Shrimp Etouffee is a juicy shrimp dish smothered in rich and flavorful roux boasting authentic southern 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 exciting on your dining table, this Shrimp Etouffee recipe is a good place to start. The French know how to make delicious food but throw in a kick of African and Creole seasonings, and you have an unforgettable combination.
Once you taste it, you’ll want it on a weekly rotation. So, while planning your weekly menu, you might as well add homemade Creole Seasoning to your spice list. It’s the mother of all Southern spices for depth and richness, quick to put together, and easily customizable to your preference.
Content…What Is It? |
What Is Shrimp Etouffee?
You are probably thinking, what on earth is shrimp 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. Shrimp etouffée is juicy, decadent shrimp smothered in a thick spicy sauce, then served over steaming white rice. On the other hand, Shrimp Creole is a thinner, more stew-like sauce and isn’t quite as spicy. However, both are equally delicious because the tomatoes, onions, celery, bell pepper, and garlic add a rich flavor.
Recipe Ingredients
- Roux – Oil, butter, and flour make the perfect roux. Toasted flour and fat, when done right, are what make this shrimp etouffee recipe so awesome. If you need a gluten-free version, try an all-purpose gluten-free flour or cornstarch for the roux.
- Holy Trinity – Green bell pepper, onion, and celery are staples in Southern Creole cooking because they add substance and flavor.
- Seasonings – Garlic, thyme, bay leaves, Creole Seasoning, and smoked paprika are staples in Cajun and Creole cooking. Tomatoes are slightly acidic and make a good base with the herbs’ intense flavors. Then, add Worcestershire sauce and seafood broth (you can make it from the shrimp shells), and you have a flavor explosion.
- Shrimp – I love seafood, and this is the cheapest way to satisfy my seafood craving. Get it on sale and store it in the freezer for those nights you need something you can throw together quickly. Lobster and crab are both delicious for a total seafood experience! Even chicken and pork would make a good etouffee.
- Garnishes – Parsley and green onions are beautiful and delicious on stews and soups. A little green on top of the plate always looks gorgeous.
How to Make Shrimp Etouffee
Shrimp Stock
- Saute – Add a teaspoon or two of butter or oil to a saucepan or skillet. Then, throw in the shrimp shells, the remaining onion, garlic, and celery scraps, and aromatics like bay leaf and thyme. (Photo 1)
- Add Water – Sauté for 5-7 minutes, constantly stirring to prevent burning. Add about 5 cups of water to it. (Photo 2)
- Simmer – Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and let it simmer for 20 minutes.
- 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. (Photo 4)
- Patience – 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. (Photo 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 about 2 minutes longer. (Photo 7)
- Season – Next, throw in about 1 cup chopped tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, paprika, and Creole seasoning, and let it cook for 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 you may season the shrimp with Creole seasoning, sauté for about 5 minutes, and then throw it in at the last minute. You’ve got two options here – both 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 cooked rice. (Photo 12)
Recipe Variations
- Seafood etouffee. Crawfish Etouffee 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 all make good yum.
- Paleo version. Use ghee instead of butter, arrowroot powder instead of flour (skip making the roux and add it as a slurry), and yuca fries instead of rice.
Tips and Tricks
- The key to a great shrimp etouffee 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 less time, 5-7 minutes. And second, it has a slightly nutty taste, not as strong as gumbo but equally tasty.
- 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. Make your rice and reheat your shrimp etouffee on the stove when ready to serve. You keep your leftovers the same way.
If freezing etouffee for later, try not to cook the shrimp first. Then let the sauce thaw overnight in the fridge, heat it in a pot on the stovetop, and throw the shrimp and simmer until it’s done.
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. And if you want to serve wine, Chardonnay is a good pick.
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
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Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon (28 ml) canola oil
- 2 tablespoon (28 g ) butter
- ¼ cup (31 g) flour
- ½ medium onion, diced
- ½ cup green bell pepper, diced
- ⅓ cup celery, chopped (about 1-2 stalks)
- 2 teaspoon (10 g) garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon (1 g) thyme, fresh or dried
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 cup tomato, chopped
- 1 teaspoon (5 g) Worcestershire sauce
- ½ teaspoon (1 g) smoked paprika
- 2 teaspoon (8 g) Creole seasoning
- 2 cup (500 ml) seafood broth (can sub with water)
- 1 pound (453 g) shrimp, (peeled and deveined) reserve shrimp shells
- 1 teaspoon (5 g) hot sauce, optional
- 2 green onions, chopped
- 2-3 tablespoon (8-12 g) parsley, chopped
Instructions
Shrimp Stock
- Add a teaspoon or two of butter or oil to a saucepan or skillet. Then throw in shrimp shells, the remaining scraps of onion, garlic, celery together with aromatics like bay leaf and thyme.
- Sauté for about 5-7 minutes, constantly stirring to prevent burning. Add about 5 cups of water to it.
- 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 have achieved the desired color. During this process, don't walk away from the stove 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 about 2 minutes longer.
- Next, throw in about 1 cup 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 you may season the shrimp with Creole seasoning, sauté for about 5 minutes, and then throw it 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.
- Serve over hot cooked rice.
Tips & Notes:
- Comparable to gumbo and jambalaya, it’s made with Southern holy trinity. The roux is not as dark as the gumbo.
- Feel free to switch out the shrimp with crawfish. I suppose you could even use chicken if you’re allergic to seafood. Just make sure to cook the chicken through.
- If you want to add crabs to this recipe, cut down on shrimp or double everything else, minus the shrimp.
- The key to success for this dish is the roux (or sauce). 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, approximately 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 even for a second, or you might end up having a burned roux.
- This is one recipe that is best to get shell-on shrimp, if possible. Do not let the shelling and deveining of the shrimp scare you! They make for a quick and easy stock, and it’s flavorful too!
- Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary significantly based on the products used.
Sharell says
I like etouffe suace piquant style, without the flour.
Imma says
Hi Sharell! This is just as piquant. You could also add more hot sauce if you prefer :)!
Ginnty says
In steps 1, 2 and 3 it tells you what to do to make shrimp stock, but doesn’t say how long to cook it after you add the 5 cups of water.
ImmaculateBites says
My bad. Bring it to a boil, reduce heat and simmer the stock gently for about 30-45 minutes. This duration is typically sufficient for extracting the flavors from the shrimp and other ingredients. If you’re looking for a more intense flavor, you can extend the simmering time to an hour.
Moria F-R says
This was amazing. I forgot to buy a tomato so I used a cup of canned diced tomato and that was just fine, maybe better considering the quality of tomatoes at the store recently!
Imma says
Amazing!!!!! That looks absolutely delicious!! Glad you loved it. Looking forward to you trying more of my recipes.
Karyn says
We’ve long been a fan of your Po Boy recipe and tried this one tonight. Wow! This is amazing! We love it. I was worried about the roux turning out but the directions were great. This was better than any southern food we’ve had in a southern restaurant.
Imma says
Glad to hear about your experience. Thank you so much for your continuous support!
David Jones says
Ms. Imma, in addition to being an obviously skillful chef, you have an even greater gift as a communicator. I’ve made etouffee for years, using lots of different recipes (Joy of Cooking, etc.). I have never had the dish explained, the steps laid out, and variations suggested with such clarity and skill. Your recipe method, which has an openness and sense of fun, gave me the freedom to experiment, and I loved learning the distinctions between Cajun and creole — not that I really understand them, but it was cool info. I will certainly come back to you again, as I think you are unrivaled in the way you present a recipe.
Oh, and the etoufee turned out great (I added additional green pepper and red pepper, quick-sauted with cajun seasoning, near the end to give the dish some texture and color and finished with White Balsamic vinegar). Like I said, you’re obviously a superb chef!>
Amina says
Thank you so much for your lovely feedback. Audience support and love are very necessary to keep the motivation alive. Thanks again!!!
Lissa says
I have made this recipe many times over the last few years. It has truly become a family favorite! My husband likes it when I add crawfish tails in addition to the shrimp. I usually make my own shrimp stock for this but since this recipe has become so popular amongst my family I have used chicken stock in a pinch and it turned out great! Thank you!
PatS says
Wow! This is just delicious.. Just exactly what I craved on a cold night, and so easy to make.
Mimi says
My bf and I made this recipe on Saturday night and we had a great time and a great meal! This came out so good. We both had 2 bowls each! And the next day the flavors were even better!! Thanks you so much for helping us get out of our dinner rut and making a new meal. Will definitely be checking out your site for other recipes.
imma africanbites says
Oh, I’m so glad this turned out great for you and your bf, Mimi. Looking forward to your next kitchen adventure. 🙂
Gregg says
I have ONE WORD for this dish, “FANTASTIC!” I followed the recipe to the letter and it turned out great. Bon Ap’pitite!!!
Drew says
In the ingredient list, it calls for “seafood broth”, and in the instructions you describe how to make “Shrimp stock”, and then later in the instructions you say to add more “shrimp broth”. I’m pretty sure these are all meant to be the same thing, but since I’ve not made this before, I wanted to make sure I wasn’t shorting anything. Can’t wait to try this recipe out, sounds great!
Amina says
Great! I’m so happy you’re going to try it. The instructions for shrimp stock (broth) make 5 cups. Then you use 2 cups of the broth for the etouffee and later add as much as you want to get the preferred consistency. You can freeze the leftover broth for later if you wish. I hope this makes sense
David says
Great recipe
Just the right spice level for our guests who don’t care for much heat. Used Prime Shrimp’s Signature creole shrimp (www.primeshrimp.com), which were delicious. Will definitely make again. Will make the creole seasoning after my next grocery run–almost out of paprika.
L Yankovich says
Thanks so much for sharing this wonderful recipe!! This was my first attempt at Cajun/Creole cooking and thanks to your easy-to-follow directions, it came out incredibly delicious!! So glad you included the shrimp stock & seasoning recipes/link. My fuss-pot hubby loved it.
Dee says
Great flavor and taste! Fun date night recipe. Thank you!
ImmaculateBites says
Thanks Dee! Glad you liked it!
Debbie says
This recipe looks delicious, I can’t wait to try this weekend. I noticed in the nutrition info that it says 1g =300 calories, is that correct?
ImmaculateBites says
Hi Debbie! Thanks for pointing that out, I have updated it, it should say 1 serving.
Debbie says
I made it tonight and all I can say is there’s 5 completely cleaned off plates. It will definitely be made again. Thank you
Maria says
Imma thank for such a wonderful recipe. My family loved it!