Shrimp Etouffee
Shrimp etouffee is a juicy entree smothered in rich, flavorful gravy boasting authentic Cajun flavors. Its bold spices are incredibly mouthwatering, and it’s super easy to make!
I totally appreciate easy, quick, and tasty meals. But if you want to put something more exciting on your table, this shrimp etouffee recipe is a great place to start. The French make delicious food, but throw in an African and Creole kick for a truly unforgettable combination.
Once you taste it, you’ll want it on a weekly rotation. So, while planning your weekly menu, add homemade Creole seasoning to your spice list. The mother of all Southern spices adds depth and richness, is quick, and easily customizable.
What Is Shrimp Etouffee?
You are probably thinking, what on earth is étouffée? I love French. The verb etouffée is much prettier than smother. But you’re not here for French 101, right?
Shrimp etouffee is different than shrimp creole. Juicy shrimp smothered in a thick spicy sauce dress up steaming white rice for a delicious one-pot meal. On the other hand, shrimp creole is a thinner, stew-like sauce that isn’t quite as spicy. However, both are equally delicious because the tomatoes, onions, celery, bell pepper, and garlic add a rich flavor.
How to Make Shrimp Etouffee
Shrimp Stock
- Sauté – Add a teaspoon or two of butter to a saucepan or skillet. Toss in the shrimp shells, the remaining onion, garlic, and celery scraps, and aromatics like bay leaf and thyme, and saute for 5-7 minutes, constantly stirring to prevent burning. (Photo 1)
- Simmer – Add about 5 cups of water to it. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and let it simmer for 20 minutes. (Photo 2)
- Strain – Remove from heat and strain using a sieve. Set stock aside. (Photo 3)
Etouffee
- Roux – Whisk melted butter, oil, and flour until smooth in a large Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed saucepan. Cook on medium heat, stirring continuously, for 10-12 minutes or until you achieve the desired color. Please don’t walk away from the stove because it might burn. (Photos 4-5)
- Sauce – Add the onion, green pepper, and celery, and cook for 8-10 minutes, stirring frequently. (Photo 6)
- Herbs – Then add garlic, thyme, and bay leaf – continue stirring for another 2 minutes. (Photo 7)
- Season – Toss in about a cup of chopped tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, paprika, and Creole seasoning. Cook for about 5 minutes. (Photo 8)
- Add Stock and Shrimp – Gradually pour in about 2 cups of shrimp stock, bring to a boil, and simmer. Add the shrimp and simmer for five more minutes. Or season the shrimp with Creole seasoning, sauté for about 5 minutes, and throw it in at the last minute—both options work. (Photos 9-10)
- Adjust the soup’s thickness and flavor with more shrimp broth or water, hot sauce, and salt. (Photo 11)
- Serve – Stir in the green onions and chopped parsley. Serve over hot rice. (Photo 12)
Recipe Variations
- Seafood etouffee. Crawfish and shrimp étouffée is incredible if you can get some fresh crawfish when it’s in season. But, hey, clams, oysters, mussels, lobster, and crab sound terrific.
- Vegetarian etouffee. Vegetable broth instead of seafood broth and baby portabellos, oyster mushrooms, tempeh, and eggplant instead of seafood are all good.
- Paleo version. Use ghee instead of butter, arrowroot powder instead of flour, and yuca fries instead of rice.
- Turn up the heat with an extra dash of cayenne pepper.
Tips and Tricks
- The key to a great etouffee is the roux. Some people like the brown roux for deeper, bolder flavors, but I prefer the blonde roux for two reasons. First, it takes less time, and second, it has a milder flavor than the darker one.
- Cook the roux over medium to low heat with constant whisking. Don’t stop even for a second to avoid burnt roux.
- Shell-on shrimp is best because the shells make a quick, easy, and flavorful stock.
Make-Ahead and Storage Instructions
This incredible dish is the perfect make-ahead because the flavor is even better the next day. Make it the day before, let it cool, then store it in the fridge or freezer. Make your rice and reheat your shrimp etouffee on the stove when ready to serve. Keep your leftovers the same way.
What Goes With Shrimp Etouffee
Homemade garlic bread, fried okra, spicy green beans, skillet cornbread, and basmati rice all love to be with shrimp etouffee. King cake is a superb finish with a cup of coffee.
More Awesome Seafood Recipes to Try
Watch How to Make It
[adthrive-in-post-video-player video-id=”8ucJfXsH” upload-date=”Mon Aug 06 2018 19:57:54 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)” name=”Shrimp Etouffee” description=”Shrimp Etouffee — Juicy shrimp dish smothered in rich and flavorful roux sauce made with rich authentic southern flavors and an incredibly delicious taste. Easy recipe with big bold flavors!!!”]
This blog post was originally published in June 2017 and has been updated with additional tips, new photos, and a video.
Shrimp Etouffee
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons (28ml) canola oil
- 2 tablespoons (28g) butter
- ¼ cup (30g) flour
- ½ medium onion, diced
- ½ cup (70-75g) diced green bell pepper
- ⅓ cup (35-40g) chopped celery (1-2 stalks)
- 2 teaspoons (10g) minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon (1g) thyme (fresh or dried)
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 cup (200g) chopped tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon (5g) Worcestershire sauce
- ½ teaspoon (1g) smoked paprika
- 2 teaspoon (8g) Creole seasoning
- 2 cups (500ml) seafood broth (or sub with water)
- 1 pound (453g) shrimp, peeled and deveined (reserve the shrimp shells)
- 1 teaspoon (5g) hot sauce (optional)
- 2 green onions, chopped
- 2-3 tablespoons (8-12g) parsley, chopped
Instructions
Shrimp Stock
- Add a teaspoon or two of butter or oil to a saucepan or skillet. Then, toss in the shrimp shells, remaining onion, garlic, and celery scraps, and aromatics like bay leaf and thyme.
- Sauté for 5-7 minutes, constantly stirring to prevent burning. Add about 5 cups of water to it, and simmer it for 40 minutes or up to an hour.
- Remove from heat and strain using a sieve. Set stock aside.
Etouffee
- In a large Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine melted butter, oil, and flour until smooth.
- Cook on medium heat, stirring continuously, for about 10-12 minutes or until you've achieved the desired color. Don't walk away during this process because it might burn.
- Add the onion, green pepper, and celery, and cook for 8-10 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Then add garlic, thyme, and bay leaf—continue stirring for another 2 minutes.
- Next, toss in about a cup of chopped tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, paprika, and Creole seasoning, and let it cook for 5 minutes.
- Gradually pour in about 2 cups of shrimp stock, bring to a boil, and let it simmer. Add the shrimp and simmer for 5 more minutes. Or season the shrimp with Creole seasoning, sauté for about 5 minutes, and then throw them in at the last minute. You've got two options here – both work.
- Adjust the soup's thickness and flavor with more shrimp broth or water, hot sauce, and salt.
- Stir in the green onions and chopped parsley, and serve over hot cooked rice.
Tips & Notes:
- Just like gumbo and jambalaya, it’s made with the Southern holy trinity. But the roux isn’t as dark as the one for gumbo.
- Feel free to use crawfish instead of shrimp. You could even use chicken if you’re allergic to seafood. Just make sure to cook the chicken well.
- If you want to add crab to this recipe, cut down on the shrimp or double everything else, minus the shrimp.
- The key to success for this dish is the roux. Some people like the brown roux for deep, bold flavors, but I prefer the blonde roux for two reasons: First, it takes up less time, 5-7 minutes, to get rid of the flour’s raw flavor. And second, it has a slightly nutty taste, not as strong as gumbo, but equally tasty in its own right.
- If you have the patience and persistence and want that brown roux flavor, go for it. Don’t let me stop you.
- Be sure to cook it over medium to low heat with constant stirring and whisking. Don’t stop for a second, or you might end up with a burnt roux.
- Shell-on shrimp are best, if possible. Don’t let the shelling and deveining scare you because those shells make a flavorful broth!
- Please remember that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary significantly based on the products used.
I made this and it was DELICIOUS! I used all fresh ingredients and it turned out perfect. Will for add this to my dinner rotation.
Splendid! This is one of my favorites too. I am so happy it worked out well for you.
I made this recipe changing only the kind of tomato (pureed vs. chopped). One of my kids is a shrimp lover and had been requesting shrimp for dinner for a couple of weeks now. I hadn’t made any because our go to recipes are better geared for warmer weather. This is perfect for winter. It is delicious and hearty. I find that with many online recipes it can seem like something is missing. Not so with this one. Thanks!
Delicious !!!!! I will definitely made this again. Used canned diced tomatoes and seafood broth. A slow process With lots of chopping but worth it to get the proper roux and flavor. Added 1/2 cup of rice to the bowl then poured the soup around. Served with crusty bread to sop up every bit of the sauce.
I liked it. Great recipe. I used crawfish instead of shrimp. Yummy!!!!!
Wonderful recipe. I live in Louisiana so I’m used to having great Cajun cuisine. This one is on par.
Recipe turned out absolutely perfect. Never thought of using the shrimp castoffs for stock before, and the results were amazing. Used Argentine red shrimp and the flavor was fabulous. Putting the shrimp in at the end made for incredibly tender shrimp.
Hi Brent,
Thanks for taking time out to share this with us. Really happy to hear it worked out well for you.
Oh me oh my! I followed all the steps, but missed the homemade seafood broth, so I improvised. Didn’t really measure all the ingredients b/c I was making bigger serving..turned out FABULOUS!! Thank you sooo much for sharing this amazing recipe!
Hi I’m hoping to make this soon, but I think I’m missing a step. The recipe calls for seafood broth but I don’t see it in the steps. Is that in addition to the homemade shrimp broth? And at what point do you add it?
Hi. That’s in step # 6 – seafood broth or the homemade shrimp stock/broth.
I don’t see salt
Step #7
Would tomato sauce be okay instead ?
Yes tomato sauce would work .
Wonderful flavors! This is a definite keeper
Awesome! Thanks
Have you ever used chicken instead of shrimp?
No I haven’t .
I used chicken & shrimp for this recipe. It turned out very good.
Have you ever made it with sea scallops?
Would that work? They are quite large and juicy.
Hi Anna. I have never tried this with scallops. If I had to use scallops, I would season them with creole seasoning, saute for about 4 minutes ( 2 minutes on each side), and then throw them into the Etouffe at the last minute.
I made this recipe several of times. It turn out absolutely magnificent. It was so good my family constantly asks for this recipe. My son used to make it when he lived in New Orleans. It used to be the bomb. I’m making it today before work tonight.
Hello Deloris. I am happy you love it! Thanks for stopping by!
I wowed my whole family with this dish. It was outside of my flavor palette but I was able to show off at the potluck with this one. Will definitely make again.
Love the recipe
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for stopping by.
I dont have any tomatoes to chop. Can I use a cup of leftover pureed tomatoes?
Yes you may
I used this recipe and it came out sooooo sooo good!! Thank you for this amazing recipe!!!
I love this recipe! It reminds me so much of the gumbo I used to eat as a little girl 🙂
Thanks for this fantastic recipe. Your directions are concise and spot on. This was my first etouffee and I couldn’t be more pleased. I had shell on shrimp so the stock put this over the top. Cheers!