Foil Packet Dinner: Shrimp Boil Packets

If you love one dish dinners… you’re going to go crazy over these shrimp boil packets! All of the preparation is in one bowl, it’s all mixed and ready to rock and roll! This is one of those easy dinner ideas you’ve got to add to your dinner arsenal!

Shrimp Boil Packets

When we vacation we love to go down to Gulf Shores, Alabama. It’s a small town, but so, so hospitable to the point that when you’re there you don’t even really feel as though you’re on vacation. You truly feel like you’re just “home away from home”.

And, besides walking the beaches, my personal favorite part about Gulf Shores is the food. In fact, the food might give the beaches a run for their money… possibly. The taste of the fresh caught fish is like none other and the way the staff makes you feel while you’re visiting, amazing!

The last time we headed down south for a little getaway, my sister in law ordered a shrimp boil for our nephew’s birthday lunch and it was second to none. I’ve been trying to recreate it since the day we got back, but hadn’t ever just completely nailed the shrimp boil seasoning really, until now, that is.  😀

I got it down and then some help of another recipe but was able to tweak a few things to make it juuuuusssst right for anyone in my family… not too spicy for the young ones and just enough kick for the adults. And, what I love about this recipe is that it can be made ahead (from my days of working in a corporate environment that’s a HUGE deal in my book) and that it can be made in the oven or on the grill. That’s also a big deal for me, as in Iowa we never know from one day to the next what the weather will do. It’s really a crapshoot when you get up in here in the Midwest so you have to be able to be prepared for anything from tornadoes in December to snow in May (yes, both of those things happened just two years ago!)

And, on a side note, as I was writing this recipe up and doing my due diligence on what to call it, I noticed a HUGE spike in the trending of dinner foil packets. This is a big deal, folks! It appears I’m not the only one who loves the convenience of mixing everything into a piece of foil, wrapping it up and calling it dinner — how’s that for easy?! Love it!

Here’s how I make four shrimp boil packets:

• 10 red potatoes (average size) or about 3 pounds — works out to about 2 1/2 potatoes per packet
• 1 ear of corn cut into a third, and the thirds cut into halves
• 1/2 ring of Andouille sausage cut into 1/2 inch pieces — If the kids in your family don’t like spice, either chop these smaller or leave it out completely (although I’d be so sad if you did the latter 😀 )
• 24-30 pieces of shrimp, raw, deveined and shell removed
• 1/2 of a lemon
• 2 T Old Bay Seasoning
• 2 T minced garlic
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp pepper
• 3 T melted butter

Boil the corn and cubed potatoes for ten minutes or so, then rinse and drain. The remainder of the cooking will be done in the foil packet. No worries – it will be as tender as tender can be once this process is done. 😀  While the potatoes and corn are boiling, combine all of your ingredients together starting with your peeled and deveined shrimp.

Add in the potatoes, corn and sausage… and then season with all of these amazing tastes…

Next, place a quarter of the mixture onto a large piece of foil. A 12″ by 12″ sheet should do, and using heavy duty foil might be a good idea. Or, Reynolds even makes the foil packs now – how cool are these?! It’s also best to have a large cutting board nearby so that you can move your packets to that for transporting to the grill or oven.

Once you’ve got one quarter of the mixture in each of the four foil pieces, wrap them up. Start the long ways sealing them, then seal the ends by rolling from the bottom up, flipping and finally sealing it into a packet. Place the foil packs on a hot grill for 10 minutes, flip and grill for 5-6 more minutes or bake in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes, or until the shrimp is no longer pink.

** While these are baking heat butter in a small saucepan on medium/low. As the butter melts it will start to turn golden brown, You’re making the best dipping sauce for the shrimp and potatoes — you know, the kind that every seafood restaurant serves with shrimp scampi? Yes, this! And this meal is going to be absolutely fantastic — and easy. And, I just love easy dinners, don’t you?!

These are simply and absolutely delicious! Please, after you make these… in the comments below let me know what you thought!!! I hope you love them as much as we do!