Learn how to make copycat Boiling Crab Sauce (aka Whole Sha-Bang Sauce) from scratch! It’s a rich and layered butter sauce that’s perfect for Southern seafood boils and for sprucing up your usual weeknight dinner. Easy to make in just 20 minutes!
This luxurious layered sauce is easy to make with plenty of butter, tons of garlic, and a short list of everyday ingredients. The restaurant-quality flavors are to die for and elevate all kinds of seafood dishes.
This delicious sauce is perfect for pouring over a cajun shrimp boil, crab boil, or crawfish boil. Or, you can use it as a dipping sauce with your favorite seafood like king crab legs, a seafood boil, baked salmon, and air fryer shrimp.
What is boiling crab sauce?
Boiling Crab’s Whole ShaBang Sauce is a garlic butter sauce infused with layers of savory, salty, smoky, warm, and moderately spicy flavors. This recipe gets its complexity from simple aromatics and a vibrant blend of seafood seasonings, all of which you may have in your pantry already.
Ingredients needed
- Butter – As the base of this sauce, you’ll need a generous amount of butter. I prefer salted butter but unsalted works if you want to lower the sodium in the recipe.
- Shallot and garlic cloves – These simple aromatics elevate the savory tastes and aromas. If you don’t have shallots, you can use minced red onion or sweet onion instead.
- Old Bay – This is a staple seafood seasoning blend made with celery salt, red and black pepper, and paprika. In addition to seafood, it’s delicious on chicken wings, egg salad, white barbecue sauce, tomato soup, and more.
- Dry spices – You’ll find warm and savory seasonings like smoked paprika, red pepper flakes, onion powder, chili powder, and cayenne pepper. Head to the Variations section for more ideas on how to customize the spices to find your perfect flavor.
- Brown sugar – The sugar balances the salty, smoky, and savory spices.
- Chicken stock or seafood stock – You need this for a smooth, pourable, and savory sauce.
- Lemon – As with any good fish and seafood sauce, fresh lemon juice and zest are a must! The acidity helps balance every layer of flavor.
- Fresh parsley
How to make it
Melt the sticks of butter in a skillet over medium heat. Saute the shallots in the pan until softened, then add the garlic and cook for another minute.
Stir in the Old Bay, brown sugar, and the remaining seasonings. Let them cook for a few minutes to bring out their hidden flavors.
Pour in the stock. Bring it up to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Let it simmer gently until the sauce thickens.
Take the skillet off of the heat and stir in the lemon juice, zest, and parsley. Season to taste with salt and pepper, then enjoy.
Variations
This recipe is very flexible, making it easy to find your perfect flavor variation. Try on eof these mix ups:
- Hot and spicy – A dash of tabasco sauce, extra red pepper flakes, chili powder, hot paprika, or cayenne will give the sauce a nice kick.
- Cajun/Creole – Substitute Old Bay with Cajun seasoning for a Louisiana-style spin. This variation is particularly perfect when served with a low country boil.
- Lemon pepper – Substitute Old Bay with lemon pepper seasoning if you’re sensitive to spicy foods.
Serving suggestions
The most common way to use this sauce is to pour it over a seafood boil. This impressive meal combines boiled crab legs, shrimp, mussels, clams, crawfish, lobster tails, red potatoes, corn, onion, and andouille sausage before it’s all doused in butter sauce and fresh herbs.
That’s not all. This versatile sauce comes with plenty of other uses, such as:
- A dipping sauce for chicken breasts, pork chops, shrimp, poached fish, and scrambled eggs.
- Drizzle it over crispy smashed potatoes, baked potatoes, roasted broccoli, and corn-on-the-cob.
- Stir the sauce into rice, grits, polenta, or pasta.
FAQs
How do you thicken seafood boil sauce?
The easiest way to thicken seafood boil sauce is to let it simmer for a few minutes longer or until the stock reduces to your liking. If it becomes too thick, add more stock to thin it out.
You can also combine a teaspoon of cornstarch with equal parts water to make a slurry. Stir the slurry into the seafood sauce until thickened.
Can it be made dairy free?
You can easily make this sauce dairy free by using vegan butter instead of regular butter. Light-tasting olive oil is also an option, though the flavor won’t be quite the same.
Storing and reheating
To store: If you have leftover seafood boil sauce sauce, keep it in a glass jar or airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
To reheat: When you’re ready to use it again, reheat the sauce in a saucepan over low heat until the butter is remelted. You can also reheat it in the microwave in 15 to 20-second increments, gently stirring in between, until warm.
More seafood sauce recipes
- Crab Cake Sauce
- Crab Butter Sauce
- Seafood Boil Sauce Recipe
- Cocktail Sauce
- Lemon Butter Sauce
- Remoulade Sauce
- Bang Bang Sauce
- 10+ Dipping Sauces for Crab Legs
Did you make this boiling crab copycat recipe?
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PS – Be sure to check out these 20+ sides for crab legs too!
Boiling Crab Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup salted butter
- 1 shallot (minced)
- 5 cloves garlic (minced (about 2 Tablespoons))
- 2 Tablespoons old bay seasoning
- 1 Tablespoon brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ½ cup chicken stock ( or shellfish stock)
- 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 Tablespoon fresh parsley (minced)
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a medium skillet over medium heat. Once melted, add the shallots, and cook 2-3 minutes, until softened. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute longer, until fragrant.
- Add the old bay, brown sugar, paprika, pepper flakes, onion powder, chili powder, and cayenne. Allow to cook for 3-4 minutes.
- Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Then reduce the heat, and simmer for 8-10 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and stir in the lemon juice and parsley. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Pour the sauce over your favorite seafood boil or serve it as a dipping sauce.
