The BEST Shrimp Etouffee Recipe! (2024)

February 26, 2023 by Jocelyn (Grandbaby Cakes) · Updated October 13, 2023

This is the BEST Shrimp Etouffee Recipe Online! Homemade and delicious, made with an authentic creole flavor and down home taste. Bring Mardi Gras to your home!

This is the year everyone! This is the year I finally go to New Orleans and end my constant dreaming about the creole culture, especially its food.

From the shrimp and grits andbeignets(we all know a little something about Cafe Du Monde) to the shrimp or seafood etouffee, I will be getting down on all that the “Big Easy” is known for.

Is it too much to say my life mission might be to eat my way through New Orleans? I don’t think so.

Why This Recipe Works

• The flavors make it one of the best dishes you’ll ever eat! Its buttery richness paired with the succulence of the shrimp, just the right amount of cayenne, and served over a bed of fluffy white rice is divine!
• Making it at home means you can vary the flavors and heat according to your personal taste.
• Enjoy the flavors of authentic creole cooking at home! No need to go out to eat or travel to Louisiana!

What is Etouffee?

Etouffee is a French word that means smothered or suffocated. However, in relation to food, it refers to a method of cooking where the seafood is smothered in vegetables with a tomato-based sauce, resulting in a stew-like seafood dish.

Etouffee is basically a spicy stew made with vegetables and seafood in most cases; however, chicken and possibly otherpoultry (turkey) can also be used.

Cajun etouffee is such a fantastic dish, rich in history and bonkers in flavor. Food historians trace back Louisiana etouffee to the crawfish capital of the world, Breaux Bridges, Louisiana where it was first served in the Hebert Hotel in the early 1920s.

Since then, the presence of Etouffee in the South has taken on a life of its own. You can find this signature New Orleans meal at almost any restaurant.

Making homemade etouffee can take some time, but it is truly worth it. From the creole seasoning and dashes of hot sauce to theunderlying holy trinity of onions, celery, and bellpeppers simmering in a rich dark roux, this is one of the seafood dishes I enjoy the most.

Ingredients You Need

Don’t be scared off by the long list of etouffee ingredients! I’m going to walk you through all the steps to make the best etouffee so you’ll be an old pro by the end.

See Also

Starbucks Peppermint Mocha Coffee Recipe (Copycat)The BEST Punch Recipe - Easy Fruit Punch with Sprite - NO Ice Cream!Rosemary Parmesan Sweet Potato Stacks RecipeStir Fry Sauce Recipe {The Best All-Purpose Sauce!} - Belly Full

• Roux: Every good etouffee starts with a dark roux made with salted butter and all-purpose flour.
• Holy Trinity: Just about every single creole or cajun dish starts with the veggie combination of onion, celery, and green bell peppers, thus its nickname, the Holy Trinity.
• Broth: Chicken stock and white wine add flavor to the gravy base of this shrimp recipe.
• Tomatoes: We will be using a combination of tomato paste and diced tomatoes. The tomato paste adds intense tomato flavor while the diced tomatoes add nice chunky bits of tomato to the dish.
• Spices: A basic creole seasoning and garlic powder plus cayenne pepper and hot sauce for a bit of heat.
• Worcestershire sauce: Adds more depth of flavor to the etouffee sauce.
• Fresh lemon juice: Make sure you use freshly squeezed!
• Shrimp: You will want to use peeled and deveined to make this etouffee recipe! Buy them already prepped to save you some time.
• Heavy whipping cream: For additional richness and flavor.
• Cooked rice, chopped parsley, and green onion: For serving and garnish.

How to Make Shrimp Etouffee

This isn’t a difficult dish to make. The roux may seem like the hardest part because youneed to ensure that it browns and darkens without burning. But I’m going to show you exactly how to make the roux for your etouffee base.

1. Melt the butter in a medium-sized pan over medium heat. Stir in the flour making sure there are no lumps to begin the roux.
2. Allow the roux to develop, stirring frequently for about 9-10 minutes. You want it to turn dark but make sure it doesn’t burn.

3. Add the onions, celery, and green peppers and cook for a few minutes until tender stirring frequently as they cook.
4. Pour in the chicken stock and white wine and then add the tomato paste and diced tomatoes to the skillet and whisk together everything.

5. Season the sauce with the creole seasoning, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, and hot sauce. Cook the mixture for 10-12 minutes over medium heat to allow the flavors to blend and the sauce to begin to thicken.
6. Add the shrimp to the skillet and season with salt and pepper to taste.

7. Cook for another 10 minutes on a lower heat with the lid on and add the whipping cream.
8. Stir everything together and cook for 2-3 more minutes to thicken the sauce. Serve up your etouffee over rice and garnish with chopped parsley and green onion.

How to Store and Reheat

Shrimp etouffee is best enjoyed freshly cooked so I don’t recommend making it ahead of time. If you have leftovers, store them in the fridge for up to four days. I don’t recommend freezing it.

Reheat it by placing it in a saucepan and heat over medium heat until heated through. If it’s a bit thick you thin it out with more chicken stock.

Expert Tips

• Serve it up with other Southern and New Orleans favorites such as a New Orleans Hurricane Drink to kick things off!
• Etouffee is usually served with rice. White rice, brown rice, and even dirty rice all work great.
• Be patient with the roux. It takes time for it to develop, about 9-10 minutes.
• Stir the roux frequently and don’t let the heat get too hot. You want it to cook and darken slowly over time and not burn.
• The flavor of etouffee is usually spicy but if you’re sensitive to heat then you can tone down the amount of or even eliminate the cayenne and hot sauce added.

What to Serve it with

To give this entire meal great flavor, I love to bring together the authentic essence of New Orleans with the following dishes that go great.

• Red Beans and Rice – Just like etouffee, this comfort meal is perfect over rice so make a big pot of white rice and have both of these on the stovetop to add to a heaping plate.
• Gumbo – filled with shrimp, oysters, crabmeat and more, this spiced broth is the ultimate soup to have with your authentic meal.
• Grillades and Grits – this traditional Louisiana dish has slow cooked steak in a creamy Creole spiced gravy that is served over delish grits!
• Jambalaya Skillet – this recipe isn’t quite traditional but it comes together in a flash when you have a lot of other dishes to bring together!

FAQs

More Delicious Shrimp Recipes

• Shrimp Creole
• Cajun Shrimp Linguine
• Shrimp and Corn Chowder
• Creole Shrimp and Egg Salad
• Shrimp Po Boys
• Low Country Boil

*Did you make this recipe? Please give it a star rating and leave comments below!* Post a photo of how your version of the recipe came out on Instagram (using #grandbabycakes)!!

This post was originally published Februrary 2015. It’s been updated with new images and content.