Shrimp Étouffée is a Classic Lousiana Seafood Stew made with tender seasoned shrimp, smothered in a cajun sauce that’s packed with the cajun flavors of New Orleans.
You can’t make Shrimp Étouffée without the Holy Trinity (onion, celery, and green peppers), and a simple dark roux to thicken it up. It’s an easy recipe that will have you enjoying the taste of New Orleans in your home tonight.
I’m sure you’ll agree that this is the best Shrimp Etoufee you’ve ever made and truthfully it does take a bit of time to make, but the process is easy and after one taste you’ll agree it was time well spent.
What is Étouffée?
If you look up Etouffee in the dictionary, you’ll find the literal translation to be smothered.
Etouffee uses a technique known as smothering, which is a popular method of cooking in the Cajun areas of southwest Louisiana and the coastal counties of Mississippi.
What’s in an Étouffée Sauce?
Étouffée is a type of stew if you want to get technical. It’s made with a roux, onion, celery, and bell pepper (the holy trinity), tomato, garlic, hot sauce, and either shrimp, crawfish, or chicken.
Cajun Étouffée does not contain tomatoes. The addition of tomatoes is the Creole way of preparing etouffee.
There are many variations of this classic shrimp dish, some being Cajun and others being Creole. And while there are a lot of similarities in the styles, each has its own unique seasonings and flavors typical of the region and families the recipe came from.
Any leftover shrimp can be used up in my restaurant style shrimp cocktail recipe.
Many people confuse Étouffée with Jambalaya and that’s a completely different type of recipe. Even my Tex-Mex Jambalaya doesn’t come close to resembling my Shrimp Étouffée.
Étouffée is typically made with shellfish, with crawfish being the original star of the dish. But as we all know when it comes to cooking it’s all about what we like to eat and what’s readily available.
While traditionalists may argue that the only Etouffee is Crawfish ÉtoufféeI’ll have to disagree. Crawfish may make the traditional dish, but it’s easier to find shrimp, and shrimp make one delicious etouffee!
Recipe FAQ’s
Etouffee means “smothered” when translated from French. It’s basically a stew and typically consists of a dark roux, the Holy Trinity (onion, celery, and bell pepper), tomatoes, garlic, hot sauce, and can be made with shrimp, crawfish, or chicken
Gumbo is made with the same ingredients with the addition of file powder and okra (the word “gumbo” even comes from a West African word for okra.
Gumbo is usually made with a mixture of different meats and seafood. Etouffee is usually only made with shrimp or crawfish.
True Cajun Étouffée does not contain tomatoes, but the creole version does. I prefer the flavor the tomatoes add to the dish, but they can be left out.
No, you don’t. Shrimp Étouffée is becoming more popular and it’s easier to get Shrimp from US waters than it is to get crawfish.
More Shrimp Recipes You’ll Love!
Cajun Shrimp Étouffée Recipe
Ingredients
Broth
- shrimp shells
- ½ lemon sliced
- scraps from cutting onion and celery
- 2 cups chicken broth
Etouffee Sauce
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 4 tablespoons flour
- 1 cup onion small dice
- ½ cup celery small dice
- ½ cup bell pepper small dice
- 4 cloves garlic chopped
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme chopped
- 14 ounce can diced tomato
- 1 tablespoon Creole or Cajun seasoning your favorite blend and adjust to your tastes
- hot sauce to taste optional
Shrimp
- 14 jumbo shrimp 16-20 count shrimp, tail off shelled and deveined (about ¾ of a pound )
- ½ teaspoon Cajun seasoning
- ½ teaspoon Italian parsley finely chopped
Assembly
- 2 cups cooked rice
- sea salt to taste
- ¼ cup green onions sliced for garnish
- tablespoon Italian parsley chopped for garnish
Instructions
Broth
- Add the shrimp shells and scraps of onion and celery to a small saucepot with a little olive oil to saute and cook for a few minutes
- then add the sliced lemon and chicken broth. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to a low simmer for 20 minutes. Add more water if necessary to keep the stock close to 1 ½ cups
- Strain the solids from the broth and set aside.
Etouffee Sauce
- Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat, cook until it starts to brown sprinkle in the flour while mixing and reduce the heat to simmer. Continue to simmer until the roux turns dark brown, about 10 minutes.
- Add the onion, celery, and peppers to the roux and cook until tender, about 8-10 minutes.
- Add the garlic and thyme and cook for a minute.
- Whisk in the broth
- Add the tomatoes and seasoning, reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes.
- Season with hot sauce and sea salt to taste.
Shrimp
- Dry the peeled shrimp with paper towels
- Mix some of your seasoning (or paprika if you don't want heat) and chopped parsley with your towel-dried shrimp. Toss the shrimp with the seasoning.
- Heat another saute pan over medium-high heat. Add a little oil to the pan and add the seasoned shrimp
- Saute the shrimp quickly and cook until just done so they stay moist and tender. You want to get color into the shrimp so it's okay if they seasoning burns a little.
Assembly
- Place white rice in center of bowl, add Etouffee Sauce around rice, place cooked shrimp on top
- Garnish with parsley and green onions
Susan
Made this for my husband’s birthday dinner Sunday. My daughter and son-in-law came for dinner. And they both raved how wonderful it was. My son-in-law said it was one of the favorite meals I have ever made. And my husband who loves Cajun/creole cooking was thrilled. I followed the recipe to a T, and used creole seasoning because I prefer the little milder flavors. It was delicious.
Amy Liu Dong
Oh my gosh, this dish looks really, delicious and I can’t wait to make this for my family.
Weems McArthur
We grilled lobster and I made a lobster stock out of the shells. I used your shrimp etoufee recipe and substituted the chicken stock with lobster stock. It was fantastic!!
Robert
February 18, 2021.
Made it for myself 2 nights ago. Followed your recipe exactly. So delicious..Made it again tonight and added a dozen fresh muscles to the sauce while it was simmering. Unbelievable! Again, so delicious….gonna surprise girlfriend tomorrow with this dish for lunch….
Thank you for the recipe….already one of my favorites….
Robert….Agawam, MA
Chef Dennis Littley
Thanks for the great comment Robert! I hope you find more recipes to try, my shrimp and cheesy grits is another classic!
Richard Anneler
Thank you for this wonderful recipe
Followed your instruction to the letter, including the shrimp broth. This was a very easy dish with excellent instruction. Didn’t add to or change a thing.
Sharon Olson
How can I replace the tomatoes when there are dietary restrictions?
Chef Dennis Littley
there really isn’t a replacement for tomatoes. If you can’t eat them, leave them out.
Lizz in WA State
This was astoundingly good! An interesting version – this New Orleans girl had never used lemon or tomatoes in étouffée before but I’ll never leave them out again!! My roux was very dark and I ‘smothered’ the shrimp in the pot instead of cooking them separately. This one’s a keeper! Thank you for making me even *more* homesick for my hometown.
Leslie
Just delicious! The layers of flavors & spices make a beautiful, fragrant dish. I added 2/3 cup of lump crabmeat to the étouffée after simmering was complete. This recipe is a keeper and I’m looking forward to serving it to dinner guests.
Milou
Great idea! thanks!
Pilar
Made this New Years Day. The broth with lemon and shells made a complex and phenomenal difference. I added some of my spices while the roux was cooking the “trinity”, a trick from my experiences with indian cooking. I rarely follow recipes exactly, but this one really hit it. NICE
Chef Dennis Littley
LOL….thats probably a good idea since that would be about 750 F
Clinton Kent
Great recipe. I like the addition of a butter roux instead of the oil which is how my father Cajun father traditionally taught me. I used a high fat quality butter and it came out rich and almost a velvet texture.I also added some crawfish tails leftover from our last boil because why not. 10/10
Chef Dennis Littley
I’m happy to hear you enjoyed the etouffee and I think you found out why I like butter for my roux’s!
Camil Anderson
So good! Easy to follow with an authentic Cajun taste!
Jane McIlmurray
Living in Florida we do not have good Cajun restaurants here. So I have to make them myself. I love these recipes.
Jan Neuman
Try Harry’s in Lakeland, St. Augustine, Tampa or Tallahasee. Amazing great food. For some reason can’t get it to the south of that like around the Naples area!
Danielle Fields
Wonderful. My family loved it. My first time making this. I will be making it again
Maureen
This was fabulous! Will be making this regularly. I substituted chicken thighs and sausage for the shrimp, but will make it with shrimp in the future.
Chef Dennis Littley
I’m happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe Maureen. And swapping ingredients out is a great way to use what you have on hand and change up the dish!
Kelly
This sounds delicious