Forecast: Mostly sunny, hot, windy

You can leave the south, but it never really leaves you. This is what I’ve learned from spending so much of my life in Nashville, Tennessee—plus my beloved meteorology school in South Alabama. You might not know I’m a southern girl at heart but there are certain recipes that always give it away. One of them is a crab or crawfish boil in the summer and that’s all I’ve been craving this week.

Since I’m originally from Michigan and now live in Santa Barbara, I decided to put my own twist on this southern classic. Something like this is a dead giveaway that someone has spent a lot of time in places like Tennessee, Alabama, and since my family is Florida for part of the summer it felt fitting.

This recipe is perfect for a holiday like the 4th of July because it’s on the grill, playful and incredibly delicious, and it also feels really special. If you’ve already got the grill fired up, it slots into the cooking lineup really neatly. It also gives you a pescatarian option for those who don’t eat meat or just prefer a lighter option or something different.

An “event” meal with way less clean up

One reason the usual crab/crawfish boil is only a summer thing is because it’s a lot of prep and a whole lot of mess. It’s super fun to do and definitely creates an “event” meal, which is something I love for holidays, but I prefer to enjoy my family and the day so I wanted to find a way to recreate it in an easier way with a super easy seafood to eat: Clams.

My process is something I prefer to call a clam bake and I found a method that works doing it outside on the grill instead of in a huge vat of boiling water inside. Doing that just makes the whole house feel hot and can take over the day, instead of a quick trip out to the grill where everyone else is usually hanging out anyway. It’s also visually appealing and impossible to mess up.

Use whatever seafood works for you

I decided to call this a clam bake because I personally love it with just clams, but you can add shrimp, scallops, fish, heck even lobster tail if you’re going all out! My husband likes when I include sausage in the mix because it adds an interesting smoky depth of flavor. Really, you can add whatever else you want and really make this your own. I found that I get the same results with virtually no mess to clean up when I set it up this way.

Actually, it might be even better results, as this style also comes with a bonus dipping sauce that always turns out to be everyone’s favorite part. I know hearing there’s virtually no mess included in this recipe will be music to the ears of plenty of other moms who are stressed out enough already with holiday prep and family visiting. Plus, this method cooks way faster on a hot grill rather than however long it takes to boil a big pot of water on the stove. I’ll include a quick way to grill your bread for the dipping sauce at the end!

Making the “tin foil boat”

The hardest part of the whole process is probably making what I’ve always called a “tin foil boat.” It’s the packet that keeps all the ingredients together on the grill so they can steam from the inside out, and it’s also the secret to keeping clean up to a minimum. If you do want to go this route with the tin foil boats, here are the specs.

I usually pull out two long pieces of aluminum foil and lay them horizontally, just overlapping by about 2 inches. Then, I fold each of the outside edges over a few times so the sheets are connected together. After that, I fold them each up vertically and fold the ends again. This will make for an “open boat” to fill up and all you have to do is seal it up after all of the ingredients are in.

Mini bakes as an alternative method

But honestly, if you can’t figure out how to build the tin foil boats you can also make “mini bakes” which turn out just nice since each person gets their own little individually wrapped personal clam bakes. This process is also a great way to portion out your ingredients for each person if you’re worried about having enough, or to let kids feel involved in making dinner by helping to build their own.

The smaller packets can be helpful if you have people who want different kinds of seafood or protein added or left out of their portion. It’s a perfect way to take on picky eaters! When that’s not a concern, I try to make my clam bakes in one or two big batches, that way I only have to measure out the ingredients once. But truly, don’t stress about measuring! A splash of white wine, olive oil and a dash of Old Bay seasoning and you really can’t go wrong. Bon appétit!

Clam Bake on the Grill

INGREDIENTS

1 lb fresh clams, scrubbed (and make sure to discard any clams that are open before cooking, they’re likely bad)
1 /2bag mini gold potatoes (with each potato cut into halves or quarters, depending on size)
4 oz mini white pearl onion halved (can also cut up half of a sweet onion into wedges)
2 ears corn, cut into fourths
1 bunch parsley, chopped (use half for cooking mixture and half for garnish)
5 cloves garlic, roughly chopped 4 (save one whole for garlic bread for dipping)
1 lemon sliced into wedges (half for cooking and half for garnish)
1 tablespoon Old Bay Seasoning
1 cup white wine
6 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1/2 tsp red pepper (add more or less for heat depending on what you like)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Turn the grill on to medium high heat.
2. Build your tin foil boat.
3. Fill your boat with all of the ingredients putting the potatoes on the bottom as they need to cook the longest. Squeeze each lemon slice and then drop then into the boat. Fold the top to seal it.
4. Place the boat in the middle of the grill and cook for 15 minutes. You should hear it sizzling, if not increase the heat and wait until you do.
5. Carefully open the foil boat and remove from the heat. Discard any clams that haven’t popped open as it was cooking.
6. Garnish with a little more chopped parsley, serve immediately (preferably with more white wine for the adults!)

Grilled bread for dipping: Slice half a loaf of bread in half, drizzle each side with olive oil and place that side flat on the grill for 1-2 minutes until desired doneness. Rub one clove of garlic on it. Slice and serve.

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Clam Bake on the Grill

Ingredients

1 lb fresh clams scrubbed (and make sure to discard any clams that are open before cooking, they’re likely bad)
1 /2 bag mini gold potatoes with each potato cut into halves or quarters, depending on size
4 oz mini white pearl onion halved can also cut up half of a sweet onion into wedges
2 ears corn cut into fourths
1 bunch parsley chopped (use half for cooking mixture and half for garnish)
5 cloves garlic roughly chopped 4 (save one whole for garlic bread for dipping)
1 lemon sliced into wedges half for cooking and half for garnish
1 tablespoon Old Bay Seasoning
1 cup white wine
6 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1/2 tsp red pepper add more or less for heat depending on what you like

Instructions

Turn the grill on to medium high heat.
Build your tin foil boat.
Fill your boat with all of the ingredients putting the potatoes on the bottom as they need to cook the longest. Squeeze each lemon slice and then drop then into the boat. Fold the top to seal it.
Place the boat in the middle of the grill and cook for 15 minutes. You should hear it sizzling, if not increase the heat and wait until you do.
Carefully open the foil boat and remove from the heat. Discard any clams that haven’t popped open as it was cooking.
Garnish with a little more chopped parsley, serve immediately (preferably with more white wine for the adults!)
Grilled bread for dipping: Slice half a loaf of bread in half, drizzle each side with olive oil and place that side flat on the grill for 1-2 minutes until desired doneness. Rub one clove of garlic on it. Slice and serve.