Shrimp Étouffée

Writing from NOLA and descended from a family that's been in Louisiana for 250 years. (Just to establish my authority). Different recipes include tomato or not; it is an individual choice. I always start with a roux, and tend to make it darker for flavor, but others add roux at end, or saute flour into vegetables as here. So go ahead, add tomato if you wish. For flavor: Use seafood stock; cook sauce for longer; fresh parsley at end. Usually better the second day.

This was delicious and very easy. I made a quick stock out of the shrimp shells and onion trimmings, which amped up the shrimp flavor a bit.

I grew up in Louisiana. This is a good recipe--but from my experience, not a true Etouffee. It is more like a Shrimp Creole (with the tomato paste).

Hi Ron, I bake with almond flour a lot - it's wonderful, but it is not a substitute for "real" flour for thickening sauces - or for holding cakes etc together unless you use a lot of eggs. I can't explain the chemistry of the color issue - but it doesn't surprise me. Almond flour is finely ground almonds - no more, no less - and can behave quite differently than finely ground grains.

I make this fairly often, but I was taught to make the roux first until golden brown and then add the veggies and I feel like it's more authentic and adds a deeper and more enjoyable flavor to the dish. My recipe also uses 1/2c diced tomatoes instead of the tomato paste, I just used canned and use the juice for some of the liquid and we like it, but I might add some paste next time. We sprinkle some Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning too and that helps add flavor and salt. One of our favorites!

Really tasty and relatively easy compared to other recipes out there. I just used all chicken stock instead of any water to not waste rest of can. Would def make again, and leftovers made for great upscale work from home lunch next day :)

I agree - this is a very good recipe, but it is not Shrimp Etouffee. It is actually Shrimp Creole (just check out the NYT Cooking recipe for Shrimp Creole.)

Strictly speaking, this isn’t as much Étouffée as it is what country Louisiana eaters call a courtboullion (pronounced “coo-bee-yon” in Cajun country), that is, a roux thickened red sauce. A Louisiana style Étouffée starts with a traditional oil and flour roux cooked dark brown, then with aromatic vegetables, herbs, seasoning, and stock added to a thick gravy consistently. Lousisana style Étouffée can use shrimp as its protein, but chicken and other fowl and game is common.

Call this Étouffée, Creole, Cajun, or My Granny’s Damn Fine Shrimp Dish; it doesn’t matter, it’s just plain good. Followed the recipe as written, but did punch up the spices a bit (used the Creole spice mixture that was a tip). Forget about what’cha call it. The ingredients, prep, and cooking technique make or break a dish.

Don't know what I did wrong, but mine came out light brown (not red) and not very notable taste-wise. I followed the directions to the letter, except for using Almond Flour instead of regular flour. You could add 6 times the amount of Tomato Paste and still not achieve this rich red color. And the flavor was pretty bland. Personally, I would have added a little Thyme and red pepper flakes to help this dish taste like something. But so far, it seems to be a waste of effort.

Well, I'll attempt to answer since no one else did. There are literally a million hot sauces, so just pick one that suits your taste. I like Sriracha for Asian-inspired meals. I like Frank's Red Hot for this type of meal as it has more vinegar in it. Lots of people just use Tabasco. So it's an individual taste, I believe. Good luck.

I am not sure why you would skip browning the flour first? This is a huge part of Louisiana cooking. Brown the flour in fat until it is caramel to chocolate brown, then proceed with sauteeing onions etc in the roux.

Extraordinary. Never made it before (I live in a house full of non-seafood eaters) but I wanted to splurge and make something for myself. Followed the recipe to the letter and it came out incredibly well! The flavors were amazing. I will definitely be making this again!!

Young cajun woman from LA here. Efouffee does have tomato paste in it and for the love of all things DO NOT add apple cider vinegar. Sub 1/2 cup green onion bottoms for the celery. Use a whole 1/4 cup butter, 1 cup onion, 1 lb crawfish, 2 tsp cornstarch, 2.5 cup water: Sautee onion until clear. Add 2 cups water. boil. Add crawfish and green onion and cook on low for 5 min. Add cornstarch dissolved in 1/2 cup water. Simmer for 15 min. Garnish with parsley and green onion tops before serving.

Real etouffee in Louisiana is not red, but a brownish color. The photo looks more like shrimp Creole.