Seafood Boil Foil Packets
This easily customizable restaurant-quality seafood bake is made by wrapping fish, shrimp, and buttery seasonings in foil packets that are cooked in the oven.
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Table of Contents
About Seafood Boil Foil Packets
Ideal for camping, easy dinners, or fair-weather grilling, these seafood boil foil packets are like having an entire dinner made at once.
Plus, it’s easy to customize this recipe with different seafood, vegetables, or seasonings, making it easy to change things up for different flavors, tastes, and occasions.
How long are seafood foil packets good for?
Once cooked, leftovers can be stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator for three to four days.
What should you add to a seafood bake?
One of my favorite things about this recipe is how easy it is to customize. Because no matter what ingredients you use, the instructions for preparation and cooking will (almost always) remain the same.
So if you’re feeling adventurous or are looking to add some specific favorites or flavors, check out the below options for some inspiration.
When melting the butter, you can add seasonings, such as:
- Fresh Parsley
- Fresh Cilantro
- Fresh Basil
- Fresh Spinach
- Smoked Paprika
- Old Bay
- Cajun seasoning
As far as seafood, you could include:
- Tilapia
- Salmon
- Scallops
- Clams
- Halibut
If you’d like to include a different type of protein, try some of the following (note that all of these should be cooked before adding them to the foil packet):
- Sausage
- Bacon
- Ham
Other veggies you can include:
- Zucchini
- Squash
- Broccoli
- Cauliflower
- Asparagus
- Carrots
- Red, green, or yellow peppers
- Red or sweet onions
Other fruits you can include:
- Lemons or Limes
- Oranges
- Pineapples
- Apples
Best method to cook a seafood bake
When it comes to seafood bakes, you can go about cooking them two ways:
In the oven. This is my preferred method and how I’ve always baked seafood packets. The cook time usually depends on the size of the filet, with an 8oz or smaller taking 20-30 minutes and 8oz or bigger taking 30-40 minutes.
On the grill. For the true cookout feel, grilling a seafood packet is the way to go. Once the grill is warmed up, the packets typically only need 15-20 minutes to be cooked through.
If you’re ever in doubt of how long to cook your chosen seafood, you can either ask someone behind the deli counter at the time you purchase your seafood OR you can always do a visual check of the seafood as it bakes. Check out these tips on how to tell if a fish is done.
notes & tips for this seafood bake:
- Before making this recipe, make sure you have plenty of aluminum foil and a large baking sheet on hand!
- When your seafood bake is ready, there’s no need to remove the food from the foil – just serve the foil-packets as is, so that the foil creates its own plate. Doing this will make cleanup so much easier because all you’ll have to do is wrap up the foil and throw everything away.
Other great seafood recipes
How to make a seafood bake
This next part is only a photo tutorial of the recipe steps. If you’re looking for the full recipe measurements and instructions, scroll down to Recipe Details.
Step 1 – In a medium bowl, melt butter and whisk in your favorite herbs and spices. In the case of this recipe, I used fresh dill and minced garlic.
Step 2 – Lay out some long pieces of aluminum foil, then arrange your chosen seafood and veggies in the center. I kept it simple and used cod, shrimp, corn, and red baby potatoes.
Step 3 – Pull up the edges of the foil to make a bowl-like shape, then drizzle the herb butter over the seafood and veggies. Finish by adding slices of lemon on top, then use another piece of foil to wrap everything up.
Step 4 – Bake!
Step 5 – Serve and enjoy!
Seafood Boil Foil Packets
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter, melted
- 3 tablespoon fresh dill, finely chopped
- 24 ounce baby red potato, (1 bag)
- 4 fillets cod, (big as you can find) or other white fish (halibut, flounder, etc)
- 30 shrimp, raw, peeled and deveined with tail on
- 2 medium lemon, sliced (12 slices total)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Tear off 8 pieces of aluminum foil, roughly 2-3 feet in length. Separate the foil in groups of 2 and lay one on top of the other, so that you have 4 groups of double layered foil (1 for each cod fillet). Lightly spray the top piece of foil with cooking spray.
- In a microwave safe bowl, melt the butter in the microwave (about 1 minute). Add chopped baby dill, garlic, plus salt and pepper (to taste) to bowl. Mix ingredients together, then set aside.
- Arrange the food on the aluminum foil: Lay the fish filet in the middle of the foil, lengthwise, so that the long sides of the cod are parallel to the long sides of the foil. Arrange 6 shrimp on top of the fish, then place the 2 corn halves and 1/2 – 3/4 cup of baby red potatoes around the sides of the fish. Drizzle 1/4 of the dill butter mixture on top of everything, particularly on the shrimp. Finish by placing 2-3 lemon slices on top of the shrimp. Wrap the foil around the food, pinching the sides to ensure that it's sealed. If the seams won't close, just wrap another piece of aluminum foil around it. Place prepared seafood packets on a large baking sheet, seam side up. Repeat this step for the 3 other seafood bakes.
- Bake time depends on the size of the fish fillet. If 8 oz or smaller, bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes. If 8 oz or larger, bake 30-40 minutes. The best way to tell when the seafood packet are done is when the corn, butter, and garlic are very fragrant through the foil.
- Serve immediately, directly in the foil.
Nutrition
I do my best to provide nutrition information, but please keep in mind that I’m not a certified nutritionist. Any nutritional information discussed or disclosed in this post should only be seen as my best amateur estimates of the correct values.
