Shrimp Creole
Shrimp Creole – A comforting plate of goodness with succulent shrimp simmered in a perfectly seasoned tomato sauce. Easy, tasty and comes together in 30 minutes.
If you like really flavorful and spicy but not overly hot food, you really should try this shrimp creole style. It’s not laden with butter and it’s on the table in 30 minutes. Perfect for this kind of weather.
Here is a great tasting shrimp creole stew that can be successfully made on a weekday with not much stirring involved. This stew is made without roux (a mixture of equal parts of oil and flour.) used as a thickener or to add flavor to stews. This stew is great with no flour; the tomatoes thicken the sauce – a great recipe for those that are on a gluten free diet.
Creole shrimp is a true Louisiana specialty starring shrimp and co-starring sausage in a mixture of diced tomatoes and, of course, flavored with the holy trinity of Southern cooking – onion, celery, bell pepper, and a kick from the hot sauce.
This is my take on this shrimp creole stew – a somewhat thick stew loaded with hearty pieces of smoked sausage and shrimp.
Can you make this stew without sausage? Yes, absolutely. Although, I like the addition of smoky sausage. It makes it oh-so-enticing!
Don’t forget to make this homemade Creole Seasoning and make this a pantry staple at home. This mighty seasoning adds depth and richness to any dish plus it’s quick to put together and can be easily customized to your personal preference.
Shrimp creole is most often paired with rice. So have some white rice to go with this, along with bread. Enjoy!
Tips and Notes:
- If you don’t have creole seasoning handy, you can always go simply with salt and pepper.
- You may replace the 8 oz. sausage with 1 pound shrimp if you don’t like any sausages in your stew.
Watch How to Make It
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Recipe was first published on October 2014 and has been updated with tips, notes and video.
Shrimp Creole
Ingredients
- ½ pound large shrimp
- 1/4 cup olive or canola oil
- 8 oz smoked sausage , replace with shrimp
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 1/4 cup celery , diced
- 1 small bell pepper , chopped
- 1-2 Teaspoons fresh thyme
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 teaspoons creole seasoning or more
- 1/2 - 1 canned 14.oz stew tomatoes , replace with 2-3 tomatoes
- 2 cups or more broth/water
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon bouillon powder , optional
- 1-2 green onions , chopped
- 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
Instructions
- Lightly season the shrimp with creole spice. Heat about 1 tablespoon oil over medium heat in a heavy bottomed Dutch.
- Sauté shrimp for about 1- 2 minutes .
- Then add sausage sauté until browned on both sides and remove. Set aside
- Add remaining oil followed by onions, celery, green pepper, thyme and garlic. Stir for about a 2-3 minutes. Then add bay leaf creole spice, followed by tomatoes, chicken broth, and Worcestershire sauce.
- Bring to a boil , simmer for 10-15 minutes. Add bouillon as needed or omit completely.
- Toss in shrimp, sausage and green onions adjust for salt and thickness. Cook for about 2-3 more minutes. Garnish with parsley. Serve over white rice or fettuccine.
Nutrition Information:
Lightly season the shrimp with creole spice. Heat about 1 tablespoon oil over medium heat in a heavy bottomed Dutch. Sauté shrimp for about 1- 2 minutes. Then add sausage sauté until browned on both sides and remove. Set aside
Add remaining oil followed by onions, celery, green pepper, thyme and garlic. Stir for about a 2-3 minutes. Then add bay leaf.
Followed by creole spice, tomatoes, chicken broth, and Worcestershire sauce. Bring to a boil , simmer for 10-15 minutes. Add bouillon as need or omit completely.
Toss in shrimp , sausage and green onions adjust for salt and thickness- cook for about 2-3 more minutes . Garnish with parsley .Serve over white rice or fettuccine
Thank you for sharing this recipe. I substituted the bell pepper for two whole habanero peppers. It came out delicious with a nice kick to it! This will definitely become a staple in the house. 🙂
I didn’t have bay leaf or worchestersire sauce on hand. Used water and a chicken bullion cube (along with creole seasoning). Next time I will try to use canned tomatoes to make the soup thicker. Fast, simple, and delicious.
I was a bit skeptical serving this dish to children. Understand, these children are quite PARTICULAR and don’t care for spice or kick of any kind.
Long story short this recipe was an absolute HIT with the entire family!
God bless you Imma!!
Hi! I want to make sure I read the recipe correctly – is it calling for half of one can of stew tomatoes?
Hi, Rachel. It’s 1/2- 1 can of 14 oz canned stew tomatoes. It depends on your preferred consistency as tomatoes here are used as the thickening agent.
This dish was absolutely delicious, spiced perfectly with lots of flavor. I used more shrimp and sausage than the recipe called for, and next time will use an extra can of tomatoes and more broth so I have more sauce for the leftovers. Will definitely make it again and try out some of African bites other recipes!
Glad you love it, Carole! And thanks for letting me know.
I made this for my boyfriend yesterday. He loved it!!!
Yaaay! Glad it turned out great for you, Samantha.
This turned out amazing. Thank you.
Glad it turned out amazing to you! Thanks for letting me know. =)
Looks Delicious!
Can I use pre-cooked frozen shrimp. Your recipes are great!!
Yes you can. Throw it in during the finally stage of cooking. Thanks
THIS recipe was AMAZING!!!!! My husband loved it which means alot since he doesn’t like “creole/well seasoned” food. Im from TX thats all we eat out here Lol. This is going to be my go to meal for my home.
I added a little smoked paprika to the Creole seasoning, awesome !!
Yes to smoked paprika. Always makes it taste better! Thank you so much for the feedback!
OK, Just made this for dinner and I can’t even say how delish this is. I used frozen tomatoes from my garden and added a little extra Tony’s Creole seasoning. We like it spicey. Thank you so much for this quick flavorful dinner idea. We are Paleo so we will be having this over cauliflower rice.
Nice! Thanks for the feedback Robin! Glad to hear it worked out well for you.
This sounds simple and tasty but there is no thickening agent in this recipe, how do you keep it from being to soupy?
Thanks ! Tomatoes is the thickening agent here .
Hit for sure hands down AMAZING!!! Thank you!
YESS! Thank you so much!
Made this today and it was a big hit. Even my picky 5-year old asked for seconds and thirds! This meal will forever be included at my dinner table.
WOOHOO! So happy to hear this. Always SUPER happy when the kiddos enjoy my recipes . Thank you so much for taking the time to let me know
I cannot find creole seasoning in my area what can I use instead?
Just use salt and pepper .
Fab-U-lous! Thanks for a great recipe…we loved it!
Awesome! Glad you liked it.
Gina Neely gets it right when she says “Southern food” is just a marketing term to make “African-American” food more appealing and marketable to outsiders. No matter where they are, California, New York, Chicago, the cuisine is there. “Southern food” is a simply a marketing term.
Thanks for shading some light on this topic.
I cant say, thgis is what I eat and I am in the south, its the types of greens and food we had to work with, there may be lots of similatities globally, but southern quisine is definately a thuype of food onm its own.
Hi Louis, thank you for sharing your thoughts, Stay tuned for more amazing recipies.
I love how quick, easy and delicious this shrimp stew is! Definitely a recipe I need to recreate, thanks for sharing it.
yummmyyyyyyyyy!
I literally start drooling at just the thought of Southern food. When I travelled in America, I had so much great food but without a doubt my favourite was New Orleans. There’s a famous place there called Mother’s which has the most amazing cajun food, real homestyle. And I went to a bunch of “local” diners as well and I loved everything. Even alligator and frog!!
What do you mean when you say “8 oz.-smoked sausage replace with shrimp”?
Use 8 ounce smoked sausage or just use 1 pound shrimp if you do not want to use sausage. Thanks Nagi
This looks AH-mazing! I cannot wait to try this creole shrimp- you can’t go wrong with these spices right?
Right Patty- It always works out. Let me know how you like it