Crispy Fried Crawfish Tails - Lauren from Scratch (2024)

Lauren’s Take: Having leftover crawfish is usually never a problem, but if you find yourself with some crawfish boil leftovers, frying them is a great way to repurpose them! Serve them as a part of a fried seafood platter or on a crawfish po’boy.

Taste and texture: Fried crawfish are well seasoned, crispy, and a perfect bite sized snack.

Time: You’ll need an hour to soak the crawfish in a buttermilk solution, but they fry up super quickly.

Testing Notes: I tested this recipe with buttermilk and with a buttermilk substitute (milk and lemon juice). Both recipes came out well and yielded crispy crawfish, so if you don’t have buttermilk, milk and lemon juice will work.

Expert Tips for Frying Crawfish

1. Fresh vs frozen crawfish. Fried crawfish is a great way to use up leftover fresh crawfish from a crawfish boil, but frozen crawfish are totally fine to use too! Be sure to check the package that they are authentic Louisiana crawfish.
2. Defrosting. Most frozen crawfish packages have some kind of “keep frozen” warning on them. It’s best to defrost crawfish just before using them. Run the package under cold water or soak it in a large bowl of cold water. It should be thawed in less than 20 minutes.
3. Taste the dry batter. Different types of salts have different levels of saltiness. I use Diamond crystal kosher salt which tends to be less salty by volume. Before adding crawfish to the flour mixture, taste a pinch of it to make sure it’s properly seasoned.
4. Get the oil hot! Hot oil is necessary for a crispy fried coating. If the oil isn’t hot enough, the batter will become soggy. Make sure to check the oil temperature in between batches, and let the oil reheat if necessary before adding the next batch.
5. Work in batches. Don’t dump all the crawfish in the pot at once. Depending on the size of your pot, fry 2-4 different batches so they can all crisp up properly.
6. Sprinkle with salt. Right after transferring the fried crawfish to a paper towel lined baking rack, sprinkle them with some finishing salt or other flaky salt to make sure they are well seasoned.

When deep frying anything, you want to make sure to use a sturdy heavy pot so that it’s stable on the stove. A deep cast iron skillet, cast iron dutch oven, or heavy stainless steel pot will all work well. You can also use an electric fryer for ease.

To measure the heat, use a frying thermometer that clips to the side of the pot. A spider strainer is essential for easily scooping fried food out of the hot oil. It’s also helpful for shaking off excess flour coating.

You will also need paper towels and a baking rack after the crawfish are fried. Maldon salt is a nice flaky salt that is perfect for finishing foods. You can also sprinkle a little Diamond Crystal kosher salt after frying too since it’s also light and flaky.

• ▢ 1 pound crawfish tails

Wet ingredients

• ▢ ¾ cup buttermilk
• ▢ 1 tablespoon hot sauce

Dry ingredients

• ▢ ½ cup all purpose flour
• ▢ ½ cup yellow cornmeal
• ▢ 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ▢ 2 teaspoons diamond crystal kosher salt
• ▢ 1 ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• ▢ 1 teaspoon onion powder
• ▢ 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• ▢ 1 teaspoon black pepper

Other

• ▢ Oil for frying canola or vegetable oil
• ▢ Finishing salt
• ▢ Lemons optional

• THAW: If your crawfish are frozen, soak the frozen package in cold water for about 15 minutes or place under cold running water. They should defrost quickly. Do not thaw ahead of time.

  1 pound crawfish tails

• SOAK: Combine buttermilk and hot sauce in a container and stir, then add the thawed crawfish. Stir well to coat all the crawfish. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.

  ¾ cup buttermilk, 1 tablespoon hot sauce

• MIX: While the crawfish are soaking, add all the dry ingredients in a large zip top bag, seal, and shake well to combine.

  ½ cup all purpose flour, ½ cup yellow cornmeal, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 2 teaspoons diamond crystal kosher salt, 1 ½ teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon onion powder, 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper, 1 teaspoon black pepper

• HEAT: When the crawfish are almost ready, add about 1 – 1½ inches of oil into a sturdy pot or deep skillet. Heat oil to 350°F (175°C).

• SHAKE: Drain the buttermilk from the crawfish and gently squeeze out the excess liquid. Transfer the crawfish to the dry ingredients and shake well so all crawfish are coated. Use a spider strainer to lift the crawfish out and shake off excess flour mixture.

• FRY: Working in batches, transfer battered crawfish to the oil and fry for 1-2 minutes, or until golden brown. Gently stir so they all fry evenly. Transfer fried crawfish to a paper towel lined plate or baking rack and promptly sprinkle with a pinch of salt. Continue until all crawfish are fried.

• Frozen crawfish tails or leftover crawfish tails from a crawfish boil are both totally fine for this recipe.
• Buttermilk substitute: mix ¾ cups whole milk with 1 teaspoon lemon juice together.
• Some of the cornmeal may fall to the bottom of the pot when frying, which is normal.
• Storage: Fried crawfish tails are best served fresh. If needed, store in the refrigerator for 1-2 days in an airtight container.
• Do not freeze fried crawfish.
• Reheat in the oven on a baking sheet at 350°F (175°C) until warmed through.
• Make ahead: I don’t recommend making this recipe ahead of time. Do not thaw frozen crawfish ahead of time. You can mix together the dry ingredients for batter a few days ahead of time if needed.