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Shrimp Étouffée
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- Total Time
- 30 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
- 4tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1yellow onion, finely chopped
- 2celery stalks, thinly sliced
- ½green bell pepper, finely chopped
- 4garlic cloves, minced
- 3tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2tablespoons tomato paste
- ¾cup chicken or vegetable stock
- 1tablespoon hot sauce, or to taste
- 1dried bay leaf
- 2teaspoons store-bought or homemade Creole seasoning (see Tip)
- Kosher salt and black pepper
- 1pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 1scallion, green parts chopped
- White rice, for serving
Preparation
- Step 1
In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add the onion, celery and bell pepper, and cook until softened, about 7 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, 1 more minute.
- Step 2
Sprinkle the flour over the ingredients and stir constantly until lightly toasted, about 5 minutes. Add the tomato paste, and stir and cook for 1 more minute.
- Step 3
Pour in the stock and ¾ cup water. Cook until the liquid is reduced by half, about 3 minutes. Add the hot sauce, bay leaf, Creole seasoning, 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper. Bring to a boil, and cook until the mixture starts to thicken, about 2 minutes.
- Step 4
Stir in the shrimp and reduce the heat to medium. Simmer until the shrimp is cooked through and opaque, about 5 minutes, turning each piece halfway through. Remove from the heat. Taste and adjust seasoning. Sprinkle the scallions on top. Serve warm over rice.
- To make your own Creole seasoning, combine 1 tablespoon smoked paprika, 1 tablespoon chile powder, 1 teaspoon onion powder, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper (or less, if desired), ½ teaspoon fine sea salt and ½ teaspoon black pepper in a small bowl and stir together. Store in an airtight container in a cool, dry place.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
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.
Cooked this with my kids, very quick and so delicious recipe. We will be making it again.
This recipe was delightful as written! I will be making this again!
This works with 2 pounds of shrimp also. Used pearl couscous rather than rice. Delicious.
I made a real roux first to add a depth of flavor to this dish. Although it takes a while, it's easy and can be used as a base for almost anything. We make a dark roux as a base for Thanksgiving turkey gravy. The difference between this and a true etoufee is about the same as the difference between your usual turkey gravy and a really flavorful and complex turkey gravy made with roux. All that said, this has good flavor if you use a good Creole or Cajun seasoning mix. That's the key!
This was delicious. I made the roux first. I added the vegetables once the roux was golden brown. I did not add the extra salt and pepper in step 3. I'm glad I didn't. The salt level was just right without it. This could be due to the bouillon I used to make the stock. The Cajun seasoning recipe is a keeper!
I've made better, but with a whole lot more effort (FWIW, my favorite comes from John Besh). Just for fun I subbed a poblano chile for the green bell pepper and since I was out of Crystal, wound up using a Chipotle Pepper sauce for the heat. Both worked, though neither dramatically altered the flavors. I'd make this again, but probably make a roux first.
Pretty good and fairly easy to make.
Cut the cayenne pepper, I used a red bell pepper and dish was too hot for most, maybe substitute some red pepper flakes and add ACV to the dish.
A roux will give you the nutty flavor and a seafood stock is really the key to Étouffée. You can make it with the shells of the shrimp that you peel for the dish.
Made this for dinner tonight and it was delicious. I carefully browned my roux for at least 20+ minutes stirring continuously to a golden color and then added the vegetables. I also used the Trader Joe’s Argentinian Red Shrimp which worked perfectly. I did not add the salt or the hot sauce because the Tony Chachere’s Original Creole seasoning I used added just enough heat and spice. Though a true Etouffee has a darker roux color, this version is a great option for an easy meal.
Delicious! I made the roux first and then browned the vegetables. I didn't let the roux get too brown because, when made with butter, rather than oil, it can burn if cooked too long. I also used 1 1/4 cups chicken stock and 1/4 cup white wine. Ate it over a bed of basmati rice. I'll definitely make this again!
I made this with summer squash instead of green bell pepper and used quinoa for the rice. T’was warm, hearty, and delicious! Also I cooked down tomatoes from the vine, just to be boujee.
This is wonderful! I used slap ya mama Cajun seasoning, crystal hot sauce, and cooked the shrimp shells in the chicken broth for more flavor. Turned out so well and the sauce thickened nicely
Great flavor built in this recipe. My only suggestion would be to increase the stock/water or decrease the amount of flour. By the end of cooking it was a bit pasty but I added more liquid, though it didn't have time to blend the flavors. Will definitely try this one again.
We used corn starch as a thickener to make it gluten free, substituted fresh oregano for the bay leaf, and added thyme, as suggested by one contributor. Great recipe.
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