A Variety of Vegetables

Don’t stop at corn and potatoes. Try artichokes, large mushrooms, cauliflower, giant heads of garlic—even brussels sprouts and asparagus make fun additions to the pot.

Commemorate the Occasion

Concerned about the price of feeding all those people you invited? Want your guests to remember your party long after it’s over? Order commemorative cups or T-shirts on the Internet and offer them to partygoers for $5 each; you’ll recoup some of the money you’ve spent on the boil and give your guests a personalized souvenir to remember what will obviously be the best crawfish boil in history.

Pump Up the Jam

A good backyard party of any kind needs good tunes. And believe it or not, Spotify playlists for crawfish boils already exist. But if you want to make your own, the best soundtrack includes upbeat music that spans genres and decades—think everything from the Beach Boys to Bruno Mars—with a little zydeco and Western swing to keep things Cajun.

Make It a Meat Lover’s

While many traditionalists add smoked sausage or boudin to their boil, we say go bigger: add shrimp, crab, smoked chicken, Chinese bacon—you can even add thin slices of sirloin, top round, or brisket at the very end à la pho.

Create a Cooling Station

Permanently endear yourself to your guests by setting up a station away from the crawfish table with wet wipes and paper towels for sticky, spicy fingers and refreshments for on-fire mouths. We suggest simple slices of watermelon (ram a popsicle stick into the rind if you want to be really fancy) and giant jugs of water, iced tea or aguas frescas.