” shape and skewer it. Alternate with potatoes and corn and end each skewer with a lemon wedge.
• Prepare your grill. Prepare your grill for direct grilling. If using a charcoal grill spread your charcoal in an even layer across the bottom. If using a gas grill light your burners and allow the grill to heat to around 400 degrees. Make sure that your grates are clean.

• Melt the lemon-garlic butter. Place a grill safe saucepan on the hot grate. Add the butter, garlic, lemon zest, and seasonings to the pot and stir until the butter is melted. Stir in the lemon juice and herbs and remove the pot from the heat or place it on indirect heat just to keep it warm.
• Grill the kabobs. Place your low country shrimp kabobs on the hot grates. Allow the first side to cook for 3-4 minutes. The shrimp will begin to turn opaque and the vegetables and sausage will begin to slightly char. Flip the skewers and allow the second side to cook for another 3-4 minutes until the shrimp is pink. Their internal temperature should be 120 degrees.
• Brush the melted butter over the finished kabobs. Remove the shrimp boil kabobs from the grill and brush them with the lemon-garlic butter. You can serve with the remaining butter if desired.

Variations

• Down here in the south we love to add beer to our boils. You can achieve that same flavor by adding beer to the pot when boiling the potatoes.
• For a slightly spicier version, replace the seafood seasoning in this recipe with your favorite Cajun seasoning. You can leave out the crushed red pepper flakes in both the marinade as well as the lemon-garlic butter.

Tips for Defrosting Shrimp

• Frozen shrimp are a great staple to always have on hand for quick and easy weeknight meals packed with a ton of flavor and protein. We’ve all been there where we need dinner on the table five minutes ago and reach into the freezer for this tasty crustacean. Some people will cut open the bag, plot the frozen nuggets into a colander, and run cool water over them until they’re unthawed. However this is not the best way as it will give you a watery result.
• If you can plan ahead, remove the shrimp from the freeze the night before and place the shrimp into a colander fit inro a bowl. Allow them to gently defrost in the refrigerator over night, patting them dry before using them.
• To quickly defrost the shrimp, run the cool water over the bag of shrimp, so the shrimp aren’t directly exposed to and submerged in the water. Once defrosted make sure to pat them dry.

Tips From the Beach

• Make sure you are using a dependable, sharp knife to cut your corn into rounds. Cutting through the cob can take a little muscle power.
• To make assembling your skewers extra easy, pierce the corn rounds ahead of time. A metal skewer works best for this.
• If using wood, bamboo skewers make sure to soak them for around 30 minutes prior to cooking and assembling the shrimp boil kabobs.
• Make sure to use unsalted butter to control the sodium content of the lemon-garlic butter for the shrimp boil skewers.
• Serve the shrimp skewers on butcher paper for easy clean up.

Frequently Asked Questions

Shrimp Boil Skewers

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Bring a taste of the low country to your grill with these savory, succulent, and slightly spicy Shrimp Boil Skewers. Combining sweet, charred corn, tender potatoes, and smoky sausage, these kabobs pack a ton of flavor and textures in the ultimate handheld bite.

• Author: Nicole Stover
• Prep Time: 15
• Potato: 15
• Cook Time: 10
• Total Time: 40 minutes
• Yield: 2-4 1x
• Category: Entree
• Method: Grilling
• Cuisine: American

Ingredients

Units USM Scale 1x2x3x

Shrimp Boil Skewers

• 1 lbs. 16-20 or 21-25 count shrimp, peeled and deveined, tails on
• 8 ounces mini potatoes
• 3 ears corn, cut into 1” rounds
• 12–14 ounces smoked sausage cut into 1/2” rounds
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons seafood seasoning, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/4 cup flat leaf parsley chopped
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, grated
• 2 teaspoons lemon zest

Lemon Garlic Butter

• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 garlic cloves minced
• 2 teaspoons lemon zest
• 1/2 teaspoon seafood seasoning
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon flat leaf parsley, chopped
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme, chopped

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Instructions

1. Bring 8 cups of water to a boil and add the seafood seasoning. Stir to dissolve. Add the potatoes and allow them to boil until just fork tender, 10-12 minutes. Drain them and let them cool.
2. If using bamboo skewers allow them to soak for at least 30 minutes in water.
3. Add the cooled potatoes and remaining ingredients for the skewers except for the lemon wedges to a large bowl and toss to combine. 
4. Assemble your skewers. Wrap a shrimp around a sausage, forming a C. Alternate between the shrimp and sausage, potatoes, and corn. End each skewer with a lemon wedge.
5. Prepare the grill for direct grilling. For a charcoal grill spread the charcoal evenly across the bottom. For a gas grill ignite all the burners and heat the grill to around 400 degrees. Make sure the grates are clean.
6. Place a grill safe saucepan on the grill. Add the butter, seafood seasoning, crushed red pepper flakes, and lemon zest to the pot and stir until the butter is melted. Stir in the lemon juice and herbs. Remove from the grill or place on indirect heat to keep warm.
7. Place the skewers onto the hot grates. Allow the first side to grill for 3-4 minutes. You will begin to see the shrimp turn opaque.
8. Flip the shrimp and allow the second side to grill for another 3-4 minutes until the shrimp are pink and the vegetables and sausage are slightly charred. The internal temperature of the shrimp should be 120 degrees.
9. Remove from the grill. Brush both sides of the kabobs with the lemon garlic butter.
10. Serve with remaining butter if desired along with additional lemon wedges. 

Notes

1. You can use beer to boil the potatoes if desired for additional flavor.
2. Swap the seafood seasoning for Cajun seasoning. 
3. Pierce the corn rounds with a skewer prior to assembling the kabobs. It makes it easier.