How to properly and tasty cook crayfish with garlic, dill and lemon, in water, milk, beer and beer? How many minutes to cook crayfish in time after boiling until cooked?

Everyone can cook delicious crayfish. Follow the recipes for cooking, and you will get delicious and tender meat.

Crayfish is a product that is not a frequent guest on our table. But in fact, preparing this dish is very simple, and in the end you get an original taste and aroma.

  • There are many recipes for this dish.
  • To achieve a unique taste and aroma, various spices are used.
  • This article contains unique recipes. Crayfish meat will be tender and tasty

Often people ask this question: why are crayfish boiled alive and why can't you boil dead crayfish? These arthropods feed on carrion, and therefore their meat quickly becomes rotten.


Reservoirs are not always close to home, and therefore fishermen often have to leave for a day or two to bring a lot of prey. Fishermen may have a question, is it possible to cook dead crayfish caught yesterday?

Tip: Boil the crayfish immediately after catching. If this is not possible, then put them in a cold place, and then cook them as usual.

The prey will be perfectly preserved if it is overlaid with ice. You can bring frozen water cubes for fishing in a special thermal container.

Remember: You can not boil dead crayfish that have died a natural death. You need to catch arthropods only alive!

You should know: There is one way to check whether crayfish were cooked alive or already dead: if they have a tucked tail when cooked, then the crayfish was cooked fresh.

This is due to the fact that when a live crayfish is thrown into boiling water, it curls its tail into a ball. This method is used to determine the freshness of the preparation of these arthropods in cafes and restaurants.


The easiest way to prepare crayfish is to boil them in water with salt. As mentioned above, this cooking method is suitable for people who are doing it for the first time.

How to boil crayfish in water, how much salt? Follow these steps:

  • Wash the crayfish
  • Pour water into a saucepan so that it covers the crayfish a little while cooking
  • Put the pot on fire
  • When the water boils, pour salt into it at the rate of 1 tablespoon per 1 liter of water.
  • Place crayfish in boiling water
  • When the shell of the crayfish is red, turn off the heat and cover the pan with a lid.
  • In this form, crayfish should be infused for 10 - 15 minutes.
  • After that, they can be laid out on a serving plate and served at the table.


Crayfish need to be boiled until their shell turns red. Accordingly, the question arises, how long does it take to cook live crayfish in boiling water? Cooking time is 15 to 20 minutes. If the crayfish are very large, then they must be boiled for up to 30 minutes.

Important: Do not leave crayfish in hot water for a long time after cooking (more than 15 minutes), as their meat may become too soft and tasteless.


It often happens that you need to cook crayfish in field conditions. How to cook crayfish on a fire?

If there is any metal container, then they can be welded on a fire. The cooking process on a hike is the same as at home: you need to throw crayfish into boiling salted water, cook for 15 minutes and let them brew for the same amount of time.

But, if you don’t have a pot with you, then you can fry the crayfish on a fire. How to do it? It’s good if you have a grill with you: put crayfish on it, add salt and fry on a fire for 5 minutes.

Remember: Heat is very drying! Therefore, it is not recommended to keep crayfish over a fire for longer than 3 - 5 minutes.

If there is no grill, you will have to use a skewer.

Important: But this method is suitable for those people who are courageous, because the crayfish will have to be stuck alive on metal twigs. They can be killed before the stringing process. This cooking method is not unpleasant.


If the catch was successful, and you brought home a lot of crayfish, then you can freeze them.

To do this, boil them for 5 minutes without salt, cool, place in plastic bags and put in the freezer.

Housewives often ask: “Is it possible to cook frozen crayfish and how to cook it right?” After all, you always want to please your family with new and delicious dishes.

Important: If the crayfish were properly cooked before freezing, they can be boiled, but immediately before use.

Follow these steps:

  • Drop frozen crayfish into boiling water
  • Boil no more than 5 - 10 minutes in water with salt (1 tablespoon per 1 liter of water)
  • Get the crayfish on a plate, decorate the dish and serve

Tip: If you don't have time to cook the crayfish before sending them to the freezer, fold them without heat treatment. In the cold, crayfish hibernate, so after they melt, they come to life again.

You can cook such crayfish in the same way as freshly caught ones.


This savory recipe will help you prepare amazingly delicious crayfish. A “zest” will appear in their taste, the secret of which cannot be revealed immediately during meals.

How to cook crayfish with lemon? Recipe:

  • Pour water into a pot and put it on fire
  • Bring the water to a boil and add salt at the rate of 1 tablespoon per 1 liter of water. Also add a pinch of dry dill and a few sprigs of fresh herbs to boiling water.
  • Dip the crayfish in water, boil them for 15 - 20 minutes
  • When the shell of the crayfish turns red, turn off the heat and leave them in the pan for another 10 minutes.
  • After this time, remove the crayfish from the pan and put them on a plate
  • Now you need to sprinkle the finished dish with lemon juice. Serve a plate of cooked and spicy crayfish


If you have never cooked crayfish in this way, then it will seem unusual and strange to you. But the taste of crayfish cooked in milk is unusually tender and unique.

How tasty is it to cook crayfish in milk? Recipe:

  • Boil the milk, cool it to room temperature
  • Dip pre-washed crayfish in milk and soak them for 3 hours
  • Take out the crayfish and rinse thoroughly. Put the milk aside, we still need it
  • Put a pot of water on the fire, and when the water boils, lower the crayfish into it. Add salt, black peppercorns and green dill. Boil crayfish for 7 minutes
  • Drain the broth and pour the milk in which the crayfish were soaked into the pan
  • Cook them for another 5 minutes. After the time has elapsed, remove the finished crayfish from the pan to a serving plate.

It turns out that you can not only drink beer, but also cook crayfish in it. Absolutely everyone will like this prepared dish. Your guests will even want to take the recipe for such mouth-watering crayfish from you.

How to cook crayfish in beer? Recipe:

  • To prepare the brine, you will need beer and ordinary water - a ratio of 1: 1
  • Put the brine on the fire. Salt it immediately, add peppercorns, bay leaf and dill (seeds and stems)
  • When the brine boils, put the crayfish in it
  • Boil them until tender 15-20 minutes.
  • When the shell turns red, let them brew in this water under the lid for 15 minutes and
  • transfer the crayfish to a plate, garnish with dill sprigs.
  • Now you need to sprinkle the dish with a few drops of lemon

Not only true connoisseurs of beer like to drink it with crayfish, but also ordinary people will be happy to taste a liter of this alcoholic drink with delicious and unique crayfish prepared according to a special recipe.

How to cook crayfish for beer? Recipe:

  • Rinse the crayfish under water
  • Put a pot of water on the fire and bring to a boil
  • Add salt to the water at the rate of 7-8 tablespoons per 5 liters of water. For flavor, put a tablespoon of dry dill or its seeds, bay leaf, peppercorns
  • Put the crayfish in the boiling brine and cook for 15 minutes. Then turn off the heat and set aside the pot with the crayfish to infuse. Their meat will be soft and tender


Dill gives the dish a subtle spiciness. Therefore, many people, when boiling crayfish, be sure to add dry or green dill.

Important: If you want the taste to be more refined, add dill stems and seeds to the brine, not green tops.

Many people are wondering: how to cook crayfish with dill correctly and how long? Almost all of the above recipes for this dish contain dill as ingredients. You need to cook crayfish with dill for 15 - 20 minutes.

Garlic will help cook delicious crayfish. But do not forget to add other necessary ingredients to the brine.

How delicious to cook crayfish with garlic? Recipe:

  • Rinse the crayfish under running water
  • Pour some water into a saucepan, bring to a boil
  • Add bay leaf, allspice, one peeled onion to the water
  • When the spices are boiled in brine for 5 - 7 minutes, fish out the onion and remove it from the pan. Pour in a glass of tomato juice and the same amount of beer
  • Put the crayfish in the resulting brine, cover the pan with a lid and cook them for 7 minutes. If the crayfish are not completely covered with brine - it's okay, they will still boil perfectly in a sealed container
  • After the time has elapsed, add salt at the rate of 1 tablespoon per 1.5 liters of water. Chop the garlic and also put it in the crayfish brine. 3 minutes before the end of cooking, put green dill (1 bunch) and half a lemon cut into slices
  • After cooking, turn off the heat, but do not open the lid - let the crayfish infuse
  • When serving, squeeze a little lemon juice on the crayfish


Cooking time really depends on the size of the crayfish. Usually, after the catch, these arthropods are sorted out, and only large ones are taken for food, since their meat is tasty and tender.

Important: All of the above recipes are designed specifically for cooking large crayfish.

Boil small crayfish need no more than 7 - 10 minutes. Watch the color of the shell, if it turns red, you need to let them brew for 10-15 minutes and the crayfish are ready to eat.


Crayfish caviar is edible, but it is tough and tasteless, so many people do not eat it. In general, it is better to catch crayfish when they are without caviar (in spring and early summer), then they will be tasty.

But, if you come across crayfish with caviar, how to cook them? Cook them according to any of the above printed recipes that you like. The meat of such crayfish will still be healthy and tasty.


This question worries many people. So, why do crayfish turn red when boiled?

The reason lies in the special composition of the shell. It contains carotenoids - these substances are necessary for masking. Depending on the environment, the proteins contained in the shell change their color from light to dark. When the water temperature is more than 100 degrees, the pigmentation process is irrevocably destroyed.

Crayfish meat is very tasty and healthy, like the meat of many other inhabitants of the seas and rivers. Therefore, prepare crayfish for your family or guests and enjoy the unique taste. Bon Appetit!

Video: Boiled Crayfish | Men's Food | Kitchen TV